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Fall 2025 Undergraduate Catalog

Women’s and Gender Studies, BA
Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality  Studies, College of Arts and Sciences
Degree Awarded: Bachelor of Arts in Women’s and Gender Studies
 
Chair: Liz Montegary
Undergraduate Program Director: Nancy Hiemstra
Assistant to the Chair: Jackie Donnelly

Office: Humanities 2048
Phone: (631) 632-1967

Minors of particular interest to students majoring or minoring in Women’s and Gender Studies: English (EGL), Health and Wellness (LHW), History (HIS), Philosophy (PHI), Psychology (PSY), Sociology (SOC)

Women’s and gender studies is an interdisciplinary area of scholarship and research that focuses on the significance of gender as a variable in experience, history, and culture. Women’s and gender studies raises questions that often have been ignored or marginalized, and it makes the experience and history of women central to the study of any human concern. Scholarship in women’s and gender studies demonstrates the need to recognize new models of knowledge, as well as the need to be critical of theories and approaches that do not take into account the difference of gender. In so doing, women’s studies serves as a site for “reflective critique,” and it has often challenged the traditional disciplines to reflect on their concepts and methods in ways that have enriched those disciplines.

The Women’s and Gender Studies program introduces students to the history of feminism, as well as its contemporary theories and methods. Feminist theory in a global context provides the background for a critique of the social construction of gender and its relation to other systems of privilege.

The major in Women’s and Gender Studies is designed for students interested in the interdisciplinary study of gender, women, and sexuality. The programs emphasize the development of skills in critical thinking, argumentation, and writing. The program consists of a set of core courses offered in women’s studies as well as related courses in other disciplines. Students wishing to complete the major should consult the Department and establish an advising folder by the beginning of the junior year.

Because it emphasizes transposable skills of reading, writing, analysis, and expression, women’s and gender studies provides an excellent preparation for graduate school, professional school, or employment. Graduates have gone on to careers in law, medicine, social work, psychology, teaching, and business, among other fields, and graduate work in women’s studies. Double majors, combining Women’s and Gender Studies with another field, are not uncommon.

Students may choose to pursue a combined Women’s and Gender Studies B.A. and Master of Public Health.

Degree Requirements

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 two 100-level courses may be applied toward major requirements. At least 18 credits must be in courses numbered 300 or higher. Students may choose to pursue an accelerated Women’s and Gender Studies B.A. and Master of Public Health. For further information on the accelerated degree, please see the program Director.

Completion of the major requires 36 credits.

Core Courses

Focused Studies

One course in each of the following categories (see Note 1)

Electives (12 credits)

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 complete a course that satisfies the “Write Effectively within One’s Discipline” (WRTD) learning objective to graduate. The Upper Division Writing Requirement is consistent in most cases with the SBC learning outcomes for WRTD.

Notes:

  1. The courses below are approved to replace WST 395 , WST 398 , or WST 399 )
  2. Related special topics courses given in various departments are acceptable for the Women’s Studies major and minor with the approval of the undergraduate director. A list will be available on the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department Website at the start of pre-registration each semester.
  3. At least two WST topics courses (taught by WGSS faculty or affiliated instructors) must be used in satisfying Requirement B.
  4. No more than six credits from WST 447 - Directed Readings in Women’s and Gender Studies  and WST 487 - Independent Project in Women’s and Gender Studies  may be applied toward the major.
  5. No more than 3 credits of WST 475 - Undergraduate Teaching Practicum I  may be counted towards a WST Major.
  6. No more than 6 credits of WST 488 - Internship  may be counted towards a WST Major.
  7. 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. Students may seek advance approval from tThe Undergraduate Program Director, who can review a course syllabus to determine if the course qualifies as an acceptable Elective. Availability of Elective courses depends on individual departments.

Approved Replacements for WST 395

Approved Replacements for WST 398

Approved Replacements for WST 399

Students majoring in WST may choose an additional WST specialization (this is not required for the Major):

in Gender, Sexuality, and Public Health, OR Gender and Social Change.

Specialization in Gender, Sexuality, and Public Health

Students choosing to pursue this specialization receive additional preparation for a career in public health. Depending on the student’s choice of courses, this specialization can be useful for students planning careers in midwifery, medicine, nursing, or counseling and education related to sexuality and/or reproduction.

Requirements for the Specialization in Gender, Sexuality, and Public Health
  1. 18 credits of coursework (See Notes)
    See the list of elective courses below; a current list of courses approved for this specialization can be found on the WGSS Department website. Upon request, the Undergraduate Program Director can review a course syllabus to determine if the course qualifies as an acceptable course for this specialization.
  2. Internship
    Three of the 18 credits for the specialization must be in an approved internship or other related applied experience.
Notes:
  1. No more than 3 of the 18 credits required for the specialization may be lower-division.
  2. All A-F graded courses must be passed with a grade of C or better.
  3. The specialization courses may overlap with major requirements, but not replace any.
Specialization Courses

Specialization in Gender and Social Change

Students choosing to pursue this specialization receive additional preparation for a career in social change creating professions, such as law, social work, public policy, or the media. Depending on the student’s choice of courses, this specialization can be useful for students planning careers in civil rights work, community organizing, work with abused women and children, politics, or visual media, to give only a few examples.

