Gender & Queer Studies

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Gender & Queer Studies

1500 N. Warner St.
Tacoma, WA 98416-1008

Wyatt 335

gqs@pugetsound.edu

Program Director

Laura Krughoff

253-879-3026

lkrughoff@pugetsound.edu

Administrative Support Coordinator

Rutie MacKenzie-Margulies

253.879.2394

rmackenziemargulies@pugetsound.edu

Program Description

What does it mean to “queer” a topic? Why should you ask about people’s pronouns? How might masculinity studies help explain school shootings? How can we bring gender, feminist, and queer studies into our everyday lives, including activism and movements for social change.

Puget Sound’s Gender and Queer Studies (GQS) Program explores interdisciplinary ideas and theories that are applicable across the university, from biology, psychology, and education to sociology, anthropology, and English. We study topics like masculinity, the history of feminisms, the pay gap, sexual violence, body image, asexuality, activism, and intersex and transgender issues. GQS classes build strong analytical, writing, and communication skills—all highly relevant to careers and engaged citizenship.

Who You Could Be

Medical case manager
Deputy city attorney
Psychotherapist
Communications manager
Professor
Software engineer
Digital and social media marketer
Queer programming director

What You'll Learn

Queer, trans, and feminist histories and theories
Gender and sexuality as categories of analysis and critique
Intersectional and transnational approaches to understanding interlocking structures of power and inequality

Alumni

Sara Atkins ’11

“I use the knowledge I gained in GQS every single day to talk about issues of power and privilege in health care, to assist transgender or gender nonconforming clients in finding resources and care, to understand the impacts of trauma.”

SAMPLE COURSES

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GQS 201 Introduction to Gender, Queer, and Feminist Studies

This course serves as an introduction to Gender, Queer and Feminist Studies. It surveys the history of feminism, and then explores the rise and trajectories of gender studies and queer studies. The course engages with the ways in which gender, sexuality, race, class, ability/disability, and other facets of identity intersect with each other. Students will consider the implications of activism as well as the academic development of these disciplines, and they will engage with the ways that the readings touch upon their own lives.

Code

Artistic and Humanistic PerspectivesKnowledge, Identity, and Power

GQS 215 Religion and Queer Politics

What has been the role of religion in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBQT) politics? This course challenges the dominant picture of entrenched opposition between queer lives and religious traditions, and it investigates the complexity and variety of queer and religious engagement during the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries. This course covers the historical emergence of sexual and gender identity communities in the United States and the attendant formations of established religious teachings as backdrop and critical context for both opposing and supportive religious involvement LGBT politics. The course examines anti-queer religious responses but also spends significant time covering queer-inclusive religious advocacy, including liberal religious involvement in gay liberation, the formation of queer inclusive churches and synagogues and new spiritual communities such as the Radical Faeries, and religious involvement in political causes from AIDS/HIV activism, hate crimes legislation, and same-sex marriage.

Code

Connections 200-400 Level

GQS 220 What is Queer? The Politics and Practices of Fashioning the Self

This course explores "queer" as an open question rather than a stable set of identities, asking: what kinds of bodies, desires, histories, and politics does queer describe? Students consider the complexity of queer identities and investigate the social and historical processes of identity construction. The class asks, with insights from queer theory: What governs the formation of legible social identities? What dynamics of erasure and illegibility accompany these formations? This course takes up these questions with attention to "queer self-fashioning," asking: How have "queer" identities and communities defined themselves--and been defined--in and through clothing and style? While clothing and fashion might seem to typify personal and a-political work, our inquiry explores the politics of self-fashioning: How is the fashioned body governed by laws, policies, and social norms? How has style played an important role in collective movements of dissent and social change? Students also explore these questions through a guided, hands-on project: each student will sew a wearable garment as a process of tactile meditation on the material, time, labor, and creativity involved in queer self-fashioning.

Code

Artistic and Humanistic PerspectivesKnowledge, Identity, and Power

Prerequisites

Permission of the instructor.

GQS 310 Let's Talk about Sex

What does it mean to study sexuality? Does one's sexual identity change over time? The course first covers some critical readings from feminist, queer, and scientific perspectives in relation to sexuality. Then, armed with these tools, students address key topics in the field around science and sexology, histories of sexuality, reproductive politics, queer theory and pedagogy, health, hook-up culture, body modification, sexual harassment and #MeToo, and global issues in sexuality.

Code

Artistic and Humanistic Perspectives

Prerequisites

GQS 201.

GQS 494 Gender Research Seminar

In this course students examine the differences between traditional scholarship and a feminist approach to knowing. Participants engage in an independent research project of their choosing, sharing process and findings with other members throughout the semester. Completion of the class includes participation in the Lewis & Clark Undergraduate Gender Studies Conference in March of each year.

Code

Artistic and Humanistic Perspectives

Prerequisites

GQS 201 and 360, GQS minor or major, or permission of instructor.

The GQS Major Launch Party, February 2020 — In February 2020, the Gender and Queer Studies Program celebrated its new major with a launch party.

