Gender and Women’s Studies Certificate

This interdisciplinary certificate is designed for students in any major who also want to study gender in a systematic way. The certificate program 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 and transnational perspectives, Gender, Women’s, + Sexuality Studies 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. This certificate empowers students to imagine a more just future and equips them with the tools to collectively enact it.

Certificate Requirements

Minimum 24 credits
Minimum grade of ‘C’ in courses applied to the certificate
Students completing the Critical Sexuality Studies Minor may share a maximum of two courses between programs

Course Requirements

Core Courses (12 credits)

Complete the following:

Elective Courses (12 credits)

Complete 12 elective credits including 3 credits from one of the following women’s history courses. Of these 12 elective credits, 6 credits must be designated Range of Experience (RoE) courses and 6 must be at the 300 level and above. Students have the option to take up to 3 credits of independent study and 3 credits of internship towards completion of the certificate. Selected topics courses (CSST 292, CSST 392, CSST 492, GWST 290, GWST 390, GWST 490) may also be counted toward the 12 credits in electives. The full list of elective and RoE courses can be found on the Gender, Women’s, + Sexuality Studies department website.

Women’s History Courses

Complete 3 of 12 total credits from the following:

GWST 325 - History of Women in America to 1870 (3) (cross-listed as HIST 325 )
GWST 326 - History of Women in America Since 1870 (3) (cross-listed as HIST 326 )
GWST 327 - African American Women’s History (3) (cross-listed as AFST 354 and HIST 323 ) (RoE)
GWST 330 - Gender and Women in the Classical World (3) (cross-listed as ANCS 320 )
GWST 366 - Doin’ It: Case Studies in the History of Western Sexuality (3) (cross-listed as HIST 366 ) (RoE)
GWST 373 - ”Do Muslim Women Need Saving?” - Women and Gender in Islam (3) (cross-listed as HIST 379 ) (RoE)
GWST 374 - European Women’s History 1200-1750 (3) (cross-listed as HIST 374 )
GWST 375 - European Women’s History 1750-Present (3) (cross-listed as HIST 375 )
GWST 380 - Women and Gender in Asia (3) (cross-listed as HIST 380 ) (RoE)
GWST 383 - History and Politics of Sexuality (3) (RoE)