Women's Studies Program

About the Program 

The Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program (WGS) is interdisciplinary. It draws on a wide range of perspectives, including anthropological, economic, historical, literary, psychological, and sociological, to explore women's lives, and the significance of gender and sexuality in general, in contemporary and past societies both in the United States and across the globe. Faculty from a number of different departments teach WGS courses and many of the courses are cross-listed. This means they can be taken for credit in either the WGS program or the department or program with which they are cross-listed.

The Women's Studies Program at the College of Staten Island, established in 1972, is the second oldest Women's Studies Program in the U.S. and the first to graduate a student with a B.A. degree in Women's Studies. As a result of the expansion of the field and changes among the CSI faculty, the Women's Studies Program was redefined as Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in the early 2000s. Under the WGS umbrella, students can also learn about gender, including masculinities, and sexualities, including queer studies. The Program's courses encourage students to explore the many ways in which intersectional gender and sexuality shape their lives and communities.