GQS Senior Thesis presentations — GQS seniors complete and present theses on a variety of topics ranging from "Wonder Woman: A Feminist Icon in a Post-Feminist World" to "The Systemic Neglect of Homeless Women" to "Biblical Law and the Gendering of the Death Penalty."

Angela Leblanc-Ernest conversation — Angela Leblanc-Ernest's conversation about "Black Panther Party Women, Gender, Resistance and Intersectionality"

Experiential Learning

Some students receive summer research grants:

Nina Kranzdorf ’20, “A More Expansive Definition of We: Queer Visions of Safety and Solidarity From Palestine to Tacoma”
Lenora Yee ’21, “Women of Color in Print Subcultures: 1970–2018”
SIena Brown ’20, “Reading a Familiar Face: The Rise of LGBTQ and POC Representation in Young Adult Fiction”
Olive Mullen ’20, “Preserving LGBTQ Tacoma: An Oral History Collection”

STORIES

Students

Prisms of Feminine Power

When some people look at an ancient marble statue, they see the product of a single artist’s work. When Chlöe Brew ’21 looks at it, she sees a complex web of cultural influences and clues about how concepts like beauty, gender…

The Kids Are All Right

Under ordinary circumstances, Dana Levy ’21 has a lot going on. Levy is double majoring in English and gender and queer studies (GQS) with a minor in music. He’s also a violinist and active member of the Puget Sound LGBTQ…

Where Graduates Work

Where our graduates work:

Cascade AIDS Project
Premier Media Group
Disability Rights Maryland
Washington State Democrats
University of Washington
State of Colorado - Revenue

Where Graduates Continue Studying

Where our students continue their studies:

Colorado School of Public Health
The University of Chicago

Meet the Faculty

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Heather White

Visiting Assistant Professor, Gender & Queer Studies

hwhite@pugetsound.edu

Specializing in American religious history with a focus in 20th-century social movements, sexuality, and gender, Prof. White teaches courses in feminist and queer studies, the history of politics and religious freedom, and more.

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Rokiatou Soumaré

Associate Professor, French Studies

rsoumare@pugetsound.edu

Prof. Soumaré's scholarship and teaching focus on Francophone Literature and Culture, French and Francophone Cinema, as well as 20th-21st-century French literature and culture.

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Renee Simms

Associate Professor, African American Studies

rsimms@pugetsound.edu

An accomplished writer, essayist, and poet, Prof. Renee Simms teaches courses in African American literature, black feminist theory, and fiction writing.

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Melvin Rouse

Associate Professor, Psychology

mrouse@pugetsound.edu

Using songbirds, Prof. Rouse studies the ways in which hormones affect and alter behavior, in particular how hormones, the brain, and reproductive behavior interact.

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Nagore Sedano Naveira

Assistant Professor, Hispanic Studies

nsedanonaveira@pugetsound.edu

Prof. Naveira examines the intersections of gender, postcolonialism, and peripheral nationalism with the context of memory politics in contemporary Spain.

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Laura Krughoff

Associate Professor, English, and Director, Gender and Queer Studies

lkrughoff@pugetsound.edu

While working on both fiction and essay writing, Prof. Krughoff's scholarly and teaching interests include law and literature, the history of marriage, and the representation and effects of marriage equality.

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Jairo Hoyos Galvis

Associate Professor, Hispanic Studies and Director, Latina/o Studies

jhoyosgalvis@pugetsound.edu

Prof. Hoyos Galvis specializes in 20th-century Latin American and Latinx cultural, gender, and literary studies, with a focus on transnational histories of art, science, and sexuality.

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Sara Freeman

Professor, Theatre Arts

sfreeman@pugetsound.edu

Prof. Freeman has published a variety of writings on contemporary playwrights and alternative British theater. She works as a director and dramaturg on campus and is active in local theater communities.

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Tanya Erzen

Professor, Religion, Spirituality, and Society and Director, Freedom Education Project Puget Sound

terzen@pugetsound.edu

Prof. Erzen researches American politics and religion, specializing in criminal justice and social movements. She teaches courses in religious studies and gender and queer studies, and directs the FEPPS program.

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Regina Duthely-Barbee

Associate Professor, English

rduthely@pugetsound.edu

Prof. Duthely specializes in black feminist culture and digital rhetoric. Her work has been presented at a variety of conferences, and her courses focus on rhetoric, writing, language, and power.

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Greta Austin

Professor and Chair, Religion, Spirituality, and Society

ggaustin@pugetsound.edu

Prof. Austin publishes regularly, serves on the boards of two international scholarly organizations, and won a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship.

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BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

FREEDOM EDUCATION PROJECT PUGET SOUND (FEPPS)

FEPPS provides a rigorous accredited college program to incarcerated women in Washington state and creates pathways to educational opportunity after women are released from prison.

COLLINS MEMORIAL LIBRARY

The university library has a wide variety of resources, including access to the Archives of Sexuality and Gender and a Subject Guide for Gender and Queer Studies.

THE YELLOW HOUSE

The Yellow House is home to intercultural engagement programs and wellness and prevention education.