Whether pursuing an academic career path, a career in law or social justice, industry, government, or the nonprofit sector, a graduate certificate in women’s and gender studies offers students knowledge and research skills well-suited to employment and citizenship in an increasingly diverse and global world.

Established during the 1983-84 academic year, the women’s, gender, and sexuality studies graduate certificate program is interdisciplinary, intersectional, and international in its orientation. The certificate provides graduate students enrolled in UO departments with training in intersectional feminist scholarship and theory, as well as opportunities to teach undergraduate courses in WGSS (enrolled certificate students will receive preference in their applications for graduate employment and summer teaching) and to explore research opportunities with UO Center for the Study of Women in Society.

Our program’s learning objectives include:

• Training in intersectional and interdisciplinary feminist scholarship and theory.
• Introducing students to theories and practices of feminist pedagogy.
• Providing a professional credential for students interested in pursuing work in WGSS or WGSS-related fields.

Program Requirements

The graduate certificate in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies requires 24 credits.

24 credits

• Required course: WGS 615 [5 credits total]
  • WGS 615 Contemporary Feminist Theories  
    This course examines the development of feminist theory over the past forty years, exploring key concepts such as class, race, sexuality, intersectionality, transnationalism, and ability. This course provides an introduction to thinking theoretically about issues of feminism within multiple contexts and intellectual traditions. Although the specific focus may change each year, students should expect the course to center discussions of gender and its crucial links to productions of race, class, sexuality, and national identity. We strongly encourage graduate students to take this course before applying for teaching positions in WGSS.
• Take three or four*: WGS core courses (12-16 credits total)
  • WGS 510 Experimental Course
  • WGS 511 Feminist Praxis
  • WGS 521 Bodies and embodiment
  • WGS 522 Sexuality Studies
  • WGS 532 Gender , Environment and Development
  • WGS 550 Literature and World-making
  • WGS 551 International perspectives on gender
  • WGS 601 Research
  • WGS 605 Reading
  • WGS 607 Topics in Feminist Studies
• Take two or one*: WGS or approved courses from other departments (4-8 credits total)

* Students taking 4 courses in WGSS core courses should take 1 course in cross-listed course. Students taking 3 WGSS core courses should take 2 cross-listed courses.

Additional requirements

• All graded courses must be taken for letter grades and passed with a mid-C or better.
• No more than 8 credits may be taken pass/no pass without specific approval.
• No more than 4 credits of Reading & Conference (605) from the student’s degree-granting department can be applied to the certificate.
• If a course is not officially cross-listed or if your major project for the course was a gender studies project, you should discuss with the WGSS Director of Graduate Studies or you can petition to have it count toward the certificate. The process for petitioning can be found on the Forms area of our website.
• It is recommended that students seeking employment in gender studies apply to teach WGS 101.
• Graduate course listings can be found on the  UO catalog.

If a course is not officially cross-listed or if your major project for the course was a gender studies project, you should discuss it with the WGSS director of graduate studies or you can petition to have it count toward the certificate. 

Pre-Fall 2019 Requirements

Students declaring a certificate prior to Fall 2019 have the option to follow the old requirements listed here:

Pre-Fall 2019 Requirements

For applications and worksheets, please see the Forms & Applications page.

To learn the latest about Graduate School policies regarding satisfactory progress toward your degree, go to Division of Graduate Studies Satisfactory Progress.

The Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Graduate Certificate was established in the 1983-1984 school year.