Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

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WGSS Program Director

Overview

The Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) Program offers an interdisciplinary and multicultural series of courses that explore and question the intersections of gender, sexuality, culture, ethnicity, social class and race. Courses are taught by faculty members from various departments and fields of study and provide a critical framework to explore the significance of gender (along with race, sexuality, and class) in the shaping of women’s and men’s lives. The program focuses on the recovery of women’s contributions in a variety of fields, on women’s and men’s roles in society across cultures, and especially on critical questions about gender neutrality in the shaping of culture.

The Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program complements any course of studies and prepares you well for any career in the arts, sciences and technology, health professions, business, law, social and community service, and education.

Poster for Symposium on Women, Gender, Sexuality, and Technologies on March 28, 2025, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Check-in and registration at SHED-3359, lobby.

2025 Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Symposium on
Women, Gender, Sexuality, and Technologies

March 28, 2025
8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
SHED-3359, lobby

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24+

Faculty members from across RIT contribute to Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

40+

Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies courses offered

9

4 Minors and 5 Immersions offered:

Gender and STEM Studies
Gender, Art, and Media
Gender Equity, Social Institutions, and Public Affairs
Queer and Transgender Studies
Women’s and Gender Studies

Careers

For what jobs, careers, and professions is an education in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies highly beneficial? For what is it an excellent complement? Find out here.

What people say about the RIT WGSS Program

Here you can read what previous and current students, faculty, and staff have to say about the WGSS program, curricular options, and courses.

Read more about what people are saying about the program

Speaker Series

Series Overview

The Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program is pleased to announce its Fall 2024 Speaker Series.

A poster showing information about a conversation with Dr. Stefanie Dunning. Information on date, time, location, and topic follow.

November 20 – 3:00-4:15 p.m., LBR 1251
Dr. Stefanie Dunning
Foraging for Freedom: Black Women’s Contemporary Eco-Praxis
WGSS Speaker Series

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Featured Work and Profiles

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Faculty / Staff

Silvia Benso headshot
Silvia Benso
Professor
Department of Philosophy
College of Liberal Arts
Director, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program
sxbgsl@rit.edu
Stacy DeRooy headshot
Stacy DeRooy
Executive Director of Title IX and Clery Compliance
Compliance and Ethics
Finance and Administration
Adjunct Faculty
sadcpsa@rit.edu
585-475-7158

Past Directors

Tina Lent

Retired Professor, former Director of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program

Silvia Benso headshot
Silvia Benso
Professor
Department of Philosophy
College of Liberal Arts
Director, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program
sxbgsl@rit.edu
Stacy DeRooy headshot
Stacy DeRooy
Executive Director of Title IX and Clery Compliance
Compliance and Ethics
Finance and Administration
Adjunct Faculty
sadcpsa@rit.edu
585-475-7158
Yuhan Huang headshot
Yuhan Huang
Assistant Professor
Department of Modern Languages and Cultures
College of Liberal Arts
yhgsl@rit.edu
585-475-4092
Kelly Kamish headshot
Kelly Kamish
Associate Director Disability Services Office
Disability Services
Student Affairs
Adjunct Faculty
kekcwag@rit.edu
585-475-2141
Judy Porter headshot
Judy Porter
Professor
Department of Criminal Justice
College of Liberal Arts
Program Director, Criminal Justice BS
jlpgcj@rit.edu
585-475-5367
Taj Smith headshot
Taj Smith
Executive Director for Culture and Diversity Education
Community, Belonging, and Diversity Education
Diversity and Inclusion
Adjunct Faculty
tpsddi@rit.edu
585-475-2224
Elena Sommers headshot
Elena Sommers
Principal Lecturer
Department of English
College of Liberal Arts
Provost's Faculty Associate for Non-Tenure-Track Faculty
ersgla@rit.edu

Degree Program

RIT’s women’s, gender, and sexuality studies major critically explores how gender and sexuality interact with science, technology, and the arts to shape aspects of our personal, social, and professional lives and career paths.

Learn more about the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies BS program

Double Major with WGSS

Explore how gender and sexuality interact with science, technology, and the humanities to shape our personal social, and professional lives. Enhance your technical, professional education and become a trailblazer for progress by adding the women’s, gender, and sexuality studies major to a degree in other disciplines in the humanities or STEM.

A double major in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies adds a secondary area of expertise to your résumé, complementing the skills you develop in your primary major and demonstrating to employers that you have the abilities, tools, and resources to help create a diverse, equitable, inclusive, sustainable, supportive, and fulfilling place for everyone involved.

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Minors and Immersions

The gender and STEM studies immersion is an interdisciplinary set of courses that enable you to investigate, analyze, and critically question a range of issues at the crossing of gender (in its intersection with sexuality, race, class, and ethnicity) with the STEM fields. 

Learn more about the Gender and STEM Studies Immersion program

The gender equity, social institutions, and public affairs immersion equips you with the ability to view the social domain of public affairs, institutions, practices, and policies through a gendered lens and prepares you for future potential roles as advocates and leaders in the struggle toward gender equity and social justice at local, national, and global levels.

Learn more about the Gender Equity, Social Institutions, and Public Affairs Immersion program

The gender equity, social institutions, and public affairs minor is an interdisciplinary course of study that equips you with the ability to view the social domain of public affairs, institutions, practices, and policies through a gendered lens and prepares you for future potential roles as advocates and leaders in the struggle toward gender equity and social justice.

