Feminist Studies B.A.

Information and Policies

Introduction

Feminist studies is an interdisciplinary field of analysis in the humanities that investigates how relations of gender are embedded in social, political, and cultural formations. The undergraduate program in feminist studies provides students with a unique interdisciplinary and transnational perspective. The department emphasizes theories and practices derived from multiracial and multicultural contexts. Some topics you will find in our curriculum include: Black/Africana studies; colonialism and decolonization; trans, queer, and sexuality studies; media studies; law, politics, and social change; and science and technology studies.

Feminist studies prepares undergraduates for a variety of careers. The Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Feminist Studies provides excellent grounding for undergraduates who have career aspirations in, for example, law, health, non-governmental organizations, museum curation, politics, media and film, research institutes, journalism, community organizations, and social services.

Students wishing to pursue doctoral work will also find that interdisciplinary training in feminist studies equips them with theoretical and methodological strengths in most disciplines and applied research fields including American studies, ethnic studies, science studies, anthropology, communications, and legal studies. Specialists in feminist studies are employed as consultants in industry, higher education, and human resources. State and federal government agencies employ people who have special training in understanding gender and race relations. Educational institutions need specialists to develop and administer feminist studies programs, women’s centers, and other institutional structures designed specifically to study and assist marginalized peoples, including women.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students who complete the feminist studies major should demonstrate the following skills upon graduation:

Outcome 1: Application of Feminist Approaches to Critical Interpretation

Students should be able to:

Discuss a diversity of feminist approaches to understanding social, political, cultural, and scientific phenomena
Connect feminist inquiry to a variety of other social phenomena including but not limited to race, nation, class, and sexuality
Distinguish and evaluate assumptions underlying data and claims
Place divergent interpretive frameworks in dialogue
Perform close reading of texts and/or other objects

Outcome 2: Original Research

Students should be able to:

Develop specific and detailed research questions
Identify appropriate primary sources for feminist research projects
Collect, evaluate, and analyze source material using appropriate theoretical framework(s)
Identify key findings and draw conclusions for research and/or application

Outcome 3: Argumentative Communication

Students should be able to:

Effectively formulate written arguments to frame research questions and analyze source material
Present appropriate evidence to substantiate claims
Logically organize arguments over the course of a research paper
Use appropriate mechanics/grammar

Academic Advising for the Program

Email: fmst@ucsc.edu
Phone: (831) 459-1478

Feminist studies advising is held remotely and in Humanities 1, Room 403. Drop-in hours are posted on the feminist studies website. Students can make an appointment by using the Slug Success application found under Resources in their student portal (MyUCSC).

Transfer students should also consult the Transfer Student Information and Policy section for specific requirements.

Getting Started in the Major: Frosh

Acceptance to the feminist studies major: This major is not highly sequential or course intensive. Although it is advisable to begin taking courses in the major in the first year, it is not required.

Students are encouraged to declare the major as soon as possible to be assured entrance into the required core courses. Please see the section How to Declare a Major for more details.

There are no prerequisite courses that must be satisfied before declaring the feminist studies major.

Students should plan to enroll in FMST 01, Feminist Studies: An Introduction, in the fall quarter of their sophomore year if they did not complete the course during their first year at UC Santa Cruz. Please refer to the Four-Year Plan in the Planners section of the catalog.

Transfer Information and Policy

Transfer Admission Screening Policy

No major preparation courses are required prior to transfer. Prospective students are encouraged to complete the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) or to complete all UC Santa Cruz general education requirements before matriculation. Transfer students may potentially pursue the feminist studies major even if they did not enter UC Santa Cruz with a proposed feminist studies major.

Getting Started in the Major: Transfer Students

Transfer students are encouraged to declare the major as soon as possible to be assured entrance into the required core courses. Please see the section How to Declare a Major for more details.

Transfer students may use an articulated equivalent of FMST 1 to satisfy the FMST 1 requirement. Please check assist.org for current articulation agreements.

If you have completed prior college-level coursework in feminist studies, women's studies, or a similar field of study, please contact feminist studies advising as soon as possible and provide a copy of your unofficial transcript and course syllabi so the coursework can be reviewed for potential fulfillment of feminist studies major requirements.

The Feminist Studies Department will consider, upon petition, which UC-transferrable courses from other institutions are acceptable. FMST 1, one feminist studies (FMST) lower-division course, and FMST 100 must be completed before the senior year so that the comprehensive requirement may be completed in the senior year.

