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Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies

What Our Students Say...

  • In May 2013 I graduated as a double major in Women's Studies and English with a minor in Middle East Studies. I am currently pursuing my PhD in World Cultures at UC Merced with a Eugene Cota-Robles fellowship. I believe Women's Studies led me to graduate school (and the WS faculty gave me the push I needed to apply to graduate programs!). My undergraduate work helped me discover that interdisciplinary research within academia is my passion. I feel confident moving on to my next academic chapter. The Women's Studies program not only strengthened my identity as a woman, but it also prepared me for a future in graduate school. The upper division women's studies courses (set up very much like graduate seminars) introduced me to complex texts, theorists and scholars. 

    My advice to the next cohort of Women's Studies graduates is: seek advice! If you are unsure where your future lies after graduation, utilize resources and talk to fellow classmates and professors.

    -Neama Alamri

    2013 Graduate

  • The courses are the most intellectually rewarding classes that I have taken throughout my college career. All of the faculty are knowledgable and go out of their way to assist students and ensure their success. The program has prepared me for real life scenarios as well as classroom experiences and equipped me with a better understanding of the inter-sectional nature of our society. Women's Studies classes have been my sanctuary for learning not only about the past, but also about the present and provided me with the tools to change the future.

-Alexanderia E. Verdian
WS Double Major

  • Being involved with the Women Studies Program was one of the best experiences I had on Fresno State because it changed and challenged the way I had seen the world before and now.  I decided to pursue my college degree because it was "the thing to do," but with the WSP I was able to figure out that I want to help change the world by working with and for marginalized peoples by empowering them in various ways. The faculty in the program do everything they can to help their students by being available to speak about material covered in class or providing resources for personal growth outside of the classroom through activism.  All the courses are challenging especially in the beginning when it is hard to see how the world is affected by the powers class, race, and gender to keep particular people in power and other people marginalized.  Women Studies discourse taught me about social stratification based on the intersection of -isms such as classism, racism, sexism, heterosexism, etc. and that we are all affected by these forces.

-Flerida Noble
WS Double Major
Class on 2009

  • The Women's Studies Program allowed me to find a community of folks on campus who actually get it.  I am thankful for the skills I have learned as a Women's Studies major that will allow me to serve my community and for the strength I have gained through the women in this program and through developing a strong background in feminist theory.

-Ashley Fairburn
WS Major
Class of 2009