Learn more about the Gender Equity, Social Institutions, and Public Affairs Minor program

In the gender, art, and media immersion students explore how gender issues and identities, in their intersections with culture, race, ethnicity, nationality, social class, age, and (dis)abilities, are represented and portrayed in various artistic, literary, and media forms. By engaging with cultural texts and productions from both historical and contemporary perspectives, the immersion introduces students to critical analysis and knowledge-building methods drawn from fields such as women's and gender studies, feminist theories, critical race studies, queer studies, social justice work, and activism. The immersion teaches students to analyze gendered images as they appear in arts and media, recognize power inequalities and stereotypes in gender representations, and acquire the conceptual skills to critique and improve current conditions of artistic, literary, and media production and consumption in view of increased gender equity and fairness. The immersion complements any course of studies in a number of art and media-related fields such as art and literary criticism, art curation and exhibition, journalism and photojournalism, media studies, filmmaking, literature, photography, advertising and marketing, public relations, social services, and more.

Learn more about the Gender, Art, and Media Immersion program

In the gender, art, and media minor students explore how gender issues and identities, in their intersections with culture, race, ethnicity, nationality, social class, age, and (dis)abilities, are represented and portrayed in various artistic, literary, and media forms. By engaging with cultural texts and productions from both historical and contemporary perspectives, the minor introduces students to critical analysis and knowledge-building methods drawn from fields such as women's and gender studies, feminist theories, critical race studies, queer studies, social justice work, and activism. The minor teaches students to analyze gendered images as they appear in arts and media, recognize power inequalities and stereotypes in gender representations, and acquire the conceptual skills to critique and improve current conditions of artistic, literary, and media production and consumption in view of increased gender equity and fairness. The minor complements any course of studies in a number of art and media-related fields such as art and literary criticism, art curation and exhibition, journalism and photojournalism, media studies, filmmaking, literature, photography, advertising and marketing, public relations, social services, and more.

Learn more about the Gender, Art, and Media Minor program

The queer and transgender studies immersion is an interdisciplinary set of courses whose primary concern is the critical study of cultures, creative expressions, histories, economic structures, and socio-political and legal institutions as they impact the formation of queer and transgender identities and the lives and experiences of people in the LGBTQ+ community.

Learn more about the Queer and Transgender Studies Immersion program

The queer and transgender studies minor is an interdisciplinary set of courses that provides a critical study of cultures, creative expressions, histories, economic structures, and socio-political and legal institutions as they impact the formation of queer and transgender identities and the lives and experiences of people in the LGBTQ+ community.

Learn more about the Queer and Transgender Studies Minor program

The women’s and gender studies immersion allows students to explore the significance of gender as it intersects with racial, ethnic, religious, national, class, sexuality, and dis/ability-based identities, past and present. The immersion introduces critical analysis and knowledge-building methods drawn from fields such as women's and gender studies, feminist theories, critical race studies, queer studies, social justice work, and activism. Courses build knowledge about the personal, social, cultural, economic, and historical dynamics that inform gender and intersecting social categories. The immersion provides valuable skills and experiences applying these different lenses to real-world interactions with diverse individuals and communities, to current social challenges that impact multiple parties, and with an eye to improving equity and fair outcomes for everyone concerned.

Learn more about the Women’s and Gender Studies Immersion program

The women’s and gender studies minor provides a critical framework to explore the significance of gender—as it intersects with racial, ethnic, religious, national, class, sexuality, and disability-based identities, past and present. Course builds knowledge about the personal, social, cultural, economic, and historical dynamics that inform gender and intersecting social categories. The minor builds fluency with critical analysis and knowledge-building methods drawn from women's and gender studies, feminist theories, critical race studies, queer studies, social justice work, and activism. The minor also provides valuable skills and experience applying these different lenses to real-world interactions with diverse individuals and communities to current social challenges that impact multiple parties, and with an eye to improving equity and fair outcomes for everyone concerned. Students will learn how to analyze and question power relations in all their rich complexities, locally, and globally.

