Why Major in Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies?

The Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies Program (GSF) centers on the study of gender identities, relations, practices, and institutions.  Our approach to the study of gender is interdisciplinary, intersectional, and transnational. We help students to employ a variety of methodologies, drawn from both the traditional disciplines and from innovations from within the by now expansive archive of feminist scholarship. A key part of this involves teaching students to make connections between the personal and political, between their personal experience on the one hand and social structures and processes on the other hand.  To say that our approach is intersectional is to say that we examine gender as it intersects with race, class, sexuality, disability, and nation. Finally, we attempt to extend the study of gender to encompass a global frame that includes the study of colonization and postcoloniality. In our classes, we prioritize our students’ critical thinking skills, seminar participation capacities, and writing skills.

Duke students find their background in GSF to be a valuable resource for their professional development and lifelong intellectual growth. In recent years, GSF graduates have found themselves well prepared to pursue advanced degrees in every discipline; training in the legal and medical professions; employment in community service agencies and nongovernmental agencies; leadership roles in local, state, and national government; artistic expression in the creative arts; and positions in the corporate world.  Our list of GSF alums offers more information on the variety of work that our former students now engage in .

We invite you to explore the options and opportunities available in GSF by contacting Jeremy Boomhower at (919) 684-3770 or jeremy.boomhower@duke.edu in the undergraduate program.