Major | Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Requirements For the

Major in Women's and Gender Studies

The major in Women's and Gender Studies leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree. No more than three credits offered for the major may be taken Pass/No Credit or Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. All other courses for the major must be passed with a letter grade of C or higher. No transferred course with a grade lower than C may be applied toward major requirements. No more than three 100-level courses (9 credits) may be applied toward major requirements. At least 18 credits must be in courses numbered 300 or higher. At least 12 credits must be WST courses (or cross-listed equivalent) taken at Stony Brook.

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Completion of the major requires 36 credits.

A. Core Courses

WST 102 or WST 103 Introduction to Women’s & Gender Studies
WST 291 Introduction to Feminist Theory; OR WST/PHI 284 Introduction to Feminist Theory (III); However, a student with a major or minor in WST cannot receive credit for both courses.
WST 301 Histories of Feminism
WST 305 Feminist Theories in Context
WST 408 Senior Seminar for Women's and Gender Studies Majors

B. Focused Studies

One course in each of the following categories (see Notes 1 & 2):

1. Women’s & Gender Studies in a Global Context (e.g., WST 395 Topics in Global Feminism; or approved substitute course)

2. Gender, Race, & Ethnicity (WST 398 Topics in Gender, Race, & Ethnicity; or approved substitute course)

3. Gender & Sexuality (e.g. WST 399 Topics in Gender & Sexuality; or approved substitute course)

C. Electives (updated July 2018)

Twelve credits from WST courses. The following courses offered by other departments may also be used to satisfy this requirement (see Note 3):

*Topics courses are listed in blue*

AAS 331 Japanese Literature in the Feminine Domain
AAS 372 Family, Marriage, & Kinship in China
AAS 392 Soc Sci Topics in Asian & Asian American Studies (approved topic: "Caste & Gender in Hindu Law")
AFH 382 Black Women's Literature of Diaspora
AFS 345 Culture & Gender
AFS 350 Black Women & Social Change
AFS 370 African-American Family
AFS 381 AIDS, Race, & Gender in the Black Community
ANT 367 Male & Female
ARH 391 Topics in Global Art (approved topic: "Images of Women in Visual Culture")
BIO 358 Biology of Human Social & Sexual Behavior
CCL 315 Gender & Sexuality in Ancient Greek Literature
CCS 311 Gender & Genre in Film
CCS 327 Topics in Histories of Culture (approved topics: "Queer Fictions of History; “Hormones & Behavior;” other topics when appropriate)
CLT 122 Images of Women in Literature
CLT 123 Sin & Sexuality in Literature
CLT 301 Theory of Literature (approved topic: "Queer Modernities")
EGL 276 Feminism: Literature and Cultural Contexts
EGL 310 Neoclassical Literature in English (approved topic: "Gender in the 18th Century")
EGL 350 Major Writers of American Literature, Colonial Period to 1900 (approved topic: "James, Stein, & Woolf")
EGL 352 Major Writers of 20th Century Literature in English (approved topic: "Virginia Woolf")
EGL 362 Drama in English (approved topic: "Women in Modern US Drama")
EGL 367 Contemporary Afro-American Literature (when topic appropriate)
EGL 371 Topics in Gender Studies in Literature
EGL 372 Topics in Women & Literature (approved topics: "Ecofeminism," "Mothering, Race, & Gender," "Women Writers")
EUR 390 Special Topics in European Studies (approved topic: "European Women Writers")
HIS 301 Reading and Writing Hisotry (approved topic: "Women in Nineteeth Century America")
HIS 336 Women, Work, & Family in Modern European History
HIS 360 Women in Premodern Europe
HIS 340 Topics in Asian History (approved topic: "Women in 20th Century China;" other topics when appropriate)
HIS 392 Topics in European History (approved topic: "The Age of Jane Austen")
HIS 393 Topics in Modern European History (approved topic: "Sexual Politics in Modern Europe;” “The World of Jane Austen;” other topics when appropriate)
HIS 394 Topics in History of Human Reproduction
HIS 396 Topics in US History (approved topics: "Women & Work in 20th Century US" and "Gender & Society in Early America")
HIS 401 Colloquium in European History (approved topic: "Heresy & Witchcraft in Middle Ages")
HIS 402 Colloquium in European History (approved topic: "Women, Militants, & the Vote")
HIS 414 Colloquium in American History (approved topic: "Sex & Death in American Murders")
HUI 231 Sex & Politics in Italian Cinema
HUI 235 Sex, Love, Tragedy: Early Italian Cinema
HUI 237 Images of Italian-American Women
LHD 301 Human Sexual & Gender Development Issues (approved topics: "Dirty Sex," "Gender & Technology," "Love & Power in Hollywood," "Men & Women in Society," "Men in America")
LHD 302 Colloquium in Human & Gender Development (approved topics: "Gender [& Sex] & Contemporary Media," "Pornography, Media, & AIDS")
LHD 401 Advanced Seminar in Human Sexual & Gender Development (approved topic: "Fetishes, Freaks, & Addictions")
MUS 314 Women Making Music
PHI 284 Intro to Feminist Theory (III)
PHI 384 Advanced Topics in Feminist Philosophy (III)
POL 330 Gender Issues & the Law
POL 347 Women & Politics
PSY 347 Psychology of Women
PSY 349 Special Topics in Social Psychology (approved topic: "Women's Health Issues")
RLS 366 Feminine Spirituality
SOC 247 Sociology of Gender
SOC 304 Sociology of the Family
SOC 340 Sociology of Human Reproduction
SOC 371 Gender & Work
SOC 390 Special Topics (approved topic: "Gender in Africa")
SOC 391 Special Topics (approved topics: "Bodies: A Social Primer," "Sociology of Masculinity;” “Gender in Africa;” other topics when appropriate)
SOC 394 Special Topics (approved topic: "Globalization, Gender, Migration;” “Gender & International Development;” other topics when appropriate)
SOC 395 Topics in Sci, Tech, & Society (approved topic: “Perverts, Pimps, & Pills;” other topics when appropriate)
SPN 410 Theory in Contexts (approved topic: "Money, Sex, & Power")
*SPN 415 Hispanic Cultures in Context (approved topic: "Domestic Work") - * course taught in Spanish
WSE 187 Women in the Laboratory
WSE 242 Society & Gender in Science & Engineering