Learn more about the Women’s and Gender Studies Minor program

Courses

WGST-200
Foundations Of Women And Gender Studies
Credits 3
Women’s and Gender Studies is the academic manifestation of feminism. This interdisciplinary course interrogates the social constructions, political systems, and historical rhetorics that have produced and maintain hegemonic power structures. In this course you will examine key feminist, queer, and critical race writings and discourses, study the rise of feminist thought, and consider the history of women’s activism and the women’s rights movements from Suffrage to the present day. The course will also consider the application of feminist theory made visible through the rise of new and intersectional social identity movements.
WGST-205
Feminist Practices of Inquiry
Credits 3
This course aims at introducing students to the diverse ways in which feminist and gender studies practitioners (scholars, writers, artists, and activists) have critically analyzed, challenged, and creatively reinvented predominant methods, models, and practices of knowledge production in various areas of the natural and social sciences, the medical arts, the humanities, and the visual and performing arts. Questions to be considered include: What constitutes feminist practices of inquiry? How do feminist research practices approach issues of objectivity and subjectivity? How does one formulate a feminist question? What key questions guide feminist researchers and how can we apply those questions to a variety of research topics? How do feminist practices of inquiry intersect with race, class, gender, ethnicity, nationality, sexualities, identity-formation processes, (dis)abilities, age? How do feminist research practices produce transformations, emancipation, and increased fairness of representation?
WGST-210
Introduction to LGBTQ+ Studies
Credits 3
This introductory course examines a broad range of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer issues within the historical, psychological, racial, theological, cultural, and legal contexts in which we live. Students will learn the historical and theoretical foundations of LGBTQ+ studies as well as the contemporary implications for family, work, religion, and law for LGBTQ+ people and the mainstream society. Students will have the opportunity to compare the regulation of sexual orientation across different gender, racial, and socioeconomic communities.
WGST-220
Gender-Based Violence: Awareness, Prevention, Response
Credits 3
Does gender-based violence consist only of forcible acts punishable by law or does it also include episodes of gender constraint that may not involve physical assault yet have serious effects on bodies and lives? Is gender-based violence an ethical issue and a form of human rights violation? What are the value systems that enable the occurrence of gendered violence? This course focuses on sex- and gender-based violence understood as a continuum of social and interpersonal violent behaviors that not only shade into one another but also inform and reinforce one another. By examining a variety of case studies drawn from national, transnational, and global contexts, the course examines experiences of sexed and gendered violence such as verbal violence, harassment, domestic and intimate-partner violence, and sexual attack. The course investigates social, economic, and cultural contributing factors that surround sex- and gender-based violence as well as some historical responses, prevalence of the phenomena, and tools and resources to resist such forms of violence. The course aims to raise awareness about the topic of sex- and gender-based violence, educate on strategies and techniques to disrupt such forms of violent social behaviors, promote positive actions of intervention at the local and global level, and generate interest in humanitarian and professional opportunities in the field such as activism, advocacy, education, health, policy, and the law. The course also highlights the ethical challenges (such as privacy and confidentiality, respect for individuals, vulnerability and safety, protection and disclosure of data) related to dealing with cases of gender-based violence.
WGST-221
Sex for Sale: Prostitution, Sex Work, and Sex Trade
Credits 3
Why does sex for sale raise some of the most controversial and often taboo questions of our time? Is sex for sale a form of exploitation and violence against individuals (whether women, men, queer or other non-binary individuals)? Or does sex for sale offer emancipatory possibilities and therefore ought to be understood as part of an ethics of sexual liberation, personal affirmation, and individual agency? What are the moral values, ethical standards, and economic and legal systems surrounding sex for sale? The course explores some of the myriad varieties of global sex for sale such as pornography, prostitution, erotic dance, escorting, street work, camming, peep shows, and sex tourism. The course considers various feminist and queer theories’ perspectives on the sex trade, critically analyzing theoretical and empirical studies and assessing various legal approaches to regulating this multi-faceted industry. The course tackles the sex industry transnationally exploring the connections between sex, gender, sexuality, and other social markers such as race/ethnicity, class, disability, age, and nationality; it investigates how these markers play out in the purchase and sale of sexual services; and it challenges commonly held ethical standards surrounding sex for sale. By the end of the course, students will understand how they as individuals could contribute to solutions, activism, and social change for increased respect toward the fundamental humanity of sex workers and for enhanced life and work conditions of those who work in the sex industry.
WGST-230
Men, Males, and Masculinities
Credits 3
Who and what defines a man? What challenges might the process of manhood present? How does one’s masculine expression align or not align with family or societal definitions? How are men harmed by unattainable ideas of manhood? What advantages and privileges come along with embodying maleness? What impacts does masculinity have on men’s relationships (with women, with other men, as fathers, as sons)? What does it mean to be a man of color, a working-class man or a gay man? Is masculinity innately violent or aggressive? This course uses a critical approach to examine individual, institutional, and societal understandings of what it means in general to be a man. It explores models of masculinity in conjunction with analyses of race, class, disability, and sexuality. It analyzes the common and diverse experiences of how some human beings are socialized and/or choose to express their masculinity in healthy, unique, hegemonic and sometimes problematic ways. It probes how some models of (toxic or hegemonic) masculinity promote hierarchies of power and privilege in groups, organizations, and institutions. And it investigates ways in which toxic forms of masculinity can be broken down and rewritten to work toward a healthier, more just (and less oppressive) society for all.
WGST-300
Feminist Leadership, Gender Equity and Empowerment
Credits 3
This course explores contemporary leadership styles through the lens of gender diversity. Relying upon a feminist social justice framework alongside models of intersectionality, students will actively engage with a wide variety of gender and culture-informed literature and visual media sources, defining—in both theory and practice—what it means to be an inclusive and empowering leader in modern society. Some questions to consider will include: In a work environment, who is responsible for ensuring gender equity? Where does inclusion begin? How does our personal identity shape our view of leadership? How does our view of leadership shape our identity? Why does gender matter in a professional environment? What role does feminism play in the construction of societal norms? What is the relation between leadership, power relations, and authority? How does a feminist social justice framework affect and reorient traditional notions of leadership? How do leadership styles and models vary across cultures? What styles of leadership are needed to create more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces, organizations, and societies?
WGST-305
Feminist Activism for Gender Justice
Credits 3
