Steps to Becoming a Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies Major
1) Find a faculty adviser. As an interdisciplinary major, GWSS lists faculty from a wide range of other disciplines who are also qualified to act as GWSS advisers. If you are thinking about a double major, you might consider declaring with a GWSS adviser who is in the department of your intended double. This person could act as a combination adviser, allowing you to have one adviser instead of two. Find a list of advisers in GWSS sorted by their respective departments below.
2) Start developing a 4-year plan. With your prospective GWSS adviser, you will then develop a plan for completing your major. The GWSS Program has developed two resources to help you develop your GWSS curricular plan: information about how to design a 4-year plan in GWSS and the Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies Major Advising Form, which you should print out and read carefully before your meeting with your adviser. Copies of the Advising form are also available outside of the GWSS Chair’s Office.
3) Pick up or print out the Declaration of Major form. The Grinnell College Declaration of Major form can be filled out electronically and printed out, or picked up in the John Chrystal Center and filled out by hand. On this form you will need to copy down a four year course plan and write a 100 to 200 word rationale of how declaring this major fits into a liberal arts program of study, and how this major will help you to fulfill your goals both here at Grinnell College and after graduation. You can look at sample GWSS major rationales for an idea of what this rationale should look like. You should be sure to work with your intended adviser in completing this form.
4) Get signatures from your intended adviser and the GWSS department chair. This step shows the registrar that both your adviser and the chair of the department have looked at your educational goals, and affirm that you can complete the major in your four years at Grinnell.
5) Turn your Declaration of Major form into the registrar. The registar's office is located in the John Chrystal Center. The deadline for declaring your first major is before preregistration for your fifth semester, so spring break of your second year. For a second major that deadline is considerably later, before preregistration for your eighth semester, so fall break of your fourth year. Keep these deadlines in mind as you think about beginning the declaration process. The number of prospective GWSS majors is fairly large, and GWSS advisers' time will become increasingly limited as these deadlines approach.
GWSS Faculty Advisers:
*Denotes faculty who only advise GWSS majors who are also double majoring in their department
Astrid Henry - can also serve as a combination adviser for GWSS/English double majors
Advisers in the Anthropology Department
Advisers in the Art Department
Advisers in the Biology Department
Advisers in the Economics Department
Advisers in the English Department
Advisers in Foreign Language Departments
Advisers in the History Department
Advisers in the Philosophy Department
Advisers in the Political Science Department
Advisers in the Psychology Department
Advisers in the Religious Studies Department
Advisers in the Sociology Department
