Gender & Queer Studies

About the Program

As the home to one of the nation's first Women's Studies programs, the University of Puget Sound has a long tradition of exploring issues pertaining to sexuality, identity, and gender. The current Gender and Queer Studies program has the following learning objectives:

To think analytically about systems of power, dominance and inequalities and their interrelationships.
To examine the ways in which gender and multiple other converging axes of identity frame all aspects of life.
To explore the relationships between gender and identity, race, ethnicity, and sexuality, inter alia.
To give students conversancy with a wide range of intellectual traditions, including feminist, queer, race, and post-colonial theories.
To work in and across disciplines, from the social sciences to the sciences to the humanities.
To explore questions of diversity, difference and power, particularly with regard to gender.
To hone analytical and critical thinking, writing and speaking skills.
To demonstrate the ability to articulate complex ideas concerning gender to a range of audiences.
To open up broader interrelated questions about the nature of gender constructions and the effects of gender on all persons.