Choosing to become a Women, Gender, and Sexuality (WGS) minor was one of the smartest academic decisions I have made while at Hopkins. Overall, I have enjoyed the course offerings and definitely widened my knowledge of topics ranging from the American judicial system to abortion law to European philosophy to transgender individuals.
I no longer care much about the slight stigma attached to being a WGS minor (you know, that we are all radically liberal and love the Indigo Girls). I'm not out to convert people to my politics or to my musical taste (which, by the way, is hardly monopolized by the aforementioned).
Rather, I care more about feminism and sexuality as important and legitimate academic disciplines. Pardon the cheesiness, but as a result of my WGS courses, I think I have a much better understanding of the world around me and my perspective of it.
I know Hopkins is not exactly the type of school in which WGS would ever become an academic discipline with the type of enrollment as, say, Biology. Nonetheless, it deserves more recognition than it is currently getting.
Since WGS is only available as a minor, all WGS courses are cross-listed with other departments. Two problems arise as a result.
First, WGS is unable to offer some basic introductory courses that the minor is currently lacking. Second, the cross-listing is often a bit random and not nearly focused enough on subjects that actually relate to women, gender, and sexuality.
In pursuing my minor, never have I taken a course that focuses on any sort of American feminism. I have studied different aspects of feminism, but never have I learned a basic history of the movement.
Perhaps it is assumed that the students already know this information, but without a required course that touches upon these issues, the validity of such an assumption is far from guaranteed. The only requirements for the minor are that the student takes four courses in WGS at the 300 level and then two additional courses. This is simply too broad.
That breadth is made worse by significant semester-to-semester changes in WGS course availability. For example, last semester I took the History of Photojournalism. It was cross-listed with WGS, so enrolling seemed reasonable. However, although I enjoyed the course material, I have no idea why the topic related at all to WGS or in what way the syllabus had any relation to my minor.
This is not the only instance of a seemingly unrelated course finding its way into the WGS catalog. I can only assume that WGS is desperate for more courses, but there simply are not enough available at Hopkins that fit the description of the minor.
And it's not for lack of interest either. The two "sex" classes offered at Homewood -- Human Sexuality, and Origins of Human Sexual Orientation and Variation -- are both immensely popular. So much so that, typically, only Psychology, Behavorial Biology or WGS majors/minors are permitted to register. Several of my friends interested in the topic have not been able to take either class.
Thanks to this lack of structure, I haven't felt much of a community within the minor. I barely know who any of the other minors are, and if I do, it is usually because of some other common interest besides WGS. I haven't been privy to any sort of e-mail listserv or group gathering. There are lectures and discussions but the publicity is minimal.
We exist, but we don't know each other. We are passionate, but we don't have the means to channel our interests and connect with each other.
That being said, I shouldn't complain too much. After all, most of my coursework has been heavy in both theory and modern applications, which is more than I can say about some other classes I have taken. But the minor just isn't as great as it could be. It seems like there is more student interest than there is professor interest, given how often the courses change. Until it can account for that discrepancy, the Program for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality will not be able to grow, much to the dismay of its current students.
-- Carey Polis is a senior Writing Seminars major from Bethesda, Md.
