What You Will Learn Studying Sexuality, Women’s, and Gender Studies

Sexuality, Women’s, and Gender Studies (SWAG) advances and generates interdisciplinary knowledge about women, gender, and sexuality, with a focus on intersectionality and social justice. SWAG courses provide students with the conceptual tools needed to analyze the intersectionality of race, class, age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, ability status, nationality, sexual identity, and other dimensions of identity that shape individual and group experiences in a diverse world. Among many other outcomes, SWAG graduates value transformative practices, change themselves and their communities, and think and act critically in response to the world around them.

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Global Citizenship

You will become a global citizen by developing a recognition and appreciation of diversity in a global context. We empower our students to think critically about their own lives and inspire them to work as active citizens for a more just and peaceful world. Courses required for the SWAG minor will prepare you to analyze the ways cultures construct concepts of gender and how to contest the historical, on-going, and pervasive gender-based oppressions and social inequalities in the world.

Responsible Leadership

The SWAG program requires 20 hours of service through community engagement. By engaging with the local community, you will develop leadership skills along with a sense of responsibility to the larger community. You will become aware of important local, national, and global issues, and contribute your time and talents to causes important to you. As part of the SWAG minor, you can participate in campus student organizations such as Voices for Women or attend Feminist Camp for leadership development in New York City.

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Productive Careers

Students have opportunities to design and conduct research, develop and participate in community engagement projects, and complete internships on- and off-campus. These opportunities have led SWAG graduates to establish careers in law, global health, international business, education, nonprofit and public agencies, and public policy. An internship at the Feminist Press led to a job offer, and community engagement work with Harbor House turned in to a job after graduation.

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Meaningful Lives

You will be challenged to engage with diverse communities contributing to the ideal of justice for all. Through your experience in SWAG, you will develop a commitment to personal and social transformation through introspection and activism, all of which are vital to creating a meaningful life. You will acquire the tools to engage in critical reflection, articulate problems and injustices, and develop positive, constructive solutions for transforming unjust circumstances and institutions.