The Bachelor of Arts in Women and Gender Studies is for students who have a particular interest in learning about gender, race and sexuality in society using feminist and queer theory. Cross-disciplinary in structure, the major draws from a wide variety of courses offered by many departments across the university. Women and Gender Studies majors develop research and communication skills that help them prosper in all areas of their university education. The program produces students ready to excel in academia, non-profit work, education, counseling, human services and any area that values social justice and an understanding of how gender, race, sexuality, ethnicity and class affect our experiences. Women and Gender Studies and Queer Studies courses explore the myriad ways in which the culturally constructed understandings of gender, sexuality, and experiences and meanings related to the body and embodiment shape our identities, cultures and institutions. We pay particular attention to the intersectional modes through which these identity categories and related effects of power are experienced, including the influences of racialization, race, and white supremacy, class, religion, citizenship, ableism, heteronorms and other social categories. Courses are designed to move students from exploring ideas through a variety of theoretical frames, to the application of these by way of active engagement with contemporary social issues. This can take many forms, including campus and community organizing and activism, writing, research and publishing workshops and opportunities, and occasions to work collaboratively with faculty and other students on a variety of related projects.