This course focuses on the many forms of feminist activisms and feminist strategies of grassroots social resistance in the U.S. and beyond. It centers women as agents of social change in the struggle to challenge gender stereotypes, sexism, and oppressive policies; organize to reduce social issues such as poverty, racism, homophobia, and violence; work to expand opportunities for gender equity and social justice; and confront barriers in education, the criminal justice system, and politics. Topics of investigation include feminist struggles against domestic and sexual violence (including emergent forms of sexual regulation and slavery, agendas of incarceration, and politics of immigration and housing) as well as the fight for personhood, citizenship, legal rights, property rights, rights to the land, water, and clean air, disability rights, personal freedom, suffrage, education, reproductive rights, workplace equality, and more. As there is a personal element to all forms of feminist social activism, the course will also engage questions such as: How do you envision yourself as an empowered, effective activist for gender justice? What strengths, resources, and commitments can you bring to your gender justice work? What social issues are you most passionate about? Students in the course will also create or participate in some activist project concerning a particularly pressing local, national or global social issue thereby melding theory and practice for increased gender justice in the world we live in.
WGST-361
Queering Gender
Credits 3
This course begins with the concept that sexuality, gender and gender identity is neither fixed nor innate. Many people who adopt a definition or expression of gender different from society often identify themselves as queer. The study of this movement is referred to as queer theory. This course examines the concepts of sex, gender, and gender expression of straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people of all ages, races, and socioeconomic classes within the context of the larger society in which we live. Students will explore the unique political, legal, and interpersonal challenges faced by those embracing queer identity as well as the diversity of gender identities and expressions.
WGST-399
Collaborative Learning Seminar in WGSS
Credits 3
This small-group, discussion-oriented, intensive-writing seminar examines some area of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (chosen by the instructor, announced in the course subtitle, and developed in the syllabus). The seminar is based on collaborative learning, discussions, and various forms of formal and informal writing understood as an integral part of the critical exploration of WGSS-related topics.
WGST-449
Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies
Credits 3
This variable topic course examines one or more themes, figures, movements, critical questions or issues in the areas of women's and gender studies. The topic for the course is chosen by the instructor, announced in the course subtitle, and developed in the syllabus. Topics in WGST can be taken multiple times provided the topic(s) being studied has changed.
WGST-459
Topics in LGBTQ+ Studies
Credits 3
This variable topic course examines one or more themes, figures, movements, critical questions or issues in the areas of LGBTQ+ studies. The topic for the course is chosen by the instructor, announced in the course subtitle, and developed in the syllabus. Topics in LGBTQ+ Studies can be taken multiple times provided the topic being studied has changed.
WGST-499
Cooperative Education in WGSS
Credits 0
A semester or summer-length experience in a professional setting related to the WGSS degree (this class is restricted to WGSS degree students).
WGST-596
Internship in WGSS
Credits 1 - 3
The Internship in WGSS provides a credit-bearing opportunity for personalized experiential learning that moves out of the classroom and into the world thereby linking the intellectual and the practical dimensions of WGSS. Students complete a semester or summer-long internship in a WGSS-related setting of their choice such as women’s and/or LGBTQ+ centers or units, schools, community organizations or networks, prisons, shelters, etc. where they work from a feminist framework on a learning project related to WGSS topics. A reflective essay, journal, poster presentation or other dissemination at the close of the Internship is required to receive credit. Prior to enrollment in the Internship, students must submit an Internship proposal to the WGSS Program Director for approval. To submit a proposal for an Internship in WGSS and receive an official WGST course grade, the student must have completed 3 courses in WGST core or co-listed courses, have at least a second-year standing, have a minimum GPA of 2.7 at the time of the application, and complete the internship described in the proposal.
WGST-597
Advanced Research in WGSS
Credits 1 - 3
This individualized course is designed to give students an opportunity to gain first-hand experience working independently on a research study that addresses WGSS-related topics and applies methodologies proper to women’s, gender, and sexuality studies to a research area of the student’s interest. The advanced research study is carried out outside the classroom under the supervision of a WGSS faculty sponsor selected by the student. The research study culminates in the production of a substantive written essay (such as a paper, theis, or scholarly report) that explains the critical or theoretical context of the research study, incorporates women’s, gender, and sexuality studies theory and/or practice, and provides an analysis of the content, presuppositions, goals, and outcomes of the research. Prior to enrollment in this course, students must submit a research study proposal to their faculty sponsor, who will forward it to the WGSS Program Director for approval. The research study proposal should specify the topic and goal of the advanced research study project, the methodology to be employed, and the timeframe for its completion (for guidelines for designing and gaining approval for an Advanced Research study, see the guidelines for an Independent Study as provided in College of Liberal Arts Policy I.D). To submit a proposal for Advanced Research in WGSS and receive an official WGST course grade, the student must have completed 3 courses in WGST core or co-listed courses, have a minimum GPA of 2.7 at the time of the application, and complete the work described in the proposal.
WGST-598
Advanced Project in WGSS
Credits 1 - 3
This individualized course allows students to work independently on their own creative project by applying themes and methodologies proper to women’s, gender, and sexuality studies to an area of their own academic interest. The advanced project is carried out outside the classroom under the supervision of a WGSS faculty sponsor selected by the student. The project culminates in the production and public presentation, display or performance of a creative work (such as an artifact, a film, a videogame, installation art, a musical composition, a piece of design, a performance, a poster, an activist initiative, etc.) that incorporates women’s, gender, and sexuality studies theory and/or practice. The final product must be accompanied by a written component that explains the critical or theoretical context for the project and provides an analysis of its content. Prior to enrollment in this course, students must submit a project proposal to their faculty sponsor, who will forward it to the WGSS Program Director for approval. The proposal should specify the topic and goal of the advanced project, the timeframe for its completion, and a venue for public dissemination (for guidelines for designing and gaining approval for an Advanced Project, see the guidelines for an Independent Study as provided in College of Liberal Arts Policy I.D). To submit a proposal for an Advanced Project in WGSS and receive an official WGST course grade, the student must have completed 3 courses in WGST core or co-listed courses, have a minimum GPA of 2.7 at the time of the application, and complete the work described in the proposal.
WGST-599
Independent Study
Credits 1 - 3
The Independent Study allows a student to pursue an area of academic or research interest within the field of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies that goes beyond existing course work. The Independent Study is carried out outside the classroom under the guidance and with the assistance of a faculty sponsor. A student may register for an independent study project by submitting an Independent Study project proposal. Guidelines for designing and gaining approval for an Independent Study proposal are provided in College of Liberal Arts Policy I.D. To submit a WGST Independent Study proposal and receive an official course grade, the student must have completed 3 courses in WGST core or co-listed courses, have a minimum GPA of 2.7 at the time of the application, and complete the work described in the proposal.

