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Graduate Study

Graduate Certificate in Gender and Sexuality Studies

We are proud to offer a Graduate Certificate in Gender and Sexuality Studies to any University of Chicago doctoral student, JSD student, MAPSS student, MSW student or Masters student in the Divinity School. A Certificate from the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality allows students in a variety of programs to deepen their academic interest in gender and/or sexuality. The interdisciplinary nature of the subject can lead to academic exploration above and beyond the specific course of study undertaken by UChicago MA/PhD students. Students are able to select relevant courses across departments and divisions in order to expand their knowledge of gender and sexuality. Students also participate in the CSGS Workshop/Working Group to learn about active research happening across campus. These opportunities allow students to gain an understanding of the breadth of subjects where gender/sexuality can be, and are, a focus of study. Requirements differ depending on the degree you are pursuing. Read carefully below for the details. 

Questions? During the Academic Year, please reach out to Red Tremmel, Instructional Professor in the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality at redtremm@uchicago.edu. If you have questions during the summer months, please contact Bonnie Kanter, Assistant Director for Student Affairs and Curriculum at bonniek@uchicago.edu.  Also, please fill in this form if you are interested in completing the certificate.

For Masters level students, the Gender and Sexuality Studies Certificate has 4 major components:

  1. Three GNSE courses (cross-listed courses or equivalent pre-approved non-cross listed courses);
  2. A thesis (if a thesis is required for graduation) or research paper with a substantial gender/sexuality component; and
  3. Attendance at a minimum of 6 Gender and Sexuality Studies Workshops  and/or Working Groups. Any combination of the two will work as long as there are 6 total. Sign up to receive papers in advance here.
  4. A short presentation of your research (5-7 minutes) at the annual Gender and Sexuality Studies Graduate Student Symposium, which is held at the end of the Spring quarter.  This symposium is an opportunity for you to practice communicating your research in a concise and compelling manner to scholars outside of your discipline – a difficult skill that requires rehearsal. You will then receive feedback on your presentation from a CSGS affiliated faculty member.  If you are graduating during the summer term, you are required to present your work (in-progress) at the May symposium. Note: If you present at the Gender and Sexuality Studies Workshop and receive feedback from a faculty member on your presentation, you may submit this faculty feedback in lieu of presenting at the symposium.

All courses must be taken for a “quality grade,” i.e., not an R or a P.

We are proud to offer the Gender and Sexuality Studies Specialization to students enrolled in University of Chicago Master of Arts Program in the Humanities who have completed the following requirements:

  • The MAPH Core Course
  • Three Gender and Sexuality Studies courses, one of which is strongly preferred to be Advanced Theories in Gender and Sexuality or another approved theories course
  • An MA thesis in gender and/or sexuality studies under the supervision of a GSS-affiliated faculty member

All specialization courses must be taken for a “quality grade,” i.e., not an R or a P.

For more information please see https://maph.uchicago.edu/study/areas-study/gender-and-sexuality-studies and/or contact Bonnie Kanter, the CSGS Assistant Director for Student Affairs and Curriculum, at bonniek@uchicago.edu.

For PhD and JSD students, the Gender and Sexuality Studies Certificate has 5 major components:

  1. A graduate-level foundation course in gender and sexuality theory. Approved courses for 2025-26 are listed below;
  2. Three additional GNSE courses (cross-listed courses or equivalent pre-approved non-cross listed courses);
  3. A major research paper with a substantial gender/sexuality component; and
  4. Attendance at a minimum of 6 Gender and Sexuality Studies Workshops  and/or Working Groups. Any combination of the two will work as long as there are 6 total. Sign up to receive papers in advance here.
  5. A short presentation of your research (5-7 minutes) at the annual Gender and Sexuality Studies Graduate Student Symposium, which is held at the end of the Spring quarter.  This symposium is an opportunity for you to practice communicating your research in a concise and compelling manner to scholars outside of your discipline – a difficult skill that requires rehearsal. You will then receive feedback on your presentation from a CSGS affiliated faculty member.  If you are graduating during the summer term, you are required to present your work (in-progress) at the May symposium. Note: If you present at the Gender and Sexuality Studies Workshop and receive feedback from a faculty member on your presentation, you may submit this faculty feedback in lieu of presenting at the symposium.

All courses must be taken for a “quality grade,” i.e., not an R or a P.

