Celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month by learning about women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Penn State
The Penn State College of the Liberal Arts seeks to offer students a transformative educational experience that combines core liberal arts values—communication, analytic thinking, ethical decision-making, and appreciation for other cultures and other times—with internships, research opportunities, and global experiences that allow students to apply their skills in real-world contexts and grow personally and professionally. That educational experience also includes providing students opportunities to learn from, and work with, the leading liberal arts scholars within their respective disciplines; and connecting students with the vast network of college and University alumni who can serve as mentors and otherwise assist students as they begin building their professional networks.
Get Started
We are offering on-campus visits on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Please note, these visits do not include a campus tour. For those who are not able to visit Penn State University Park in person, please register for a virtual meeting, which will be offered on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Our on-campus and virtual appointments give students and families a better understanding of our programs and the resources and opportunities available to Liberal Arts students. Use the buttons below to schedule an appointment.
If you have any questions, please contact Recruitment Manager Chantel Harley at 814-865-7141 or cuharley@psu.edu.
Schedule a Virtual One-on-One Meeting
Attend an On-Campus Accepted Student Program
- LGBTQ Pride Month
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Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Program Spotlight
“We are committed to creating an inclusive campus community that acknowledges the inherent dignity in every person. Our faculty engages in research, pedagogy, and service with attention to social justice to contextualize and challenge sexism, transphobia, ableism, classism, and racial oppression. Our students learn through the development of critical and analytical skills, creative approaches to problem solving, and the ability to articulate productive socio-political alternatives.”
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Sexuality and Gender Studies Minor
Program Spotlight
The Sexuality and Gender Studies minor addresses human sexuality and gender as they have been conceptualized and investigated by diverse disciplines: humanities (including history and cultural studies), behavioral and social sciences, biological sciences, and visual and performance arts. This minor helps students interrogate how gender identity and sexuality intersect with race, ethnicity, nationality, class, disability, age, religion, and other identities to create structural, institutional, and ideological inequalities and oppressions.
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WMNST 100 Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies
Course Spotlight
This course focuses on women's shared and unshared experiences, issues of gender roles and stereotyping, questions related to sex/gender systems, and the different disciplinary approaches to the study of women and gender. The course fulfills requirements for General Education in Social Sciences and is popular among students in a variety of majors.
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Triota Honor Society
Program Spotlight
Iota Iota Iota, known as Triota, is Penn State’s women’s, gender, and sexuality studies honor society. The group encourages and supports scholarship, excellence, and activism in the department.
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Celeste Good
Student Spotlight
Celeste, a fifth-year student majoring in Women’s Studies, is the president of Queer and Trans People of Color at Penn State. In this role, they work to create safe and supportive spaces on campus for students at the intersection of different identities who face bias, hate, and violence.
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Nina Thomas
Student Spotlight
Nina Thomas, a third-year student majoring in Women’s Studies, was selected for a prestigious summer internship with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. Nina’s interests include women’s empowerment in United States foreign policy, sexual and gender-based violence, and queer thought. Over the summer, Nina hopes to be involved in legislation protecting the reproductive rights of women and the LGBTQ community.
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C Libby and Jes Matsick
Faculty Spotlight
C Libby, assistant teaching professor of women's, gender, and sexuality studies, and Jessica Matsick, assistant professor of psychology and women's, gender, and sexuality studies, were awarded Outstanding Teaching Awards from the College of the Liberal Arts this past year.
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Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity
Program Spotlight
The Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity provides a comprehensive range of education, information, and advocacy services to students, faculty, staff, and alumni. They work to create and maintain an open, safe, and inclusive environment honoring gender and sexual diversity. Through educational, social, and supportive programming, along with workshops and individual consultation, the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity strives to serve the entire Penn State community.
- Liberal Arts by the numbers
Social Sciences
The social sciences examine the relationships between individuals and societies, as well as the development and operation of societies. The critical thinking, research, and analytical skills gained in a social science major help prepare graduates for diverse job titles, including economist, psychologist, political scientist, and historian, postsecondary teachers, museum curators, and social workers.
Languages
Intercultural communication, critical thinking and reasoning, cultural adaptability, information and trend analysis, and the other skills that drive the global economy, are in high demand today. Language graduates find jobs in tourism, international development, marketing, policy making, journalism, government, and more.
Humanities
Students in the humanities study how people process and document the human experience. Most majors in the humanities build widely transferable skills that employers appreciate and go on to be writers, counselors, event organizers, social media managers, fundraisers, travel bloggers, and more.
- African American Studies
- African Studies
- Asian Studies
- Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies
- Communication Arts and Sciences
- Comparative Literature
- English
- French and Francophone Studies
- German
- Global and International Studies
- History
- Italian and Portuguese
- Jewish Studies
- Medieval Studies
- Philosophy
- Russian
- Spanish
- Women’s Studies