How to Apply for the Major and Minors

Individuals interested in a Major or Minor in WGSS or LGBT Studies can contact Bobbie Sue Schindler at bschindler@uh.edu or schedule a virtual appointment through Navigate.

The Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies Major

The WGSS Major allows students to learn and understand how lives and experiences are shaped by gender, sexuality, race, class, dis/ability, and citizenship.

The WGSS Major is housed within the Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (624 AH). Up to 9 hours of approved transfer substitutes will be accepted toward the major.

Click here to download the degree plan for the WGSS Major.

Why Study WGSS

The program offers an interdisciplinary undergraduate major in WGSS, a minor in Women's Studies and a minor in LGBT Studies.  The major involves five required courses generated by WGSS, and five approved, cross-listed electives. The minors involve Intro courses generated by WGSS, and minoring students then take 5 electives which may be drawn from WGSS, the humanities, fine arts, and social and health sciences (check with Advisors on distribution requirements). Typically fifteen to twenty-five undergraduate courses are offered each semester. Topics Include:  Gender, Society & Feminist Theory; Sexuality and Queer Theory; Gender in Transnational Perspective; Intersectionalities: Race, Class, Age, Disability, Sexuality & Gender; Health Aspects of Human Sexuality, Sociology of Gender, Psychology of Gender, Women in Politics, Sexuality and Society, US Women's History since 1840, Feminist Philosophy, Women Writers, Gender and Film, and Women in Latin America, Gay and Lesbian Literature, Sociology of Family, Gender and Media, etc. The undergraduate minors are open to all students regardless of major.

The program takes an intersectional, multidisciplinary and transnational approach to critically assess existing hierarchies, inequalities, and forms of privilege, in the past and present. We challenge students to understand how categories of gender, sexuality, race, class, dis/ability, and citizenship have shaped not only their own lives but also the lives of people in their communities and around the world.

Outline of Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies Major

The Women's Studies Minor

The WOST Minor allows students to learn about gender as a fundamental category of social and cultural analysis; linking gender with class, race, ethnicity and sexual identity to analyze the diversity of women's experience.

The WOST Minor is housed within the Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (624 AH). Up to 6 hours of approved transfer substitutes will be accepted toward the minor.

Click here to download the degree plan for the WOST Minor.

The LGBT Studies Minor

The LGBT Studies Minor allows students to question and analyze the complex roles and implications of sexuality, gender and sexual identity especially in a world where LGBT people are more visible and prominent than ever before.

The LGBT Studies Minor is housed within the Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (624 AH). Up to 6 hours of approved transfer substitutes will be accepted toward the minor. If you have questions about this minor contact Dr. Guillermo de los Reyes.

Click here to download the degree plan for the LGBT Minor.

Petitioning a Course for Approval

Courses that are not cross-listed but deal with over 50% women or gender in topics, assignments, and readings may be petitioned for credit for the major or minors. Adhere to the following process:

1. Print a “General Petition” from the Academic Forms website. 
2. Fill in sections A and B of the petition completely.
3. Have your professor sign section C.
4. Attach a course syllabus to the completed and signed petition and email it to WGSS advisor Sue Schindler at bschindler@uh.edu.
5. The WGSS advisor will complete the remaining steps and contact you when the process is finished.

NOTE: Apart from our Intro courses, only courses 3000 level or above count to the major or minor.