WGST-206
Queer Looks
Credits 3
In this course we examine representations of queer sexuality in art, film and popular culture beginning in the repressive 1950s, followed by the Stonewall Riots of 1969. We situate the birth of gay liberation in the U.S. in the context of the civil rights struggles, feminism and the anti-war movement. We turn to the work of Andy Warhol that looms over the post-war period, challenged subsequently by the onset of AIDS and the work of General Idea and Act-Up, on the one hand, and the more graphically provocative work of Robert Mapplethorpe, on the other. We examine the diversification of the queer community as transgendered identity asserts itself and the opening of popular culture to issues of diverse sexual identities. We explore expressions of queer sensibility outside of North America and Europe. We turn finally to the issue of gay marriage, both in the U.S. and abroad.
WGST-225
Nature, Sex, and Gender
Credits 3
In this course, students will explore ways in which scientific knowledge about nonhumans and the natural world has been shaped by human ideas about sex, gender, and heteronormativity. They will learn about the changing perspectives on sex and gender in the natural sciences through readings and multimedia and investigate how gender and sexuality have been studied in biological and natural sciences past and present. Additionally, readings and media will explore the intersection of sex and gender in the environment with related social issues, such as racism, ableism, and colonialism. The course will also examine how scientific, science studies, and gender studies scholars are developing and using new approaches, such as queer ecologies and feminist biology, to critique and change how science is practiced with respect to assumptions and inferences about sex and gender.
WGST-235
Women, Work, and Culture
Credits 3
In this course, we analyze historical and contemporary patterns of gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, and the organization of work. Using the theoretical perspectives we analyze the work historically undertaken by women in societies and its relationship to broader political and economic structures. While our primary focus is on the U.S., we will also conduct a cross-cultural analysis of gender and work in developing and industrializing societies. Specific issues include gender discrimination (e.g., wage discrimination, sexual harassment), sexuality, reproduction, and women organizing to control their work and working conditions.
WGST-237
Psychology of Women
Credits 3
The purpose of this course is to examine the psychology and lives of girls and women. In addition to the influence of culture, biological and genetic differences will be highlighted for each of the different topics. The topics covered include gender stereotypes, the development of gender roles, gender comparisons, love relationships, sexuality, motherhood and violence against women.
WGST-240
Human Sexuality
Credits 3
This course provides an overview of human sexuality through the lenses of biology and psychology. What causes sexual behavior and why do some individuals display different sexual behaviors than others? Human sexual physiology, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are highly diverse. Coursework will examine the ways in which human sexuality varies among individuals, across groups, and throughout the lifespan. Multiple explanations for sexual behavior will be considered, drawing from evolutionary psychology, learning theory, social psychology, and biology. Atypical and harmful sexual behaviors will be addressed as well. Throughout the course, students will learn how social science research techniques have been used to expand the field of human sexuality and how empirical inquiry can differentiate myths from facts.
WGST-245
Prostitution and Vice
Credits 3
This course will examine prostitution and vice in the United States and globally. Through empirical scholarship, various issues will be examined including issues faced by sex workers including crime, victimization, health and safety, and law and policy issues. Quality of life issues for communities will also be examined.
WGST-246
History of Women in Science and Engineering
Credits 3
Using biographical and social-historical approaches, this course examines the history of women's involvement in science and engineering since the birth of modern science in the seventeenth century; the historical roots of gender bias in the Western scientific enterprise; and the influx of women into science and engineering since the mid-to-late 20th century. Cross-listed with women's and gender studies.
WGST-265
Women and Crime
Credits 3
This course deals with women as criminal offenders and as victims of crime, focusing upon theories about women in crime, types of crimes committed, patterns of criminality and the treatment of women offenders. Also examines the role of women as law enforcement officers, judges, lawyers and correctional officers in the criminal justice system.
WGST-282
Women, Gender, and Computing
Credits 3
Popular attention often focuses on a few prominent women in computing history, such as Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, and the ENIAC programmers. But many more women were part of this history: as inventors, programmers, operators, and users of information and communication technologies. Investigating their legacies, we will discuss in this course how computing turned into an increasingly masculine field, what it meant for women and men to work in a male-dominated field, how the gendering of computing technologies and algorithms affected the identities and lives of their users, and how gender intersected online and offline with other dimensions of diversity, such as class, race, and ability. This course provides the theoretical concepts and historical overview that allow for a historically informed discussion of women, gender, sexuality, and computing today.
WGST-290
American Women's and Gender History
Credits 3
This course surveys women’s history in the United States from the colonial period to present. The course moves chronologically and thematically, focusing on the diversity of women’s experiences across race, class, and geography as well as the construction of dominant gender norms. Topics include Native American, African American, and Euro-American women in colonial America; the Industrial Revolution and the ideology of domesticity, Women in the American West; women’s paid and unpaid work; sexuality and reproduction; women’s activism; and women’s experiences of immigration and family life.
WGST-291
The History of Families and Children in the U.S.
Credits 3