Requirements for the Specialization in Gender and Social Change
  1. 18 credits of coursework (See Notes)

See the list of elective courses below; a current list of courses approved for this specialization can be found on the WGSS Department website. Upon request, the Undergraduate Program Director can review a course syllabus to determine if the course qualifies as an acceptable course for this specialization.

  1. Internship 

Three of the 18 credits for the specialization must be in an approved internship or other related applied experience.

Notes:
  1. No more than 3 of the 18 credits required for the specialization may be lower-division.
  2. All A-F graded courses must be passed with a grade of C or better.
  3. The specialization courses may overlap with major requirements, but not replace any.
Elective courses for the Specialization in Gender and Social Change

Women’s and Gender Studies Honors Program

Any Women’s and Gender Studies major who has maintained a grade point average (GPA) of 3.50 in the WaGS major and a 3.00 GPA overall are eligible to enroll in the Women’s and Gender Studies with honors program. The student must maintain these respective GPAs throughout the duration of the honors program. The student must enroll in the honors program before the end of the junior year. The student must identify a potential faculty member within the department to serve as a mentor, and, with the written approval of the mentor, submit the honors program application, which will describe the honors thesis project.

In the senior year, the student must enroll in WST 495  in the first semester and WST 496  in the second semester, for a total of six credits. This year long sequence of WST 495 /WST 496  is in lieu of the general Senior Seminar, WST 408 . Since there are two semesters of required coursework, students in the program will complete 39 credits for the major, as opposed to 36 for students not enrolled in the program. The student’s honors thesis must be completed no later than four weeks prior to the end of the second semester, to allow for review by the honors committee and to allow for revisions. The honors thesis will be read by the student’s mentor and two other CAT faculty members or CAT affiliates.

If the honors program is completed with distinction and the student has achieved a 3.50 GPA in all WST courses taken in the senior year, honors are conferred.

SBC Courses

This table illustrates major courses that can also be used to fulfill SBC requirements. (See Note 1 & Note 2)

 

SBC Category Required Major Courses Optional Major Courses (see Note 3)
ARTS   EUR 390, HUI 231
GLO   ARH 391, HIS 340, HUI 235, WST 395
HUM   CLT 122, CLT 123, EGL 276, HUI 235, HUI 237, PHI 284, WST 103, WST 111
LANG (see Note 4)    
QPS    
SBS   SOC 247, WST 102, WST 112
SNW    
TECH    
USA   AFS 370, EGL 367, HUI 237
WRT    
STAS   BIO 358, SOC 340, SOC 395, WST 394
EXP+ WST 408 HIS 401, SOC 394
HFA+ WST 291, WST 305 AAS 331, AFH 382, AFS 370, ARH 391, CCS 311, CLL 315, CLT 301, EGL 362, EGL 367, EGL 371, EGL 372, EGL 390, EUR 390, PHI 384, RLS 366, SPN 410, WST 399
SBS+ WST 301 AAS 372, AAS 392, AFS 345, AFS 350, AFS 381, ANT 367, HIS 336, HIS 360, HIS 374, HIS 340, HIS 392, HIS 393, HIS 396, MUS 314, POL 330, POL 347, PSY 347, SOC 304, SOC 371, SOC 390, SOC 391, SOC 394, CCS 325, WST 395, WST 398
STEM+    
CER   CLT 123, HUI 231, PHI 284, PHI 384, WST 102, WST 103, WST 111, WST 112
DIV (see Note 5) WST 291, WST 301 AFH 382, CCS 311, EGL 276, EGL 367, HIS 360, HUI 237, POL 330, POL 347, SOC 247, WST 102, WST 103, WST 111, WST 112, WST 395, WST 398, WST 399
ESI WST 291 ANT 367, BIO 358, SPN 410
SPK WST 408 CLT 301, CLT 301, HIS 401
WRTD WST 408 HIS 401

Note 1: Some course information may be subject to change. Please contact your major advisor for additional consultation.

Note 2: For majors that require study in a related area or completion of a minor, visit the respective program’s “Major SBC Courses” page to view expanded SBC options. 

Note 3: Denotes any course in which students can choose from more than one option. These may include, but are not limited to, major electives, concentration/track/specialization courses, or calculus/physics/chemistry sequences.

Note 4: CEAS majors, the Athletic Training major, the Respiratory Care major, and the Clinical Laboratory Sciences major are exempt from the LANG learning objective. Students enrolled in the major in Social Work are exempt from the LANG learning objective, but are required to enroll in and pass with a letter grade of C or higher the first semester of an elementary foreign language course numbered 111, or satisfy through alternate methods.

Note 5: Students are responsible for completing the general education requirements published in the Bulletin that was current as of the first semester of matriculation (or rematriculation). The following student groups must satisfy the DIV learning objective as part of their degree requirements:

  • Freshmen who matriculate in the Fall of 2019 or later
  • Transfer students who matriculate in the Spring of 2020 or later
  • Students who rematriculate in the Fall of 2019 or later

Sample Course Sequence