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 2020 COURSES FALL 2020 COURSES
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
For students in catalog years up to and including 2019-20, there are six GWS classes that fulfill four general education distribution areas. One GWS class fulfills the General Education baccalaureate writing requirement.
Area II: Humanities
- GWS 1000: Media and the Sexes
Area III: The United States, Cultures and Issues
- GWS 2000: Introduction to Gender and Women's Studies
- GWS 2010: LGBT Studies
- GWS 3500: Psychological Perspectives on Gender
Area IV: Other Cultures and Civilizations
- GWS 3200: Women, Globalization and Social Change
Area VII: Natural Science and Technology, Applications and Implications
- GWS 3400: Race, Gender and Science
Proficiency 2: Baccalaureate Level Writing
- GWS 4010: Foundations of Feminist Theory
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 witch and princess stories, gender and sexuality in modern Chinese literature and culture, queer history, and women and politics.
GWS 4100: Special Topics
Recent offerings have included Gender and Law; Motherhood Denied? Race, Class, and Reproductive Rights; Black Feminisms; and Queer Theory.