The family is at the center of contemporary political debates involving social policies, gender roles, citizenship, marriage, and the role of the state. Politicians and commentators frequently invoke a mythical American family, one that is conflict-free, independent, and unchanging. These idealized depictions mask a far more complicated and richer historical reality of the development of family structures in the U.S. This course will examine both the diverse experiences of actual families in the American past, including queer families, and changing ideologies about the family and childhood. Students will have the opportunity to write a history of their own family, or to complete an alternative research paper.
WGST-295
Global Craftivism, Gender and Handwork
Credits 3
The course focuses on how traditionally feminine and domestic handcrafts have been thrust into the public sphere for social activist work in a highly visual manner. Students will examine, from both intellectual and practical perspectives, large-scale examples of craft activism both within the U.S. and internationally, focusing on the connections to political movements and how craft is made politically visual. The role of craft as an organizing force, typically enacted by women and gender minorities in situations of physical and personal vulnerability, will be investigated through readings centered on the historical ties of craft to activism and social reform in the U.S. For example, students will study the role of handwork in the Suffragist and Abolitionist movements and in the American Revolution with women’s use of “homespun” cloth. Attention will also be paid to the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt in the late 20th century. Expanding beyond the U.S., the course will analyze how craft can transform into a narrative of personal or communal identity and an ethnicity-preserving tool through case studies such as those from Chile (Arpilleras), Laos (Hmong story cloths), Argentina (Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo kerchiefs), India (Khadi cloth), England (Greenwich Commons Women’s Peace Camp and quilts), and Myanmar (street crochet for Democracy). Close attention will also be paid to the role of handcraft as a rallying force in organizing efforts relating to current issues such as reproductive justice, women’s rights, racial justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, climate and environmental justice, and to how craft activist campaigns are organized and disseminated through social media. During the course, students will work at transforming a contemporary social issue they care about into the theme of their own final project to be unveiled by the end of the semester.
WGST-309
Feminist Theory
Credits 3
This course examines the main currents in contemporary feminist thought. Feminist theory explores the nature and effects of categories of sex and gender upon our ways of living, thinking and doing, while also challenging how gendered assumptions might shape our conceptions of identity and inquiry more generally. Different conceptions of sex and gender will be discussed, and the course will investigate how these concepts affect our lives in both concrete and symbolic ways. Special attention will be paid to how gendered assumptions color our understanding of knowledge production, experiences of embodiment and emotion, public and private activities, and the nature of ethical decision making.
WGST-318
Philosophies of Love,Sex, and Gender
Credits 3
Love is indeed one of the most central concerns in everyone’s life; yet, we spend very little time thinking conceptually about love in its various forms, aspects, implications, nuances, benefits, detriments, and harms. In this course, we will examine views from classical, medieval, modern, and contemporary thinkers on various kinds of love, including some controversial versions of it; we will consider the relation of love in its various forms to desire, emotions, physical intimacy, seduction, sex, sexuality, sexual orientation, and the construction of personal identity; and we will analyze how the various forms of love affect and are affected by gender norms, roles, and images.
WGST-330
Performing Identity in Popular Media
Credits 3
This class is a critical, theoretical, and practical examination of the constitution and performance of personal identity within popular media as it relates to identity politics in everyday life. Through lectures, readings, film, and critical writing, students will examine elements of personal identity and diversity in popular media in order to foster a deeper understanding of how identity is constructed and performed in society.
WGST-335
Women and the Deaf Community
Credits 3
Deaf history, as a field, has often neglected the story of deaf women. Scholar Arlene B. Kelly has recently asked, Where is deaf herstory? This course seeks to correct that gender imbalance in deaf history. We will study deaf women's history. This will include a consideration of deaf-blind women, as well, as women like Helen Keller were often the most famous deaf women of their era. But this course also seeks to look at the role of hearing women in deaf history. Hearing women dominated the field of deaf education in the late nineteenth century. They had a tremendous impact on the lives of deaf children and the events of deaf educational history. Hearing women were also important figures in deaf history as mothers. As mothers of deaf children, hearing women were frequently asked to behave as teachers in the home. Their embrace of this role often led them to endorse oral education, and oppose the sign language. Hearing mothers in this way were pitted against their adult deaf daughters, who frequently went on to learn sign language against their mothers' wishes. The historically complex relationship between women and the deaf community will be explored in this course.
WGST-342
Gender, Science, and Technology
Credits 3
This course explores the importance of gender within Western science and technology. It considers how masculine and feminine identities are socially and culturally shaped, how sex and gender are being significantly transformed, and how rethinking gendered practices may help make science and technology fairer and more responsive. Cross-listed with women's and gender studies.
WGST-351
Gender and Sexuality in Hispanic Studies
Credits 3
This course introduces students to the study of gender and sexuality in cultural production from the Hispanic world. Students will read, view, and discuss diverse works from a variety of historical periods and geographical regions that deal with gender identity, sexuality, and interrelated social movements. This course refines students' skills through discussions, presentations, and writing exercises on readings, lectures, and film screenings. Students will also develop research skills as they complete a project on a topic chosen in consultation with the instructor. The critical approach that will inform this course is feminist thought.
WGST-352
Globalization and Gender through Chinese Cinema: From Kungfu to World Factory
