Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies

Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies

A number of faculty in the department focus their research on women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, in national and historical contexts as diverse as colonial Latin America, nineteenth- and twentieth-century Iberia, eighteenth-century Italy, and medieval and early modern France. The diverse range of courses in Romance Languages and Literatures, which are taught from a feminist, queer, or masculinity studies perspective, provide interested students with a solid foundation in gender analysis within a historically- and culturally-informed framework. Through a close analysis of literature, film, and other forms of cultural production, students learn to think critically about gender and sexuality, as they intersect with other social categories, such as class, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, and (dis)ability.

Graduate students interested in gender studies have the option of completing a Certificate in Women, Gender, and Sexuality studies to supplement their work in various areas of Romance Languages and Literatures. Interested graduate students may choose to enroll in the course on “Feminist Literary and Cultural Theory,” offered through the Department of Women Gender and Sexuality Studies every spring, as a part of their Graduate Certificate work or to gain exposure to feminist methodologies. The interdisciplinary scholarly and pedagogical training offered by the WGSS Certificate has resulted in excellent job placement for many of our PhDs in French and Hispanic studies specializing in women and gender studies.

Faculty working in this area include:

Stephanie Kirk, Rebecca Messbarger, Michael Sherberg, Julie Singer, Akiko Tsuchiya