The specialization is designed to provide opportunities for undergraduate students to obtain a comprehensive, global interdisciplinary academic experience, according to the specialization’s website.

Lisa Fine, co-director of Center for Gender in Global Context, said the specialization was a collaborative effort on the part of the Lyman Briggs College and the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities.

Fine said the idea for the new specialization seven years ago when a student from ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government, proposed the program after identifying other universities had similar programs, while MSU did not.

“We definitely did our research and looked around to see what other schools had it,” Fine said. “The University of Michigan, for example, has a minor in LGBTQ studies so it wasn’t something rare or bizarre. It’s a pretty standard part of curriculum, so we had models and examples to work with.”

From there, Fine worked with an LBGT faculty and student task force to organize the program. After selecting appropriate courses and gathering faculty to teach, the program was passed through both student and faculty governance and was officially published online during the summer semester.

This semester, seven students began coursework to fulfill the new 12 credit specialization. Women’s and gender studies senior Travis Lunsford is one of the seven students enrolled.

“Like a racial or ethnic area of study, it provides people the opportunity to learn about other minorities and provides an excellent platform for discussion of intersectionality,” Lunsford said.

Fine said the program is working on additional classes and coursework, so LGBTQ and sexuality studies will be prepared to transform into a minor in 2015.