Approved Foundation Courses for 2025-26:

  • GNSE 30108 Feminist Political Philosophy (Winter 2026)
  • GNSE 31400 Advanced Theories of Gender and Sexuality (Winter 2026)
  • GNSE 40450 In a Queer Time and Place (Winter 2026)
  • GNSE 36855 Queer Theory (Spring 2026)
Certificate Course Archive
  • GNSE 31400 Advanced Theories of Gender and Sexuality (Winter 2025)
  • GNSE 32103 Feminisms and Anthropology (Winter 2025)
  • GNSE 40450 In a Queer Time and Place (Winter 2025)
  • GNSE 44905 Feminism And The Radical Democratic Imaginary: Futures Past (Winter 2025)
  • GNSE 30152 Indigenous Feminisms (Spring 2025)
  • GNSE 38775 Racial Melancholia (Spring 2025)
  • GNSE 42001 Feminist Theory and Theology (Spring 2025)
  • GNSE 55403 Transfeminism (Spring 2025) 
  • GNSE 32670 Queer Performance (Winter 2024)
  • GNSE 47702 Queer Modernism (Winter 2024)
  • GNSE 31400 Advanced Theories of Gender and Sexuality (Spring 2024)
  • GNSE 36855 Queer Theory (Spring 2024)
  • GNSE 30555 Gender and Sexuality in the Middle East (Autumn 2022)
  • GNSE 31400 Advanced Theories in Gender and Sexuality (Autumn 2022)
  • GNSE 53580 Debates and New Directions in Black Feminisms (Autumn 2022)
  • GNSE 32805 Bad Vibes Only?: Negative Emotions and the Politics of the Queer-Feminist Critique (Winter 2023 - MA level students only)
  • GNSE 47702 Queer Modernism (Winter 2023)
  • GNSE 40102 Womanist Theology: 1st Generation (Spring 2023)
  • GNSE 46104 Ecstasy (Autumn 2021)
  • GNSE 30119 Language, Gender and Sexuality (Winter 2022)
  • GNSE 45804 Feminists Read the Greeks (Winter 2022)
  • GNSE 47702 Queer Modernism (Winter 2022)
  • GNSE 30106 Capitalism, Gender and Intimate Life (Spring 2022)
  • GNSE 42001 Feminist Theory and Theology: de Beauvoir's Second Sex (Spring 2022)
  • GNSE 38775 Racial Melancholia (Autumn 2020)
  • GNSE 30104 Queer Theology and Queer of Color Critique (Winter 2021)
  • GNSE 30106 Capitalism, Gender, and Intimate Life (Winter 2021)
  • GNSE 31400 Advanced Theories of Gender and Sexuality (Winter 2021)
  • GNSE 45150 The Gender of Modernity (Winter 2021)
  • GNSE 52802 Politics of Intimacy (Winter 2021)
  • SSAD 40405 Relational Cultural Theory and Feminist Theories (Winter 2021 - For SSA students only)
  • GNSE 31405: Queer Theory and Queer Practice (Spring 2021)
  • GNSE 33501 Gender, Sex, and Empire (Spring 2021)
  • GNSE 45114 Structural-isms (Spring 2021)
  • SSAD 44712 Queer Theory in Social Work Practice (Spring 2021 - for SSA students only)
  • GNSE 41500 - Bodies of Transformation (Autumn 2019)
  • GNSE 44905 - Feminism and the Radical Democratic Imaginary: Futures Past (Autumn 2019)
  • GNSE 32103 - Feminism and Anthropology (Winter 2020)
  • GNSE 36885 - Queer Theory (Winter 2020)
  • GNSE 42911 - Gender and Sexuality in South Asian Religions (Winter 2020)
  • GNSE 44906 - Feminism and the Radical Democratic Imaginary, Part II (Winter 2020)
  • GNSE 45112 - Anthropology of the Body (Winter 2020)
  • GNSE 54104 – On Man: Sociogenesis and Subjectivation (Winter 2020)
  • GNSE 31562 - Third World Women’s Writings (Spring 2020)
  • GNSE 33501 - Gender, Sex, and Empire (Spring 2020)
  • GNSE 34554 - Mysticism and Modernity (Spring 2020)
  • GNSE 35550 - Feminist and Queer Literary Criticism (Spring 2020)
  • GNSE 51000 - Narrative in Crip and Queer Times (Spring 2020)