Students at Carnegie Mellon University are organizing a petition advocating for an increase in gender studies courses. It has garnered over 260 signatures — from every college at Carnegie Mellon — and counting. The Tartan spoke to the author behind the petition to learn more about her interest in gender studies, the motivation for the petition, and the skills that gender studies courses provide students.
To declare a gender studies minor at Carnegie Mellon, students are required to take a nine-unit introductory course, which can be satisfied with “Introduction to Gender Studies” (76-241), “Women, Politics, and Protest” (79-320), or “Body Politics: Women and Health in America” (79-331). Additionally, students must take five courses in a variety of fields such as English, history, anthropology, psychology, philosophy, economics, and modern languages totaling at least 54 units. It should be noted that the list is not exhaustive and that students can, with permission from the minor advisor, take an unlisted course that can work towards the completion of a gender studies minor.
The petition states that “Of the 20 classes listed on the website for the Gender Studies minor, there’s just one offered section of Introduction to Gender Studies with ‘Instructor TBD.’” The petition adds that gender studies courses have been limited in the past, but the upcoming semester offers fewer courses than usual, making it difficult to complete a gender studies minor.
According to Carnegie Mellon’s course catalog, for fall 2025, one section of “Introduction to Gender Studies” (76-241), “Body Politics: Women and Health in America” (79-331), “Psychology of Prejudice” (85-450), and Dietrich College Grand Challenge Seminar: Psychology of Gender (66-152) will be offered.
The petition also argues that gender studies courses teach students how to engage in archival research, read theoretical arguments, articulate beliefs and support them, and listen to the beliefs of others — even if you disagree — while maintaining your own opinions, with the latter skill being the most important in the opinion of the author.
She states that “empathy and the ability to communicate form the basis of human connection, which is the biggest part of all of our lives. If someone wants to propose a certain plan or idea, whether in a corporate or personal setting. How are they supposed to make a persuasive argument without understanding the perspective of the other party?”
“If we don’t hear the beliefs of others and instead just try to express our own beliefs louder, then conversation becomes like two people yelling at a wall, with neither one getting through to the other … comment sections on social media are filled with long argument sections that don’t actually effectively argue anything,” she added.
Though gender studies courses offer students invaluable skills, students have found it difficult to enroll in them. A senior in the school of computer science indicated in the petition their inability to enroll in a course related to gender for the past three years. The author herself stated, “I’ve been at CMU for three years, but have been unable to register for Intro to Gender Studies since the spring semester of my freshman year.”
The petition requests that the university support gender studies by offering two sections of “Introduction to Gender Studies” (76-241) each semester, offer a minimum of six elective courses that fulfill the minor requirement per semester, update the gender studies department’s website and course numbers, and hire a tenure-track professor in Queer Studies, Trans Studies, or Black Feminist Theory.
The author of the petition also pointed out inconsistencies between course numbers and information across the gender studies minor website and the Carnegie Mellon course catalog.One course number that needs to be updated is 79-333, which on the website for a gender studies minor is associated with “Sex, Gender, and Anthropology,” but on the Carnegie Mellon course catalog is listed as “African Americans, Race, and the Fight for Reparations.”
Another course number that needs to be changed is “Psychology of Prejudice,” which on the gender studies minor website is 85-350, but on the course catalog is 85-450.
Additionally, the gender studies minor website indicates that Psychology and Gender (85-446) works toward the minor, and, though it is not on the course catalog for next semester, Dietrich College Grand Challenge Seminar: Psychology of Gender (66-152) is.
When asked how gender studies courses have shaped her life and perspective, the author said, “I never thought I’d enjoy Intro to Gender Studies as much as I have. It’s inspired me to learn more about history and showed me the value of questioning injustice instead of just trying to avoid it in my own life. It’s also given me a lot of valuable perspective on my own identity.”
“From my experience taking Intro to Gender Studies this semester, I found the focus on important movements (protests, manifestos, etc.) very inspirational. It’s what motivated me to write this petition — I realized I actually had the power to affect change on campus,” she added.
The author also indicated her gratitude to student organizations on campus — such as Women in STEM, Academic Workers United, Carnegie Mellon Free Speech, and Carnegie Mellon College Democrats — who all helped to spread the word about the petition.
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