About
Since 1972, the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) Program has brought together an international community of students, scholars and activists. From rigorous courses and hands-on research opportunities to practical career experience and engaged networking events, the WGSS Program prepares graduates to be successful and productive global citizens.
Connect With Our Community
WGSS Program History
Professor Ruth Osborn founded the Continuing Education for Women (CEW) project at GW in 1965. The CEW students demonstrated demand for a graduate program focused on helping women, and Osborn worked with the administration to create a new interdisciplinary master’s degree.
GW launched the first graduate women’s studies degree program in the United States in 1972 and began enrolling students the following year.
In 1977, the program introduced a new public policy focus and hired Virginia Allan, former chair of President Richard Nixon’s Task Force on Women's Rights and Responsibilities, Phyllis Palmer, women’s historian, and Charlotte Conable, 1976 graduate of the then-new master’s program.
An additional master’s degrees in public policy with a concentration in women's studies was added in 1982.
In 1997, the program developed a "gender and social policy" field within the existing PhD program in public policy (now known as the PhD in Public Policy and Public Administration).
Several joint degree programs with the GW Law School were rolled out in 2000 to provide students with additional professional opportunities.
The program introduced a new minor in LGBT studies in 2011.
In 2016, the program was renamed the GW Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program to better reflect its breadth of study.