WGS course options for 2012-13
Core Courses
Look for the * symbol, which indicates the course serves the diversity requirement in the Women's and Gender Studies major.
The Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies (WGS 111) is a wide-ranging interdisciplinary course designed to help students develop a critical framework for thinking about questions relating to gender. Through a focus on a series of cultural artifacts, ranging from poems and films to legal cases and psychiatric disorders, students will examine the historical development of gendered public and private spheres, the relation of biological sex to sociological gender, the difference between sex roles and sexual stereo-types. They will attempt to understand how racism, heterosexism, and homophobia intersect with the cultural constructions of masculinity and femininity, and consider ways to promote more egalitarian gender relations.
The women's and gender studies Senior Seminar (WGS 481) examines a topic central to feminist thought. It includes current feminist texts and incorporates multidisciplinary analyses of race, class, and sexuality, in addition to gender. The course culminates in a public presentation by seminar members.
Three units are required for the program. Of these, 1 unit will consist of either Feminist Theory (WGS 330) or Feminist Methodologies (WGS 331) (offered in alternating years) and a capstone senior seminar.
The remaining 2 units will consist of four courses listed by women's and gender studies or departmental courses (listed in the Course of Study) approved by the program's Advisory Board. No more than 1 unit in a single department may count toward the requirements for the program and at least two divisions of the college must be represented among the 2 elective units.
For a statement of evaluative criteria for work produced in the Women's and Gender Studies Program, click here [doc].
Research by both faculty and students involving human subjects must be approved by the Advisory Board. Click here for forms [doc].
Courses 2012-13
Fall
WGS 111 Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies
Mary Suydam
Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies (WGS 111) 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. It will provide students with critical frameworks for thinking about the social construction of gender at the personal and institutional levels. Emphasis will be placed on diverse women's significant contributions to knowledge and culture; to other areas of gender studies, including men's studies, family studies, and the study of sexuality; and to the intersections of various forms of oppression both within and outside of the U.S. The course will include both scholarly as well as personal texts, visual as well as written text. This course is offered every semester.
WGS 221 Gender and Film Laurie Finke
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. Offered every other year.
WGS 330 Feminist Theory
Laurie Finke
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 post-structural 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.
Spring
WGS 111 Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies
Sarah Murnen
WGS 232 Topics in Masculinity: Fraternities Laurie Finke
Through focus on a specific topic, this course will explore how men's lives are shaped by and shape the gendered social order. Macro and micro perspectives will guide discussions focusing on how men behave in particular contexts and how they perceive themselves, other men, and women in diverse situations. Specific topics investigating the production of masculinities will take into account the interplay among the cultural, interpersonal, and individual layers of social life while considering how men's efforts are enabled or constrained by key socially relevant characteristics (primarily age, race/ethnicity, class, and sexual orientation) through investigations, for instance, of particular sites (e.g., playgrounds, work space, home, schools, athletic venues, prisons). The topic for 2012-13 will be fraternities.
WGS 242 Transnational Feminisms Gilda Rodriguez Cervantes
This course examines the impact of globalization on feminist discourses that describe the cross-cultural experiences of women. Transnational feminist theories and methodologies destabilize Western feminisms, challenging notions of subjectivity and place and their connections to experiences of race, class, and gender. The course builds on four key concepts: development, democratization, cultural change, and colonialism. Because transnational feminisms are represented by the development of women's global movements, the course will consider examples of women's global networks and the ways in which they destabilized concepts like citizenship and rights. We will also examine how transnational feminisms have influenced women's productions in the fields of literature and art. Key questions include: How does the history of global feminisms affect local women's movements? What specific issues have galvanized women's movements across national and regional borders? How do feminism and critiques of colonialism and imperialism intersect? What role might feminist agendas play in addressing current global concerns? How do transnational feminisms build and sustain communities and connections to further their agendas? Prerequisite: WGS 111 or permission of the instructor. Offered every other year.
WGS 481 Senior Colloquium
Laurie Finke
This senior 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 Politics".
Department Courses 2012-13
FALL
ANTH 350 Human Sexuality and Culture
SUGGS
BIOL 103 Biology in Science Fiction
SLONCZEWKI
CLAS 471 Senior Seminar: Women in Antiquity
HAHNEMANN
ENGL 103.09 Seductions
LOBANOV-ROST
ENGL 103.13 What's Love Got to Do With It?
O'NEILL
ENGL 291 Gender Benders
MURTHY
ENGL 453 Jane Austen
CARSON
ENGL 491 Body Politics:Transgender and Disability Services
O'NEILL
HIST 208 Women in American History
COULIBALY
PSYC 327 Cross-cultural Psychology--Rome
LOPEZ
SOCY 491 ST: Gender,, Family, and the State
MASON
SPAN 380 INTRO: to Chicano/a Cultural Studies
ROMAN-ODIO
SPRING
ENGL 254 Literary Women: Studies in 19 C British Literature
MANKOFF
HIST 373 Women of the Atlantic World
COULIBALY
HIST Sex and the City
ROSS
PSCI 380 Gender and Politics
ERLER
PSYC 346 Psychology of Women
MURNEN
RELN 329 Christian Mysticism
SUYDAM
RUSS 340 Russian Culture Through Cinema
OLSHANSKAYA
SPAN 383 Travel Narratives and Cultural Encounters in Latin America
SIERRA