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Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies
at Miami University

Curriculum

Major

The WGS major is both flexible and innovative program of study that includes a set of common core courses and a wide variety of WGS and crosslisted courses across several divisions, departments, and academic programs at all of our campuses. The major requires 30-31 semester hours of coursework with a minimum grade point average of 2.0.

Core Courses in the Major (15-16 credit hrs)

All three of these:

  • Introduction to Women's Studies
    (WGS 201, 3 hrs)
  • Women & Difference: Intersections of Race, Class, and Sexuality
    (WGS 301, 3 hrs)
  • Writing with Purpose: Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Communication
    (WGS/AAA/AMS/BWS/LAS 211, 3 hrs)

One of the following theory courses:

  • Feminist Theory
    (WGS/PHL 355, 4 hrs)
  • Feminist Literary Theory and Practice
    (WGS/ENG 368, 3 hrs)
  • Black Feminist Theory
    (WGS/ENG/BWS 437, 3 hrs)
  • Queer Theory
    (WGS/ENG 435, 3 hrs)
  • or a feminist theory course approved by a WGS advisor

One of the following capstone courses:

  • The Role of Women in (a) Transforming Society
    (WGS 401, 3 hrs)
  • Feminism and the Diaspora: U.S. Women of Color
    (WGS/ENG/BWS 432, 3 hrs)

Additional Courses in the Major (15 additional hours)

The Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies major requires at least 15 additional semester hour of WGS or WGS crosslisted courses. A maximum of 6 semester hours, taken in an approved internship, community action, or service learning experience, may be substituted for course work. A course cannot count both as a core course and toward one's additional 15 hours.

To receive program honors, a major must complete WGS 470 (3 credit hours), register for one additional credit of WGS 470 which entails the completion of an engaged learning project, and have a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 in the major. Students must register their intent to pursue departmental honors and file a proposal for their honors project in the WGS program office, 126 MacMillan.

For information, contact the Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Program Office, 126 MacMillan Hall (513-529-4616).

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Minor

Undergraduate students at Miami may take courses to fulfill the requirements for the minor in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, which also fulfills the Miami Plan Thematic Sequence requirement. To earn the minor, students must complete 18 hours of WGS coursework with a minimum grade point average of 2.0. Introduction to Women's Studies (WGS 201) is particularly recommended as a first course for students considering the minor.

Core Courses in the Minor (6-7 credit hrs)

One of the following theory courses:

  • Feminist Theory
    (WGS/PHL 355, 4 hrs)
  • Feminist Literary Theory and Practice
    (WGS/ENG 368, 3 hrs)
  • Black Feminist Theory
    (WGS/ENG/BWS 437, 3 hrs)
  • Queer Theory
    (WGS/ENG 435, 3 hrs)
  • or a feminist theory course approved by a WGS advisor

One of the following capstone courses:

  • The Role of Women in (a) Transforming Society
    (WGS 401, 3 hrs)
  • Feminism and the Diaspora: U.S. Women of Color
    (WGS/ENG/BWS 432, 3 hrs)

Additional Courses in the Minor (11-12 additional hours)

WGS minors must take 11-12 additional hours in WGS or WGS crosslited courses to reach 18 credit hours. Students are urged to select courses in consultation with a WGS advisor. A maximum of 6 semester hours, taken in an approved internship, community action, or service learning experience, may be substituted for course work. A course cannot count both as a core course and an elective.

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Thematic Sequences

WGS 1 Thematic Sequence: Women and the World *

This sequence focuses on understanding women's historical and contemporary socio-cultural and political realities from an international perspective. Students will learn to use gender as a category of analysis, to understand complex issues and processes related to an increasingly interconnected world system and the ways women and gender are implicated in these processes, and to apply this knowledge to the topical issues of either the environment and natural resources or the politics of varied forms of cultural representation and interpretation.

