Students enjoy some quiet down time in Saints Rest coffee shop downtown only a couple blocks away from campus

Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies (GWSS)

A crosscutting field that teaches you to see differently.

Gender and sexuality are basic organizing structures of society. These categories are embedded in law, politics, and culture. Gender and sexuality shape the distribution of life opportunities locally and globally, and they permeate some of our most fundamental ways of experiencing and thinking about the world. Gender, women’s, and sexuality studies (GWSS) is an interdisciplinary field that investigates the complexities of gender and sexuality across various cultures, historical periods, and political contexts. The GWSS program at Grinnell offers students a broad foundation in feminist, critical race, and queer scholarship and activism.

Why Study GWSS?

  • Students participating in the classroom.

    Intersectional Analysis

    Explore issues from a variety of social and cultural perspectives.

    GWSS is vitally important to the liberal arts curriculum because it is an inherently interdisciplinary field of study. GWSS majors explore courses across the campus to fulfill their elective requirements. In the program’s core courses, students learn to think through the lenses of various disciplines, applying methods and theoretical models borrowed from the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Students then take questions of power, privilege, and agency learned in GWSS courses and apply them in their courses across the curriculum.

    Courses in GWSS involve the study of human behavior and society with a lot of attention to communication and writing.

  • Students in a row in a classroom

    Interdisciplinary Skill-building

    Learn to use feminist analysis to engage in a variety of fields.

    In addition to faculty members dedicated to GWSS, a network of affiliated faculty across campus contributes a wide variety of courses to the program, providing you with multiple points of view and tools that will assist you in your chosen career. You’ll engage in research throughout your studies, seeking answers to important questions and questioning commonly accepted answers. All of this will prepare you to pursue graduate studies or a variety of careers, including law, medicine, and work in the nonprofit world.

  • close-up of student in classroom

    Practice Social Justice

    Connect theory with practice.

    You’ll explore the field of gender, women’s studies, and sexuality studies across various cultures and historical periods, employing diverse methods of inquiry from the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. You will apply theoretical knowledge to practical problems. Learning approaches from the field and studying feminist scholarship will help you use your education to achieve social justice goals.

Alumni Spotlight

Denisha Renovales stands by Grinnell College entrance
The Head and Heart of an Advocate for Social Justice: Denisha Renovales ’17

Denisha Renovales ’17 came to Grinnell with a strong drive to be a champion for social justice and an advocate for minority communities. The courses she took in the Department of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality studies (GWSS) made her aware of an opportunity to learn more about the social impact that she could have.

Featured Courses

Will Donaldson ’22

Introduction to Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies

by Will Donaldson ’22

Introduction to GWSS attracts students from seemingly every community on campus — from STEM majors to athletes to queer people — all hoping to learn more about the constantly evolving study of gender, sexuality, and marginalized identities.

Jennifer Rodrigues Santos ’23

Foundations of LGBTQ Studies

By Jennifer Rodrigues Santos ’23

Jennifer Rodrigues Santos ’23 shares her experience in the course "Foundations of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Studies."

  • Louise R. Noun

    Louise R. Noun Endowment for Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies

    The Louise R. Noun Endowment for Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies was created in 1985 by Joseph Rosenfield ’25 to honor the life and activism of his sister, Louise Noun ’29. Today, the endowment provides funds to support student research and internships, campus wide programming, and a named chair, Louise Noun Professor of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies.

    Learn more about the Louise R. Noun Endowment and Jeanne Burkle Award.

GWSS News & Events

Students Work Preserves Iowa LGBTQ Voices

Research by students in Postdoctoral Fellow Abram Lewis's Queer Oral Histories course is preserving Iowa LGBTQ oral histories for future generations.
Picture of Students who attended Duke Feminist Theory Workshop

Duke Feminist Theory Workshop

Since 2007, Duke University’s Trinity College of Arts and Sciences in Durham, North Carolina, has hosted an annual 2-day long workshop on feminist theory. Each year, attendees from around the…

back of student at typewriter

Understanding Flawed Feminists

Students study controversial writers, critics, and activists during the 1960s through the 1980s who have been mostly or entirely erased from feminist history in this capstone course.

Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies Career Outcomes

First Destinations

  • 52% Employment
  • 18% Graduate School
  • 10% Post-Graduate Service
  • 6% Fellowships
  • 2% Continuing Education
  • 12% Other

Employment

90%
Positions related to Career Goals

Positions Related to Career Goals

This graph illustrates the extent to which our graduates' first job is aligned with their career goals. It's one thing to find a job; it's an entirely different thing to land the job you want!

Employer

  • API Chaya
  • BlueTickSocial
  • Girl Scouts of the USA
  • Holland & Knight LLP
  • Thresholds
  • YWCA Utah

Graduate Schools

67%
67% Accepted to 1st- or 2nd- choice programs

Graduate School Acceptance Info

Of those who applied to and were accepted to at least one program, this chart illustrates the percentage of admitted students who were accepted to either their first or second choice program and institution.

Institutions

  • Columbia University Teachers College
  • University of Iowa
  • University of Michigan
  • University of Nebraska
Explore More Graduate Outcomes

Department Chair

Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant

Department Information

Phone
(641) 269-4655
Fax
641-269-9942

Humanities and Social Studies Center
1226 Park Street
Grinnell, IA 50112
United States

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