Transfer students are strongly encouraged to enroll in FMST 105, Feminist Methodologies, a course designed specifically to aid in the transition to UC Santa Cruz's feminist studies major for incoming transfer students. FMST 105 is offered every fall. This course will also satisfy the one upper-division core course requirement.

FMST 105

Feminist Methodologies

Major Qualification Policy and Declaration Process

Major Qualification

Undeclared students may declare the feminist studies major at any time. While specific courses are not required in order to declare, students ideally will have completed or be enrolled in FMST 1, Feminist Studies: An Introduction.

How to Declare a Major

Petition to declare the feminist studies major before you reach your declaration deadline quarter. Students who enter UC Santa Cruz as frosh or sophomores must be formally declared in a major before enrolling in their third year (or equivalent). Junior transfer students must be declared in a major by the deadline in their second term at UCSC.

For a single major: Familiarize yourself with the content of the Feminist Studies website. Log into MyUCSC and click the link to submit the Petition for Major/Minor. Before submitting the petition, students are required to meet with feminist studies advising to create and/or update their academic planner. A template planner can be found here.

If you are planning to declare a double major or major/minor program, each major advisor will need to approve your academic planner. Please follow the declaration protocol for each major before submitting the declaration of major petition on MyUCSC.

If your proposed program exceeds your expected graduation term (EGT), your major advisor(s) will use the extension section of your academic planner to assign your college advising office to review the extension of enrollment request. Your college advising office will approve or deny the request and update your expected graduation term.

Students should submit a petition to declare as soon as they reach their declaration deadline quarter.

Students petitioning when the campus declaration deadline is imminent (i.e., in their sixth quarter, for students admitted as frosh), will either be approved, denied, or provided with conditions (e.g., completion of some courses with certain grades) that will be resolved within at most one more enrolled quarter.

Letter Grade Policy

Letter grades are required for 10 of the 11 courses applied toward the feminist studies major. FMST 100 and the comprehensive requirement course (FMST 194 or FMST 195) must be taken for a letter grade.

Course Substitution Policy

Feminist studies is an interdisciplinary major that includes courses taught by affiliated faculty in other departments (see the Courses page of the Feminist Studies website for current year offerings). However, feminist studies majors must take a minimum of five courses at UC Santa Cruz taught directly in the Feminist Studies Department, (i.e., courses designated FMST, not including FMST 193, FMST 198, or FMST 199). At most three courses may be transferred to count toward the major, including three Education Abroad Program (EAP) courses or courses from another university.

Double Majors and Major/Minor Combinations Policy

The feminist studies major works very well as a double major with fields of study such as community studies, critical race and ethnic studies, sociology, politics, education, legal studies, literature, psychology, and more.

Study Abroad

As stated in the course substitution policy, a maximum of three courses may be transferred to count toward the major, including courses from an Education Abroad Program (EAP).

Feminist studies majors are strongly encouraged to consider enriching their time at UCSC with Study Abroad opportunities. International classes are an exciting chance to broaden and deepen your feminist education by bringing questions around gender, sexuality, and social justice into dialog with different regions, nations, and cultures around the world.

Students should refer to the list of feminist studies approved Study Abroad classes offered at colleges around the globe. This list is being updated with more approved courses from more countries on an ongoing basis.

As noted above, students can use up to three approved Study Abroad courses to fulfill feminist studies upper-division elective requirements. Interested students should review the feminist studies major requirements and refer to these two- and four-year academic planners for examples of how to incorporate international classes into the feminist studies curriculum.

Honors

Feminist Studies awards honors and highest honors in the major. At the end of each quarter, a faculty committee meets to review graduating students’ files. Students are considered for honors and highest honors based on their cumulative GPA, calculated from grades earned in coursework and the comprehensive requirement undertaken for completion of the major. For honors, students must earn a minimum GPA of 3.70 in the relevant courses, while for highest honors, the GPA must be 3.90 or higher. Writing a thesis is not a requirement for receiving honors or highest honors.

Requirements and Planners

Course Requirements

Feminist studies majors must complete 11 courses including a comprehensive requirement in the Feminist Studies Department program. The three core courses--FMST 1, one lower-division feminist studies course, and FMST 100--must be taken at UC Santa Cruz absent a petition. A minimum of five courses at UC Santa Cruz taught directly in the Feminist Studies Department, (i.e., courses designated FMST, not including FMST 193, FMST 198, or FMST 199) must be completed for the major.

