Why study gender, law & policy?
- Learn how gender and sexuality shape access to justice
- Use scientific, historical, cross-cultural, and literary tools to analyze the law from a critical perspective
- Build better policy solutions to real social problems
The Department of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies now offers an undergraduate certificate investigating how legal institutions address gender, race, class and sexuality. This focused program is only four courses, with popular electives on topics such as intimate partner violence, human trafficking, reproductive justice, LGBTQ rights, electoral politics, feminist jurisprudence, and sex education. Available online and in-person, it is designed to fit alongside other major and minor programs from across campus.
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| |
| Introduction to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | |
| Introduction to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Honors |
| Introduction to Human Sexuality Studies | |
| |
| Black Feminist and Womanist Ethics | |
| History, Women, and Diversity in the U.S. | |
| LGBTQ U.S. History, 1600-1900 | |
| LGBTQ U.S. History, 1900-Present | |
| Perspectives in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies | |
| The Politics of Physical Appearance | |
| Feminism and Social Change | |
| When We Lead: Minorities and the Legislative Process | |
| International Women's Rights | |
| History of American Women--Colonial Times to 1870 | |
| History of American Women--1870 to Present | |
| Politics of Human Trafficking | |
| Policing the Womb | |
| Women and Violence | |
| Skin, Sex, and Disease | |
| The Rhetoric of Women's Rights | |
| Making a Pandemic: The History and Politics of HIV/AIDS | |
| Gender and Politics | |
| Gender, Culture, and Migration | |
| Native Feminisms | |
| Love, Sex, and Globalization | |
| Feminist Contemporary Political Theory | |
| Service Learning in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies | |
| Gender, Peace, and Conflict | |
| Gender and Politics in Africa | |
| Gender, Sexuality and the Law | |
| Total Hours | 12 |
Other relevant courses, including WGSS 396 Studies in: _____, may be approved by WGSS chair or undergraduate director. If the course directly addresses issues in law and policy, this course may count toward a specific requirement within this program. Confirm with the major advisor.
Overlap Policies:
Students earning the undergraduate certificate in Gender, Law, and Policy in addition to another WGSS program (major or minor) can overlap one course — the 100-level Introduction.
At the completion of this program, students will be able to:
- Apply an intersectional framework to analyze gender, sexuality, and legal status.
- Reflect critically on the role of law and policy in systems of oppression and sites of liberation.
