Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies program at SUNY Geneseo

Women's & Gender Studies

NEW FOR FALL 2025--We've broadened our focus and changed our name to become the Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies Program.

Welcome to our web site! Please browse here to find out about our programs in Women's and Gender Studies, to see courses for next semester that count for the programs, to find guidelines for senior capstone projects, our awards for students, and current events.

The Women's and Gender Studies program is governed by a coordinator and an Advisory Committee of faculty across many disciplines. We also aim to involve students in our governance structure as well.

Mission Statement

Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines gender and sexuality as interrelated systems of structural inequality through local and global perspectives. The GSWS Program at Geneseo centers gender minorities—including women and LGBTQ+ people—in everything it does, while also exploring the ways in which sexism, homophobia, and transphobia harm all people, including men and straight cisgender individuals. Committed to an intersectional approach to feminism, the program equips the student with tools to explore and interrogate the historical roots and contemporary reproduction of structural inequities. With real world challenges and needs in mind, our programs also encourage application of classroom learning through activist work, internships, co-curricular pursuits, and public/civic engagement.

Our Programs

We offer a major, two minors, and a concentration:

(available for Early Childhood and Childhood Education students only)

The interdisciplinary nature of our major makes it an especially apt option for a double major. In recent years about half of our majors have chosen the route of a double major, combining Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies with English, Communications, Psychology, History, and Sociology, and Sustainability Studies.

Our minors are similarly well-suited to be combined with virtually any other major. Many students take up more than one minor. Given the that contribute to GSWS programs, students are often able to "double-dip" and count some courses for multiple majors and/or minors.

Student Successes

"The WGST program at Geneseo helped open my eyes to injustice all around us and finally discover some of my biggest passions. I have gained the ability to critically analyze society around us. I am able to speak openly on my values and beliefs. My most valuable experience was my internship completed at the Livingston County Family Court." -- Katie Cole, WGST Major, Graduated Spring 2025

"The Geneseo WGST department allowed me to curate and foster an interest in WGST through a lens that worked for me and my future career goals. As someone looking to go into musicological research, finding a way to blend my two interests would have been difficult if not for the warm welcome that I received from everyone in the WGST department and their steadfast belief in supporting their students down any avenue of exploration - even when it may seem irrelevant on the surface! This helped me clarify and narrow down the work that I'd like to do in graduate school and later in my career, which was essential in helping me get into multiple graduate programs. I wouldn't be the person or scholar that I am today if it weren't for Geneseo WGST, and I'll forever be grateful to have been a part of such an amazing program." - Alannah Egan, WGST Minor, Graduated Spring 2025

Here are career and postgraduate educational pursuits of students in our programs since 2018:

Graduate & Professional School or Other Further Education:

Graduate School in Musicology
Graduate School in Women's & Gender Studies
Graduate School in Social Work
Graduate School in Sociology
Graduate School in Library Science
Graduate School in Public Health
Graduate School in Museum Studies
Graduate School in Education
Graduate School in Counseling
Graduate School in Biomedical Science
Graduate School in Library & Information Sciences
Nursing Program
Law School

Jobs/Career Paths:

K-12 Teaching
Social Worker/Case Manager
Copywriter
Teaching English Abroad
Special Education Teaching in K-12
Program Administrator in Feminist Organization
Higher Education Administration: Title IX
Parks and Recreation Worker
Grant Work
Communications/Advertising/Social Media
Preschool Teaching
Paralegal
Museum Management
Consulting/Management
Health Educator
Finance
Elementary Education Administration
Health Administration
Higher Ed Administration: Financial Aid/Admissions
Librarian
Human Rights Organization
Journalist
Doula
Habitat for Humanity, Family Coordinator
Mental Health Counseling
Sexologist
Environmental Scientist

Educational and Career Paths of Students Graduating Prior to 2018 Include:

Graduate School in Philosophy
Graduate School in Higher Education Administration
Graduate School in Public Policy
Graduate School in Library Science
Graduate School in Psychology
Graduate School in Business
Law School
Project Management
College Librarian
K-12 Teacher
College Provost
Lobbyist
Human Resources
Attorney
Health Policy
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coordinator
Sales
Planned Parenthood of Greater New York
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Counseling/Therapy
Business/Marketing
Musician
Health Center Program Director
Theater Production Assistant
Director, College Center
Curriculum Design or Educational Research
Immigration Advocacy
Legislative Aide
Acupuncturist
Professor
Academic Publishing
Nonprofit Work: Administration, Fundraising, Directing, Development, Public Relations, Media, etc.
Philanthropy
Editor

Graduate and Law Schools Attended by Alums of Our Programs (in the above programs):

University of California, Berkeley
Cornell University
Columbia University
SUNY Albany
Syracuse University
Michigan State University
University at Buffalo
Suffolk University Law School
Drexel University Law School
Metropolitan State University of Denver
Stony Brook University
University of Rochester
University of York
Virginia Commonwealth University
CUNY, Queens
Ohio State University
George Washington University
University of San Diego
SUNY Brockport
Antioch University New England
St John's University Law School
CUNY Graduate Center
Indiana University Bloomington
Syracuse Unversity Law School
SUNY Plattsburgh
Hunter College
Widener University
Simmons University
Pace University Law School
Bard College
University of Michigan
SUNY, Oswego
CUNY Law School
University of Vermont
University of Connecticut
University of Arizona
SUNY Binghamton
University of Maryland, College Park
Boston University
University of Colorado Law School
San Francisco State University

All students completing a Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies program engage in a Capstone Project, which includes a presentation at GREAT Day or (in a non-spring semester) to GSWS faculty and students.

Here are some and graduating students and information about their Capstone projects:

Recent students--Alannah Egan '25 (left), Kennedy Taylor '25, Brielle Trimigliozzi '26, and Hannah Colosimo '25 (right).

Capstone Projects

Alannah Egan: Research Assistant/Directed Study on Reproductive Justice
Kennedy Taylor: Title IX Intern
Brielle Trimigliozzi: Title IX Intern
Hannah Colosimo: Internship Martial Arts and Accessibility

Recent students--Katherine Parkhurst '25 (left), Elinore Voss Dec '24 (center), and Kathleen Cole '25 (right)--after completing their Capstone Internship Presentations.

Capstone Projects