Lower-Division Courses

Take the following course:

FMST 1

Feminist Studies: An Introduction

And one of the following courses:

FMST 10	Feminisms of/and the Global South	5
FMST 12	Podcasting: Feminist Files	5
FMST 13 /CRES 13	California Indian History	5
FMST 14	Popular Culture in South Asia	5
FMST 15	Gender, Sexuality, and Transnational Migration Across the Americas	5
FMST 16	Media Histories--News and New Media	5
FMST 18	Black Feminist Ethnographies	5
FMST 19	Black Feminisms: An Introduction	5
FMST 20	Feminism and Social Justice	5
FMST 21	Religion in American Politics and Culture	5
FMST 30	Feminism and Science	5
FMST 31	Disability Studies	5
FMST 40	Sexuality and Globalization	5
FMST 41	Trans Gender Bodies	5

Upper-Division Courses

FMST 100

Feminist Theories

Students are required to complete FMST 100, Feminist Theories, at UC Santa Cruz absent a petition.

Electives

Students are required to complete seven upper-division (100-199), 5-credit electives. One independent study (FMST 199) may count toward the elective requirements. FMST 193 or FMST 198 (internship) may be used to count toward the elective requirements.

Feminist studies is an interdisciplinary major that includes courses taught by affiliated faculty in other departments (see the Courses page of the Feminist Studies website for current year offerings). However, as noted elsewhere, feminist studies majors must take a minimum of five courses at UC Santa Cruz taught directly in the Feminist Studies Department, (i.e., courses designated FMST, not including FMST 193, FMST 198, or FMST 199). At most three courses may be transferred to count toward the major, including three Education Abroad Program (EAP) courses or courses from another university.

The Feminist Studies Tentative Curriculum is the definitive list of courses offered during the current academic year that will satisfy major requirements and is comprised of courses offered both from within the Feminist Studies Department but also with approved courses originating from many different departments throughout UC Santa Cruz.

Please consult feminist studies advising with any questions regarding this requirement.

FMST 102	Feminist Critical Race Studies	5
FMST 105	Feminist Methodologies	5
FMST 112 /POLI 112	Women and the Law	5
FMST 115	Gender, Sexuality, and Transnational Migration Across the Americas	5
FMST 117	Post Zora Interventions: Art, Activism and Anthropology	5
FMST 119 /CRES 119	Indigenous Feminisms	5
FMST 120	Transnational Feminisms	5
FMST 123	Feminism and Cultural Production	5
FMST 124	Technology, Science, and Race Across the Americas	5
FMST 125	Race, Sex, and Technology	5
FMST 126	Images, Power, and Politics: Methods in Visual and Textual Analysis	5
FMST 131	The Politics of Matter and the Matter of Politics	5
FMST 132	Gender and Postcoloniality	5
FMST 133	Science and the Body	5
FMST 135	Topics in Science and Sexuality	5
FMST 136 /CRES 136/ENVS 136	Organizing for Water Justice in California	5
FMST 139	African American Women's History	5
FMST 145	Racial and Gender Formations in the U.S	5
FMST 150	Mediating Desire	5
FMST 175	Gender and Sexualities in Latina/o America	5
FMST 188	Topics in Feminist Studies	5
FMST 189	Advanced Topics in Feminist Theory	5
FMST 193	Field Study	5
FMST 198	Independent Field Study	5
FMST 199	Tutorial	5

Approved Electives in Affiliated Departments

For a list of approved electives for the current year, see the Feminist Studies Tentative Curriculum list.

Division of the Humanities

APLX 112	Language and Gender	5
CRES 100	Comparative Theories of Race and Ethnicity	5
CRES 101	Research Methods and Writing in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies	5
HIS 106B	Asian and Asian American History, 1941-Present	5
HIS 109A	Race, Gender, and Power in the Antebellum South	5
HIS 110A	Colonial America, 1500-1750	5
HIS 112	American Feminist Thought, 1750-1950	5
HIS 113C	Women and American Religious Culture	5
HIS 121B	African American History: 1877 to the Present	5
HIS 128	Chicana/Chicano History	5
HIS 131	Women in Colonial Latin America	5
HIS 140C	Revolutionary China 1895-1960	5
HIS 140D	Recent Chinese History	5
HIS 140E	Women in China's Long 20th Century	5
HIS 150F	Engendering Empires: Women in Modern Japan and Korea	5
HIS 151A	Medicine and the Body in the Colonial World	5
HIS 159B	Women and Gender in Ancient Egypt	5
HIS 196H	Sex and the City--The History of Sexuality in Urban Areas Around the Globe	5
HISC 113	History of Capitalism	5
HISC 125	Queerness and Race	5
LIT 112P	Gwendolyn Brooks	5
LIT 121M	Blue and Brown: Race, Gender, and Blackness	5
LIT 121O	Body Theories and Embodied Poetics in Contemporary American Poetry	5
LIT 146G	Queer(y)ing Victorian Literature	5
LIT 156A	The Gothic Imagination in Fiction, Film, and Theory	5
LIT 161B	African American Women Writers	5
LIT 162C	So Many Little Lives: Representations of Trauma in Asian American Literature	5
LIT 166A	Representations of Gender in Medieval Literature	5
LIT 166E	Women's Literature	5
LIT 167E	The Vampire in Literature and Popular Culture	5
PHIL 147 /FMST 168	Topics in Feminist Philosophy	5

