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Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality StudiesCOURSES by CORE FACULTY 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. Alternate years. Next offered 2010–2011. (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. Alternate years starting in 2009–2010. (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. Next offered 2010–2011. (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 starting in 2009–2010. (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 analyzes 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. Next offered 2010–2011. (4 credits)
Advanced Courses Advanced level courses requires 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 2010–2011. (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 starting in 2009–2010. (4 credits) 310 GENDERED, FEMINIST, AND WOMANIST WRITINGS (Same as English 362) This course foregrounds how gender constructions and politics inform the writing of a period and place; how various genres use gender-saturated discourses; how the gendered body is represented; images of masculinity and femininity; the status of women as writers, readers, and purveyors of the written word. Examples range from feminist thought in mediaeval women’s writing to gender differences in expatriate Black cultural modernism to transnational women’s literature on utopia. The course will always emphasize gender as a category of critical analysis, and the ways that reading and writing with an eye to gender can transform the futures of texts and their readers. Instructor and focus will vary. Prerequisite: see paragraph above. Alternate years starting in 2009–2010. (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 2010–2011. (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. Offered every few years. (4 credits) COURSES by AFFILIATED FACULTY In addition to courses offered directly by core faculty of the women’s, gender, and sexuality studies department, some courses by affiliated faculty in other departments have been assigned WGSS numbers. Please check with respective departments about future offerings and prerequisites. Humanities 127 WOMEN, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY IN ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (Same as Classics 127) This course investigates contemporary approaches to studying women, gender and sexuality in history, and the particular challenges of studying these issues in antiquity. By reading ancient writings in translation and analyzing art and other material culture, we will address the following questions: How did ancient Greek and Roman societies understand and use the categories of male and female? Into what sexual categories did different cultures group people? How did these gender and sexual categories intersect with notions of slave and free status, citizenship and ethnicity? How should we interpret the actions and representations of women in surviving literature, myth, art, law, philosophy, politics and medicine in this light? Finally, how and why have gendered classical images been re-deployed in the modern U.S. from scholarship to art and poetry? Alternate years. (4 credits) 227 COLONIAL ENCOUNTERS: RELIGION, RACE, AND SEX IN EARLY AMERICA (Same as History 227) Through an examination of primary documents from the sixteenth through the early nineteenth centuries and historical articles and monographs, students will examine and discuss the forces at work on the conflict and exchange between the diverse peoples that populated North America. In this course we will use critical analysis to arrive at our own conclusions about the following questions: Who populated early America? What types of religious and spiritual practices came into contact through these populations? What political function did religion and spirituality have (if any) in this time period? What competing ideas about gender and sex existed in the colonies and the early republic? In what ways did ideas about gender and race intersect? Gender and religion? What are the ways in which the emergence of a United States of America was contingent on conflict and exchange about religion, race and sex? Alternate years. (4 credits) 228 GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN COLONIAL AMERICA AND THE EARLY REPUBLIC (Same as History 228) Since the 1960s historians have revisited early American history to identify populations on the margins and historical actors whose stories and experiences were neglected in the traditional canon of history. Historians of women made some of the first forays into this important work of recovery. Building up the foundations produced by women’s historians, the field of gender and sexuality studies have flourished and enriched the narratives of American history. This course examines American peoples and cultures from the 16th through early 19th centuries to uncover the ways in which gender and sexuality shaped the formation of an early American society. Particular attention will be given to the way that ideologies of gender and sexuality shaped early concepts of race and the development of North American political institutions. Alternate years. (4 credits) 270 LITERATURE AND SEXUALITY (Same as English 270) This course examines ways in which literary works have represented desire and sexuality. It looks at how constructions of sexuality have defined and classified persons; at how those definitions and classes change; and at how they affect and create literary forms and traditions. Contemporary gay and lesbian writing, and the developing field of queer theory, will always form part, but rarely all, of the course. Poets, novelists, playwrights, memoirists and filmmakers may include Shakespeare, Donne, Tennyson, Whitman, Dickinson, or Henry James; Wilde, Hall, Stein, Lawrence, or Woolf; Nabokov, Tennessee Williams, Frank O’Hara, Baldwin, or Philip Roth; Cukor, Hitchcock, Julien, Frears, or Kureishi; White, Rich, Kushner, Monette, Lorde, Allison, Cruse, Morris, Winterson, Hemphill, or Bidart. Alternate years. (4 credits) 320 FEMINISM/REPRESENTATION/FILM (same as Humanities and Media and Cultural Studies 315) 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)
