How should I compare NYU and Vassar for studying gender studies?

For a student who wants gender studies embedded in a large, urban research university, NYU can be compelling. Its Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies offers an undergraduate major and draws courses and faculty connections from fields such as history, sociology, anthropology, literature, politics, public health, and the arts. Being in New York City also makes internships, events, and community-based learning unusually accessible, particularly in advocacy, media, arts, policy, and nonprofit work.

NYU may fit someone who is comfortable navigating a large institution, building their own academic network, and taking initiative beyond the classroom. The range of courses can be substantial, but the experience can feel more self-directed: class sizes vary, and close faculty mentorship often depends on attending office hours, pursuing research, and becoming involved in a department or program.

Vassar is likely to appeal more to a student who wants gender studies to be part of an intimate liberal-arts education with frequent faculty interaction. Its Women, Feminist, and Queer Studies program is explicitly interdisciplinary, and Vassar’s smaller undergraduate setting makes discussion-based seminars, advising relationships, and independent work more central to the academic culture. The college’s open curriculum also makes it easier to pair the field thoughtfully with areas such as political science, psychology, media studies, history, anthropology, or studio art.

For close professor access, Vassar has the clearer structural advantage: faculty teach undergraduates directly, and the smaller campus community can make it easier to develop sustained relationships that lead to research, thesis work, or strong mentorship. NYU can offer excellent individual mentors too, but students typically need to seek them out in a much larger environment.