Major and Minors

Gender and Sexuality Studies explores the ways in which ideas about gender and sexuality shape social roles and identities, as well as the ways in which race, ethnicity, class, and nationhood influence the perception and experience of gender and sexuality within particular cultures. The curriculum is informed by recent scholarship that recognizes gender and sexuality as crucial components of human experience in social, cultural, economic, political, religious, and legal contexts. Courses in Gender and Sexuality Studies enable students to acquire critical and analytical skills that they can then apply in other aspects of their educational experience at UM and beyond the university in their careers and personal development.

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A Gender and Sexuality Studies minor consists of at least 15 credits in Gender and Sexuality Studies courses (core, co-listed, and cross-listed) with a grade of C- or better in each course and a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 in GSS courses. These credits must include at least 9 at the 300 level or above. All minors must complete GSS 201: Introduction to Gender and Sexuality Studies, GSS 301: Feminist Inquiries, and at least one other GSS core course.

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The LGBTQ Studies minor is designed to allow students to explore sexuality and sexual minorities from a variety of perspectives.  The minor will provide students with an introduction to a broad array of LGBTQ issues, including visual and performing arts, literature, languages, history, social science, various theories, public policy and the law, families and other types of intimate relationships, crime, popular culture, and LGBTQ identities and communities.  This widely interdisciplinary field addresses work in a broad range of scholarly disciplines, including biological and cultural studies, literature and anthropology, the health sciences, history, and the visual arts. It ranges from archival research to the elaboration of queer theory, from the analysis of constitutional law to questions of public health, from the study of popular culture to investigations into the development and social construction of sexual identity.

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