WGSS Fist being transported on a truck

50 Years of WGSS at UMass

Our department is one of the oldest of its kind. WGSS came into being through the agitation of students and faculty; we are proud to carry with us a long history of activist and intellectual energy in the Valley. Even our fist traveled with us from Bartlett to our current home in South College!

white and green book cover of undoing monogamy, featuring abstract plants and birds

Faculty Publications

We are committed to interdisciplinary and intersectional analysis in which the study of women and gender is multifaceted, diverse, and embedded in a network of power relations, including race, class, sexuality, and nation. Check out the books our faculty are publishing!

Why Study WGSS

The field views and analyzes intellectual problems and issues of current concern through the perspectives of gender, class, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, and ability. Students think about challenges faced by marginalized (or not) individuals in both domestic and foreign spaces, and work to conceptualize solutions that can be applied in communities around the world. 

four students talking in a room, with window view of library

WGSS News

See more news
Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies Hosts Reading with Poet Franny Choi

The Department of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies recently hosted a poetry reading from acclaimed poet and essayist Franny Choi.

November 15, 2023
Welcome Back - WGSS Fall 2023 Newsletter

We hope that your fall semester is off to a good start! Catch a glimpse of what is going on in WGSS this term in our online newsletter.

November 8, 2023