You can begin the process of becoming a GWSS major by asking a GWSS faculty member to become your academic adviser. Faculty from across the college serve as GWSS advisers, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the GWSS curriculum. If you are planning to double major in another discipline which has both GWSS courses and faculty advisers, you might consider choosing a faculty adviser from that department to serve as your “combination adviser”: this option allows you to have just one adviser even though you are completing two majors. Generally, your adviser should be someone with whom you've already studied; if you're at a loss for whom to ask to be your adviser, consult the Chair of the GWSS Program for suggestions.
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.
You will also need to fill out the College "Declaration of Major" form, which you obtain from the Registrar's Office. This form asks for a 100- to 200-word rationale of how you’ve designed your liberal arts education so far and the goals you have set for yourself for your remaining semesters of study; in this rationale, you might also chose to reflect on how your planned major will help you achieve your post-graduation goals. The declaration form asks you to list the courses you've already completed, as well as outline the courses you plan to take to complete your major(s). Your prospective advisor will work with you on this declaration form and your four-year plan. Please review the following sample GWSS major rationales.
The penultimate step in the process is to obtain the signatures of both your new adviser and the Chair of the GWSS Program on the "Declaration of Major" form; those signatures indicate that each has reviewed your plan and tacitly approves it for completion of the major.
Since the number of prospective GWSS majors is fairly large, be sure to begin this process well before the deadline for a declaration of major so that you can meet with the necessary people before you run out of time.
The final step in the declaration process is taking the form over to the Registrar's Office before the deadline, which is the week before spring break of your second year.
GWSS Faculty Advisers:
Steve Andrews: adviser to both GWSS majors and GWSS/English double majors
Jenny Anger: adviser to GWSS/Art History double majors
Vance Byrd: adviser to both GWSS and GWSS/German double majors
Jennifer Dobe: adviser to both GWSS majors and GWSS/Philosophy double majors
Tim Dobe: adviser to GWSS/Religious Studies double majors
Caleb Elfenbein: adviser to both GWSS/History or GWSS/Religious Studies double majors
Karla Erickson: adviser to both GWSS majors and GWSS/Sociology double majors
Brigittine French: adviser to GWSS/Anthropology double majors
Terri Geller: adviser to both GWSS majors and GWSS/English double majors
Katya Gibel-Mevorach: adviser to both GWSS majors and GWSS/Anthropology double majors
Leslie Gregg-Jolly: adviser to GWSS/Biology double majors
Rebecca Hamlin: adviser to GWSS/Political Science double majors
David Harrison: adviser to both GWSS majors and GWSS/French double majors
Astrid Henry: adviser to both GWSS majors and GWSS/English double majors
Sue Ireland: adviser to GWSS/French double majors
Lakesia Johnson: adviser to GWSS majors
Johanna Meehan: adviser to both GWSS majors and GWSS/Philosophy double majors
Mirzam Perez: adviser to GWSS/Spanish double majors
Elizabeth Prevost: adviser to GWSS/History double majors
Irene Powell: adviser to GWSS/Economics double majors.
Sarah Purcell: adviser to both GWSS and GWSS/History double majors
Elizabeth Queathem: adviser to GWSS/biology double majors
Daniel Reynolds: adviser to both GWSS and GWSS/German double majors
Lee Running: adviser to GWSS/Studio Art double majors
Asani Seawell: adviser to GWSS/Psychology double majors
Janet Seiz: adviser to GWSS/Economics double majors
