Undergraduate Courses
G101: WOMEN, GENDER, & CULTURE (3 credits) (AH)
- Instructors: Sinex, Thomas
Women, Gender, & Culture provides an introduction to the interdisciplinary study of gender - the social creation and cultural representation of femininity and masculinity - by examining relevant beliefs, practices, debates and political struggles. Lectures, readings, and class discussions consider how people of different races, ethnicities, classes, and nationalities in various historical periods have assumed gendered identities. Topics may include: romantic love and marriage; sexuality; parenthood, reproduction, birth control and new reproductive technologies; interpersonal violence; the scientific study of sexual differences; fitness, health, body image, and popular culture; the sexual division of labor and economic development; and feminist movements.
G102: SEXUAL POLITICS (3 credits) (SH)
Sexual Politics examines the ways in which sex and gender become political - in the U.S. and in other societies. The course examines a range of issues and questions which demonstrate how the analysis of gender broadens our understanding of what counts as 'political', for instance: Why are men expected to be soldiers but, typically, women are not? What happens when governments presume women will physically take care of, and men will materially provide for children? Why and how is it that politics and public life become gendered and sexualized? How does the gendered character of public life affect legislation, public policies, research directions, and everyday existence? Such questions permit alternative visions of political theory and strategies.
G105: SEX, GENDER, AND THE BODY (3 credits)
- Instructor: Luedke
Sex, Gender, and the Body is an introductory, interdisciplinary course which examines diverse interconnections between biological sex, the sexed body, and cultural discourses on masculinity and femininity. Asking how cultures have imagined and represented "embodiment," the course investigates the gender dynamics of sexual differences through an array of topics drawing on several fields of knowledge. Specifically, this course asks: "In what ways is the body socially constructed?" and "How is that social construction different for men and women?" It also explores the usage of the body in defining masculine and feminine identities and in empowering or controlling different groups. Themes addressed include conceptions of the body and the mind; and the body and power oppression; the body as "public" and "private"; the body and definitions of citizenship.
This course is excellent preparation for further and upper level studies of gender, the body, sex differences, political, social, international, philosophical, anthropological, and cultural studies of men and women.
G215: CROSS-CULTURAL GENDER FORMATIONS (3 credits)
- Instructor: Gremillion
Cross-Cultural Gender Formations investigates and compares gender construction within a sampling of cultures from around the world. The course scrutinizes the significance of feminist claims about women's oppression. It may focus on the study of such international issues as the division of labor, gendered features of caste and class systems, body rituals marking masculinity and femininity, and resistance to gender formations beyond Euro-American borders.
G225: GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND POPULAR CULTURE (3 credits) (AH, CSA)
- Instructors: Maher, Weber
Gender, Sexuality and Popular Culture examines issues of gender and sexuality as they appear in various spheres of popular culture. While the class pays attention to visual media, especially film, other forms of popular culture are also studied. Specific topics include horror films, sports, popular music, music videos, action films, women's melodrama, and various types of television programs. The course focuses heavily on cultural representations of masculinity, male sexuality, femininity, female sexuality and homosexuality. Students are introduced to important ideas and questions about how and why gender and sexuality are constructed and represented as they are in contemporary Western culture.
G302: TOPICS IN GENDER STUDIES (3 credits)
G310: REPRENSENTATION AND THE BODY (3 credits) (AH)
- Instructor: Luedke
Representation and the Body asks questions such as: "Why have the incidences of anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders - especially among women and girls - increased so dramatically in recent decades?" and "How do competitive sports affect men's images of their bodies?" This course examines a range of bodily practices and cultural codes that mark the body and considers why sex-differentiated body rituals have become so salient in recent times. The course concentrates on the creation and institutionalization of sexual difference through representations of the body and also examines attempts to challenge these representations. Topics addressed include: chronic dieting, sports and fitness; racially and culturally specific body alterations; cross-dressing and transexualism; the commodification of reproduction; and "alternative" sexualities. Scholarly arguments representing the body as a site of social control and political struggle receive critical examination.
G335: EXPLAINING SEX/GENDER DIFFERENCES (3 credits)
- Instructor: Sanders
Explaining Sex/Gender Differences focuses on the development of gender-differentiated behavior, comparing biological and social factors creating them. Biological theories regarding sexually diffentiated behavior and sexed bodies are compared with sociological and cultural theories of gender, identities, and performances. Social and cultural forces that magnify, minimize, or subvert the expression of behavioral sex differences, dichotomizing gender into masculine and feminine types, receieve particular scrutiny, before a consideration of alternative models for conceptualizing gender.
G399: REGULATING GENDER (3 credits)
- Instructor: Friedman
Regulating Gender examines the regulation of sexuality since the nineteenth century, focusing in particular on two issues-homosexuality and prostitution. By looking at how various cultures have attempted to regulate and police these spheres of sexuality, students will be introduced to important ideas about sexuality as a political issue. How, Why, where and when did sexuality move into the public sphere? Why has sexuality been such a highly contested legal and political issue since the nineteenth century and why does it continue to be so problematic in contemporary America? By looking into these types of questions, this course examines how ideas about and anxieties surrounding sexuality, gender and power both construct and are constructed by institutions, policies, legislation and culture.
G402: SEMINAR IN GENDER STUDIES (3 credits) Topic: Gender and Therapies
- Instructor: Gremillion
Gender and Therapies
Psychological ideas about personhood have become very influential, extending well beyond the therapy room to inform everyday perceptions of people's motivations, intentions, and meanings in life. Gender is a key element here. How do we account for a widespread belief that men are more individualistic than women? Do nuclear family ideals shape girls' and boys' gender identities and sexualities in predictable ways? When and how do therapists, counselors, and their clients engage these questions? What are the perceived links in the therapy world between gender categories of race, ethnicity, age, class, sexuality, and cultural difference-- as well as professional "expertise"? This course examines intersections of gender and psychotherapy through a critical assessment of various individual, family, and couples therapies. Both implicit and explicit representations of gender are scrutinized when course participants analyze therapies' potential to reinforce or transform received concepts of gender and genered relations. Psychological, historical, literary, sociological, anthropological, and cultural studies perspectives are compared.
G410: INTERNATIONAL FEMINIST DEBATES (3 credits)
- Instructor - Thomas
In International Feminist Debates, Students will explore the social construction and regulation of gender and women's sexualities across global cultures. Topic areas include the depiction and regulation of gender and female sexualities by states, religious institutions, international organizations, and popular/traditional cultures.
The course involves intensive reading and class discussion of the experiences of non-western women (outside the United States and Western Europe) in the modern (post-World War II) era. Topics of focus may include: Marriage rights, contraception, abortion, sex tourism and the military support of prostitution, honor killing, HIV/AIDS prevention, rape as a tool of warfare, female circumcision, suti, dowries (bride price), and bride burning.
Restricted to Gender Studies Majors/Minors
Requires course authorization from Gender Studies
In the G480 Practicum, students gain field experience by working in an internship or on a gender-related research project. In an internship, students work in an organization where they apply or gain practical insight into gendered concepts and issues. Students learn by taking on responsible roles as workers in organizations and observing and reflecting on what happens while they are there. Students also produce written work about their experiences, in accordance with their agreement with a faculty sponsor. In a research project, students work with a faculty member to develop a questionnaire or survey that they then administer and analyze.
G485: GENDER AND DISCOURSE/SEMINAR (3 credits)
Topic: Bill, Hill, and Other Bodies Politic
- Instructor - Malti-Douglas
Bill, Hill, and Other Bodies Politic
How do we visualize major American political figures? How does the gender component influence theseimages? This course will examine both male and female players on the American political scene and discuss their portrayals in various media.
From presidents through first ladies, from governors through senators, the investigation of the body politic will take place through comic strips, political cartoons, television parodies, satirical writings, and so on. We shall attempt to evaluate how popular representations and writings affect our collective imaginary- and ultimately our political ideals. Readings will include collections of political cartoons, satirical writings attributed to major political figures, comic strips, and other visual media, including art and photography (as well as some theoretical works).
Fulfills Intensive Writing Requirement
G485: GENDER AND DISCOURSE/SEMINAR (3 credits)Topic: TBA
- Instructor: Weber
Gender and Discourse offers an advanced-level analysis of the discursive contitution of gender patterns. Materials subjected to close interrogation may include literary, scientific, philosophical, religious or legal texts, visual art, opera, drama, music, film or television. The course emphasizes ways in which the function of various gendered modes of thought or representation impact prevailing gender relations. Students may repeat this course, with different topics, for a maximum of 6 credits.
G495: READINGS AND RESEARCH IN GENDER STUDIES (1-4 credits)
Section 2749 - At least junior standing
Requires course authorization from Gender Studies.
The Undergraduate Readings and Research course exists to enable Gender Studies BA and undergraduate minor students to undertake intensive independent study of particular topics not usually covered in existing courses. An appropriate faculty member supervises the work. Students interested in independent study should develop a topic prior to registration in consultation with a faculty member and the Chair of Gender Studies.
Graduate Courses
G695: Graduate Readings and Research in Gender Studies (3-6 credits)
Requires course authorization from Gender Studies.
This course exists to enable Ph.D. Minor students to undertake intensive independent study of topics not usually covered in existing courses. An appropriate faculty member who does research in the student's area of interest supervises study. Students interested in independent study should develop a topic prior to registration and in consultation with a faculty member and the Chair of Gender Studies.
G701: Graduate Topics in Gender Studies (3 credits)
Topic: Bill, Hill, and Other Bodies Politic
- Instructor: Malti-Douglas
The Gender Studies Webmaster & Designer is Cierra Olivia Thomas-Williams.
The Original Website was designed by Michelle Wood and Cindy Stone.
For Maintenance and Update information contact: gender@indiana.edu.
Last modification: December 20, 2007
Copyright © 1997-2001, The Trustees of Indiana University