Announcing the Gender and Sexuality Studies program

The University of Calgary’s Women’s Studies (WMST) program focuses on issues of gender and sexuality, as well as race, class, disability, citizenship/documentation, age, and environmental issues. The WMST courses feature an intersectional, global approach to the topics, and address issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Yet, as many students in this program have voiced, the program name—Women’s Studies—implies a false commitment to the outdated conception of a gender binary.

“The discipline has shifted and expanded in ways that cannot be adequately captured under the now misleading heading of Women’s Studies,” says program coordinator and instructor Joe Kadi.

We are pleased to announce the newly renamed Gender and Sexuality Studies (GSXS) program! This change better reflects the discipline’s historical concerns with sexuality, including the sexual orientation spectrum, sexual health, and sexual rights. Gender and Sexuality Studies recognizes those who are on all points of the gender spectrum as important, equal, and legitimate subjects. Future graduates of the Gender and Sexuality Studies program will receive a degree that more accurately reflects their knowledge and capabilities in diverse professional fields.

This change, in both the degree and course names (from WMST to GSXS), will be formalized as of July 1, 2021 in the 2021/22 University of Calgary Academic Calendar. Students will register in courses labeled GSXS for their Fall 2021 and Winter 2022 terms.

Current students in the Women’s Studies program will still receive a BA Women’s Studies degree upon graduation. However, students graduating after Fall 2021 have the option to change their program from a BA in Women’s Studies to a BA in Gender & Sexuality Studies. Please note that this new program name does not change the program requirements or content in any way, but will change the name of the degree as written on the graduate’s diploma and transcript.