Jessica Pruett

This course is an introduction to the vibrant, interdisciplinary field of gender and sexuality studies. Throughout the semester, we analyze the relationship between gender, sexuality, and other intersecting categories of identity and systems of power. Guided by a series of key terms, we approach gender as a category with shifting cultural and historical meaning. Students are asked to think critically about the role that sex, gender, and sexuality play in structuring our society, and the ways in which we might bring about a more just world. Throughout the course, we also \nattend to the transformative activist efforts of diverse groups of people working for change. This course is an invitation to think critically about our identities and experiences while cultivating an understanding of how gender works in the world. Students develop their reading and writing skills, engage in class discussions, and participate in small group work. This course satisfies the introductory requirement for the major and counts \ntoward the concentration. This course paired with any other 0.5 unit/4 semester hour GSS course, counts toward the social science diversification \nrequirement. No Prerequisites. Offered every semester.

In this course, we 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 represented include liberal, cultural, psychoanalytic, socialist and poststructuralist feminism. We 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. This counts toward the concentration and the mid-level requirement for the major. This course paired with any other 0.5 unit WGS/GSS course counts toward the social science diversification requirement. Prerequisite: any WGS/GSS course, approved departmental course. Offered every other year.

In this course students analyze the queer and feminist problems and possibilities posed by popular music. Focusing on the United States, we will trace the development of popular music as a genre from the 19th century to today, foregrounding the racial, sexual, and gendered politics of popular music’s production and consumption. From Willie Mae Thornton to Chappell Roan, we will study the queer and feminist origins of popular music’s enduring appeal. Course readings and discussions explore popular music’s critical role in the formation of selves and communities, illustrating the ways in which popular music enables both performers and listeners to construct their identities and develop social and political selves-in-relation. Throughout the course, students will investigate popular music’s paradoxical use as a tool for both the reinforcement and the subversion of dominant social norms. Interdisciplinary course readings drawing from gender studies, cultural studies, critical race theory, and musicology highlight popular music’s shifting meanings in specific social and historical contexts. This course counts toward the elective requirement for the major and concentration. Prerequisite: GSS 111 or GSS 121 and sophomore, junior, or senior standing.

This course provides the opportunity for those students taking WGS 481 in the spring to plan the course. Students select a topic, order books, plan the syllabus and design a project. In addition, they read about course design and pedagogy so that they are prepared to take responsibility for collaboratively teaching the course in the spring. Offered only on a credit/no credit basis. This course is required for the major. This interdisciplinary course does not count toward the completion of any diversification requirement. No prerequisite. Senior standing.

The senior colloquium is organized around a theme determined by senior majors and concentrators in consultation with the instructor during the semester prior to the beginning of the course. Previous topics include "Women and Madness," "The Politics of the Bathroom" and "Gender and Tourism." This course is required for the major. Offered every spring.

This course provide students with critical frameworks for thinking about the social construction of gender at the personal and institutional levels. Emphasis is 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 includes both scholarly as well as personal texts, visual as well as written text. This counts toward the introductory requirement for the major. This course paired with any other 0.5 unit WGS course counts toward the social science diversification requirement. Offered every semester.

In this course, we 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 represented include liberal, cultural, psychoanalytic, socialist and poststructuralist feminism. We 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. This counts toward the concentration and the mid-level requirement for the major. This course paired with any other 0.5 unit WGS course counts toward the social science diversification requirement. Prerequisite: any WGS course, approved departmental course or permission of instructor. Offered every other year.