Division of Social Sciences

ANTH 110G /CRES 110G	Westside Stories: Race, Place and the California Imaginary	5
ANTH 110Q /CRES 110Q/FMST 110Q	Queer Sexuality in Black Popular Culture	5
ANTH 110T	Motherhood in American Culture	5
ANTH 130E	Culture and Politics of Island Southeast Asia	5
ANTH 130F /CRES 130	Blackness In Motion: Anthology of the African Diasporas	5
ANTH 130L	Ethnographies of Latin America	5
ANTH 130O	Native Feminisms, Gender, and Settler Colonialism	5
ANTH 131	Gender in Cross-Cultural Context	5
ANTH 134	Medical Anthropology: An Introduction	5
ANTH 140 /CRES 140	The Body in Rain: Environmental and Medical Intersections	5
ANTH 148 /FMST 148	Gender and Global Development	5
ANTH 158	Feminist Ethnographies	5
ANTH 160	Reproductive and Population Politics	5
ANTH 194M	Medical Anthropology	5
ANTH 194X	Women in Politics: A Third World Perspective	5
CMMU 151	Sex, Race, and Globalization	5
CMMU 161	Gender Health and Justice	5
EDUC 135	Gender and Education	5
ECON 183 /LGST 183	Women in the Economy	5
LALS 144	Mexicana/Chicana Histories	5
LALS 172	Visualizing Human Rights	5
LALS 175	Migration, Gender, and Health	5
LGST 111B /POLI 111B	Civil Liberties	5
POLI 103	Feminist Interventions	5
POLI 105B /LGST 105B	Early Modern Political Thought	5
PSYC 107	Gender and Development	5
PSYC 140G	Women's Lives in Context	5
PSYC 140H	Sexual Identity and Society	5
PSYC 140L	Women's Bodies and Psychological Well-Being	5
PSYC 140Q	Social Psychology of Gender	5
PSYC 140T	Psychology of Trauma	5
PSYC 149	Community Psychology: Transforming Communities	5
PSYC 153	The Psychology of Poverty and Social Class	5
PSYC 159A	Sexual Identity	5
PSYC 159D	Psychology of Sexual Aggression	5
SOCY 111	Family and Society	5
SOCY 120	Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Sexuality and Cultural Politics	5
SOCY 121	Sociology of Health and Medicine	5
SOCY 126	Sex and Sexuality as Social Practice and Representation	5
SOCY 132	Sociology of Science and Technology	5
SOCY 145	Sociology of Masculinities	5
SOCY 149	Sex and Gender	5
SOCY 150	Sociology of Death and Dying	5
SOCY 152	Body and Society	5
SOCY 157	Sexualities and Society	5
SOCY 156	U.S. Latinx Identities: Centers and Margins	5
SOCY 158	Politics of Sex Work and Erotic Labor	5
SOCY 172	Sociology of Social Movements	5
SOCY 176	Women and Work	5
SOCY 187	Feminist Theory	5

Division of the Arts

FILM 130	Silent Cinema	5
FILM 165A	Film, Video, and Gender	5
FILM 165B	Race on Screen	5
FILM 165C	Lesbian, Gay, and Queer Film and Video	5
FILM 165D	Asian Americans and Media	5
FILM 165E	Chicana/o Cinema, Video	5
FILM 165G	Gender and Global Cinema	5
FILM 194E	International Cinemas	5
HAVC 115	Gender in African Visual Culture	5
HAVC 140C	Race and American Visual Arts	5
HAVC 141F	The Camera and the Body	5
HAVC 170	Art of the Body in Oceania	5
HAVC 172	Textile Traditions of Oceania	5
HAVC 186	Horror and Gender in Art and Visual Culture	5
HAVC 186Q	Queer Visual Culture	5
THEA 161M	Sexuality, Gender, Drama, and Performance	5
THEA 161T	Women in Theater	5

The Colleges

JRLC 135	Apprenticeship in Community Engaged Research	5
OAKS 150	Queer History and Theory in the United States	5

Disciplinary Communication (DC) Requirement

Students of every major must satisfy that major’s upper-division Disciplinary Communication (DC) requirement. The DC requirement in feminist studies is satisfied by completing the comprehensive requirement (FMST 194 or FMST 195).

