Dec. 3, 2020
Announcing the Gender and Sexuality Studies program
The 91快色鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Studies (WMST) program focuses on issues of gender and sexuality, as well as race, class, disability, citizenship/documentation, age, and environmental issues. The WMST courses feature an intersectional, global approach to the topics, and address issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Yet, as many students in this program have voiced, the program name鈥擶omen鈥檚 Studies鈥攊mplies a false commitment to the outdated conception of a gender binary.
鈥淭he discipline has shifted and expanded in ways that cannot be adequately captured under the now misleading heading of Women鈥檚 Studies,鈥 says program coordinator and instructor Joe Kadi.
We are pleased to announce the newly renamed Gender and Sexuality Studies (GSXS) program! This change better reflects the discipline鈥檚 historical concerns with sexuality, including the sexual orientation spectrum, sexual health, and sexual rights. Gender and Sexuality Studies recognizes those who are on all points of the gender spectrum as important, equal, and legitimate subjects. Future graduates of the Gender and Sexuality Studies program will receive a degree that more accurately reflects their knowledge and capabilities in diverse professional fields.
This change, in both the degree and course names (from WMST to GSXS), will be formalized as of July 1, 2021 in the 2021/22 91快色 Academic Calendar. Students will register in courses labeled GSXS for their Fall 2021 and Winter 2022 terms.
Current students in the Women鈥檚 Studies program will still receive a BA Women鈥檚 Studies degree upon graduation. However, students graduating after Fall 2021 have the option to change their program from a BA in Women鈥檚 Studies to a BA in Gender & Sexuality Studies. Please note that this new program name does not change the program requirements or content in any way, but will change the name of the degree as written on the graduate鈥檚 diploma and transcript.