Major Requirements

SBAI offers two majors in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies (GSWS): one in the humanities (H), and one in the social sciences (SS). Each major can satisfy the College Upper-Level Writing requirements with GSW 200W and GSW 393.

To complete a major, a student must take 10 courses (40 credits) in GSWS. Students may use up to 4 courses taken abroad to complete their GSW major.

Students interested in pursuing a major in GSWS are encouraged to start by taking GSWS 105 and GSWS core courses. These offer a solid foundation in GSWS and can be applied to your major requirements if you decide to declare a major.

MAJOR REQUIREMENTS

  1. GSWS 105: Sex and Power
  2. GSWS 200: History of Feminism: Colloquium
  3. GSWS core course (H-track course if H major, SS-track course if SS major)
  4. GSWS core course (H-track course if H major, SS-track course if SS major)
  5. GSWS core course (any track)
  6. GSWS course(H-track course if H major, SS-track course if SS major)
  7. GSWS course(H-track course if H major, SS-track course if SS major)
  8. GSWS course(H-track course if H major, SS-track course if SS major)
  9. GSWS course(any track)
  10. GSWS 393: Major Senior Seminar (taken spring semester of senior year)-OR-GSWS 389H and 393H: Major Senior Seminar - Honors (Taken during fall and spring semesters of senior year)

Major Senior Seminar tracks

The major difference between 393 and 393H is the length of the project: honors students write their 35-page honors thesis, while non-honors students write a 20-page thesis which they complete in one semester as opposed to two. Both groups attend weekly classes or individual meetings. Classes alternate between writing workshops, discussions of scholarship, presentations from invited scholars, and individual meetings.

Honors in Research

For GSWS majors who would like to complete an honors thesis and graduate with honors, a student must:

  1. Maintain a GPA of at least 3.3 in GSWS courses.
  2. Complete all GSWS Major requirements
  3. In addition to GSWS Major requirements, complete the following courses in the senior year:
    1. GSWS 389H: Major Senior Seminar - Honors (4 credits) during the fall of senior year. During this independent study, honors students will begin research and planning for their honors thesis to be completed during GSWS 393H: Major Senior Seminar - Honors (4 credits) in the Spring semester.
  4. Complete an honors thesis of approximately 35 pages researched and written under the direction of a faculty advisor, and approved by the faculty advisor and a second reader. This thesis should be based on research undertaken through the fall offering of 389H and completed in the spring during GSWS 393H.

If you would like to complete GSWS Honors in Research please contact Tanya Bakhmetyeva at tatyana.bakhmetyeva@rochester.eduand indicate your interest and that you meet the GPA requirement of at least 3.3 in your GSWS courses.Please click the following links for:

Students who satisfactorily complete GSWS Honors in Research requirements will graduate with "Honors in Research" (or High Honors in Research, or Highest Honors in Research when relevant- this is based on both the written thesis and the oral defense). Departmental honors are listed on the transcript, but not recorded on the diploma.

Departmental Degree Distinctions

Students with a GSWS major GPA of at least 3.4 will graduate with Distinction, at least 3.6 will graduate with High Distinction, and at least 3.8 will graduate with Highest Distinction.