Program

LGBT Studies works to establish sexuality as a crucial category of analysis in the humanities and social sciences. It draws on disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, psychology, history, literature, and cultural studies, in order to document the extent to which sexuality itself is a complex cultural and historical phenomenon that bears careful examination. Just as Women's Studies, for instance, is not only by, about, and for women, LGBT Studies is not only by, about, or for lesbian, gay, bisexual, or trangendered people, but includes all humanity in its purview.

A large portion of the energy spent developing this field has been devoted to discovering (and recovering) the history, dynamics, and complexities of same-sex relationships. Both those relationships and their study have had to combat a variety of delegitimizing forces originating from numerous social locations. The study of same-sex relationships within LGBT Studies has intended to provide legitimacy to those kinds of relationships, to the communities of people organized around and involved in those relationships, and to the history of those people and those communities. In working toward this end, the field of LGBT Studies has necessarily worked to theorize the concept, practice, and history of sexuality itself; it has learned to examine the various ways intimacies and sexual experiences are constructed and perceived in different periods, cultures, and social classes. The field of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies thus both addresses the particularities of the modern forms of sexuality we call lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trangendered (forms of sexuality that have only recently been able to claim for themselves the right to serious academic study), and further addresses the phenomenon of sexuality itself in all its historical and cross-cultural diversity.

Interested students in any major can earn a minor in LGBT Studies by completing four required core courses (one lower division and three upper division) and two upper division elective courses approved for the minor program.