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Women's and Gender Studies Course Descriptions

Introductory Courses

 

100 RACE, CLASS, AND SEXUALITY IN U.S. FEMINISMS (same as American Studies 100)

This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to a variety of feminist analyses of United States history and contemporary sociopolitical life, figured around the relationship of gender to race, class, sexuality, ability, colonialism, and nationalism. Through analytical reading, writing, and discussion, the course aims to develop an understanding of gender as a tool to organize society on the basis of difference and power and as a performative practice, which is also a mode of agency and activism for positive social change. Materials from history, literature, sociology, anthropology, and film are included. Spring semester. (4 credits)

 

105 TRANSNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON GENDER, RACE, CLASS, AND SEXUALITY

Through an interdisciplinary and comparative study of selected countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, this course creates the basis for an understanding of the ways in which gender roles are established, and how these affect the individual in the realms of education, media, politics, work, sexuality, and family. On the basis of texts drawn from political science, psychology, art, film, history, music, and literature, it analyzes theories of femininity and masculinity as constructed in specific national, racial, cultural, socio-economic, and political situations. The course discusses the impact of these theories on lifestyles (both traditional and alternative) and on re-constructions of identities on equity-based, anti-racist, anti-sexist terms. Next offered 2008–2009. (4 credits)

 

110 SEXUALITY, RACE, AND NATION: INTRODUCTION TO LESBIAN/GAY/BISEXUAL/ TRANSGENDER AND QUEER STUDIES (Same as American Studies 112)

This course introduces the fields of LGBT and queer studies by examining how sexuality, race, and nation relate in the lives of people in the United States, which we read in relation to histories of colonialism and globalization. Course materials foreground scholarship, testimony, activist art, and social movements by LGBT, two-spirited, queer people of color, and by white anti-racist LGBT and queer people. Their stories offer a template through which all students may examine how everyday life is shaped by sexuality, race, and nation—both as power relations, and as spaces for creating new identity and action. Every year. (4 credits)

 

Intermediate Courses

 

Intermediate level courses require sophomore standing or permission of the instructor, and at least one introductory-level women's, gender, and sexuality studies core course.

 

200 FEMINIST/QUEER THEORIES AND METHODOLOGIES

This course is a historical survey of theories and methodologies used in feminist and queer studies. Course material highlights the unique and intertwined knowledges feminist and queer scholars have produced; these include the re-makings of liberal, Marxian, antiracist, poststructuralist, and postcolonial theories, and their uses in humanities and social science methods. The course centrally examines how feminist and queer studies transform societies and are transformed through struggle over their gender/sexual identities, racial formations, and global/transnational locations. The course considers how feminist and queer studies have arisen in close relationships—of union, tension, and antagonism—and how feminist and queer work today may link. Prerequisite: see paragraph above. Every year. (4 credits)

 

205 TRANSNATIONAL SEXUAL POLITICS: INTERMEDIATE LESBIAN/GAY/BISEXUAL/TRANSGENDER AND QUEER STUDIES

This course foregrounds a transnational view on the social scientific study of sexual politics. Sexuality and gender are read as political fields that arise in relation to the racial, economic, and national dynamics of colonialism and globalization. Case studies mark how people on the margins of "normal" sexuality, gender, or health status organize transnationally, including by challenging their condition in such arenas as: moral panics over reproductive health, sex work, public sex, and drug use; international human rights, border control, and refugeeism/asylum; and the medical, legal, and cultural dimensions of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Prerequisite: see paragraph above. Every year. (4 credits)

 

210 20TH CENTURY ANGLOPHONE WOMEN WRITERS

The term "Anglophone Literature" refers to writings in English from countries connected to Britain by imperial rule or by the presence of British immigrants, yet does not include England itself. This course variously studies India, the Caribbean, South Africa, the United States, and England as locations of Anglophone Literature produced by their natives, immigrants, and cosmopolitans. Writers include Virginia Woolf, Una Marson, Anita Desai, Doris Lessing, Suniti Namjoshi, Angela Carter, Ravinder Randhawa, Bharati Mukherjee, and Zadie Smith, among others. We will explore how concepts of nation, race, citizenship, gender, ownership of the language, and English/British literary canons are constructed, in written and visual media. Prerequisite: see paragraph above. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

