In 2016 the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality (CSGS) celebrated its twentieth anniversary, marking two decades of research, coursework, and programming dedicated to studying the conceptual categories of women, gender, and sexuality across disciplinary boundaries. MAPH students can choose to take courses entirely in Gender and Sexuality, but many also pursue classes in subject areas like Art History, Cinema and Media Studies, Comparative Literature, English, Philosophy, and Romance Languages and Literatures.
Selected Faculty
Sample Courses
Black Women Work: The Labor Of Black Women In Communities, Families, And Institutions (GNSE 30127) Autumn 2026
This multidisciplinary course will explore the labor of Black women in three distinct arenas-communities, families, and institutions. Students will explore these areas through engaging with historical and contemporary narratives, research, and popular media, heavily drawing in a U.S. context, but not exclusively. Through an engagement of Black women in the U.S. labor force, this course will explore three questions. How has the labor of Black women contributed to the sustainability of communities, families, and institutions? What are the choices Black women make to engage and sustain their work? What is the future of the labor of Black women? Is the future one that is liberatory or not? Students will leave this course with an understanding of the ways intersectional experiences of oppression contribute to complex conditions and decision-making, that shape the labor of Black women, the function of certain labor decisions as sites of resistance, as well as the generative resources that support the professional success and well-being of Black women. (Lisa Moore)
Feminism In Modern China: Genres And Media (GNSE 30166) Winter 2027
This class offers an overview of the history of feminism in China, with a focus on the genres of writing (manifestos, pamphlets, essays, poetry and fiction) and media (journals, posters, zines, digital platforms, hashtags) through which feminist ideas emerged and circulated from the late 19th century to this day. Topics to be discussed include: feminism and the public sphere, feminism and nationalism, the question of women's literature, feminism in the socialist revolution, family laws, feminism and trans and queer rights. No prior knowledge of Chinese is required. (Paola Iovene)
Queer Transnationalism (GNSE 43195) Spring 2027
This seminar explores 20th- and 21st-century queer and transnational literature and film as a field that emerges at the intersections of sexuality, race, migration, empire, and global capitalism. Moving beyond frameworks that center the U.S. or Western Europe as the default locus of queer experience, we examine how queerness is articulated, policed, and reimagined across multiple geopolitical, cultural, and linguistic contexts. Throughout the quarter, we consider how global flows of labor, capital, and culture shape queer life; how states regulate bodies and intimacies; and how artists and writers imagine queer belonging, kinship, and futurity in a global frame. Theoretical readings will foreground debates around homonationalism, queer diaspora, transnational feminism, coloniality, affect, precarity, and the politics of visibility. Fiction and film may include works by Deepa Mehta,, Wong Kar-Wai, Stephen Frears, Shani Mootoo, Qiu Miaojin, Saim Sadiq, James Baldwin, Monica Truong, Maurine Lara, and Tomasz Jedrowski. Theorists include Gayatri Gopinath, Jasbir Puar, Danton Remoto, Martin Manalansan IV, Sarah Ahmed, Lee Edelman, Jose Esteban Munoz, David Eng, Omise’eke Natasha Tinsley, and Petrus Liu. (Darrel Chia, Agnes Malinowska)
Visit the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality's course page for an extended listing of classes and descriptions.
Gender and Sexuality Studies Specialization
The Gender and Sexuality Studies Specialization allows students to structure their coursework and thesis around the study of Gender and Sexuality within MAPH. Students who complete the following requirements will receive Gender and Sexuality Studies transcript notation:
- MAPH Core Course (Foundations of Interpretive Theory).
- Three graduate-level Gender and Sexuality Studies courses, one of which is strongly preferred to be Advanced Theories in Gender and Sexuality or another approved theories course listed at the bottom of this page.
- An MA thesis in gender and/or sexuality studies under the supervision of a GSS-affiliated faculty member.
Please direct any questions you may have about specializing in Gender and Sexuality Studies to maph-support@uchicago.edu.
Recent Gender and Sexuality Thesis Projects
"I’m Going to Be My Own Kind of Princess: Sandy Liang, Nostalgia, and the Politics of Cuteness"
Taryn Slattery, MAPH '26
Advisor: Erica Warren
"Unmasking the Menopause Moment"
Cari Street, MAPH '26
Advisor: Peggy Heffington
“The Women of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune as a Tool for Political Messaging”
Yuri Halal, MAPH '25
Advisor: Hilary Strang