Women, Gender, & Representation

Join a diverse community of students and faculty committed to exploring how gender shapes our social and political lives. In the Women, Gender, & Representation (WGR) program, students from across the country and world take transformative courses that tackle gender justice issues that matter to them. Courses include sexual health and rights, queer and trans lives, race and ethnic studies, gender in music and literature, gender minority histories, and practices of inclusive social change.

Applications open in December

Program at a Glance

Dates

July 18–31, 2027

2026 Cost

(2027 rates coming soon)

Tuition: $4,985
Deposit: $1,246
Application Fee: $50
International Student Application Fee: $75

Courses

Global Reproductive Justice
Gender, Body, and Movement
Queer Love Stories
and more!

2027 Courses

Morning Classes

Instructor

Anna Baeth

Course Description

This course explores questions about gender, identity, and practices of embodiment, dance, sport, physical activity, and exercise. Drawing from indigenous ways of knowing, critical Black feminist scholarship, and environmental justice, this course considers various texts, podcasts, videos, current events, and, especially, our own experiences to interrogate the history of gender in sport. We focus on the creation and legacy of women’s (and men’s) sports, patterns of inclusion and exclusion in sport with particular attention to athletes of color, indigenous peoples, gender nonconforming athletes, LGBTQ+ folks, and bodies of differing physical and neurological abilities. Turning to, and participating in, dance, intergenerational sport, and embodied practices of movement, this course asks students to reimagine movement as forms of medicine and active-ism. Students will participate in light activity that will be accessible and available for every body.

Instructor

Levi Hord

Course Description

What does it mean to imagine that gender might one day mean something radically different than it does today? In this course, we engage in the exhilarating project of futurism, placing ourselves in a long line of trans, queer, and feminist authors who have imagined alternative gendered futures. Over the course of two weeks together, we will move from the past (where do our ideas about gender come from?), through the present (how does gender shape how we think about the world?), towards multiple futures (what lies beyond our current understandings of gender?). To launch our analyses, we will read speculative fiction that imagines the future of gender variously as utopian and dystopian, state-controlled and liberated, recognizable and surreal. As we go along, we will use foundational trans, queer, and feminist theories that help us think through how our imaginations of gender are shaped by histories of colonization, racialization, and capitalism. Together, we will explore what it means to use imagination as a critical practice, following Toni Morrison’s imperative to “dream a little before [we] think.”

Afternoon Classes

Instructor

Alyssa Bossengreene

Course Description

In the post-#MeToo era, sexual ethics are in a state of flux, with gendered power dynamics coming further into view and definitions of consent shifting dramatically. Colleges across the United States—as well as some states like California—have adopted an affirmative model of consent (“yes means yes”), rather than the earlier model in which passive acquiescence signaled permission to continue (“no means no”). More recent scholarship in sexuality studies has questioned whether consent itself does enough to ensure that sex is ethical. For young people growing up during these debates, it is difficult to navigate the impact of these cultural conversations on their daily lives. This course challenges students to think critically about the ethics of sexuality, examining the norms of their peers, families, and communities and reading about historical and current debates on the topic. They will practice viewing their own identities through an intersectional lens to explore how power shapes the ethics of sex. As a final project, students will synthesize these explorations of community, history, and identity to construct their own set of personal sexual ethics.

Instructor

Ileana Jiménez

Course Description

This course is all about love. However we identify along the continuum, we all long to give and receive love. During our time together, we will read and watch love stories as narrative and art, poetry, and film exploring everything from romantic love to family love to community love to self-love. We will also use Smith’s excellent resources to explore love stories through art and archives. In particular, we will visit Smith’s museum to view queer and trans art as well as visit our extensive alumnae archive to learn about Smith’s incredible history of queer and trans life and activism both on campus and beyond from the past and present. We will also watch films from the U.S. and abroad. Throughout it all, we will question whether we see ourselves in these representations, and how we might use these stories, art, and media to imagine our own futures in relationship and community through creative writing, personal storytelling, and media making. We might laugh and we might cry. Throughout it all, we will experiment with different ways to approach these texts through intersectional feminist as well as queer, non-binary, and trans perspectives. As we gather for two weeks, we will ponder what Maya Angelou invites us to do, which is to “have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”

Program Details

Overview

The Women, Gender, and Representation program provides high-school-aged students with a life-changing experience. Students selected for this program demonstrated open-mindedness and commitment to exploring gender in history, contemporary social and political issues, and forms of cultural representation. By the end of the program, students will have a college-level experience that introduces them to future college, career, and personal pathways committed to gender-inclusive and just communities. 

Course material and topics range each year, but include the following: women’s histories; queer histories; sexual health and reproductive justice; gender in social spaces of athletics, politics, education, and other fields; and visual and literary art forms as expression and critique. 

Students receive important information, skills, and a network of friends and mentors as they return to their high school lives and prepare for their college experiences, including the opportunity to receive recommendation comments for college application processes.

Smith Precollege Programs are open to students entering 9th–12th grade in the fall. Smith is a residential women’s college. Our Precollege Programs offer a Smith experience for high school students. Review our Codes of Conduct for students and parents/guardians to ensure that this program is the right fit for you. College credit is not offered.

Application Fees

Application Fee: $50
International Student Application Fee: $75

To learn more, see the Apply to Summer Programs webpage.

2027 Schedule

Admission to Smith Precollege Program does not guarantee enrollment in a specific course. Enrollment in a program course is a separate action that will be completed in May. Classes are held Monday–Friday.

Morning Classes

Afternoon Classes

Gender, Body, and Movement
 

Imagining the Future of Gender

Making Your Sexual Ethics
 

Queer Love Stories

Instructors

Anna Baeth

Women, Gender & Representation

Instructor in Precollege Programs for Women, Gender & Representation

Alyssa Bossengreene

Women, Gender & Representation

Instructor in Precollege Programs for Women, Gender & Representation

Amy Howe

Women, Gender & Representation

Academic Director for the Women, Gender & Representation Precollege Program

Precollege Programs instructor Amy Howe

Ileana Jiménez

Women, Gender & Representation

Instructor in Precollege Programs for Women, Gender & Representation

“Coming here definitely made me feel like I was home away from home. All my counselors and classroom assistants were so kind and welcoming, open to conversations, and always cheered me up. I learned to be more confident in complimenting others and accepting others’ compliments of me. I loved the after-class activities; they were so fun and connected me with friends.”
Joan, 12th grade

Learning in Community

Courses are discussion-based and focused on shared group learning. Faculty not only share their expertise and passion, but also model forms of inquiry, community engagement, and a commitment to transformative student learning. Students learn how to critically and creatively reflect on their lived experiences as they learn about new concepts, ideas, and cultural histories. 

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“These two weeks helped me meet new people and create new connections and also gave me a taste of how college life is.”
“This has been a dream come true! from classes to campus to friends and teachers, everything about my experience at WGR has been lovely and I'll never forget it.”

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