Courses

Course Selection

Winter 2026: September 19th - 29th

Add / Drop Appointments 


Winter 2026: November 17th - 18th
For all returning students

Open Enrolment:

Fall 2025: July 30th - Sept 16th

Winter 2026: November 19th - January 16th

Deadline to drop:

Fall 2025: September  23rd

Winter 2026: January 23rd

TIP: We strongly encourage you to participate in the course selection process to ensure you have the best chance of getting into your most desired courses. 

Fall 2025 course offerings

GSJ 203: The Waves of Feminist Thought

molten lava flowing into the sea

This course moves through the vital moments in feminist thought and practice throughout the 20th century (and before), focusing on the experience of BIPOC folks and the most marginalized within feminist communities. We will weave a complex intersectional narrative that helps us to understand and approach the complexity of  current feminist struggles. At turns, the material we cover will be both familiar and confronting, uncomfortable and critical. Finally, we will critically investigate the metaphor of the ‘wave’ itself and analyze and critique its relevance for our lives and world.

GSJ 472- 003: Queer and Trans Studies

trans stripes diagonal

How do we think about gender, sexuality, and kinship in different times, places, and relationships? What is at stake when people contest dominant norms and practices? How are we regulating ourselves and each other — and what led us to do this?  In this interdisciplinary, interactive seminar, students get to immerse themselves in queer and trans histories, movements, artistic creations, and theories as they examine our current context and imagine possible futures.

GSJ 473 / PHIL 420: Care & Solidarity

jean jacket covered in patches, protest in the background

Increasingly, scholars and activists describe care as a radical or revolutionary response to social injustices and forces of power, such as neoliberal capitalism, mass incarceration, settler colonialism, or White supremacy. Drawing from the feminist care theorists and from community organizers, we will explore care as a community practice, one which sustains the well-being of individuals and communities, and which can be practiced as a form of solidarity within and between social justice movements. Not only will you gain a foundation in care theory, but we will apply our learning by practicing care and extending solidarity through a collaborative, community-informed project.

Note: Department consent is required to enrol due to overlapping content in the below courses. If you have not taken any of the below courses, please email gsjadvis@uwaterloo.ca to obtain a seat. 
 

Fall 2024: PHIL 402 (8309) / GSJ 402 (8317), Winter 2023: PHIL 402-001 (8137) / GSJ 402-001 (8761), Winter 2021: GSJ 472-043 (8490) / PHIL 420-041 (4185).

GSJ 473/PHIL 420- promo video

Complete course offerings list

course code course title course location

GSJ 101

The Global North on-campus

GSJ 108/ ENGL 108E

Gender and Representation on-campus

GSJ 201

Gender and Social Justice in Pop Culture on-campus

GSJ 203

The Waves of Feminist Thought on-campus

GSJ 380/ HLTH380

Applied Health Ethics

on-campus

GSJ 472-001

Feminist Philosophy of Science on-campus

GSJ 472-002

Philosophy of Education: Tool of State or Tool of Resistance on-campus

GSJ 472-003

Queer and Trans Studies on-campus

GSJ 473/ PHIL 420

Care and Solidarity on-campus

 For the official calendar descriptions, see the Undergraduate Calendar

Winter 2026 course offerings

Featured courses


PHIL 102: The Global South

A person riding a motorcycle with plants on the back, wearing a shirt with a Union Jack on it and a mask

What do you see in the above image? How does this image relate to globalization and members of oppressed and marginalized groups in the global south? Find out more about these issues along with the dynamics of gender and its intersection with race, ethnicity, sexual identity, (dis)ability, class, religion, and other axes of oppression in the Global South. This introductory course places special emphasis on women in developing world contexts. 

GSJ 302/304/ PHIL 302: Feminisms for Social Justice

multiple hands holding up a card with multiple mouths (in a grid) speaking on the card

Students will investigate how feminists conceptualize social justice in the struggle to create a better world by examining feminist theory as it engages with categories such as race, class, sexuality, and disability. Through this examination, students will explore the relationship between feminist theory and feminist practice. Students will also develop an understanding of a range of views about the nature of oppression and inequity as well as strategies for resisting oppression and inequity.

course code course title course location

GSJ 102

The Global South on-campus

GSJ 208E / ENGL 208E

Woman's Writing on-campus

GSJ 222 / PHIL 202

Gender Issues on-campus

GSJ 260 / HLTH 260

Social Determinants of Health on-campus

GSJ 302/ GSJ 304/ PHIL 302

Topic: Feminisms for Social Justice

on-campus

GSJ 309 / COMMST 434/ ENGL 309G / HIST 309

The Discourse of Dissent on-campus

GSJ 326 / LS 325 / SOC 325

Sexuality and the Law on-campus

GSJ 347 / HIST 347

Witches, Wives, and Whores

online

GSJ 401 / HLTh 401 / 662

Global Health on-campus
GSJ 410 / ENGL 410  18th Century Women Writers on-campus

 For the official calendar descriptions, see the Undergraduate Calendar

Additional pages with Course Information