Notes:

1) The following courses are approved to replace WST 395, 398, or 399)

Approved Replacements for WST 395

AAS 307 Women in US-Asian Relations

HIS 431 Women in Modern Japan

JPN 332 Japanese Literature in the Feminine Domain

SOC 391 Gender in Africa

SOC 394 Gender & International Development

WST 334 Women, Work & Family in Modern Europe

WST 360 Women in Premodern Europe

WST/AFS 350 Black Women & Social Change

WST/AFH/EGL 382 Black Women’s Literature of the Diaspora

WST/HIS 345 Women & Gender in Chinese History

Approved Replacements for WST 398

HIS 300 Race, Gender, Rights in U.S. Legal

HIS 396 Women of Color in American History

WST/EGL 372 Black Women Writers

WST/HUI 237 Images of Italian-American Women

WST 391/HUI 390/EGL369 Italian-Amer & Afri-Amer Women’s Literature

Approved Replacements for WST 399

ANT 295 Sex & Human Nature

CCS 325 Making Bodies Fit

EGL 390 Queer Studies: Race, Gender, & Sexuality in Literature

HIS 394 AIDS & Social History

POL 391 Sexualities & Politics

SOC 391 Sociology of Sexuality

WST 111 Intro to Queer Studies in the Humanities

WST 112 Intro to Queer Studies in the Social Sciences

WST 394 Special Topic: “Psychology of Reproduction”

WST 394 Special Topic: “Women, Science, Fiction, & Reproduction”

WST/AFS 381 AIDS, Race, Gender in the Black Community

WST/EGL 390 Queer Studies: Theorizing Race, Gender, & Sexuality

WST/HIS 374 Historical Perspectives on Gender Orientation

WST/SOC 340 Sociology of Human Reproduction

2) At least two WST topics courses (taught by WST-affiliated instructors) must be used to satisfy Requirement B.

3) Any course listed as -or cross-listed with- WST may count as an Elective (Requirement C). Other courses may count as qualifying electives if at least half the course content addresses issues concerning women, gender, and/or sexuality. The Undergraduate Program Director can review a course syllabus to determine if the course qualifies as an acceptable Elective. Availability of Elective courses depends on individual departments.

4) No more than 6 credits from any combination of WST 447 (Directed Readings) and WST 487 (Independent Project) and may be counted towards a WST Major

5) No more than 3 credits of WST 475 (Undergraduate Teaching Practicum I) may be counted towards a WST Major or Minor

6) No more than 6 credits of WST 488 (Internship) may be counted towards a WST Major

7) No more than 3 credits of WST 488 (Internship) may be counted towards a WST Minor

D. Upper-Division Writing Requirement

Students must present to the director of undergraduate studies a minimum of ten typewritten pages of formal writing, prepared for an upper-division course listed above as acceptable for the major requirements. This written work must have been judged by the course instructor to be satisfactory for the upper-division writing requirement in the field of Women's and Gender Studies. Normally this requirement is met through the work in WST 408.

Students should consult with the department advisor to ensure that their plan for completing the Upper Division Writing Requirement is consistent with university graduation requirements for General Education. Students completing the Stony Brook Curriculum (SBC) must successfully complete a course that satisfies the "Write Effectively within One's Discipline" (WRTD) learning objective in order to graduate. The Upper Division Writing Requirement is consistent in most cases with the SBC learning outcomes for WRTD .