Comprehensive Requirement

Comprehensive requirement options include a senior seminar taught by core faculty or a senior thesis/project. Completion of the Entry Level Writing and Composition Requirements are prerequisites to FMST 194 and FMST 195.

Students who wish to complete FMST 195, Senior Thesis or Project, should consult early with the feminist studies advisor and a prospective faculty advisor. The senior thesis or project option is by petition only, and faculty advisors may request that students complete a Senior Seminar (FMST 194) before agreeing to supervise a senior thesis or project.

Double majors may be able to write a thesis of 50 or more pages over three quarters to satisfy the comprehensive requirements of feminist studies and the second major. The Feminist Studies Department will review and approve or deny proposals for a double thesis on a case-by-case basis.

Students should be aware that not all departments will accept a double thesis. Students who wish to propose a double thesis should consult with both major advisors before the end of their junior year. Such a proposal must be approved by both departments or referred to the Committee on Educational Policy. In evaluating such proposals, the departments will require the student to have completed significantly more work than the minimum required for the comprehensive requirement of each major. The student's work must clearly explain to the reader the relevance of the work to both disciplines.

FMST 194A	Feminist Jurisprudence	5
FMST 194B	Queer/Feminist Historiography	5
FMST 194C	Gender and Iconicity	5
FMST 194D	Feminist Science Studies	5
FMST 194F	Chicana/Latina Cultural Production	5
FMST 194G	Images of Africa	5
FMST 194H	Michel Foucault: An Introduction	5
FMST 194I	Feminist Oral History and Memoir	5
FMST 194K /CRES 190K	Black Diaspora	5
FMST 194L /CRES 190L	Comparative Settler Colonial Studies	5
FMST 194M /CRES 190M	Empire and Sexuality	5
FMST 194O /CRES 190O	The Politics of Gender and Human Rights	5
FMST 194Q /CRES 190Q	Queer Diasporas	5
FMST 194R /CRES 190R	HIstories of the Carceral State	5
FMST 194T	Transgender Studies	5
FMST 194U /CRES 190U	Touring War and Empire	5
FMST 194V /CRES 190V	Marxism and Feminism	5
FMST 194W	Politics of Space, Time, and Matter	5
FMST 195	Senior Thesis or Project	5
CRES 190A /FMST 194S	Critical Race Feminisms	5
HIS 194N	Urbanites in the Global South, 18th Century to the Present	5

Planners

The tables below are for informational purposes and do not reflect all university, general education, and credit requirements. See Undergraduate Graduation Requirements for more information.

Four Year Plan

	Fall	Winter	Spring	Summer
Entering				College 1A
				Summer Edge (optional)

1st (frosh)	College 1	WRIT 1/WRIT 1E (if needed)


2nd (soph)	FMST 1	FMST 100	FMST lower-division core
	WRIT 2*

3rd (junior)	FMST elective	FMST elective	FMST elective
		FMST elective

4th (senior)	FMST elective	FMST 194 or FMST 195	FMST elective
	FMST elective

FMST 01 fulfills the CC general education (GE) requirement. Many FMST courses fulfill other GE requirements.

*WRIT 2 should be taken in or before spring quarter of the second year.

Two Year Plan for Transfer Students:

	Fall	Winter	Spring	Summer
Entering				Kresge 1T
				Summer Edge (optional)

3rd (junior)	FMST 1	FMST 100	FMST elective
	FMST lower-division core		FMST elective
	FMST elective*
4th (senior)	FMST elective	FMST elective	FMST 194 or 195
	FMST elective	FMST elective

*Transfer students are strongly encouraged to enroll in FMST 105, Feminist Methodologies, a course designed specifically to aid in the transition to UC Santa Cruz's feminist studies major for incoming transfer students. FMST 105 is offered every fall. This course will also satisfy one FMST elective requirement.