Credits 3
This course surveys Chinese cinema from its beginning to the present with special attention to its transnational connections and gender representation. Films from the mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong will be examined in-depth for their aesthetic quality and techniques, and equally important, against their socio-historical, political, economic, and cultural contexts. Topics include Kungfu films, women's cinema, documentation of globalization, independent filmmaking and social activism, and more. The class is conducted in English. Assigned films will be in Chinese with English subtitles.
WGST-357
Communication, Gender, and Media
Credits 3
This course examines the relationship between gender and media communication with specific attention to how gender affects choices in mass media and social media practices. Students explore how gender, sexual orientation, sexuality and social roles, affect media coverage, portrayals, production and reception. They consider issues of authorship, spectatorship (audience), and the ways in which various media content (film, television, print journalism, advertising, social media) enables, facilitates, and challenges these social constructions in society. The course covers communication theories and scholarship as it applies to gender and media, methods of media analysis, and topics of current interest.
WGST-375
Women/Gender/Art
Credits 3
This course examines the role of women in the visual arts as both images makers and subject matter in order to see how gender plays a role in the conceptualization of creativity and art. Among the topics to be discussed are: the construction of femininity and gender in the patriarchy; art as an ideological practice; women, art, and society; art history, art education, and art evaluation; women artists and their contemporaries.
WGST-383
Traumatic Images
Credits 3
This course investigates visual culture and its imagistic response to life's crises. Problems of identity and identification will be explored and confronted through works of photography, painting, mixed media, new media and film of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. Beginning with the late 19th Century vogue for images of hysterical women, crippled black-sheep family members and dead loved ones (as corpses and as ghosts), we then move on to consider the last century's fascination with pain and suffering, disease and violence, struggle and survival and then the 21st century's emphasis on terrorism. Specifically, we will focus on the gendering of images and imaging as disturbing pictures work to defy the formal and theoretical distinction between private and public, personal, and collective experience and manage the often conflicting responsibilities to self, family, religion, race, nation, and society.
WGST-384
Art of Dying
Credits 3
This course explores the experience of dying a profoundly human and universal experience as it is represented by artists who are themselves facing immanent death. The unique and deeply personal process of each dying artist is crucially informed by social, cultural and historical as well as artistic contexts. The course will focus primarily on visual artists and writers living with and dying of disease - such as AIDS, cancer and cystic fibrosis as well as mortality and age. Topics such as aesthetics, artistic media, representation, grief, bereavement, illness, care-giving, aging, and the dying process will be considered within the context of issues of race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, gender and community values. Some of the artists covered will be Jo Spence, Hannah Wilke, Elias Canetti, Bob Flanagan, Herve Guibert, Tom Joslin, Laurie Lynd, Audre Lorde, Charlotte Salomon, Keith Haring, Frida Kahlo, Bas Jan Ader, Ted Rosenthal, Felix Gonzalez Torres, Keith Haring, Eric Steel, Derek Jarman, Eric Michaels, and David Wojnarowicz. We will also explore some of the critical theory of Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Elaine Scarry, Susan Sontag, and Ross Chambers.
WGST-388
Gender and Contemporary Art
Credits 3
This course traces the historical development of women’s activism in the art world from the 1970s to the present. We will interpret how this art activism, which artists and scholars alike have referred to as the feminist art movement, has examined how gender informs the ways art is made, viewed, conceptualized in history and theory, and exhibited in museums and visual culture, in a range of cultural contexts. We will also analyze how current artists, critics, and curators continue to build on this history, in particular how they use the concept of gender intersectionality to develop a variety of new creative practices, theories, modes of exhibition and social engagement.
WGST-392
Queer & Transgender Creative Writing Workshop
Credits 3
This course is for students who want to practice and explore the vast and varied history, craft, and techniques of queer and transgender creative writing. Through reading and discussion, students will contextualize their own writing in a vital lineage and in the contemporary moment. We will read, analyze, reflect, generate, write, edit, and revise throughout the semester. We will create a polished body of creative works by honing those stylistic and craft techniques general to the field and specific to queer and transgender writers. Peer editors and group critiques will provide regular feedback, which will aid in the refinement of each writer’s own work and improve their capacity for supporting a creative work from germinating idea to final draft. Each class will rely extensively on the creative writing workshop model, and will survey the rich variety of genres, styles, forms, and philosophical approaches that QT literature takes.
WGST-414
Women and Gender in Literature and Media
Credits 3
This variable topic course examines one or more themes, figures, movements, or issues associated with the representation of women and gender in literature and media, and/or associated with the historical, cultural, and theoretical questions provoked by women as producers and consumers of media and texts. The topic for the course is chosen by the instructor, announced in the course subtitle, and developed in the syllabus. The course can be taken multiple times provided that the topic being studied has changed.
WGST-451
Economics of Women and the Family
Credits 3
Women make choices concerning marriage, fertility and labor market participation on the basis of many factors, including government policies targeting those decisions. This course uses economic theory and empirical research in order to describe the changing demographic profile of families, poverty, and the labor force and to explore how economic theory and practice fit into the larger social science goals of describing human behavior by focusing on women and on the family.

