With shifting notions of gender and sexuality, ongoing discussions about reproductive rights and the emergence of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, a cohort of faculty members at LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC) within the City University of New York system saw a need for a program that could provide students with an understanding of the systems and theories that shape the world around them.
After a lengthy process of bringing the idea for a Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Option in Liberal Arts (WGS) to administrators, developing courses and completing an articulation agreement with CUNY Hunter College, faculty launched the degree option this fall. The program offers students an educational opportunity to explore and understand women and their roles in the context of today’s social and political climate.
The option enrolled approximately 15 students this semester, although they are not necessarily all majors, says Dr. Jacqueline Jones, associate professor of English at LAGCC and one of the faculty members that led the charge to bring the option to the college.
As program director, Jones notes that college leaders were “very receptive” to the idea of having a program in women, gender and sexuality studies. And after LAGCC submitted the WGS proposal to the state, it was approved all at once.
“No rejections, no questions, no nothing,” says Dr. Ann Feibel, associate provost and dean for academic affairs at LAGCC.
“We’re always looking to expand our Liberal Arts options for our students and be relevant to give them the best educational opportunity,” Feibel says, adding that English, social science and philosophy courses are represented in the new degree.
Students taking courses in the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Option complete 60 credits to receive their associate’s degree. Thirty credits are in the pathways common core, and the remaining credits are specifically for the WGS program.
