WMNS 111 Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies

Credit: 0.5

This course is designed to help the student develop a critical framework for thinking about questions relating to gender, including such extremely important contemporary issues as sex discrimination and harassment, women's health, and developmental issues. In addition, the course will introduce students to the interdisciplinary fields of women's and gender studies, out of which some of the most innovative and challenging developments in recent scholarship are arising. Emphasis will be placed on women's significant contributions to knowledge and culture, but we will also survey other areas of gender studies, including men's studies, family studies, and the study of sexuality. Central to the course will be an examination of personal narratives--memoirs, autobiographies, oral histories, ethnographies, photographs--and their relation to larger social issues.

WMNS 121 Human Sexualities

Credit: 0.5

This course will examine topics in the lesbian and gay cultures from theoretical, historical, literary, artistic, multicultural, and political perspectives. The class will focus primarily on American lesbian and gay history and culture, drawing upon legal, psychological, biological, cultural, ethical, and philosophical frameworks to explore the contemporary experience of gays and lesbians. No prerequisite.

WMNS 221 Gender and Film

Credit: 0.5

This course explores the representation and construction of gender in and through film. Adopting both an historical and theoretical approach, we will focus on how masculinity and femininity, in their various forms and combinations, are signified, how the gender of both the character and the spectator is implicated in the cinematic gaze, and how gender characterizations inform and reflect the larger culture/society surrounding the film. A wide variety of cinematic traditions will be discussed, and, although Hollywood films will form the base of the course, other national and regional cinemas will be explored, through both the screening of full-length films and numerous excerpts of others. No prerequisite. Note: This course requires attendance at weekly film showings in addition to regular class meetings; students will register for two class periods, one of which will be used exclusively for screening films.

Instructor: Finke

WMNS 330 Feminist Theory

Credit: 0.5

In this course, we will read both historical and contemporary feminist theory with the goal of understanding the multiplicity of feminist approaches to women's experiences, the representation of women, and women's relative positions in societies. Theoretical positions that will be represented include liberal feminism, cultural feminism, psychoanalytic feminism, socialist feminism, and poststructuralist feminism. In addition, we will explore the relationship of these theories to issues of race, class, sexual preference, and ethnicity through an examination of the theoretical writings of women of color and non-Western women. Prerequisite: WMNS 111, any approved departmental course, or permission of instructor.

Instructor: Staff

WMNS 331 Feminist Methodologies

Credit: 0.5

This course is designed not necessarily to teach students what feminist methodologies are (as if this were an already settled issue) but rather for us to explore together the question of feminist methodology. Are there any specifically feminist methodologies and, if so, what are they? This exploration will be practical (exploring research methods) as well as open-ended and exploratory (exploring methodological issues). The following three questions will structure the class: (1) Does feminist research begin with different questions from traditional disciplinary research? (2) Does feminist research draw upon significantly different kinds of evidence from traditional disciplinary research? (3) How is that evidence gathered? What is the context within which feminist research is done? How does that context differ from discipline-based research?

WMNS 391 Special Topic

Credit: 0.5

WMNS 481 Senior Colloquium

Credit: 0.5

This seminar will be organized around a theme to be determined by students registered for the course in consultation with the instructor during the semester prior to the beginning of the course. Previous topics include "Gender and Pornography," "Feminist Humor," "Race and Gender," "Transgressing Gender," and "Gender and Politics." Prerequisite: WMNS 330 or 331 or permission of instructor.

Instructor: Finke

WMNS 493 Individual Study

Credit: 0.25-0.5

Prerequisites: permission of instructor and program director.

WMNS 497 Senior Honors

Credit: 0.5

The major who wishes to participate in the honors program must have an overall GPA of 3.33 and a GPA of 3.5 in the major. The candidate in honors will complete all requirements for the major, the Senior Exercise, and two semesters of independent study, and will design and complete a research project. This project should integrate both feminist theory and methodologies as well as the student's chosen disciplinary or interdisciplinary cluster. Each honors student will prepare an annotated bibliography on her or his chosen project midway through the fall semester. After approval, the senior honors project will be undertaken in consultation with a project advisor.

Students are encouraged to think boldly and innovatively about the kinds of projects they undertake and about how those projects interact with and benefit their communities. Senior honors projects might include gender-focused sociological or historical studies undertaken locally; exhibitions, productions, or installations of gender-exploratory art, music, or theater; or political, social, and/or environmental service-oriented or activist work. Students will be closely mentored throughout their projects and, in the spring, will be evaluated by an external evaluator and by faculty in the program and in relevant disciplines. The evaluators will assess the strength of the students' overall work, as well as the strength of their self-designed, project-appropriate public presentations of that work.

WMNS 498 Senior Honors

Credit: 0.5

See the course description for WMNS 497.