ANTH-325
Bodies and Culture
Credits 3
Our bodies are more than mere physical entities; they are conditioned by culture, society, and history. We will take a comparative approach to the cultural construction of bodies and the impact of ethnic, gender, and racial ideologies on body practices (i.e. surgical alteration, mutilation, beautification, surrogacy, erotica). We will critically investigate the global formation of normative discourses of the body (regarding sexuality, AIDS/illness, reproduction, fat/food) in medical science, consumer culture, and the mass media. The course features discussion, writing, and project-oriented research, encouraging students to acquire a range of analytic skills through a combination of text interpretation and research.
ANTH-425
Global Sexualities
Credits 3
By exploring issues of gender and sexuality in a global context, students will be introduced to anthropological perspectives on the experience of men and women, as gendered subjects, in different societies and historical contexts, including colonialism, nationalism, and global capitalism. In turn, we will explore how cultural constructions of masculinity and femininity are configured by race, class, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Course materials are drawn from an array of sources, reflecting various theoretical perspectives and ethnographic views from different parts of the world.
ARTH-577
Displaying Gender
Credits 3
This course brings together two of the most significant strains of recent art historical scholarship: the study of gender in representation and the critical examination of exhibitions and museums with particular focus given to key examples of curatorial practice from the late 19th century to the present day. Through readings, possible museum visit(s), class discussions, and guided individual research, questions of gender in exhibitions will be considered in relation to other aspects of identity including sexuality, race, and class.
COMM-291
Communication for Social Change
Credits 3
The course introduces students to the role of communication, information, and media in social change messaging, particularly in the areas of activism and public advocacy. It takes a critical approach toward understanding the role of communication and communication technologies in the creation and dissemination of messages geared towards social change in a variety of mediated contexts. Students will review relevant theoretical frameworks that commonly inform the study and practice of activism and public advocacy, as well as analyze specific examples and case studies contemporarily, as well as select examples at moments of profound activism since the Civil Rights era of the 20th Century. Students will analyze various forms of activism and examine the role of communication in each. Finally, through the design of a social change communication campaign proposal, students will apply strategic communication approaches that will respond to a social issue that may be local, national or global.
GRDE-322
Women Pioneers in Design
Credits 3
This course will center on the contributions made by Modernist women designers. Emphasis will be placed on their unheralded pioneering efforts. Exemplars from the field will be presented, set in a historical context. Lectures are complemented by guest speakers, videos, participatory exercises, discussion, and critical essay writing.
LEAD-102
Inclusive Leadership
Credits 3
Being a successful community leader requires the ability to understand and respond effectively to organizational context. This course provides a comprehensive understanding of organizations with emphasis on various approaches to organizational development. Specific focus will be placed on the workplace structure in educational, government, non-profit, and entrepreneurial environments. Finally, students will learn about methods that organizations use for accessibility and learn about organizational racial justice and disability justice.
NDLS-200
Introduction to Group Advocacy
Credits 3
The course is designed to assist students in understanding and implementing ways in which they can advocate for deaf and hard-of-hearing persons in their communities. Concepts of leadership and group advocacy models and issues relevant to deaf and hard-of-hearing communities will be covered. Students will explore community development and practical applications pertaining to group and systemic advocacy frameworks. Students will examine international and national policies and their effectiveness in supporting deaf and hard-of-hearing communities.
PUBL-101
Foundations of Public Policy
Credits 3
This interdisciplinary course introduces the student to the key concepts of public policy, the policymaking process, the role of stakeholders and interest groups, and the basic dimensions policy analysis. Those concepts are then applied through a range of issues, such as the environment, clean energy, climate change, healthcare, cybersecurity, employment, privacy, telecommunications, and innovation, at local, state, federal and international levels.
SOCI-246
Gender and Health
Credits 3
This course examines connections between gender and health that are both conceptual and empirical. Students will explore the causes of gender-based differences in health outcomes through case studies of sexual and reproductive rights, HIV/AIDS epidemics and violence. Students will also examine global gender and health trends. The course concludes with an examination of gender inequity in health care and policy implications of these inequities.
SOCI-355
CyberActivism: Diversity, Sex, and the Internet
Credits 3
Sociologists look to cyberspace to test theories of technology diffusion and media effects on society. This course explores the Internet’s impact on communities, political participation, cultural democracy, and diversity. How have digital technologies and electronic information flows shaped or diminished inequalities of gender, sex, and race? For instance: new electronic technologies have pushed the cultural and physical boundaries of how we have sex; with whom we have sex; and with what we have sex and/or have observed having sex, such as sex toys and avatars. The sociological implications of this new technology depend on economic, legal, and policy decisions that are shaping the Internet as it becomes institutionalized. The course analyzes such new forms of cyber-democracy with a focus on issues of gender, sex, and race.
STSO-230
Foundations of Engagement and Community Transformation
Credits 3
Are you passionate about addressing the socially-complex, wicked problems of our time? This interdisciplinary, active-learning course will lay the groundwork for students who want to participate in future place-based community-engaged research, development or design projects that build on community strengths and address community determined challenges. Through literature reviews, discussions, cases study analysis, role plays, debates, reflective writing, and visits with experienced community practitioners, we will explore the larger context of the systems within which we live and how others have engaged in efforts to improve community wellbeing both locally and globally. We will strive for a more nuanced understanding of our world and its power dynamics from various perspectives. We will investigate the context in which community and economic development has traditionally occurred, how technology has been involved, and the effects of projects and activities on the “beneficiaries”. We will investigate best practices including mindsets, worldviews, skills, processes, and tools for community-driven positive change. Finally we will use all our learnings to develop our own evaluation framework and apply it to a current community project. This course incorporates humanities and social science approaches and counts for general education requirements.

Student Resources

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Moving Forward: Suffrage Past, Present, and Future

RIT celebrates the 19th Amendment, Equal Rights, and the Power of Voting through a series of initiatives focused on the history of women’s voting activism; the problems and questions that the 1920 expansion of voting rights opened and left unsolved; and the work that remains to be done to continue expanding political representation and participation for all women. 

Indigenous Land Acknowledgment

RIT is built on the traditional territory of the Onöndowa'ga:' or “the people of the Great Hill.” In English, they are known as Seneca people, “the keepers of the western door.” They are one of the six nations that make up the sovereign Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

The WGSS Program honors the land on which RIT was built and recognizes the unique relationship that the Indigenous people have with their land. As, through our Program, we endeavor to achieve dignity, respect, justice, equality, peace, and reconciliation for all, we are mindful of the histories of violence, genocide, colonization, and assimilation of Indigenous people that also took place on this territory and we are grateful for the opportunity to live, work, and share ideas on this land.

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