Howdy Y'all!

I am back from the dead finally! As you probably have noticed we added another Texan, Oscar, who happens to be a good friend of mine 30 minutes up the road from where I call home. I am thrilled to have all of our new bloggers and hopefully we can all shed light on our individual GW experiences to educate you as to why GW offers the best undergraduate program in the nation.

While on the note of academics, I wanted to take the time to introduce two new minors GW has sponsored over the last two years which are in 1.) LGBT and Sexuality Studies and 2.) Sustainability. Both of these highlight great modern areas of study and inquiry in academia, but also provide great opportunities for research and outreach in the DC area for independent research, internships and even careers.

The LGBT and Sexuality Studies minor is housed in the Women's Studies department and draws from a varied curriculum in American Studies, Women's Studies, Psychology, Sociology and English. It provides students with great flexibility in choosing their courses and often times, especially for social science majors, two of the courses can double count for your major and minor! I so far have taken the Introduction to Women's Studies course and absolutely fell in love with the topics. This next semester I will be taking Sexuality and Law with the Human Right Campaign's (HRC) State Legislative Director Sarah Warbelow, as well as a Sociology of Sex and Gender class that will count towards my sociology major. Lastly, my friend Sara Snyder, a fellow LGBT and Sexuality Studies minor, took a class last year called Queer Studies class that I will take this upcoming fall. The course has a component allowing students to study abroad for a week in Prague, Czech Republic with a parallel class of students from eastern Europe and attend the Prague International Queer Fil Festival. This is an especially great opportunity for me to study abroad since my work schedule probably won't allow me to be gone for an entire semester.

The Sustainability minor is also very fascinating and I am often time tempted to pick it up. This minor draws from courses focusing on earth systems, society and sustainability as well as policy, organization and leadership. This all ends with a culminating experience, which can range from a service learning project to studying abroad or even an internship. This curriculum draws from not only many departments, but also many schools such as the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Public Health, and the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. This minor is housed in the Geography Department and is complemented with many great institutes, such as the GW Solar Institute, to expand research opportunities for its students.

That is all for now, but I will be here all summer with the Visitor Information Program (VIP) so I hope to blog more. As well, if you are coming keep an eye out for me because I might be giving your tour! Please feel reach out to me with any questions and I will be more than happy to help in any way possible.

Peace, Love and Hippos,

Brandon

brmoore@gwmail.gwu.edu