Gender, Sexuality, & Race Studies

The Gender, Sexuality, and Race Studies (GSRS) program at PLU provides students with an innovative curriculum that examines how gender, sexuality, and race are embedded in complex dynamics of power and resistance, offers intersectional and interdisciplinary ways to understand identities and imagine new configurations of power, and provides students with opportunities to develop skills that will prepare them to pursue social justice and work in diverse communities. Accordingly, GSRS graduates will be able to solve problems in diverse environments, work effectively across difference, and lead from an equity mindset, some of the most important skills and abilities desired by employers.

The gender, sexuality, and race studies major is multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary. Conferral of a baccalaureate degree with a major in gender, sexuality, and race studies requires completion of a complementary major or minor from any department or program in the University.

PLU hosts a chapter of Iota Iota Iota (Triota) Gender and Sexuality Studies Honor Society. Eligible students meet the following criteria: (1) completion of at least 60 semester hours, (2) a minimum 3.5 cumulative GPA at the time of initiation, and (3) a demonstrated academic interest in Gender and Sexuality Studies, as evidenced by being a declared GSRS major or declared Gender & Sexuality Studies minor or having completed at least three courses that meet GSRS major and GS minor requirements (including courses offered by GSRS and courses offered by other programs that have been approved as GSRS electives).

Bachelor of Arts Degree

Major in Gender, Sexuality, and Race Studies
36 semester hours, including:

• GSRS 201 (4 semester hours, offered every semester)
• GSRS 301 (4 semester hours, offered every Fall Semester)
• GSRS 499 (4 semester hours, offered every Spring Semester)
• 24 additional semester hours
  • must be selected from list of GSRS-approved courses (see list below);
  • must include at least 8 hours in the Gender and Sexuality (GS) distribution
  • must include at least 8 hours in the Critical Race Studies (CR) distribution
  • must include at least one of the following: HGST 200, NAIS 250, LTST 241
  • must be selected from at least four departments or programs
  • must be selected from at least two different divisions or schools
  • at least four of these courses must be at 300 or 400-level.
  • Courses that are not on the approved list, from any discipline, for which at least 60% of the assignments center on women, feminism, gender, race, and/or sexuality may also count for the GSRS major. This allows the integration of gender, sexuality, and race studies perspectives into courses that are not explicitly or entirely structured around those perspectives. Students should consult the GSRS chair about this option before the course begins (when possible) and provide syllabi and assignments to the GSRS Executive Committee for approval upon completion of the course.

Minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies
20 semester hours, including:

• GSRS 201 (4 semester hours, offered every semester)
• GSRS 301 (4 semester hours, offered every fall)
• 12 additional semester hours
  • must be selected from GSRS courses or from list of GSRS-approved courses
  • must include at least 8 hours in the Gender and Sexuality (GS) distribution
  • must be selected from at least two departments or programs
  • must be selected from at least two different divisions or schools
  • at least two courses must be at the 300- or 400-level
  • Courses that are not on the approved list, from any discipline, for which at least 60% of the assignments center on women, feminism, gender, and/or sexuality may also count for the Gender and Sexuality Studies minor. This allows the integration of Gender & Sexuality Studies perspectives into courses that are not explicitly or entirely structured around those perspectives. Students should consult the GSRS chair about this option before the course begins (when possible) and provide syllabi and assignments to the GSRS Executive Committee for approval upon completion of the course.

Minor in Critical Race Studies
20 semester hours, including:

• GSRS 201 (4 semester hours, offered every semester)
• GSRS 301 (4 semester hours, offered every fall)
• 12 additional semester hours
  • must be selected from GSRS courses or from list of GSRS-approved courses
  • must include at least 8 hours in the Critical Race Studies (CR) distribution
  • must be selected from at least two departments or programs
  • must be selected from at least two different divisions or schools
  • at least two courses must be at the 300- or 400-level
  • Courses that are not on the approved list, from any discipline, for which at least 60% of the assignments center on the critical study of race may also count for the Critical Race Studies minor. This allows the integration of Critical Race Studies perspectives into courses that are not explicitly or entirely structured around those perspectives. Students should consult the GSRS chair about this option before the course begins (when possible) and provide syllabi and assignments to the GSRS Executive Committee for approval upon completion of the course.

Because of their shared core courses, students may not double-minor in Gender & Sexuality Studies and Critical Race Studies. Majors in Gender, Sexuality, & Race Studies may not minor in either Gender & Sexuality Studies or Critical Race Studies for the same reason.

GSRS Approved Courses - Gender & Sexuality Distribution

Division of Humanities

• ENGL 232: Women’s Literature
• ENGL 348 when taught as “19th Century American Women Writers”
• ENGL 360A when taught as “The Queer Renaissance”
• ENGL 398A when taught as “Medieval Bodies”
• FREN 306/406: French Feminisms
• RELI 330 when taught as “Sex and the Bible”
• RELI 368: Feminist and Womanist Theologies
• RELI 390 when taught as “Women in the Ancient World”

Division of Natural Sciences

• BIOL 287/387/389 when taught as “Biological Effects of Sex & Gender”

Division of Social Sciences

• ANTH 352: Anthropology and Age
• ANTH 353: Clothing and Material Culture
• PSYC 375: Psychology of Women
• SOCI 210: Gender and Society

School of Arts and Communication

• ARTD 490: Gender and Art
• COMA 303: Gender and Communication

GSRS Approved Courses - Critical Race Studies Distribution

Division of Humanities

• ENGL 216 when taught as “Literature of the Raj”
• ENGL 217 when taught as “Asian-American Literature”
• NORD 441: Colonization, Slavery, Genocide, & the Black Atlantic
• RELI 230 when taught as “African-American Religious Traditions” or “Islam in America”
• RELI 236: Native American Religious Traditions
• RELI 354 when taught as “Race & Gender in Theology”
• RELI 393 when taught as “Tacoma Buddhism” or “Religious Diversity, Health, Healing”

Division of Social Sciences

• ANTH 104: Introduction to Language in Society
• POLS 288 when taught as “Latino Experience in America”
• POLS 365: Racial and Ethnic Politics
• POLS 370: Prisons & Prisoners
• PSYC 335: Cultural Psychology

Interdisciplinary Programs

• IHON 112: Liberty, Power, and Imagination