Gender & Sexuality Studies at Tulane
Whether in politics, culture or biology, sexuality and gender are significant dimensions of the human experience. Yet, most have received little education about the complexity and diversity of gender- and sexuality-based issues and the ways in which they have changed over time. Students interested in learning more about gender and sexuality have many opportunities to investigate those interests through their academic course work, independent studies, campus-wide lectures, and social networking sites. Whether focusing on LGBTQ+ movements, the history of birth control, media representations of women, debates over reproductive rights, the politics of HIV/AIDS, transgender history, rape culture, or compulsory sterilization campaigns, or postmodern body modification, the interdisciplinary study of gender and sexuality creates a deeper understanding of some of the most pressing issues of our day.
The Gender and Sexuality Studies (GeSS) Program is the primary hub for teaching and research on gender and sexuality in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and biological sciences at Tulane University. As an interdisciplinary program, GeSS is home to a vibrant intellectual community of students, teachers, and scholars who specialize in understanding how gender and sexuality operate in and are influenced by a diverse and globalizing world. The GeSS Program offers a Major and Minor in addition to a Graduate Certificate. Students may choose from over forty courses taught by faculty from fourteen academic departments, four other SLA programs, and four Tulane University Schools. The GeSS Program also sponsors collegial gatherings for students and faculty, invites prominent scholars in the field to give lectures on campus.
All students who are interested in gender and sexuality studies, even if they are not a major or minor, are encouraged to join the Facebook page: Gender and Sexuality Studies Students at Tulane, a forum where students, faculty and staff post information about events on/off campus as well as news, culture, and politics relevant to gender and sexuality studies.
Want to Get Involved in Gender & Sexuality Studies?
Enroll in a Gender & Sexuality Studies (GeSS) Course.
The Gender and Sexuality Studies (GeSS) Program at Tulane offers a broad interdisciplinary investigation of gender and sexuality as social, cultural, and political phenomena. The program offers a Major and Minor in addition to a Graduate Certificate. Students may choose from over forty GSS affiliated courses taught by faculty from fourteen academic departments, four other SLA programs, and four Tulane University Schools.
Do an independent study with a Gender & Sexuality Studies (GSS) Faculty
There are faculty members in many departments that have expertise in areas related to gender/sexuality. Contact the GeSS Program for a listing of affiliated faculty members who specializes in your area of interest.
Major or Minor in Gender & Sexuality Studies (GeSS)
A major in GSS consists of a minimum of 33 credits and four core courses are required. Click here for more information on becoming a GeSS major. A minor in GSS consists of a minimum of 18 credits and two courses are required. Click here for more information on becoming a GeSS minor.
Intern with the Office for Gender & Sexual Diversity (OGSD)
Internships with the Office for Gender and Sexual Diversity (OGSD) offer students the opportunity to learn about how gender and sexuality issues are addressed within an academic environment. You can contact ogsd@tulane.edu or call 504-314-2183 for more information.
Join the Facebook Page for Gender & Sexuality Studies Students
The Gender and Sexuality Studies Student Facebook Page is an online forum for students interested in gender and sexuality studies. Members, including Tulane faculty and staff, post relevant information about events, issues, and resources on and off campus.
Seek Out Courses with Women, Gender & Sexuality in Mind
If you're looking for a course that specifically examines gender, check out this list compiled by the Newcomb College Institute. You can also find out which gender and sexuality courses will best fit your interests by contacting the Gender and Sexuality Studies (GSS) website or by meeting with the director of the GeSS Program, during her office hours.
Director
Katherine Johnson
Department: Sociology
Office: 220E Newcomb Hall
Get Involved with the Newcomb College Institute (NCI)
The Newcomb College Institute offers grants to students and funding for internships, research, community engagement, and conference attendance. The Newcomb Scholars Program is a unique opportunity for incoming women at Tulane who are interested in an academically enriching and shared four-year experience through undergraduate research, seminars, and experiential learning opportunities. All first year incoming women are invited to attend an Information Session to learn more about the Newcomb Scholars Program, its benefits and expectations, as well as the application process. For more information on the Newcomb Scholars Program, student organizations, grants and internships, contact:
Aidan Smith
Director of the Newcomb Scholars Program
newcombscholars@tulane.edu
Library, Music and Media Resources
Nadine Vorhoff Library
While all libraries at Tulane University have significant content related to gender and sexuality, the Nadine Vorhoff Library is affectionately known by students as “the Lesbrary” – offering special collections in feminist literature and gender studies scholarship. The Vorhoff Library contains 12,000 books on women, gender issues, feminism, and transgender studies. The library also offers a very quiet, comfortable study area with plenty of desks, chairs, tables, couches, and free black and white printing. Bea Calvert, the staff librarian, is a strong ally to gender non-conforming and LGBTQ+-identified students. She can be contacted at bcalvert@tulane.edu. The library is located on the 1st floor of the Caroline Richardson Building.
Collat Media Lab
The Collat Media Lab is located in the Caroline Richardson Building. Students, faculty and staff in the media lab work with current technologies to design and create digital media projects. Ongoing activities include the Collat Media Internship Program, workshops and events, and partnerships with various courses that include a digital media component.
Music & Media Center
The Music & Media Center, located on the fourth floor of Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, is home to approximately 14,000 DVDs covering a wide range of topics including women’s rights and LGBTQ+ issues. The film collections include over 260 films from the Women Make Movies catalog as well as numerous titles from New Day Films, Cinema Guild, and a number of independent filmmakers. A selection of LGBTQ+-related films as well as search tips for discovering more films in our collections may be found online. More information about the Center and the services we provide may be found athttp://library.tulane.edu/mmc.
Louisiana Research Collection
Located on the second floor of Jones Hall, room 202, the Louisiana Research Collection (LaRC) houses a new collection informally called the LGBTQ+ Collection, which can also be accessed online beginning the summer of 2013 at http://larc.tulane.edu/. These archives, organized in the summer of 2012 by Tulane undergraduate Lauren Kwiatkowski, are a “closed collection,” meaning that you can’t take the material out of the building. However, the librarian will assist you in retrieving the documents and will give you a space to go through them. The collection is made up of archival records, periodicals, articles and book chapters, theses and dissertations, and ephemera. Contact: 504-865-5685 or larc@tulane.edu.
Amistad Research Center
An independent library/archive housed on Tulane’s campus in Tilton Memorial Hall, the Amistad Research Center is the nation’s oldest, largest, and arguably most comprehensive archive specializing in the racial and ethnic history of the United States. Issues of sexuality and gender are addressed in collections as diverse as those of artist Elizabeth Catlett and in the papers of civil rights workers, such as Fannie Lou Hamer. The center maintains a subject guide to its LGBTQ+ holdings, which focus largely on people of color. In addition, the Center’s new zine and graphic novels collections are also useful in analyzing sexuality and gender. An online finding aid database provides access to the Center’s archival collections and its library holdings are included in Tulane’s library catalog. More information can be found at www.amistadresearchcenter.org or by contacting the Center at 504.862.3222.
