Gender & Women's Studies, BALAS
for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Major in Gender & Women's Studies
As a Gender and Women's Studies major, students will receive a rigorously interdisciplinary education in the formation of gender in our philosophical, political, aesthetic, economic, social, and scientific worlds, and on gender as foundation for those worlds. Since gender is everywhere, acknowledged or not, GWS majors will be well-equipped to illustrate and investigate gender and other relations of power, such as sexuality, race, indigeneity, class, nationality, religion, and ability, as these form and inform discourses and practices in historical and contemporary arrangements.
GWS majors receive in-depth training in written and other forms of communication as well as skills in critical thinking, analytical research, and creative inquiry. GWS courses draw upon history, philosophy, sociology, and literary criticism, among other disciplines, so that our majors learn to identify limitations and expand possibilities for how to study and speak about knowledges, communities, institutions, populations, movements, and cultures in our world.
The courses and training GWS offers are transformative; and our students go on to transform themselves, others, and the world. While GWS majors are well prepared for advanced study in graduate or professional schools, they also bring their education to activities in media production, art-making, social work, public policy, victim advocacy, union organizing, community/sexual health services, counseling, public relations, and fields advocating civil rights and social justice.
for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Major in Gender & Women's Studies
A Major Plan of Study Form must be completed and submitted to the LAS Student Affairs Office before the end of the fifth semester (60-75 hours). Please see your advisor.
Departmental distinction:
To be eligible for graduation with distinction, a student must have a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of 3.5 and a 3.5 GPA within the major.
High distinction:
To be eligible for graduation with high distinction, a student must have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.5, a GPA of 3.7 within the major, and complete a thesis or project in a 400-level GWS course that is approved by the department.
Advising:
The Department of Gender and Women’s Studies provides advising for students to help plan a coherent program of study.
Graduation Requirements
Minimum hours required for graduation: 120 hours.
Minimum hours required major and supporting course work: normally equates to 33 hours. Twelve hours of 300- and 400-level courses in the major must be taken on this campus.
University Requirements
The university and residency requirements can be found in the Student Code (§ 3-801) and in the Academic Catalog.
General Education Requirements
Follows the campus General Education (Gen Ed) requirements. Some Gen Ed requirements may be met by courses required and/or electives in the program.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Composition I | 4-6 | |
| Advanced Composition | 3 | |
fulfilled by GWS 498 | ||
| Humanities & the Arts (6 hours) | 6 | |
| Natural Sciences & Technology (6 hours) | 6 | |
| Social & Behavioral Sciences (6 hours) | 6 | |
| Cultural Studies: Non-Western Cultures (1 course) | 3 | |
| Cultural Studies: US Minority Cultures (1 course) | 3 | |
| Cultural Studies: Western/Comparative Cultures (1 course) | 3 | |
| Quantitative Reasoning (2 courses, at least one course must be Quantitative Reasoning I) | 6-10 | |
| Language Requirement (Completion of the fourth semester or equivalent of a language other than English, or completion of the third semester in two different languages other than English is required) | 0-20 | |
Major Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| GWS 201 | Race, Gender & Power | 3 |
| GWS 202 | Sexualities | 3 |
| GWS 498 | Senior Seminar | 3 |
| GWS 350 | Feminist & Gender Theory | 3 |
| or GWS 370 | Queer Theory | |
| Additional Coursework 1 | ||
| At least 15 additional hours of coursework offered by the Gender & Women’s Studies Department, with no more than 3 hours at the 100 or 200 level. Required courses are offered by the Department of Gender & Women’s Studies and are on an approved list maintained in the department office and with the GWS advisor. | 15 | |
| Area Electives | ||
| Two courses in Gender and Women's Studies. No more than one may be counted from the 100 or 200 level. For a list of approved courses contact the GWS department or the GWS advisor. | 6 | |
| Of the 33 hours in the major, students must take at least one course focused on transnational or non-U.S. issues. For a list of approved courses contact the GWS department or the GWS advisor. | ||
| Total Hours | 33 | |
for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Major in Gender & Women's Studies
Sample Sequence
This sample sequence is intended to be used only as a guide for degree completion. All students should work individually with their academic advisors to decide the actual course selection and sequence that works best for them based on their academic preparation and goals. Enrichment programming such as study abroad, minors, internships, and so on may impact the structure of this four-year plan. Course availability is not guaranteed during the semester indicated in the sample sequence.
