Gender & Women's Studies Major Bachelor's Degree

Examine the cultural and historical production of sexual difference, the impact of feminist research, and the intersection of gender with race, sexuality, class and colonialism.

The Gender and Women’s Studies (GWS) major and minor are rigorous inquiries into multiple forms of sexual difference as constructed by culture and history, and the ways these forms intersect with social forces like race, sexuality, class and colonialism.

Studying GWS challenges conventional cultural assumptions about women, sexuality and gender roles. It promotes the development of new ideas and research in feminist scholarship within an open, supportive environment.

Majors can either emphasize the theoretical focus of recent feminist interdisciplinary scholarship or pursue a joint major that links feminist research and theory to disciplines like art history, economics, English, French, history, media studies, politics, psychology, religious studies, theatre, or science, technology and society.

Established in 1887, Pomona College is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, Calif., about 35 miles east of Los Angeles. We offer a comprehensive curriculum, with 48 majors in the arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.

One of the premier liberal arts colleges in the nation, Pomona is a close-knit and diverse community of accomplished scholars, scientists, entrepreneurs and artists who are passionate about making a difference in the world. There are approximately 1,477 students who come from 61 nations and all 49 U.S. states, as well as the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico.

With a student-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, our students work closely with their professors in the classroom, in the lab and in the field. And our location—within an hour of Los Angeles and the mountains, desert and beaches—provides countless opportunities for field study, research and internships.

Almost all students live in one of 14 residence halls on our 140-acre campus. As the founding member of The Claremont Colleges, a unique consortium of seven colleges and graduate schools, we offer both the advantages of a small liberal arts college and the resources of a large university.