COURSE CURRICULUM

The Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS) major at UNH is a 40-credit interdisciplinary program designed to help students critically examine how gender, power, identity, and social justice shape individual lives and broader societies. To complete the degree, students must earn a grade of C- or better in all major-approved courses and maintain at least a 2.0 GPA in the major. The curriculum begins with foundational courses such as WGS 401W (Introduction to Women’s Studies) or WGS 405 (Gender, Power and Privilege), followed by WGS 505 (Survey in Women’s Studies) and WGS 632W (Feminist Thought), which together provide theoretical and historical grounding in feminist and gender studies perspectives. Students also complete a capstone experience through WGS 798W (Colloquium), which integrates and reflects on their learning across the program. Beyond these core requirements, students select six additional elective courses approved by the department, with at least three at the 600-level or above and at least two specifically from WGS offerings, allowing flexibility to tailor the degree toward personal interests such as media, history, politics, literature, health, or social policy. Electives may include courses like Gender, Race and Technology, Women in Literature, Feminist Political Theory, or Race and Gender in Film and Popular Culture, reflecting the program’s wide interdisciplinary reach. Students are encouraged to work closely with academic advisors to design a coherent plan of study that aligns with their academic and career goals. The program also emphasizes experiential learning through options such as internships, independent study, or honors thesis work, helping students connect classroom theory with real-world engagement in activism, advocacy, and community organizations. As part of broader university requirements, students must also complete Discovery Program requirements and maintain appropriate academic standards. Overall, the WGS major prepares students to think critically about systems of inequality and to apply feminist and intersectional frameworks in careers related to education, public policy, social work, law, media, and nonprofit leadership.