Students must fulfill their Language Other Than English requirement by successfully completing a fourth level of a language other than English. For more information, see the corresponding section on the Degree and General Education Requirements page.
| First Year | |
|---|---|
| First Semester | Hours |
| Free Elective course | 1 |
| GWS 201 | 3 |
| Composition I or General Education course | 4 |
| Language Other Than English (3rd level) | 4 |
| GWS course | 3 |
| 15 | |
| Total Hours 15 | |
| First Year | |
|---|---|
| Second Semester | Hours |
| GWS 202 | 3 |
| General Education course | 3 |
| General Education course or Composition I | 3 |
| Language Other Than English (4th level) | 4 |
| GWS course | 3 |
| 16 | |
| Total Hours 16 | |
| Second Year | |
|---|---|
| First Semester | Hours |
| General Education course | 3 |
| General Education course | 3 |
| GWS course | 3 |
| GWS area elective course | 3 |
| Free Elective course | 3 |
| 15 | |
| Total Hours 15 | |
| Second Year | |
|---|---|
| Second Semester | Hours |
| General Education course | 3 |
| GWS 300-400 level course | 3 |
| GWS 300-400 level area elective course | 3 |
| Free Elective course | 3 |
| Free Elective course | 3 |
| 15 | |
| Total Hours 15 | |
| Third Year | |
|---|---|
| First Semester | Hours |
| GWS 350 or 370 | 3 |
| GWS 300-400 level course | 3 |
| General Education course | 3 |
| General Education course | 3 |
| Free Elective course | 3 |
| 15 | |
| Total Hours 15 | |
| Third Year | |
|---|---|
| Second Semester | Hours |
| General Education course | 3 |
| General Education course | 3 |
| Free Elective course | 3 |
| Free Elective course | 3 |
| Free Elective course | 3 |
| 15 | |
| Total Hours 15 | |
| Fourth Year | |
|---|---|
| First Semester | Hours |
| GWS 498 | 3 |
| Free Elective course | 3 |
| Free Elective course | 3 |
| Free Elective course | 3 |
| Free Elective course | 3 |
| 15 | |
| Total Hours 15 | |
| Fourth Year | |
|---|---|
| Second Semester | Hours |
| General Education course | 3 |
| Free Elective course | 3 |
| Free Elective course | 3 |
| Free Elective course | 3 |
| Free Elective course | 2 |
| 14 | |
| Total Hours 14 | |
Total Hours: 120
for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Major in Gender & Women's Studies
- Intellectual Reasoning and Knowledge: Students will acquire a level of proficiency in Gender and Women’s Studies, which can include but is not limited to broad and deep knowledge about feminist movements, intersectionality, queer and trans studies, imperialism and coloniality, and feminist and queer theories and methods across academic disciplines and fields. Students will learn that feminisms are both historical movements as well as bodies of critical inquiry, encompassing a wide range of actors and objects of study, including forms of information retrieval and knowledge production.
- Critical Inquiry and Creative Literacy: Students will apply feminist and queer theories in developing their own capacities for critical inquiry and creative literacy. Students will also exercise their skills in oral and written communication, expressing new ideas in scholarly compositions and also generating multidisciplinary projects.
- Social Awareness and Understanding Power: Students will recognize the gendered dimensions of social, philosophical, aesthetic, cultural, and political claims about national and global movements and events. Students will become familiar with feminist and queer theories and movements that consider together indigeneity, race, religion, nation, disability, gender, and sexuality to understand historical and contemporary formations of power.
- Self-Reflexivity and Community Engagement: Students will demonstrate self-reflexivity about their ideas and social and political positions in their classrooms and communities, learning how to build and sustain relationships in striving for both immediate harm reduction and long-term social justice.
- Global Consciousness: Students will understand how complex and interdependent forces –environmental, social, cultural, economic, and political— shape a range of possibilities and foreclosures for individuals and populations unevenly across the world, learning to apply indigenous, postcolonial, and transnational feminist and queer critiques to those forces.
for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Major in Gender & Women's Studies
Department of Gender & Women's Studies
Gender & Women's Studies Faculty
gws-email@illinois.edu
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
overview of college admissions & requirements: Liberal Arts & Sciences