This course will address the cultural representations of women and
murder throughout history.  We will be examining how gender
relations, women’s roles, views on sexuality, and societal concerns
over a woman’s place are transformed into narratives about female
criminality.  Because cultural narratives about ‘bad’ women reflect
cultural boundaries of appropriate behavior for women, especially in
terms of sexuality and expected loyalty to the home/family, we will
also consider narrative’s power as informal social control. Although
the main focus of this course will be on contemporary western
representations this is an opportunity to explore some of the most
famous representations of violent women, including women in Greek
mythology, medieval times, the Victorian period and the jazz era.

Class meeting:  Daily, 12:30-1:20

Instructor:  Sara Walsh, criminal justice department