Women and Gender Studies - Women and Gender Studies

Welcome to the Women and Gender Studies Program

About Us

Queens College offers an interdisciplinary major and minor in Women and Gender Studies, and a minor in LGBTQ Studies. The Curriculum is designed to provide students with a solid foundation in the issues and methodologies appropriate for the study of women, gender, and sexuality.

The Women and Gender Studies Program is committed to the interdisciplinary study of gender, sexuality, and feminist thought in both historical and contemporary contexts. Grounded in principles of critical inquiry and intersectional analysis, our program explores how systems of power—such as race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, religion, and nation—intersect and shape lived experiences, cultural practices, and social institutions in both national and transnational contexts.

Our program teaches students to think critically and engage ethically by fostering a learning environment that values diverse perspectives, community engagement, and field-defining scholarship. Students in both the major and minors will learn about theories of gender and sexuality as they prepare for diverse careers in education, law, public policy, non-profits, media, healthcare, and more. We prepare students to become informed leaders and advocates for social change across local, national, and global contexts. A Women and Gender Studies major/ minor and a LGBTQ Studies minor are excellent choices for students looking to focus a degree in almost any humanities, social science, and scientific field of study, as well as for students seeking an interdisciplinary degree that combines perspectives from different fields of inquiry.

Majors and minors in the program write an independent research paper on a topic of particular interest to them, a requirement that encourages serious scholarship. Students also participate in internships in various women-and-gender-oriented organizations, earning course credit while gaining hands-on experience in such fields as health care, law, communications, social services, and politics.

The program offers a wide range of courses taught by faculty members across the disciplines. The WGS Major consists of 36 credits: core requirements (12 credits), distribution requirements (a minimum of 9 credits), and elective requirements (at least 15 credits). The WGS Minor consists of the core and distribution requirements (21 credits). The LGBTQ minor costs of 18 credits: core requirements (9 credits) and distribution requirements (9 credits).

Women and Gender Studies sponsors a lecture series in March for Women’s History Month as well as other events throughout the year.

“I tell my students, ‘When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.”
-Toni Morrison