Bachelor of Gender & Sexuality Studies at Swarthmore College

The Gender & Sexuality Studies at Swarthmore College is a Bachelor program designed for students who want to build the knowledge and skills required for careers in this field. Delivered on campus at the university's main campus in Aberdeen, United States of America, the program is taught in English and takes 4 years to complete. Students study in a Full Time environment while preparing for future professional opportunities. The next intake starts on September 5, 2026.

About Bachelor of Gender & Sexuality Studies

The Gender and Sexuality Studies Program facilitates the interdisciplinary study of social relations of power in a variety of texts, practices, and cultural and historical contexts. The program emphasizes the interrelationships among gender and sexuality, race, class, nation, and ability and connects such inquiry to local and global politics. Gender and Sexuality Studies brings feminist and queer theory in conversation with research in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences through courses offered across the three academic divisions of the College.

A sampling of courses offered includes Feminist Film and Media Studies; Gender, Sexuality, and the Body in Islam ; Comparative Perspectives on the Body, and Black Women in the Civil Rights Movement.

Students who minor in gender and sexuality studies take a minimum of five courses that emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of the field. Special Majors take ten courses. The curriculum begins with an introductory course that highlights key concepts, questions, and analytical tools that have shaped the field and concludes with the capstone in the spring of the senior year. Program faculty members are committed to incorporating historical and contemporary perspectives on the study of gender and sexuality into the program of study.

Requirements and Admission Criteria for Bachelor of Gender & Sexuality Studies at Swarthmore College

Entry Requirements

Common Application or QuestBridge Application
Swarthmore College Short Answer
- As part of the Common Application, you will be asked to submit no more than 250 words in response to a short answer question (QuestBridge applicants are asked the same question on our Swarthmore-QuestBridge Intent to Apply form). For the 2022-2023 admissions cycle, students will be asked to choose one of the following three questions:
  - Swarthmore students’ worldviews are often forged by their prior experiences and exposure to ideas and values. Our students are often mentored, supported, and developed by their immediate context—in their neighborhoods, communities of faith, families, and classrooms. Reflect on what elements of your home, school, or community have shaped you or positively impacted you. How have you grown or changed because of the influence of your community?
  - We are inspired by students who are flexible in their approach to learning, who are comfortable with experimentation, and who are willing to take intellectual risks that move them out of their comfort zone. Reflect on a time that you were intellectually challenged, inspired, or took an intellectual risk—inside or outside of the classroom. How has that experience shaped you, and what questions still linger?
  - Why are you interested in applying to and attending Swarthmore?
$60 application fee or fee waiver*
School report
School counselor recommendation
High school transcript
Midyear grades: If your school does not have midyear grades, please provide a midyear progress report from your teachers.
Two academic-subject teacher recommendations/evaluations

Fee Information

Application Fee 60

How to Apply

Applying via the Common Application

You can easily add Swarthmore to your list of colleges in the Common Application.

In addition to the Common Application's personal statement (you can choose one of seven essay prompts), we ask you to submit no more than 250 words in response to a short answer question. For the 2022-2023 admissions cycle, students will be asked to choose one of the following three questions:

Swarthmore students’ worldviews are often forged by their prior experiences and exposure to ideas and values. Our students are often mentored, supported, and developed by their immediate context—in their neighborhoods, communities of faith, families, and classrooms. Reflect on what elements of your home, school, or community have shaped you or positively impacted you. How have you grown or changed because of the influence of your community?
We are inspired by students who are flexible in their approach to learning, who are comfortable with experimentation, and who are willing to take intellectual risks that move them out of their comfort zone. Reflect on a time that you were intellectually challenged, inspired, or took an intellectual risk—inside or outside of the classroom. How has that experience shaped you, and what questions still linger?
Why are you interested in applying to and attending Swarthmore?

Bachelor of Gender & Sexuality Studies at Swarthmore College

Swarthmore College

United States of America, Aberdeen