WGSS students in London Tube WGSS students in London Tube

Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies

Aiming toward justice and learning across differences.

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Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies

The Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies has been educating students at the University at Albany since offering its first course in 1971. The program first offered a major in Women’s Studies in 1984, became a department in 1990, added the graduate program in 2000, and changed its name to Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) in 2014. 
 
WGSS explores the subjects of women and gender through the intersectional lens of race, class, sexuality, and nationality. We also teach a variety of courses across interdisciplinary fields and maintain commitment to social justice education, under the guidance of a diverse faculty with expertise in racially inclusive and global gender issues. These subjects are explored on both undergraduate and graduate levels, which prepare students to be agents for positive social change in whatever career paths they choose and life goals they pursue. 

WGSS degree recipients apply their learning...

...from the classroom  

UAlbany Classroom with teacher at front of classroom and students' backs to us.
University at Albany classroom.

...to the Internet 

WGSS alumna Samhita Mukhopadhyay '00, former Executive Editor of Teen Vogue.
WGSS alumna Samhita Mukhopadhyay '00, former Executive Editor of Teen Vogue.

 ...to the streets 

UAlbany WGSS students dressed as handmaids in Washington DC
UAlbany WGSS students took to the streets in Washington D.C. dressed as handmaids.

 ...even to the big screen

Nora Lum '11, AKA Awkwafina during her 2017 visit to UAlbany
WGSS alumna Nora Lum '11, AKA Awkwafina, has starred in major motion pictures.

Joan E. Schulz Endowment

Created with seed money and fundraising ingenuity by Professor Emerita Judith Fetterley and other members of the Community of Founders, the Endowment generates income to fund a biennial lecture on "Feminism, Knowledge, and Pedagogy" as well as two graduate assistants assigned to the undergraduate Teaching Collective.

Named in honor of Emerita Professor of English and Women's Studies Joan E. Schulz (1930-2016), who, with Professor Fetterley, founded the Undergraduate Teaching Collective, the Endowment commemorates the vital aspects of second-wave feminism that continue to energize Women's Studies, in particular the connection between academic knowledge and political activism that Professor Schulz brought to her own pedagogy.


Please Donate

You can make a tax-deductible contribution to the Joan E. Schulz Endowment by donating online or you can send your check by mail to the Department. Please make check payable to University at Albany Foundation with notation that it is for the Schulz Endowment.

News and Announcements
Professor Barbara Sutton at Fall Preview Day sitting at an information table with flyers and program hand-outs on October 27, 2024
WGSS Welcomes Prospective Students at UAlbany Fall Preview Days
Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies welcomes prospective students and their families at UAlbany's Fall Preview Days on Oct. 27 and Nov. 2. Students interested in our programs are encouraged to contact the department for additional information.
UAlbany President Havidán Rodríguez stands behind a wooden podium with the UAlbany seal and speaks into a microphone.
President Highlights Achievements, Recognizes Publicly Engaged Faculty in Fall University Address
University at Albany President Havidán Rodríguez delivered his Fall University Address on Thursday, updating the community on the state of the University and highlighting achievements in enrollment, rankings, research, and student success and supports.
A man with short black hair, beard and black glasses sits in front of a microscope in a laboratory and examines something between two blue-gloved fingers.
Noteworthy: Research grants, awards and publications
The latest developments on University at Albany faculty and staff who are receiving research grants, awards and other noteworthy attention.
Drew Dixon
Surviving Hip-Hop: A Dialogue with Drew Dixon - November 20, 2024 at 3 p.m.
Drew Dixon, music executive/producer, artist, activist, and an important advocate for the game-changing New York State Adult Survivors Act, which expired in 2023. Free and open to the public in the Campus Center Extension Multipurpose Room.
Deshanna Wiggins, the Albany Black Chamber of Commerce & Social Club CEO shown in conversation with author Samhita Mukhopadhyay
UAlbany Alum Samhita Mukhopadhyay Spoke about her New Book “The Myth of Making it”
Samhita Mukhopadhyay, a UAlbany alum who graduated with a BA in Women’s Studies in 2000, visited our university to present her new book “The Myth of Making it: A Workplace Reckoning” (Random House, 2024).

View All WGSS News

Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, College of Arts and Sciences
Humanities 355

1400 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12222
United States

Email
[email protected]
Phone
518-442-4220
Office Hours

Office hours are available on site or by phone.

Mondays: 10 a.m. to noon, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Tuesdays: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Wednesdays: 9 a.m. to noon, 3 to 4 p.m.
Thursdays: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Fridays: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.