Topic:  Race, Class & Gender

MAY NOT BE TAKEN FOR GRADUATE CREDIT.  THIS SECTION OPEN TO MAJORS
ONLY.

This course will examine the influence of gender, race, and class
from a perspective of power and culture.  We will question the way
in which power dynamics influence these social statuses by focusing
on their interlinkages.
The course will begin with an examination of the social and
historically situated constructions of race, gender, and class in
cross-cultural settings.  Then we will analyze the way in which
mainstream concepts regarding bodies and sexuality have affected the
lives of women and men.
Here we will also look at the way in which race and class issues are
interrelated with issues pf sexuality and concepts of femininity and
masculinity.  This will be followed by a examination of the ways in
which people are redefining sexuality and relationships through
fiction and cultural practices.

In the next section of the course we will examine constructions of
identity, focusing in more depth social class and ethnic
identities.  We will also look at the processes of race and class
oppression as well as ways in which being middle class and being
white shape our belief systems  The last section will examine
creative expression as a means of resisting oppression as well as
others forms of resistance and social change.

Required course readings include the following-

Multicultural Experiences, Multicultural Theories by Mary Rodgers
Unequal Childhoods by Annette Lareau
Elusive Culture by D. Yon