Women’s, gender & sexuality studies is a dynamic interdisciplinary field that explores how gender and sexuality intersect with race, ethnicity, class, ability and nationality, in turn shaping access to opportunities, power inequalities and social advantages/disadvantages. Reflecting our roots in feminist social movements, we explore how the lived experiences of women, men and people of diverse gender identities—both in the U.S. and globally—are molded by systematic forces such as law, culture, globalization, medicine, family, economics and imperialism. Students are encouraged to consider how these interlocking power systems can be transformed to create a more just world where people can sustainably thrive.
With a core faculty of four professors and more than 30 professors contributing cross-listed courses, Dickinson offers a WGSS major and minor, as well as a sexuality studies minor for students specifically interested in sexuality and QLGBT perspectives.
We sponsor Dickinson’s Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality by Students Symposium and contribute to the Central Pennsylvania Consortium Conference on Women, Gender and Sexuality. We also work with other academic departments and college offices (particularly the Women’s & Gender Resource Center and the Office of LGBTQ Services) to bring compelling scholars, artists and activists to campus.
Our graduates apply their interdisciplinary WGSS knowledge and strong research, writing and speaking skills to such professional areas as public health, social welfare, law, technology, the arts, publishing, teaching, medicine and business, among other fields.