The Women’s and Gender Studies major prepares individuals for the needs and opportunities of an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world by building awareness of the range of human experience, potential, and accomplishment that place women and gender at the center of inquiry.

Please visit the Center for Women's Studies & Gender Research for more information.

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of the program of study, students will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate mastery of knowledge of academic disciplines from feminist and intersectional perspectives.
  2. Analyze historic and contemporary contributions of women of all cultures.
  3. Demonstrate effective oral communication, writing, and research skills.
  4. Implement critical thinking, writing, reading skills to their intellectual, professional, and personal lives.
  5. Assess critical ideological understandings regarding women and gender implicit in social institutions and structures.

To change your major to Women's and Gender Studies, you can either call the College of Liberal Arts Academic Advising Center at 970-491-3117 or send an email to cla_advising@colostate.edu. More information is available on https://advising.libarts.colostate.edu

Effective Fall 2022

Students in the Women's and Gender Studies major must earn a minimum grade of C (2.000) for all WS and ETST courses required for the major.

Freshman
AUCCCredits
CO 150College Composition (GT-CO2)1A3
ETST 100Introduction to Ethnic Studies (GT-SS3)1C3
WS 200Introduction to Women's Studies3C3
Arts and Humanities3B3
Biological and Physical Sciences3A3
Historical Perspectives3D3
Quantitative Reasoning1B3
Social and Behavioral Sciences3C3
Electives 6
 Total Credits 30
Sophomore
 
Select two courses from the following: 6
Gender in the Economy (GT-SS1)1C 
Introduction to Queer Studies  
La Chicana in Society  
Whiteness, Gender, and Sexuality  
Women of Color in the United States  
Feminist Theory  
Advanced Writing23
Arts and Humanities3B3
Biological and Physical Sciences3A4
Minor1 6
Electives 8
 Total Credits 30
Junior
 
Intersectional Electives (select 6 credits not taken elsewhere from the list below) 6
Women's and Gender Studies Program Electives (select 6 credits not taken elsewhere from list below) 6
Minor1 9
Electives 9
 Total Credits 30
Senior
 
ETST 305Ethnicity, Class, and Gender in the U.S.4A,4B3
WS 472Seminar in Multiracial Decolonial Feminisms4C3
WS 487Internship 3
Women's Studies and Gender Program Electives (select 9 credits not taken elsewhere from the list below) 9
Minor1 6
Electives2 6
 Total Credits 30
 Program Total Credits: 120
1

 A second major will substitute for the required minor.

2

Select enough elective credits to bring the program total to a minimum of 120 credits, of which at least 42 must be upper-division (300- to 400-level).

Intersectional Electives 

ANTH 338Gender and Anthropology3
ANTH 447Gender Equity in Development3
E 334LGBTQ+ Literature3
ETST 201Introduction to Queer Studies3
ETST 254La Chicana in Society3
ETST 300Queer Studies and Women of Color3
ETST 342Queer Indigenous Studies3
ETST 352/SOWK 352Indigenous Women, Children, and Tribes3
ETST 354Black Cinema and Media3
ETST 411Black Feminism(s)3
ETST 413Queer Creative Expressions3
HIST 369History of Sexuality in America3
IE 470Women and Development3
LSPA 445Women Writers in the Hispanic World3
PHIL 353Feminist Philosophies3
PSY 327Psychology of Women3
PSY 437Psychology of Gender3
SOC 330Social Inequality3
WS 362/ETST 362Indigenous Consciousness and Gender3

Women's and Gender Studies Program Electives

ANTH 338Gender and Anthropology3
ANTH 416Gender, Culture, and Health3
ANTH 447Gender Equity in Development3
ART 314Women in Art History3
E 330Gender in World Literature3
E 331Early Women Writers3
E 332Modern Women Writers3
ETST 201Introduction to Queer Studies3
ETST 254La Chicana in Society3
ETST 300Queer Studies and Women of Color3
ETST 352/SOWK 352Indigenous Women, Children, and Tribes3
ETST 411Black Feminism(s)3
ETST 413Queer Creative Expressions3
ETST 354Black Cinema and Media3
ETST 342Queer Indigenous Studies3
HIST 304Women in Ancient Greece and Rome3
HIST 312Women in Medieval Europe3
HIST 320Women and Gender in Europe, 1450-17893
HIST 358American Women's History to 18003
HIST 359American Women's History Since 18003
HIST 369History of Sexuality in America3
LGEN 382/ETST 382Italian Ethnic Identity, Culture, and Gender3
LSPA 445Women Writers in the Hispanic World3
PHIL 353Feminist Philosophies3
PSY 327Psychology of Women3
PSY 437Psychology of Gender3
SPCM 320Communication and Human Trafficking3
SPCM 335Gender and Communication3
SOC 330Social Inequality3
SOC 333Gender and Society3
SOC 334Sociology of Intersectionality3
SOC 357Women, Crime, and Victimization3
WS 362/ETST 362Indigenous Consciousness and Gender3
WS 397Group Study3
WS 484Supervised College Teaching1-3
WS 487Internship1-12
WS 495Independent Study1-3

Distinctive Requirements for Degree ProgramStudents in the Women's and Gender Studies major must earn a minimum grade of C (2.000) for all WS and ETST courses required for the major.

Freshman
Semester 1CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
CO 150College Composition (GT-CO2)  1A3
ETST 100Introduction to Ethnic Studies (GT-SS3)X 1C3
Arts and Humanities  3B3
Biological and Physical Sciences  3A3
Elective   3
 Total Credits   15
Semester 2CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
WS 200Introduction to Women's Studies  3C3
Historical Perspectives  3D3
Quantitative ReasoningX 1B3
Social and Behavioral Sciences  3C3
Elective   3
CO 150 must be completed by the end of Semester 2. X   
 Total Credits   15
Sophomore
Semester 3CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
Select two courses from the following:   6
Gender in the Economy (GT-SS1)  1C 
Introduction to Queer Studies    
La Chicana in Society    
Whiteness, Gender, and Sexuality    
Women of Color in the United States X  
Feminist Theory X  
Minor   3
Electives   6
 Total Credits   15
Semester 4CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
Advanced Writing  23
Arts and Humanities  3B3
Biological and Physical Sciences  3A4
Minor   3
Elective   2
 Total Credits   15
Junior
Semester 5CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
Intersectional Elective (see list on Program Requirements tab)   3
Women's and Gender Studies Electives (see list on Program Requirements tab)   3
Minor   6
Elective   3
 Total Credits   15
Semester 6CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
Intersectional Electives (see list on Program Requirements tab)   3
Women's and Gender Studies Electives (see list on Program Requirements tab)   3
Minor    3
Elective   6
 Total Credits   15
Senior
Semester 7CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
ETST 305Ethnicity, Class, and Gender in the U.S.X 4A,4B3
Women's and Gender Studies Electives (see list on Program Requirements tab)   6
Minor   3
Elective   3
 Total Credits   15
Semester 8CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
WS 472Seminar in Multiracial Decolonial FeminismsX 4C3
WS 487InternshipX  3
Women's and Gender Studies Electives (see list on Program Requirements tab)X  3
MinorX  3
ElectiveX  3
The benchmark courses for the 8th semester are the remaining courses in the entire program of study.X   
 Total Credits   15
 Program Total Credits:   120