Welcome to the Department of Women's and Gender Studies at SSU!
"The major you use everyday..."
The Department of Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS) welcomes all students who would like to learn about gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, immigration, class, and ability. Students in WGS study how gender structures everything from our innermost sense of self, to family and community, to transnational relations. Students in this major sharpen their critical thinking skills about some of the most dynamic issues in our society. These are the types of skills and knowledge that employers and social movements want and need—they also help us deepen our understanding of ourselves. To become a WGS major fill out a Change of Major form.
(Chad Surmick / The Press Democrat)
Majors in WGS and minors in WGS and Queer Studies learn about:
Social, political, and cultural dimensions of gender and inequity.
- How gender structures everything from our innermost sense of self to transnational circuits of society and economy.
- Intersectional perspectives, which means how gender is co-constituted with race, ethnicity, sexuality, nation, ability, and other forms of social power.
- Interdisciplinary approaches that examine social structures, institutions and ideologies of gender through social, historical, political, legal, and cultural lenses.
- How to apply what you are learning through research, internships, and career planning.
Students in WGS get close mentorship from award-winning faculty and join a community of scholarship and engagement with their fellow WGS classmates. WGS graduates have gone into a wide range of fulfilling professional and community service roles in: social work, non-profit leadership, law, ethnic studies, human resources, education, counseling, student services, urban planning, art, healthcare, business, and more.
Join us in WGS!
I like how we have a lot of support with the faculty and with each other. I feel like I matter and I can embrace my sexuality and who I am more.
Eventually, I do see myself getting into hospital management, which I think is a position where this major will be so useful for the sake of advocating for patients and making policies that are actually inclusive of the patients' interests.
When I was in my first class, they made it so inclusive and welcoming...they make the classroom a safe space for everybody. They're so open-minded about different perspectives and different understandings of the world. Don, Charlene and Lena are a power trio.
I like how well I do in the classes and I like how accessible information is. It's giving me the language to talk about the world around me and talk about the big issues and to really step back and be able to question others and understand.
I'm going to use my degree. The lens that I have built through my WGS classes is always going to be with me.... I plan to use the critical thinking that WGS has given me in every aspect of my life, always.
I just really want to help people and that's really broad. But whatever that looks like is okay with me- social work, counseling, working for a non-profit....I just want to reach my hand out in any way possible.