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The Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Oregon State University was founded in 1972, originally as “Women Studies.” In recent years, our program joined Anthropology, Ethnic Studies, and World Languages and Cultures to create the School of Language, Culture, and Society. We are part of a vibrant and flourishing intellectual community.
In 2012-2013, we renamed the program “Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies” to reflect our deepening commitment to queer studies and work on sexuality more broadly, as well as scholarship regarding gender constructions and processes, and critical men and masculinity studies. We offer a Ph.D., an M.A., and a B.A. as well as minors in WGSS and Queer Studies at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Our program relies on multi-disciplinary approaches to the study of gender and sexuality, particularly as they intersect with race, ethnicity, class, culture, religion, nation, and ability. Our program emphasizes academic excellence, the use of feminist and anti-racist pedagogies, and scholarship that contributes to social change and justice. We are committed to challenging all forms of oppression, and we center queer, transnational, and women of color feminisms in our curriculum. We encourage creative, innovative, and collaborative frameworks of study, and we work to meet the needs of a wide range of students, developing curriculum that is meaningful for students who wish to pursue careers in academia, as well as those who may be interested in community organizing, feminist nonprofit work, and/or other professional areas.
Our core faculty members are:
Our faculty members have won numerous teaching, research, service, and development awards and are actively involved in the life of the University.
Even as its counterparts in the Pacific Northwest allowed their students to achieve a degree in Indigenous studies, Oregon State University for years did not.
OpEd Dr. Susan Shaw, Professor in WGSS at Oregon State University.
"The Worst Christmas Pageant Ever." Dr. Susan Shaw's most recent editorial in Baptist News Global. Dr. Shaw is a Professor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Oregon State University. She is also ordained Baptist minister and holds master’s and doctoral degrees from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Her most recent book is Intersectional Theology: An Introductory Guide, co-authored with Grace Ji-Sun Kim.
Dr. Luhui Whitebear on OPB's Think Out Loud
More and more organizations, companies and institutions are incorporating land acknowledgments into their work. These statements are intended to acknowledge and show respect to the Indigenous people who have lived on the land for millennia.
Luhui Whitebear, assistant professor in the Oregon State University School of Language, Culture, & Society, says land acknowledgments should be the beginning of an organization’s work with tribes, not the end. Whitebear helped to craft OSU’s land acknowledgment. We hear from her and Rachel Black Elk, junior instructor for the Indigenous Nations Studies program at Portland State University.
Every year thousands of students from the United States study abroad. Research tells us students experience profound personal growth, significant development of intercultural skills.