Lauren Herold

This course 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 counts toward the introductory requirement for the major. This course paired with any other .50 unit WGS course counts toward the social science diversification requirement. Offered every semester.

This course is designed to help students develop a critical framework for thinking and writing about intersectional issues related to sexuality, sex, gender identity and gender expression. The course will take a broad view of examining queer and transgender issues from sociopolitical, legal, psychological, biological, cultural, ethical, philosophical and historical frameworks. We will look at the fields of queer theory and LGBTQ+ studies out of which some of the most innovative and challenging developments in modern cultural studies are arising. Additionally, we will examine the ways in which society interacts with queer and transgender identities in a number of spheres, including politics, healthcare, the arts, the sciences and more. This counts towards the introductory and diversity and globalization requirements for the major. This course paired with any other .50 unit WGS course counts toward the social science diversification requirement. No prerequisite.

This course will examine feminist critiques of dominant methodologies and theories of knowledge creation in the sciences, social sciences and humanities. It will focus on the following questions: How do we know something? Who gets to decide what counts as knowledge? Who is the knower? In answering these questions this class will explore how power is exercised in the production of knowledge, how the norms of objectivity and universalism perpetuate dominance and exclusion, why women and other minority groups are often seen as lacking epistemic authority and what it means to have knowledge produced from a feminist standpoint. Students will learn a variety of methods and use these methods in a community-based research project. This project will involve working with community partners in Knox County and may require student participation outside of the scheduled class time. In addition, we will discuss various ethical issues that feminist researchers often encounter and what responsibilities feminist researchers have to the broader political community. This course has a community-engaged learning (CEL) component. Students may be required to travel off-campus for site visits. This counts towards the mid-level requirement for the major. This course paired with any other .50 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.