Human Sexuality Studies

College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Dean: Joel Kassiola

Department of Human Sexuality Studies
BH 333
415-405-3570
Director: Gilbert Herdt

Faculty

Professors—Brogan, DeVries, Diaz, Herdt, Jenkins, Mann, McCoy, Ovrebo, Prinz, Tolman, Yep

Associate Professors—Elia, Hossfeld, Leitao, Levy, Loomis, Soh

Assistant Professors—Carrillo, Carrington, Cohler, Fields, Melendez, Sueyoshi, Teunis

Lecturers—Angelo, Assali, Auleb, Chen, Eliason, Impett, Levine, Sausa, Tully

Programs

Minor in Human Sexuality Studies
Minor in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies
Master of Arts in Human Sexuality Studies

Program Scope

Human sexuality studies provides students with knowledge about the processes and variations in: sexual functions and reproduction; intimate relationships; sexual and gender role development and behavior; and the social, cultural, historical and moral contexts of sex and love. This interdisciplinary field relies primarily on faculty from the Colleges of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Health and Human Services, Humanities, and Science, who serve as advisers to students wishing information or assistance in making curricular choices. Students can use the Minor in Human Sexuality Studies to complement their majors. The program provides an opportunity to gain basic knowledge; develop an awareness of attitudes; and to acquire skills for counseling, teaching, and conducting research.

The Minor in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies intends to delineate and analyze meanings that have been associated with homosexuality in various artistic, biological, cultural, educational, ethical, historical, and literary contexts; and examine the related issues of mixed-gender and cross-gender roles and practices.

The minor is broadly interdisciplinary. It draws courses from anthropology, biology, cinema, counseling, English, history, human sexuality studies, psychology, social sciences, speech and communication studies, and women studies.

MINOR IN HUMAN SEXUALITY STUDIES

Undergraduate Adviser—H. Carrillo

The minor consists of 26 to 28 units of undergraduate study. With proper advising it is possible to use these courses to fulfill some undergraduate major, minor, and General Education requirements. Written declaration of the pursuit of the minor is not necessary prior to enrollment in any of its required or elective courses.

Introduction: Students should try to complete HMSX 300 and either BIOL 330 or H ED 320 before taking any further courses in the minor. (These courses may, however, be taken concurrently.)

On-line course descriptions are available.

MINOR IN LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER STUDIES

The minor consists of a minimum of 24 units of undergraduate study. It is possible to use these courses to meet requirements in some undergraduate majors, in other minors, and various clusters in the General Education program. Specifically, several courses meet the requirements of the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer cluster in Segment III of the General Education program.

MASTER OF ARTS IN HUMAN SEXUALITY STUDIES

A prospective student must fulfill the general university requirements as stated in the section on Graduate and Post-baccalaureate Admissions of this Bulletin. To be considered for unconditional admission to the M.A. in Human Sexuality Studies, a student must have completed an undergraduate major in an appropriate field under advisement with a minimum grade point average of 3.0. It is expected that applicants will primarily come from behavioral and social sciences (psychology, anthropology, sociology, history), health education (social services professions (social work), business (human resources, management, marketing), humanities (speech and communications, women studies). Students whose undergraduate major did not include human sexuality studies courses should consult the graduate coordinator about making up course deficiencies in human sexuality studies. The usual pattern is for the student to complete the equivalent of a B.A. in a field related to human sexuality studies before being accepted into the program.

If the students' undergraduate record meets the basic requirements and gives promise of a successful pursuit of graduate work, the department will recommend that the student be admitted either to classified graduate status (which means that the student may immediately proceed to take graduate courses and seminars) or conditional status, specifying the conditions and time limit within which they must be met.

Written English Proficiency Requirement

Level One: GRE writing score of 4.0 and above or satisfactorily meeting the writing requirements in HMSX 800. Level Two: satisfactory completion of Culminating Experience requirements: HMSX 894 Creative project or HMSX 895 Research Project in Human Sexuality or HMSX 898 Master's Thesis.

Advancement to Candidacy

Besides meeting all general requirements for advancement to candidacy, applicants must maintain a 3.0 grade point average in all human sexuality courses taken for the degree, and may not list on the Graduate Approved Program any course in which the grade received is below B-.

Prerequisite Courses

Completion of the following undergraduate course is also required: BIOL 330, Human Sexuality. Equivalent course work is also acceptable upon petition. Upon admission to the M.A. program, this class must be taken during the first semester in the program.