Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies majors are required to complete a semester-long, 3-credit internship (GSWS 3050). GSWS 3050 is required for all GSWS majors and is also open to GSWS/SGIS minors and other students interested in earning credit for GSWS-related internships. If you have already taken GSWS 3050 and would like to earn additional internship credits, contact the GSWS director or internship advisor. Internships entail supervised work relevant to your GSWS/SGIS studies and interests. You'll work with a faculty advisor to develop the connections between real-world experience and your theoretical study of SGIS/GSWS.

Students begin researching and making arrangements for internship placements before the semester begins. There are a number of organizations on-site and off-campus with whom you may be able to intern. Contact Mary Burke, the GSWS internship advisor, for more information. Classmates, GSWS faculty members, and the Career Center are also all great resources for helping you find an internship.

Working with a GSWS affiliated faculty sponsor, you can choose topics of study that deepen your knowledge of your particular interests and career goals. You'll also have an opportunity to develop a senior honors thesis under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Recent examples of theses include:

• CJ Healey, “The Lives They Chose: Margaret Anderson and Her Family of Artists.” Advisor: Paul Deslandes and Melanie Gustafson
• Maya Pound, “Girl, girl, girlgirlgirl: Queering Toni Morrison’s Sula and Love.” Advisor: Sarah Turner
• Julian Ash Barritt, “Sexual Orientation, Gender, & Self-Styling: An Exploration of Visual Identity-Signaling.” Advisor: Paul Deslandes
• Carmen Harris, “‘Have Wigs- Will Travel’: An Exploration into the Culture and Evolution of Drag, Trans Identities, and Gender Nonconformity in the United States, 1952-2009.” Advisor: Paul Deslandes
• Somer Marie Brown, "Iranian Literature and Its Impact on Western Feminist Perceptions." Advisor: Huck Gutman
• Maya Pound, “Girl, girl, girlgirlgirl: Queering Toni Morrison’s Sula and Love.” Advisor: Sarah Turner
• Elizabeth J. Chesley, "Female Auteurs and Their Perceptions of Gender, Sexuality, and National Identity." Advisor: Hilary Neroni
• Matthew J. Ganci, "Creating Community: The Cultural Experiences of Gay Men in Hartford, Connecticut and Burlington, Vermont from 1969-1981." Advisor: Paul Deslandes
• Erica Rose Gilgore, "Interstices of Power: Considerations of Women’s Health and Agency through Creative Nonfiction." Advisor: Pablo Bose
• Devin C. Kane, "De Jure School Segregation as the Result of Racist Housing Policies." Advisor: Jane Knodell

Our annual honors and awards include the Daniel-McCarter Award; the Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies Outstanding Senior Award; and the Ellen Hamilton Lida Mason Award.