SDSU established a department of Women's Studies in 1970, making it the oldest program in the United States. The Women's Studies Department has developed a national and international reputation for excellence in its curriculum and faculty. SDSU offers students a unique opportunity to pursue a coherent and independent course of study leading to a degree in Women's Studies.

Women's Studies is a rigorous interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, and transnational discipline rooted in feminist theory and shaped by the social sciences, humanities and natural sciences, as well as movements for social justice. It places women's lives at the center of its attention, examining the experience of women through the lens of gender, and attending to ways gender intersects with other social categories such as race, class, nationality/ethnicity and sexuality.

Women's Studies challenges patriarchal norms that subordinate women in many spheres of endeavor. Feminist scholarship and teaching provide students with effective tools to dialogue across difference, restructure knowledge, and participate in the process of social change. The program cultivates skills in writing, research and presentation, and provides opportunities to engage in feminist activism locally, nationally, and internationally through travel/study, community-based service learning, and internships in various organizations.

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