Gender and Women’s Studies Certificate

Gender and Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary field of inquiry that investigates how gender and sexuality operate as organizing axes of social, cultural, economic and political institutions, as well as in the everyday lives and cultural products of people who must live within them. Emphasizing the importance of historical and cross-cultural perspectives, the Gender and Women’s Studies Department at UMBC critically examines the intersections of gender and sexuality with other differences, including, class, race, ethnicity, nationality, age, and ability to make visible structures of power that otherwise remain hidden.

The Gender and Women’s Studies Department offers a major, undergraduate certificate, and two minors, Gender + Women’s Studies and Critical Sexuality Studies.

To complete the Certificate in Gender + Women’s Studies, students must complete 24 credits of gender and women’s studies coursework, divided as follows:

Core Courses (12 credits)

Students must complete 12 credits of core courses.

Elective Courses (12 credits)

Students must complete twelve credits of elective courses, including one of the following women’s history courses. Nine (9) credits may be from any noncore approved GWST courses, including topics courses (GWST 290, GWST 390, GWST 490). Six (6) of the 12 credits must also be designated “range of experience” (RoE) courses.

GWST 325 - History of Women in America to 1870 (3.00)
GWST 326 - History of Women in America Since 1870 (3.00)
GWST 327 - African American Women’s History (3.00) (RoE)
GWST 330 - Gender and Women in the Classical World (3.00)
GWST 366 - Doing It: Case Studies in the History of Western Sexuality (3.00) (RoE)
GWST 374 - European Women’s History 1200-1750 (3.00)
GWST 375 - European Women’s History 1750-Present (3.00)
GWST 380 - Women and Gender in Asia (3.00) (RoE)
GWST 383 - History and Politics of Sexuality (3.00) (RoE)

Note:

A grade of “C” or better is required in all courses applied toward the certificate.

A maximum of six (6) credits of GWST electives may be taken at the 200 level.

A maximum of three (3) GWST independent study credits may be counted toward the certificate.