- <a href="/live/image/gid/72/width/650/86389_2020_Gender_Studies_Symposium_cochairs.jpg" class="lw_preview_image lw_disable_preview" tabindex="-1"><picture class="lw_image lw_image86389"><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/72/width/500/height/479/crop/1/86389_2020_Gender_Studies_Symposium_cochairs.rev.1607126800.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/72/width/500/height/479/crop/1/86389_2020_Gender_Studies_Symposium_cochairs.rev.1607126800.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/72/width/500/height/479/crop/1/86389_2020_Gender_Studies_Symposium_cochairs.rev.1607126800.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/72/width/500/height/479/crop/1/86389_2020_Gender_Studies_Symposium_cochairs.rev.1607126800.jpg 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/72/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86389_2020_Gender_Studies_Symposium_cochairs.rev.1607126800.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/72/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86389_2020_Gender_Studies_Symposium_cochairs.rev.1607126800.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/72/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86389_2020_Gender_Studies_Symposium_cochairs.rev.1607126800.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/72/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86389_2020_Gender_Studies_Symposium_cochairs.rev.1607126800.jpg 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/72/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86389_2020_Gender_Studies_Symposium_cochairs.rev.1607126800.jpg" alt="The 2020 Gender Studies Symposium cochairs at the keynote dinner." srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/72/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86389_2020_Gender_Studies_Symposium_cochairs.rev.1607126800.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/72/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86389_2020_Gender_Studies_Symposium_cochairs.rev.1607126800.jpg 3x" data-max-w="3200" data-max-h="3067" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a> <div class="hero-split_image_caption collapsable-caption">The 2020 Gender Studies Symposium cochairs at the keynote dinner.</div>
- <a href="/live/image/gid/72/width/650/86388_Gender_Studies_Symposium_-_Maggie_Nelson.jpg" class="lw_preview_image lw_disable_preview" tabindex="-1"><picture class="lw_image lw_image86388"><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/72/width/500/height/479/crop/1/86388_Gender_Studies_Symposium_-_Maggie_Nelson.rev.1607125693.webp 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/72/width/500/height/479/crop/1/86388_Gender_Studies_Symposium_-_Maggie_Nelson.rev.1607125693.jpg 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/72/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86388_Gender_Studies_Symposium_-_Maggie_Nelson.rev.1607125693.webp 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/72/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86388_Gender_Studies_Symposium_-_Maggie_Nelson.rev.1607125693.jpg 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/72/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86388_Gender_Studies_Symposium_-_Maggie_Nelson.rev.1607125693.jpg" alt="The Argonauts author Maggie Nelson was one of the keynote speakers at the 2019 Gender Studies Symposium. " srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/72/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86388_Gender_Studies_Symposium_-_Maggie_Nelson.rev.1607125693.jpg 2x" data-max-w="1440" data-max-h="1380" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a> <div class="hero-split_image_caption collapsable-caption"><i>The Argonauts </i>author Maggie Nelson was one of the keynote speakers at the 2019 Gender Studies Symposium. </div>
Gender Studies
With a gender studies minor, you will gain a background in gender analysis and feminism, offering you opportunities to engage with classics of the field. Plus, our location in Portland—a city known for its dynamic feminist and LGBTQ+ communities—provides easy access to internships and employment.
Why Choose a Minor in Gender Studies?
Our program will engage you in the political and philosophical exploration of strategies for transforming coercive and unequal gender systems. Minoring in gender studies will not only provide you with an expanded range of resources for understanding self and society, but also help you cultivate a love for lifelong learning—the best preparation for your life after Lewis & Clark.
What You’ll Study
Our courses in the gender studies minor examine the formation of racialized ideas of gender, explore constructions of sexuality, and analyze gender systems through historical perspectives as well as groundbreaking, emerging work. Lewis & Clark’s global curriculum and overseas study programs encourage you to examine the intersections of gender, race, class, and other axes of power and identity in a variety of cultures. You will also analyze images and vocabularies of gender expression that shape cultural representations, and explore how art both conforms to and resists categories of gender and sexuality.
Outside the classroom, the annual Gender Studies Symposium is organized by a committee of students with support from faculty and staff. This multiday, interdisciplinary event addresses complex topics through a focus on gender and sexuality, including care, security, power, space, law, religion, science, and more. Scholars, students, public figures, writers, artists, and community members come together for a series of workshops, lectures, performances, panel discussions, and a student-curated art exhibit. Our program also develops critical workshops that respond to current issues as a way to facilitate discussion between the larger student body and Portland, and we regularly engage in critical dialogue featuring speakers who are experts in their field.
Students may satisfy a gender studies elective with an internship. Past internship sites include Girls Inc., Sexual & Gender Minority Youth Resource Center (SMYRC), Cascade AIDS Project, and NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Complement Your Education With One of These Majors
Students from nearly every major across the arts, humanities, social sciences, and math/natural sciences have minored in gender studies. The most popular majors for our gender studies minors are biology, English, psychology, and sociology and anthropology.
What Students Are Saying About Lewis & Clark
- Eli Bricknell ’24
My favorite classes have been Feminist Theory and Decolonizing Anthropology. Feminist Theory was amazing because we were able to have really exciting and thought-provoking discussions. Decolonizing Anthropology was a really great class, and the teachings have stuck with me.
