The Department of Gender and Women's Studies at Western Michigan University offers a diverse array of courses.
Gender and Women's Studies courses
Upcoming course offerings for students pursuing a gender and women's studies major or minor:
Summer II classes
- GWS 3200 Women, Globalization and Social Change
- GWS 3500 Psychological Perspectives on Gender
- GWS 4400 Internship (contact department)
- GWS 4980/5980 Independent Study (contact department)
- ANTH 2600 Sex, Gender & Culture
- COM 3070 Freedom of Expression
- ECON 3090 Women and the Economy
- FCS 2100 Human Sexuality
- FCS 3150 Global Ecology of the Family
- HIST 3160 Women in U.S. History
- PHIL 3150 Race and Gender Issues
- REL 3170 Religion & Gender
Fall 2020 classes
- GWS 1000 Media and the Sexes
- GWS 2000 Introduction to Gender and Women's Studies
- GWS 2010 LGBT Studies
- GWS 3200 Women, Globalization and Social Change
- GWS 3400 Race, Gender and Science
- GWS 3500 Psychological Perspectives on Gender
- GWS 3700/PSCI 3530 Women and Politics
- GWS 4010 Foundations of Feminist Theory
- GWS 4400 Internship (contact department)
- GWS 4980/5980 Independent Study (contact department)
- COM 3050 Taboo Topics
- COM 3050 Women in Media
- COM 3050 Gender, Science and Media
- COM 3070 Freedom of Expression
- COM 4790 Gender and Communication
- ECON 3090 Economics of Gender and Race
- ENGL 4160 Women in Literature
- FCS 2100 Human Sexuality
- FCS 3150 Global Ecology of the Family
- FCS 5680 Gender, Culture & Families
- HSV 3550/NUR 3550 Perspectives Women's Health
- HIST 3160 Women in US History
- PADM 2000 Intro to Pub/Nonprofit Service
- PADM 3000 Foundation of Non Profit Mgt
- PHIL 3150 Race and Gender Issues
WMU courses
WMU course offerings provides a full listing of course offerings organized by department and semester.
WMU course catalog
WMU's course catalog allows you to explore undergraduate programs and view course descriptions.
General education and essential studies
Students in catalog years up to and including 2019-20 will need to follow the general education guidelines, and those starting in 2020-21 will be adhering to essential studies guidelines.
Special topics
The department offers variable topics courses at the 3000- and 4000-level, all of which count toward the GWS major and minor. Graduate students sometimes enroll in topics courses under GWS 5980: Readings in Gender and Women's Studies. Contact the department for more information.
GWS 3700: Special Topics
Recent topics have included women of color in media; witch and princess stories; gender and sexuality in modern China; and queer history.
GWS 4100: Special Topics
Recent offerings have included narratives of queerness; gender and law; race, class, motherhood; black feminisms.