Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies

Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies at Union is an interdisciplinary academic program rich with opportunities for research, inquiry and critical analysis. It examines and challenges assumptions and constructs about gender that affect people's lives around the globe.

Our program is designed to help students become aware of unexamined assumptions and stereotypes about sexual and gender differences, and how they shape human organizations, institutions and individuals’ lives. Many courses also introduce students to differences of class, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation in a range of societies.

You'll learn in small classes with engaging faculty from at least a dozen different departments, including Chinese, Classics, Economics, English, German, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Spanish, and Theater and Dance. You will embrace new ways of thinking as you cross traditional academic boundaries and explore gender issues from multiple perspectives.

Start with an introductory course that covers topics in feminist theory and the social construction of gender. Then choose from among more than 160 courses as you analyze the diverse character of the American experience, shaped by gender, race, class, sexuality, geography and ethnicity. These experiences are studied within a context of global economic, cultural and political relations. For instance, you may examine issues in American education, learn about the American musical theater from vaudeville to Broadway, or take a seminar that traces New York City’s rise to become the preeminent American urban center. Your senior year capstone course will focus on any number of fascinating topics, from feminist film to women’s rights in the United States.

In keeping with the Union tradition of offering robust experiential and immersive opportunities, our program strongly encourages a one-term internship at a local organization. Students intern with local social services, law and media centers, childcare centers, gay and lesbian groups, women's advocacy groups and healthcare providers.

Our students gain a global perspective of this academic discipline through several international programs. A faculty-led fall term abroad in São Paulo, Brazil, delves into women, environment and social change. A three-week, winter break mini-term focused on social movements in Argentina features meetings with women’s activists and political leaders.

The GSWS program sponsors the Valerie J. Hoffman ’75 Lecture Series feminist scholars who emphasize the links between feminist politics, the struggle for racial justice and human rights activism. The program brings a variety of artists, from filmmakers to folksingers, to Union through the Sadock Women in Arts endowed lecture series. Students also are active in Women’s Union, a student support and action group that encourages campus-wide discussion of issues of importance to women and to achieving gender equality.