Sociology and Anthropology | Gender Studies | Seattle, Washington; Kalamazoo, MichiganMore about Eli - August van Nieuwenhuysen BA ’25
I love that gender studies is an interdisciplinary program because you get to work with lots of professors from different departments. It gives you this fantastic opportunity to collaborate with people you otherwise may never have taken a class with.
Biology | Gender Studies | Tustin, CaliforniaMore about August - Meilin Beloney BA ’26
One of my favorite aspects about the gender studies minor is that it is interdisciplinary,
meaning that I get a variety of lenses through which to view questions of sex, gender,
and sexuality. I have been able to take classes in disciplines that I would otherwise
have not had the opportunity to engage in.Sociology and Anthropology | Gender Studies | Alameda, CaliforniaMore about Meilin
What Can You Do With a Minor in Gender Studies?
Our alumni use their minor in gender studies in a variety of careers in nonprofit organizations, academia, and advocacy work. Many go on to pursue advanced degrees in anthropology, law, public health, and other disciplines.
Dedicated Faculty
Our expert professors are your expert mentors. You will learn directly from faculty (no graduate assistants here!) that are nationally recognized in their fields of study and who love to work with and learn from their students. Your professors will inspire you to be a thoughtful and passionate participant in a diverse world. Your small classes will support you as you explore new ideas, find your voice, and speak your truth.
- 2,194
As of fall 2023, there are 2,194 degree-seeking students enrolled at Lewis & Clark College.
- Top
For the seventh time in 10 years, Lewis & Clark has been named a Fulbright U.S. Student Program Top Producing Institution for 2023–24.
- 12%
of our students are from countries other than the U.S.
- Equity
We are the only liberal arts school in Oregon on Colleges of Distinction’s “Best Equity and Inclusion” list for 2023–24.
- 47
U.S. states represented in our undergraduate student body
Invest in Yourself
A private liberal arts education is often more affordable than you think. Last year, Lewis & Clark distributed over $74 million in assistance from institutional, federal, state, and private sources. Additionally, we’re so confident that our first-year students will graduate in four years with their bachelor of arts degree that if you don’t, we’ll cover the extra semester of tuition.
Find Your People
Students can join a variety of student-run organizations that relate to their gender studies minor, like the Feminist Student Union, Gender Studies Symposium, and Queer Student Union. Many of our minors also work with the Office of Health Promotion and Wellness as peer sexual health educators. Don’t see what you’re looking for on the club list? Start something new and build your own community of peers!
Where Lewis & Clark Will Take You
- Smith “S.” Yarberry BA ’16
The most important thing I learned while at L&C was how to communicate my ideas and questions most articulately. By that I mean not only how to write clearly, but also how to speak in class and engage with my peers.
EnglishMore about Smith “S.”
Gender Studies Events
Gender Studies Symposium Community Meeting & Call for Proposals
All current CAS students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend our community meetings this semester to plan the 44th annual Gender Studies Symposium, scheduled for March 2025. We welcome all members of the L&C community to participate in the planning process. Upcoming meetings will be held on October 15 and 29 from 3:30-4:30 in Miller 414.
We are also now accepting submissions for presentations! We invite proposals for panel discussions, individual papers, interactive workshops, and artistic productions, especially those focused on gender and sexuality in relation to emotions.
Please review the Call for Proposals for complete guidelines.
Gender Studies Symposium Community Meeting & Call for Proposals
All current CAS students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend our community meetings to plan the 44th annual Gender Studies Symposium, scheduled for March 2025. We welcome all members of the L&C community to our remaining fall meetings on October 29 and December 3 from 3:30-4:30 in Miller 414.
We are also accepting submissions for presentations! We invite proposals for panel discussions, individual papers, interactive workshops, and artistic productions, especially those focused on gender and sexuality in relation to emotions.
Please review the Call for Proposals for complete guidelines.
Ray Warren Symposium Keynote Speaker Miriam Ticktin
Please join us at the 21st Annual Ray Warren Symposium on Race and Ethnic Studies for a keynote presentation by Miriam Ticktin, professor of anthropology at CUNY (City University of New York) Graduate Center and director of the Center for Place, Culture and Politics.
From Transnational Borders to No Borders? Commoning, Abolition, and Imagining Otherwise
Free and open to the public. No registration is required.
ASL interpretation will be provided.
After the talk, please join us for a book signing and reception in the Council Chamber foyer.
Ray Warren Symposium Keynote Speaker Christina Leza
Please join us at the 21st Annual Ray Warren Symposium on Race and Ethnic Studies for a keynote presentation by Christina Leza, associate professor of anthropology and Indigenous studies at Colorado College.
Indigenous Hip Hop and Healing Soul: Colonized Moderns in Conflict on the U.S.-Mexico Border
No registration is required. ASL interpretation will be provided.
After the talk, please join us for a book signing and reception in the Council Chamber foyer.
Featured News
2024-2025 Visiting Writers Series Announced
Please save the dates, spread the word, and join the LC English Department in welcoming these five fine writers to our 2024-25 Visiting Writing Series. Bios and links to more author information below.
All five events will be held in Albany Quadrangle, Smith Hall at 6pm.