215 FEMINISM/REPRESENTATION/FILM (same as Humanities and Media and Cultural Studies 215)

Feminist film theory and criticism has been one of the most vital areas of film studies since the 1970s, even as concepts from feminist film studies (e.g., the gaze and psychoanalytic theories of spectatorship) have informed feminist scholarship in other fields. This course explores the history of the contributions of feminist film theory and criticism to studies in representation, from critiques of images of women through psychoanalytic poststructural approaches, cultural studies, and work in antiracist, postcolonial, and queer studies. It analyzes women's film- and video-making as well as mainstream commercial films directed by women and men. Papers emphasizing close analysis of film texts will be required, with possibilities for work in video-making, along with one test covering basic film terms. Prerequisite: sophomore standing and one of the following: Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 100, 105, 110, 200, or permission of instructor. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

220 ICONS, IDEAS, INSTRUMENTS: FEMINIST RE-CONSTRUCTIONS

Karl Marx is an icon. Socialism is an idea. A labor union is an instrument. How have feminisms interpreted such figures, concepts, and tools to propose new ways of thinking and acting? This course studies how various feminisms have been informed by and have responded to both prominent and marginalized 20th century thinkers and movements. It focuses on icons such as Antonio Gramsci, Emma Goldman, Simone de Beauvoir, Michel Foucault, Arundhati Roy, and Paolo Freire, among others. It analyses the implications of ideas such as hegemony, anarchism, racialism, gender-transgression, colonialism, and pedagogy, to name a few. It evaluates the past, current, and future force of political instruments such as the nation-state, civil society, armed repression and revolt, and cultural instruments such as memoirs, pamphlets, novels, films, and art. Prerequisite: see paragraph above. Alternate years starting in 2008–2009. (4 credits)

 

Advanced Courses

 

Advanced level courses require junior standing or permission of the instructor, and at least one intermediate-level women's, gender, and sexuality studies core course.

 

300 ADVANCED FEMINIST/QUEER THEORIES AND METHODOLOGIES

This course is an in-depth study of some specific theories and methodologies on which contemporary feminist and queer thinkers have based their analysis, critique, and reconstruction of men's and women's roles. Some guiding questions are: What is a Nation? Who are its citizens? How do language and gender roles shape the ways we imagine our roles as men and women? Do sexuality or economy affect how we subscribe to or resist political ideologies? In previous offerings, the course has explored the intersection of Postcolonialism (gendered critiques of colonizing sociopolitical and economic structures) with Postmodernism (gendered critiques of language, sexuality, culture, and nation). The course will include film, photography, music, and the writings of Butler, Foucault, Chodorow, Kristeva, hooks, Spivak, and Trinh, among others. It offers ways to create links with local community and social-work organizations. Prerequisite: see paragraph above. Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 200 highly recommended as prerequisite. Alternate years. Next offered 2007–2008. (4 credits)

 

305 RACE, SEX, AND WORK IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY (Same as American Studies 305)

This seminar presents feminist and queer studies of global capitalism, which examine power relations under contemporary globalization in terms of the racial and sexual dynamics of labor, citizenship, and migration. Course material considers the local and transnational dynamics of free trade, labor fragmentation, and structural adjustment, as these shape industrial and informal labor, and community organizing around gender, sexuality, and HIV/AIDS. The material foregrounds ethnographic analyses of the everyday conditions of people situated in struggles with the effects of global capitalism. Prerequisite: see paragraph above. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

310 GENDER AND SOCIOPOLITICAL ACTIVISM IN 20TH CENTURY FEMINIST UTOPIAS (Same as English 352)

Implicit in much of this century's feminist critical analyses of the state of societies and their politics is a desire for a better state yet-to-be (utopia) as well as a fear of catastrophe or nightmare (dystopia). This interdisciplinary course investigates how women's writing from different parts of the world (Bangladeshi, English, African-American, to name a few) convey visions of the present and future, of the real and the imagined, beliefs about masculinity and femininity, race and nation, socialist and capitalist philosophies, (post) modernity, the environment (ecotopia), and various technologies including cybernetics. The collection of texts provides us with a genealogy to analyze our own place in the world and to construct visions of sociopolitical change. The course offers an opportunity to link with local minority/women's organizations. Prerequisite: see paragraph above. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

