Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies

What can you do with a Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies degree?

Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies (WGSS) examines how gender, sexuality, identity, and systems of power shape people's lives and communities. Through courses that emphasize cultural humility and multiple perspectives across the humanities, global engagement, social sciences, and natural sciences, you'll explore complex questions from multiple perspectives while developing the research, communication, and critical thinking skills valued in every profession.

As well as a major or minor in WGSS, the Program also offers a minor in Global Queer Studies (GQST), designed collaboratively by professors and students. It is the first program of its kind to center global and transnational experiences of gender and sexuality!

Open to students with a wide range of interests, WGSS & GQST combine academic study with opportunities for research, internships, and community engagement. Whether you pair the major or minor with another field or pursue it as your primary area of study, you'll graduate prepared to ask thoughtful questions, analyze complex issues, and contribute to meaningful change in your career and community.

Multiple Perspectives

Explore gender and sexuality through courses in history, psychology, economics, anthropology, political science, neuroscience, literature, and more.

Research That Matters

Develop your own research questions and complete Independent Study with one-on-one faculty mentorship.

Learning Beyond the Classroom

Connect coursework with internships, practica, student leadership, and community engagement.

Why Study Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies at Wooster?

Study across the liberal arts with courses offered throughout the College.

Work closely with faculty mentors who help you develop your own research interests.

Prepare for Independent Study through the junior seminar Doing Feminist Research.

Connect theory with practice through internships, practica, and student-led initiatives.

Join a supportive community of students and faculty committed to thoughtful discussion and engaged learning.

Featured Courses

Explore gender and sexuality from local and global perspectives.

Transnational Feminisms
Women, Power & Politics
History of Sexualities
Transgender Literature
Global Politics of Reproduction
Gender & Sexuality in Latin American & Latinx Literature

Women, Culture, & Power in Africa
Neuroscience of Sex and Gender Influences
Global Tourism: The Politics and Violence of Encounters
Manga & Anime in Japan & Global Contexts

Ask your own questions.

Independent Study is at the heart of the WGSS experience. In the junior seminar Doing Feminist Research, you'll learn research methods and approaches used across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences before designing your own senior Independent Study project with the guidance of a faculty mentor.

Recent student research has explored topics including gender testing in professional sports, reproductive justice, youth activism, transgender healthcare, body image, the #MeToo movement, and gender representation in business and economics.

Ready to Explore Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies?

Whether you're interested in law, healthcare, education, public policy, research, or the arts, WGSS helps you understand complex issues, communicate across differences, and approach your work with curiosity, empathy, and evidence.

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Career Opportunities

WGSS graduates build careers in many different fields because they leave Wooster with strong research, communication, and analytical skills.

Graduates have become educators, attorneys, healthcare professionals, policy leaders, nonprofit professionals, economists, counselors, librarians, and community advocates. Others have pursued graduate study in law, social work, economics, psychology, anthropology, public policy, divinity, library science, and public health.

Just as importantly, graduates consistently describe WGSS as a program that influenced how they think, solve problems, and engage with the people and communities around them throughout their lives.

Where Our Alumni Go

WGSS graduates have worked at organizations including:

American Red Cross
Policy Matters Ohio
Paramount Pictures
Charles Schwab
Greater Cleveland Food Bank
Oregon Department of Human Services
Pennsylvania Health Law Project
Newberry Library
Nurturing Nest Montessori School
Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities

Graduates have also continued their education at Brown University, Columbia University, George Washington University, Purdue University, Indiana University, the University of Texas at Austin, Union Theological Seminary, and other leading institutions.

Melanie Long

Associate Professor of Economics & Business Economics; Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies

mlong@wooster.edu

Zhenyu Tian

Assistant Professor of Communication Studies; Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies (On leave Fall 2025)

ztian@wooster.edu

Jeremy Rapport

Professor of Religious Studies

jrapport@wooster.edu

Daimys Garcia

Assistant Professor of English

dagarcia@wooster.edu

Karen Haely

Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy; Co-Liaison to the Public Health Pathway

kahaely@wooster.edu

Jordan Biro Walters

Associate Professor of History

jbirowalters@wooster.edu

Kerstin Vaughn

Visiting Professor of Theatre and Dance

kvaughn@wooster.edu

Alyssa Clark

Walter D Foss Distinguished Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology

alclark@wooster.edu

Michele Leiby

Professor of Political Science

mleiby@wooster.edu

Christa Craven

Professor of Anthropology and Program Chair of Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies

ccraven@wooster.edu

Zareen Thomas

Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology; Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies

zthomas@wooster.edu

Terry H. Reeder

Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies

treeder@wooster.edu

Heather Fitz Gibbon

Professor of Sociology and Anthropology; Department Chair of Urban Studies

hfitzgibbon@wooster.edu

Rebecca Garonzik

Associate Professor of Spanish

rgaronzik@wooster.edu

Katherine Holt

Aileen Dunham Professorship in History; Global Media and Digital Studies; Urban Studies; Latin American Studies; Co-Liaison to Digital and Visual Storytelling Pathway

kholt@wooster.edu

Marlo Starr

Assistant Professor of English

mstarr@wooster.edu

Eagan Dean

Assistant Professor of English (On leave 2026-2027)

edean@wooster.edu

Miriam Kilimo

Assistant Professor of Africana Studies (On leave Fall 2026)

Shirley Huston-Findley

Professor and Department Chair of Theatre and Dance

sfindley@wooster.edu

Brooke Krause

Associate Professor of Economics & Business Economics

bkrause@wooster.edu

Amy Jo Stavnezer

Chair Program in Neuroscience

ajstavnezer@wooster.edu

Erika Vallejo

Assistant Professor of Political Science

evallejo@wooster.edu

Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies