Department of Women's and Gender Studies

This course historicizes U.S. women's social, political, and rhetorical activism over the last 200 years, tracing their entry into and shaping force upon public life. The course examines the development of women's activism in the nineteenth century, the twentieth-century women's (or feminist) movement, and its current status, particularly in relation to postfeminism and a "third" wave.

An analysis of the global forces that impact women's lives throughout the world. Particular emphasis is placed on the status of women in the developing world, international institutions that protect women's rights, and efforts to promote gender equality worldwide.

This course will examine feminist approaches to the subject of sexuality in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The course examines theorizations of sexuality, such as radical, critical race, and transnational feminisms, queer theory, and trans studies. Key questions will be: how have feminists theorized sexualities? What does sexuality have to do with feminist studies or practices? How do other identities, such as race and class, inform sexuality?

This course examines media-based sites of knowledge production using a feminist approach, in order to imagine new and more complex ways to think about media rhetorics; celebrity culture; digital media; and the politics of representation. Key questions will be: What roles do media play in shaping social movements? What are the promises and pitfalls of activist interventions in the realm of commercial culture? In what ways might we complicate narratives of co-optation or selling out? The course explores these questions using an intersectional lens attentive to the complex interconnections of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Case studies will include national, international, and transnational media events.

This interdisciplinary class explores the body as a canvas for both history and the future of our concept of individualism. Students will have the opportunity to reflect not only on their own understanding of the body but also that of the body across a variety of experiences. Students will complete auto-ethnographic essays and a course paper on the body relating to her/his/their academic research interests.

This course will explore the spectrum of what it means when we consider humans to exist in a gendered and sexed world. Students will critique their own preconceived notions of sex, probe issues of equality and social justice, and discuss what these questions mean both in the United States and globally. The course will culminate with a restructuring of how we understand the ways in which we define sex, sexuality, and sexual practice, taking into consideration how our own identities are impacted by culture and society.

This course will examine feminist and queer theories, specifically intersectional, transnational, and radical perspectives. It explores how feminist and queer scholars approach research, writing, and knowledge production, and applies these insights to students’ own interests. The course analyzes how feminist and queer scholars have written about storytelling, the body, and desire, and links these discussions to how to produce positive social change in our world. This course is fundamentally interdisciplinary; students are encouraged to make connections between the course materials, their research interests, and other fields of study. This is a writing intensive course.

This course explores the ethics, practice, and multiple forms of conducting feminist research. Narrative research methods are practiced through hands-on oral herstory assignments. Throughout the course, the process of knowledge construction is interrogated from a feminist perspective.

Advanced seminars on selected topics. The subject matter is usually be interdisciplinary and aligns with faculty teaching and research strengths.

Advanced seminars on selected topics. The subject matter is usually interdisciplinary and aligns with faculty teaching and research strengths.

Independent study of an interdisciplinary topic in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, or a reading plus internship project to be selected under the direction of a faculty member. Conferences and papers as appropriate.

Independent study of an interdisciplinary topic in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, or a reading plus internship project to be selected under the direction of a faculty member. Conferences and papers as appropriate.

Course provides an opportunity to gain experience working in organizations and government agencies. Students' work should engage with women's issues at the local, regional, national, and/or global levels. Students must work for at least 50 hours per course credit.

The advanced study of selected topics which permit small groups of qualified students to work on subjects of mutual interest under the direction on an instructor. Courses may not be offered regularly; when offered courses appear in the course schedule and are more fully described in information distributed to advisors.

Independent study of an interdisciplinary women's studies topics to be selected under the direction of a women's studies faculty member. Conferences and papers as appropriate.

Independent study of an interdisciplinary women's studies topics to be selected under the direction of a women's studies faculty member. Conferences and papers as appropriate.

The advanced study of selected topics that permit small groups of qualified students to work on subjects of mutual interest under the direction of an instructor. Courses may not be offered regularly; when offered courses appear in the course schedule and are more fully described in information distributed to advisors.

Independent study of an interdisciplinary women’s studies topic to be selected under the direction of a women’s studies faculty member. Conferences and papers as appropriate.

The advanced study of selected topics that permit small groups of qualified students to work on subjects of mutual interest under the direction of an instructor. Courses may not be offered regularly; when offered, courses appear in the course schedule and are more fully described in information distributed to advisors.

Independent study of an interdisciplinary women’s studies topic to be selected under the direction of a women’s studies faculty member. Conferences and papers as appropriate.