The world is complex, interconnected, and interdependent, which complicates how we understand and relate to one another. That’s why a Women's Study Interdisciplinary Minor is important. By exploring the way gender intersects with sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, ability, religion, and nationality, our students come to better understand personal and political identities, a critical component to understanding how power and privilege play out in work, politics, and culture.
The Women’s Study Interdisciplinary Minor prepares individuals for the needs and opportunities of a changing world by building awareness of the range of human experience, potential, and accomplishment that place women and gender at the center of inquiry. Women’s Studies transform disciplinary assumptions and theories, create innovative models for teaching and research, and develop practices for challenging systems of power and privilege.
The minor is open to any student in any major or minor.
For more information, please visit the department website. More information is available on https://advising.libarts.colostate.edu.
To add this minor, you can either call the College of Liberal Arts Academic Advising Center at 970-491-3117 or or send an email to cla_advising@colostate.edu.
Learning Objectives
Through courses that specifically focus on women and gender dynamics, students will:
- Explore academic disciplines from a feminist and gender studies perspective;
- Develop an appreciation of the historic and contemporary contributions of women and gender in culture;
- Understand the ideological assumptions regarding women and gender implicit in social institutions;
- Recognize how multiple systems of power and privilege intersect in our everyday lives; and
- Acquire knowledge and skills necessary for physical, social, and emotional well-being.
Effective Fall 2026
Students must satisfactorily complete the total credits required for the minor. Minors and interdisciplinary minors require 12 or more upper-division (300- to 400-level) credits.
Additional coursework may be required due to prerequisites.
Students enrolled in the undergraduate Women’s Study Interdisciplinary Minor are required to earn a grade of C (2.000) or better in each course completed for undergraduate minor credit.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | ||
| ETST 201 | Introduction to Queer Studies | 3 |
| or WS 267 | Genderqueer and Transgender Studies | |
| WS 200 | Introduction to Women's Studies | 3 |
| WS 300 | Feminist Theory | 3 |
| Intersectionality of Race, Sexuality and Gender 1 | ||
| Select three of the following courses: | 9 | |
| Introduction to Queer Studies | ||
| La Chicana in Society | ||
| Queer Studies and Women of Color | ||
| Ethnicity, Class, and Gender in the U.S. | ||
| Queer Indigenous Studies | ||
| Indigenous Women, Children, and Tribes | ||
| Black Feminism(s) | ||
| Queer Creative Expressions | ||
| Disability, Race, Gender in the Environment | ||
| Global Gender | ||
| Race, Sex, Climate Change | ||
| Genderqueer and Transgender Studies | ||
| Whiteness, Gender, and Sexuality (GT-SS3) | ||
| Women of Color in the United States (GT-SS3) | ||
| Race and Sexuality | ||
| Feminist Solidarity and Action | ||
| Indigenous Consciousness and Gender | ||
| Queer Theory | ||
| Elective Courses 1 | ||
| Select 3 credits from the following courses; students can select an additional course from the Intersectional choices: | 3 | |
| Gender and Anthropology | ||
| Gender, Culture, and Health | ||
| Gender Equity in Development | ||
| Gender and Feminisms in Art History | ||
| Gender in World Literature | ||
| Early Women Writers | ||
| Modern Women Writers | ||
| LGBTQ+ Literature | ||
| Gender in the Economy (GT-SS1) | ||
| Women in Ancient Greece and Rome | ||
| Women in Medieval Europe | ||
| Women and Gender in Europe, 1450-1789 | ||
| American Women's History, 1492 to Present | ||
| American Women's History Since 1800 | ||
| History of Sexuality in America | ||
| Women and Development | ||
| Women Writers in the Hispanic World | ||
| Feminist Philosophies | ||
| Psychology of Women | ||
| Psychology of Gender | ||
| Social Inequality | ||
| Gender and Society | ||
| Sociology of Intersectionality | ||
| Women, Crime, and Victimization | ||
| Gender and Communication | ||
| Program Total Credits: | 21 | |
- 1
Courses may not be used to satisfy both the “Intersectionality of Race, Sexuality, and Gender” and the “Elective Courses” categories. At least 9 of the 12 credits required for these course selections must be upper-division (300- to 400-level for a total of 12 upper division credits).