315 COMPARATIVE (NEO/POST) MODERNITIES

This course aims to clarify the vocabularies of modernism, modernity, and modernization and their neo- as well as post-formations through an in-depth study of major movements in the 20th century. Ideologies such as fascism and imperialism, which have shaped the definitions of (wo)man, race, class, sexuality, culture, and politics, form the basis for this exploration. We will juxtapose the speeches, writings, and art of dominant and minoritized politicians, activists, and cultural creators like Benito Mussolini, Jean Rhys, Djuna Barnes, Cornelia Sorabji, and Una Marson. We will study issues such as citizenship, progress, democracy, individuality, and the end of history to re-define for ourselves what modernity and postmodernity signify today and will mean in the future. Prerequisite: see paragraph above. Alternate years starting in 2008–2009. (4 credits)

 

Capstone Courses

 

400 SENIOR SEMINAR: LINKING THEORY AND PRACTICE

The relationship between academic theorizing and community organizing for positive social and political change is a vital, complex, and an ever-changing source of feminist inquiry. This course builds on that relationship by juxtaposing activist social work with theoretical writings on globalization, gender, race, class-relations, sexuality, community, democracy, and civil society, and exploring how these arenas inform and transform each other. The issues in this seminar are related ultimately to the student's "location," personally and professionally, at the threshold of the future, in search of a space of her/his own. One substantial research paper and a formal oral presentation on its ideas are the primary assignments. Prerequisites: at least three Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies core courses and senior standing, or permission of the instructor. Preferred: a working relationship with a local women's or minority organization, established the spring or summer prior to enrollment in the course. Every year. (4 credits)

 

405 SENIOR SEMINAR: TOPICS (Same as Psychology 488, Senior Seminar: Lives in Context)

Capstone or integrative experience centering on a topic that will vary from year to year. The focus will be to develop a deeper understanding of theory and action in relation to women's, gender, and sexuality studies. Prerequisites: at least three women's, gender, and sexuality studies core courses and senior standing, or permission of the instructor. Every year. (4 credits)

 

Independent Studies, Internships, and Preceptorships

 

All independent study courses require permission of a women's, gender, and sexuality studies faculty sponsor. The number of independent studies that can be applied toward the major or minor will be planned with the women's, gender, and sexuality studies advisors.

 

614 INDEPENDENT PROJECT

Individual projects are supervised by women's, gender, and sexuality studies faculty. Prerequisites: at least two courses approved for credit in women's, gender, and sexuality studies. Every semester. (4 credits)

 

624 INTERNSHIP

Internships, supervised by women's, gender, and sexuality studies faculty, bring together theoretical and practical concerns that are primarily connected with women or have feminist/queer studies as their central perspective. An internship outline plan will be developed individually between the student and the faculty sponsor. Prerequisites: at least two courses approved for credit in women's, gender, and sexuality studies. Every semester. (4 credits)

 

634 PRECEPTORSHIP (4 credits)

 

644 HONORS INDEPENDENT

Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Offered every semester. (1–4 credits)

 

COURSES APPROVED FOR WOMEN'S, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY STUDIES CONCENTRATIONS

 

In addition to courses offered directly through the women's, gender, and sexuality studies department, the following courses are approved for use on women's, gender, and sexuality studies concentration plans. Approval is based on specific syllabi and faculty; please consult with the program director with questions about approval. Consult the program office for approved courses from previous years.

 

Humanities

Classics

127 Women, Gender and Sexuality in Ancient Greece and Rome

English

352 Gendered, Feminist, and Womanist Writings

(The following courses may be approved depending on specific syllabi and faculty. Please consult the program office.)

130 American Voices

375 African American Literature to 1900

History

213 Women in African History

230 Women and Work in U.S. History

244 U.S. Since 1945

326 Women in Latin America

Humanities and Media and Cultural Studies

128 Film Analysis

215 Feminism/Representation/Film

Philosophy

229 Environmental Ethics

368 Feminist Philosophy

Religious Studies

452 Gender, Caste and Deity in India

 

Fine Arts

Art

252 Women in Art

375 Race, Class and Gender in American Art

Theater and Dance

262 Feminist Theater(s)

Social Science

Anthropology

280 Topics in Linguistic Anthropology

289 Feminist Perspectives in Anthropology

Economics

242 Economics of Gender

Psychology

264 Psychology of Gender

488 Seminar: Lives in Context

Sociology

210 Sociology of Sexuality

240 Images of Women in the Middle East

335 Family Bonds

 

Natural Science and Mathematics

Biology

117 Women, Health and Reproduction

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