Student Experience
Small, supportive and community-engaged – discussion-based classes, service learning across Louisville and a seminar where every graduating major presents their work.
WGST Student Life
We are a small but highly supportive department where students build meaningful connections with peers and faculty. Students relax and connect in the student lounge in Stevenson Hall, and most classes are discussion-based, fostering collaboration and critical engagement.
In their final semester, all majors and minors come together in a small, seminar-style capstone course and take part in the Carolyn Krause Maddox Paper Award student lecture presentations. Throughout the year, WGST students attend fall and spring events hosted by the department, the Career Center and the Alumni Office – opportunities to explore career paths and connect with alumni.
Academic Opportunities
Beyond the Classroom
WGST students are part of a community that extends well beyond Stevenson Hall. Every semester the department hosts career and alumni events where students explore career options and meet graduates working in law, healthcare, nonprofits, education and media. Each March the Minx Auerbach Lecture in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies brings a nationally recognized speaker to campus, and each spring Maddox Paper Prize winners present their research to the department.
Students also connect through service-learning partners across Louisville – from the Center for Women and Families to the Kentuckiana Pride Foundation – and through the Ghana service trip with the International Service Learning Program.
The Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 3+3 major has really changed how I see the world. It’s helped me better understand how gender, race, and sexuality all connect and shape people’s experiences. Through the program, I’ve grown more confident in speaking up, thinking critically, and advocating for others. It’s also helped prepare me for law school and the kind of work I want to do – focused on equity, justice, and supporting marginalized communities.
Support Services
Turn Social Understanding Into Career Leadership
With the historic Audre Lorde Chair and groundbreaking certificate programs, your interdisciplinary foundation opens doors to transformative careers. Explore Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Louisville — where rigorous interdisciplinary training, a 3+3 accelerated law track, and direct connections to advocacy, healthcare, education, and policy careers prepare graduates to lead in every field that matters.