Fine Arts 252 GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND FEMINIST VISUAL CULTURE (Same as Art 252) This course will examine the ways in which gender and sexuality are understood in modern visual culture and it will survey a wide range of feminist approaches in the 20th and 21st century art. We will explore social constructions of gender and sexualities, their visible and invisible representation, and discuss the impact of feminism and the changing role of women in society on the history, theory and artistic practice. The course will also cover some of the most recent global feminist trends and new directions in the feminist culture since 1990s through the present, including work from Africa, India, Asia and Eastern and Central Europe and various marginalized cultural centers in Western Europe and the United States. Three hours per week. Alternate years. (4 credits) 262 PERFORMING FEMINISMS (Same as Theatre and Dance 262) This course focuses on the playwrighting, directing and performance strategies of 20th and 21st century women, in mostly the U.S. context, who have used the stage as a dynamic site of collaboration, contestation and innovation. “Texts” written and performed, conventional and radical by women artists of color are read as historical documents of movements for racial, gender, sexuality and class self-narration; texts by pioneering women in first- and second-wave “feminist” Theatre offer context and counterpoint. Assignments include a research project on a woman artist not represented on the syllabus, and an original collective performance project (no performance experience required!). Prerequisite: sophomore standing or permission of the instructor. Alternate years; next offered Spring 2011. (4 credits) Social Sciences 141 LATIN AMERICA THROUGH WOMEN’S EYES (Same as Latin American Studies 141 and Political Science 141, unless offered through the First Year Program) Introduction to Latin American Studies through the study of Latin American women. Throughout the past century, many Latin American women have overcome patriarchal “machismo” to serve as presidents, mayors, guerrilla leaders, union organizers, human rights activist, artists, and intellectuals. Through a mix of theoretical, empirical, and testimonial work, we will explore such issues as the intersection of gender and democratization, feminist challenges to military rule, and women’s organizing in the maquiladora industry. Alternate years. (4 credits) Foundations Courses: Courses numbered in the 100s are Foundations courses. These courses are designed principally for beginning political science majors, as well as non-majors seeking an introduction to the discipline’s various sub-fields. The purpose of these courses is threefold: To provide foundational knowledge of the key actors, structures, institutions and/or historical dynamics relevant to the respective sub-fields; to introduce the major theoretical trends, perspectives and debates that have shaped the evolution of the respective sub-fields; and to begin to develop a range of practical competencies (esp. research/writing skills) essential to further scholarly inquiry within the discipline of political science. Alternate years. (4 credits) 242 ECONOMICS OF GENDER (Same as Economics 242) This course uses economic theory to explore how gender differences lead to different economic outcomes for men and women, both within families and in the marketplace. Topics include applications of economic theory to 1) aspects of family life including marriage, cohabitation, fertility, and divorce, and 2) the interactions of men and women in firms and in markets. The course will combine theory, empirical work, and analysis of economic policies that affect men and women differently. Prerequisite: Economics 119. Offered every year. (4 credits) 261 FEMINIST POLITICAL THEORY (Same as Political Science 261) Analysis of contemporary feminist theories regarding gender identity, biological and socio-cultural influences on subjectivity and knowledge, and relations between the personal and the political. Alternate years. (4 credits) Natural Sciences 117 WOMEN, HEALTH AND REPRODUCTION (Same as Biology 117) This course will deal with those aspects of human anatomy and physiology which are of special interest to women, especially those relating to sexuality and reproduction. Biological topics covered will include menstruation and menopause, female sexuality, conception, contraception, infertility, abortion, pregnancy, cancer, and AIDS. Advances in assisted reproductive technologies, hormone therapies, and genetic engineering technologies will be discussed. Not open to biology majors. This course fulfills 4 credits in the science distribution requirement and counts toward the biology minor, but not toward the major. No prerequisites. Three lecture hours per week. Offered most semesters. (4 credits)
COURSES APPROVED FOR WOMEN’S, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY STUDIES In addition to courses offered directly by core faculty of the women’s, gender, and sexuality studies department, and by affiliated faculty in other departments whose courses have Women’s and Gender and Sexuality numbers, the following courses are approved for use on women’s, gender, and sexuality studies major and minor plans. Approval is based on specific syllabi and faculty; please consult with the department director with questions about approval. Consult the department office for approved courses from previous years. Humanities English 352 Gendered, Feminist, and Womanist Writings (same as Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies 310) (The following courses may be approved depending on specific syllabi and faculty. Please consult the respective departments and the WGSS 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 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 Theatre and Dance 262 Feminist Theatre(s) Social Science Anthropology 280 Topics in Linguistic Anthropology 289 Feminist Perspectives in Anthropology 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 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. Every semester. (1–4 credits)
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