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For more than twenty years, graduate students from across the disciplines at USC have enriched their studies and broadened their expertise by training in Gender and Sexuality Studies. A survey of certificate alumnae/i shows that a Gender and Sexuality Studies (GSS) Graduate Certificate can help you find a job in or out of academe.

Graduate students intending to concentrate in Gender and Sexuality Studies must be admitted to a USC graduate or professional program. While meeting the requirements for a departmental graduate degree, they may earn a certificate of competency in gender and sexuality studies.

Requirements

To earn a certificate, students must fulfill the following course requirements:

  • A total of at least 12 units (including SWMS 560) of several other courses from the SWMS list of graduate-level courses, 500 and above.
  • No more than four units of directed research may be taken and those units must be taken as SWMS 590. Each academic department will determine the number of units completed which may be applied to the student’s graduate degree in that department.

In addition to the completion of course requirements, students must

  • Include a focus on gender as part of their major department master’s thesis, doctoral dissertation, or law review note (Ph.D. students must include one faculty member from the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies on their dissertation committee), OR
  • They may take an oral examination on three research papers they have written within the areas of gender studies and on relevant graduate work pertaining to the field of gender studies. The oral exam will be administered by members of the Gender and Sexuality Studies faculty. A Gender and Sexuality Studies faculty member will be assigned as an advisor for each student. Gender and Sexuality Studies faculty will be responsible for judging the adequacy of the gender studies analysis in the student’s thesis, dissertation or oral examination.
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Courses

Gender and Sexuality Studies offers seven graduate-level courses, including directed research and special topics courses. In addition, certificate students may choose from a variety of cross-listed courses from across the University to fulfill program requirements.

How Do I Enroll in GSS?

Graduate students wishing to enroll in the Gender and Sexuality Studies Graduate Certificate should email Student Services Advisor Rosalva Isidoro at risidoro@usc.edu

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