LGBTQ Studies

Minor
18 Credit Hours

This program is offered by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences/Law, Crime and Social Justice Department and is only available at the St. Louis main campus.

For information on the general requirements for a minor, see Minor under the Academic Policies and Information section of this catalog.

Students may complete both the LGBTQ minor and the women, gender and sexuality studies major, but must take the full number of credits for each, and may not double count a course for both.

Program Description

The LGBTQ studies minor is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary program that will give students a strong foundation for knowledge in lesbian, gay, bi, trans and queer history and culture. The minor examines sexualities and identities as complex social, historical and cultural formations and processes. Rather than understand sexualities and identities as merely features of private intimacy or as a result of unchanging biological forces, the LGBTQ minor approaches the study of sexualities and identities in relation to the social construction of race, ethnicity, class, age, religion, ability, nationality, immigrant status, body size and citizenship. This minor takes a global perspective on activism, social and historical change and cross-cultural understandings of sexualities and identities.

Learning Outcomes

Students in this minor are expected to be able to:

• Demonstrate the complexity of ways social hierarchies related to gender, sexualities, race or ethnicity have developed historically, cross-culturally and transnationally.
• Describe the LGBTQ histories of feminist, gender and sexuality social movements and their intersections with other social movements.
• Appraise and critique LGBTQ feminist, gender, and sexuality theories about social, anthropological, historical, literary and cultural analysis.
• Synthesize and communicate various approaches to the analysis of data, texts and perspectives concerning LGBTQ lives.

Core Courses

A total of any 18 credit hours from the list below:

• WGST 2030 Introduction to LGBTQ Studies (3 hours)
• WGST 2040 Queer Theory (3 hours)
• WGST 2050 Topics in LGBTQ Studies (3 hours)
• WGST 2275 LGBTQ Families (3 hours)
• WGST 2475 Bisexualities (3 hours)
• WGST 3050 Issues in LGBTQ Studies (3 hours)
• WGST 3200 Gender and Sexuality in the Arts (3 hours)

Up to 6 credit hours from other WGST courses with relevant LGBTQ content may count toward the LGBTQ studies minor, subject to approval by the women, gender and sexuality studies program director.

We strongly recommend that students take both WGST 2030 Introduction to LGBTQ Studies and WGST 2040 Queer Theory.