Gender and Sexuality
at the Heart of 
Liberal Learning 

Established as a major in 2015, Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies is informed by the intellectual excitement that has arisen from feminist critiques in virtually all academic disciplines. All students can benefit from incorporating the diverse perspectives of feminist theory into their academic studies. 

This major puts gender and sexuality at the center of critical inquiry, as aspects of identity, the body, social structures and cultural expressions. Recent courses on sexuality include: European SexualitiesContemporary Queer PoetryThe Body, and Constructing Sexualities.

WGSS offers a major and a minor; students may also create a joint major with WGSS and another department. 

Unlike some other women's studies programs, which focus on the West or on the United States, the Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program at F&M has a global focus. Our strengths include cross-cultural studies in Anthropology, comparative women's history in the History Department, classes in women and economic development in the Economics Department, and the transnational study of girls.

We provide exceptional opportunities to connect theory and practice. Our students have served on the Alice Drum Women’s Center Board and the annual Take Back the Night event. Our students have also presented their research at the annual Central Pennsylvania Consortium women’s studies conference, curated exhibits at the Phillips Art Museum and worked as Public Service Interns through the Ware Institute.

The Pulse of WGSS

Story 3/7/2023

Conference Set for March 25: Imagining African and...

All are invited to "Imagining African and African-diaspora Futures," the Central Pennsylvania Consortium Joint Conference in African Studies and Women's,  Gender & Sexuality Studies on Saturday,...

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Story 1/4/2021

WGSS Invites Student Submissions to Digital Archive

The WGSS program invites students to contribute projects to its new online platform.  Link to application form and the archive websited are in this story.

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Story 4/25/2023

‘I Left As a Leader’: Young Alumni Share Stories

"I left F&M as a completely different person. I left as a leader:" Meet three young alums working in the public and nonprofit sectors. 

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Story 4/7/2023

Observing Disability Everywhere

Weeks of work in the multi-disciplined “Narratives of Disability” course brought students to a room of photos that helped them see disability as fundamental to human diversity. 

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Story 3/21/2023

In the Crosstalk—Race, Racism and Pain

Senior Amira Henry will discuss racial dehumanization, one of three projects at a student-led panel for the March 25 conference, “Imagining African and African-diaspora Futures."

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