This information is part of the Colgate University catalog, 2026-27.
Major Requirements
A minimum of eight courses in the following areas:
Introductory Course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
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WGSS 202 - Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies
A student must receive a minimum grade of C in WGSS 202 in order to be admitted to the major program.
Feminist Methodology
Courses fulfilling this requirement have an attribute of WSFM in the course offerings.
One course in Feminist Methodology:
Feminist Theory
Courses fulfilling this requirement have an attribute of WSFT in the course offerings.
One course in feminist theory:
- WGSS 260 - Intersectionality in Theory and Practice
- WGSS 279 - Black Feminist Thinkers
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- EDUC 303 - Decolonizing Development: Gender, Power & Education in Inter/national Development
- LGBT 303 - Queer Identities and Global Discourses
- SOCI 369 - Women, Health, & Medicine
Divisions
- At least four more courses from the following lists
- Must have two courses from each list
- At least one must count towards LGBTQ Studies (WGSS 202 does not fulfill this requirement)
List A
Courses fulfilling this requirement have an attribute of WSDA in the course offerings.
- ENGL 208 - Sex and the Global City
- ENGL 305 - The Female Protagonist
- ENGL 333 - African/Diaspora Women's Narrative
- ENGL 158 - South Asian Fiction and Food
- ENGL 405 - The Brontes
- ENGL 408 - Literature of Medieval Women
- FMST 350 - Hollywood and the World: Performing Gender and Sexuality Onscreen
- FREN 453 - Contemporary Literature in French
- FREN 455 - Francophone Voices from North Africa
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- LGBT 227 - Machismo: Masculinity in Hispanic Cultures
- LGBT 303 - Queer Identities and Global Discourses
- LGBT 321 - Gay's Anatomy
- MIST 210 - Arabic Literature in Translation
- PHIL 360 - Feminist Philosophy
- RELG 253 - Love, God, and Sex
- SPAN 474 - Contemporary Short Fiction in Spanish
- SPAN 488 - Latin American Women Dramatists
- WGSS 260 - Intersectionality in Theory and Practice
- WGSS 279 - Black Feminist Thinkers
- WRIT 242 - Stand and Speak: Feminist Rhetorics and Social Change
- WRIT 345 - Crafting Bodies: Movement, Gender, and Performance
List B
Courses fulfilling this requirement have an attribute of WSDB in the course offerings.
- ANTH 216 - Men, Masculinities, and Power
- ANTH 228 - Women and Gender in Prehistory
- ANTH 315 - Gender and Culture
- ECON 234 - Gender in the Economy
- ECON 410 - Seminar in Gender and Development
- EDUC 303 - Decolonizing Development: Gender, Power & Education in Inter/national Development
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- GEOG 321 - Transnational Feminist Geography
- HIST 211 - Women's Rights in US History
- HIST 304 - Sex and Sexualities in U.S. History
- LGBT 220 - Exploration in LGBTQ Studies
- LGBT 230 - LGBTQ Health
- LGBT 350 - Sexuality, Gender, & the Law
- NAIS 310 - Indigenous LGBTQ and Feminist Studies
- PCON 160 - Gender (In)Security
- POSC 364 - Politics of South Asia
- SOCI 220 - Gender, Sexuality, & Society
- SOCI 333 - Sociology of the Life Course and
- SOCI 367 - Sociology of Gender
- SOCI 369 - Women, Health, & Medicine
- WGSS 302 - Special Topics: Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies
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Senior Seminar
Other Courses
Courses fulfilling this requirement have an attribute of WSPR in the course offerings.
Other courses may count toward a Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies major, depending on the orientation of the course, the instructor's choice of syllabus, and/or the direction of the readings and student projects during a particular year. Such courses need the approval of the instructor and the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies director to be counted toward a Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies major. Students must check with their WGSS adviser about which of the following courses meet WGSS concentration requirements. WGSS credit cannot be granted once the course is completed with a non-approved instructor.
These courses include:
- EDUC 204 - Child and Adolescent Development
- ENGL 461 - Studies in the Renaissance
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- SOCI 333 - Sociology of the Life Course and
- WGSS 291 - Independent Study
- WGSS 391 - Independent Study
- WGSS 491 - Independent Study
- WGSS 499 - Honors in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Additional Information
Students' relationships with their advisers are a critical part of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program. Following admission to the program, students, in consultation with their advisers, may develop a sequence of required and elective courses related to a particular topic. Some suggested topics are postcolonial and critical race studies; family studies; women in the United States; global perspectives on women; women, work, and family; women and social change; women and religion; and women, knowledge, and text.
Honors and High Honors
To be considered for Honors, concentrators must have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 in Women's Studies. Students who choose to pursue honors must announce their intention to do so by submitting proposals preceding their final term of study at Colgate. Additionally, these honors projects must be completed and approved by faculty sponsors and by the program's director. High honors in women's studies may be awarded to successful honors candidates who have been invited to present the results of their written projects in oral form to the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies faculty. A committee of faculty will vote on granting high honors for exceptionally strong intersectional projects that engage feminist theory and communicate across disciplines
Women's Studies Program
For more information about the department, including Faculty, transfer credit, awards, and more, please visit the catalog page.