Major

The Gender Studies Program (GSP) offers a B.A. degree, a minor, and a Graduate Certificate. After electing to concentrate in Gender Studies, the student will work with GSP faculty to develop a program designed to meet the student’s individual needs.

NEW REQUIREMENT: ALL DECLARED MAJORS MUST CHOOSE A FACULTY MENTOR FROM THE GENDER STUDIES FACULTY.

Students who are not Gender Studies certificate candidates may take any of the program’s core courses. In addition, they may further their knowledge of gender relations by taking Gender Studies cross-listed courses offered by some twenty different USC departments. Through these classes, students explore the social and biological basis of culture, the structure and development of language and custom, and specialized topics focusing on women and history, world literature, culture, and society.

To become a Gender Studies major or to earn a Gender Studies certificate, e-mail Jeanne Weiss or call (213) 740-2792.

Requirements for the Major

1. SWMS 210gm: Social issues in Gender or SWMS 215g: Gender Conflict in Cultural Contexts or 225: Sex Similarities and Differences: A Multidisciplinary Approach
2. SWMS 301m: Introduction to Feminist Theory and the Women’s and Men’s Movements
3. SWMS 311: Gender Studies and the Community: Internship [N.B. Students may petition to substitue SWMS 490 for SWMS 311]
4. SWMS 410: Senior Seminar in Gender Studies
5. Five additional four-unit upper division courses (300-level and above) selected from the list of courses.

A total of thirty-two upper division units (and four lower-division units) are required to complete the major.