Courses in WGS 1:

  • Introduction to Women's Studies (WGS 201) (MPF)
  • Global Gender Politics (WGS/POL 346) or
    Topics in Women's History (WGS/HST 450 3)
  • Religion, Dress, and Status (WGS/REL 333) or
    Women, Gender, and the Environment (WGS/GEO 436)

*Please note: this sequence is under revision to provide more course selection. For more information, please see a WGS advisor.

WGS 2 Thematic Sequence: Scholarly Studies of Gender & Sexuality

The thematic sequence in Scholarly Studies of Gender and Sexuality provides an opportunity for investigating and analyzing the historical, social, legal, and cultural forces that shape experiences, expressions, and representations of non-normative genders and sexualities including, but not necessarily limited to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, Intersex and Queer individuals and communities. Students will receive a broad, interdisciplinary introduction to scholarship in GLBTIQ studies in the foundation course, then focus more specifically on a disciplinary or topical perspective in tier two, ultimately engaging with the philosophical and theoretical aspects of investigating sexuality and gender as meaning-making cultural and social systems.

Courses in WGS 2:

  • Introduction to GLBT Studies (WGS 202) (MPF) †
  • African & American Sexualities (BWS 492) or
    Mediated Sexualities: Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgendered Persons and the Electronic Media (COM/FST 281) (MPF) † or
    Mediated Sexualities: Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgendered Persons and the Electronic Media (COM/FST 282) or
    Literature and Sexuality (ENG 165) (MPF) † or
    GLBTQ Literature (ENG/WGS 237) or
    Sociology of Gender Roles (SOC/WGS 203) or
    Human Sexuality (SOC/FSW/WGS 221)
  • Queer Theory (WGS/ENG 435)

† Only one foundation course in any thematic sequence may count toward a student's foundation requirements.

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Graduate Concentration in WGS

The graduate concentration in Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies is a 12-14 hour program available to graduate students in any field of study across the university. Its purpose is to enhance a disciplinary graduate degree with specialization in Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. Using an interdisciplinary approach, students in this program explore the influence of gender and other social differences on the production and dissemination of knowledge. Masters and doctoral students who earn a Graduate Concentration in Women's Studies gain an advantage in a highly competitive job market. In the worlds of business, public service, government, education, and fine arts, job candidates with knowledge of how gender, sexuality, and cultural difference function in their area of expertise may stand out in a crowded field. Perhaps even more important is the intellectually stimulating experience of thinking across and outside disciplinary parameters. Sharing these inquiries with students from other fields creates a rich supplement to a discipline-centered degree program.

Requirements

Introduction to Graduate Women's Studies (WGS 601, 3 hrs)
This seminar focuses on Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies as an academic project and a force for social transformation. WGS faculty from a variety of disciplines visit class and share their academic and professional experiences with the students, providing an introduction to a variety of ways that WGS scholars produce and disseminate their work and pedagogical expertise.
Feminist Theory and Methodology (WGS 602, 3 hrs)
This graduate seminar investigates major research methods as they are theorized and practiced within contemporary women's, gender, and sexuality studies. A special emphasis will be on students' own work in their field, and the production and peer critique of a substantial project relevant to the student's academic and/or professional progress.
Electives (6-8 hrs)
The concentration requires that students take two electives (3 or 4 hours each): one within their major field of study and one in another discipline. Electives should be at the 500 level or above. To qualify as electives, courses should be selected with the assistance of the student's WGS advisor.
Public Presentation
To emphasize the collective nature of Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies work, students will be asked to make a public presentation to the university and/or community about some aspect of their work within the concentration. This presentation may involve delivering the results of research or teaching in a public talk, creating a community engagement project related to the student's academic interests, or devising some other form of public interaction. The nature of this project will be planned with and approved in advance by the student's advisor.

Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Teaching Opportunities

Students enrolled in the Graduate Concentration may have the opportunity to teach WGS 201, Introduction to Women's Studies. The high quality of this pedagogical program is reflected in the fact that five graduate student teachers of WGS have earned graduate teaching awards in recent years.

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