Undergraduate Courses
G101: Women, Gender, and Culture (3 credits) (AH)
- 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.
- Lecture Instructor: Thomas
- Lecture Instructor: Sinex
G102: Sexual Politics (3 credits) (COAS, SH)
- Lecture Instructor: Jones
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)
- Lecture 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 Formation (3 credits)
- Lecture Instructor: Gremillion
Cross-Cultural Gender Formation 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, CS)
- Lecture Instructor: Maher
- Lecture Instructor: Weber
Gender, Sexuality and Popular Culture surveys the making and meaning of masculinity, femininity and sexuality in popular culture. Emphasizing ways in which the form and technology of popular culture have changed during the twentieth century, the course explores gender/sexuality in such contexts as: fiction, theater, cinema, music, television, journalism and other mass media. Issues interrogated may include: gender and the power of the image; sex and spectatorship; melodrama, film noir and "the women's film"; rock music women, MTV; race, age and representation; masculinity and femininity; and violence and pornography.
G230: Gendered Relations (3 credits)
- Lecture Instructor: Sanders
Gendered Relations examines ways in which gender plays a role in relationships and how relationships may foster gendered behavior in these contexts: family/home, schools, sexual relationships, workplaces, and broader society. The course explores evolutionary, biological, and socio-historical theories regarding female/male roles and their manifestations in divergent settings.
G290: Two Centuries of Feminist Thought (3 credits) (AH)
- Lecture Instructor: Brand
Two Centuries of Feminist Thought provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the study of selected "classical" texts of Western feminism. In the selection of texts and theorists, focus is placed on criteria by which feminist discourses are constructed and evaluated. Disputes among feminist theorists on the causes of women's "subjection" or "oppression," on the importance of differences among women resulting from sexuality, race, class, ethnicity, and other political and philosophical ties, and on the strategies for change are some of the central themes for class discussion.
G302: Feminism and Value (3 credits)
- Lecture Instructor: Brand
Feminism and Value offers a study of several key writings by the French feminist philosopher, Simone de Beauvoir: the short story "The Woman Destroyed," the philosophical text The Ethics of Ambiguity, and her influential work, The Second Sex (1949, translated 1952). There will be five writing assignments; some will be in-class, others take-home. Class participation factors into a student's final grade.
G402: Seminar in Gender Studies (3 credits)
- Lecture Instructor: Cornell
Topic: Gender and Population
Demography is a discipline which examines the relationship between biological events such as deaths and births and their social determinants and consequences. This seminar provides a graduate-level introduction to the theoretical issues and empirical questions which dominate the field today. It emphasizes the question: Does gender make a difference? How? Why? The course surveys all of the fundamental topics in the literature of demography, from death and birth rates, through marriage and household formation, to the origin and quality of data. A topic such as gender relations or the role of the state is examined through readings about son preference or population policy in low-fertility advanced industrial societies. Students will also receive an introduction to the principal methods of demographic analysis.
G402: Seminar in Gender Studies (3 credits)
- Lecture Instructor: Graham
Topic: Gender, Contraception, and Culture
Prerequisite: G101 or G105
Gender, Contraception, and Culture examines a variety of topics related to contraception, gender, and culture including historical aspects of contraceptive use, patterns of contraceptive use in different cultures, contraceptive decision-making, the effects of hormonal contraceptives on well-being and sexuality, the development of new contraceptive technologies, and the evaluation and marketing of contraceptives. Issues of gender and power, and political and religious issues related to contraception will be a particular focus as well as critical evaluation of research methods and findings.
G410: International Feminist Debates (3 credits)
- Lecture 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 (3 credits)
- Fulfills intensive writing requirement.
- Lecture Instructor: Malti-Douglas
Topic: Sex, Scandal, and Privacy
We tend to think of sexuality and sexual practices as one of the most private domains in our world today. Yet, what happens when sex and scandal come together in more public places such as courts of law? This seminar will examine the issues of privacy, gender, testimony, and the body in some landmark cases, such as the Lewinsky Affair and the Bobbitt case. We shall also examine other materials (e.g. comic strips) that deal with political and sexual scandals. Some of the questions we shall address include: How does the gender of an individual alter the nature of the testimony? How are male and female bodies portrayed and subjected to investigation, as they become themselves the domain of inquiry? How does the investigation of the privacy of sexuality intersect with our notions of privacy and shame? How do the different media (include electronic ones) contribute to this erosion of privacy? How do the languages of the different media help us to understand the complex issues of privacy?
G495: Readings and Research in Gender Studies (1-3 credits)
- Must have at least junior standing
- Requires course authorization available 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
G601: Gender and Education (3 credits)
- Lecture Instructor: Lackey
How do schools contribute to making and legitimating particular versions of femininity and masculinity? To answer this question, we examine multiple dimensions of school life-- i.e., formal curriculum, informal curriculum, teacher and student relationships, conceptions of teachers--for their gendered components. We consider alternative theories of gender acquisition and maintenance.
G601: Contraception, Gender, and Culture (3 credits)
- Lecture Instructor: Graham
Contraception, Gender, and Culture examines a variety of topics related to contraception, gender, and culture including historical aspects of contraceptive use, patterns of contraceptive use in different cultures, contraceptive decision-making, the effects of hormonal contraceptives on well-being and sexuality, the development of new contraceptive technologies, and the evaluation and marketing of contraceptives. Issues of gender and power, and political and religious issues related to contraception will be a particular focus as well as critical evaluation of research methods and findings.
G695: Graduate Readings and Research in Gender Studies (3-6 credits)
- Open to all authorized students.
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: Gender and Discourse (3 credits)
- Lecture Instructor: Malti-Douglas
Topic: Sex, Scandal, and Privacy
We tend to think of sexuality and sexual practices as one of the most private domains in our world today. Yet, what happens when sex and scandal come together in more public places such as courts of law? This seminar will examine the issues of privacy, gender, testimony, and the body in some landmark cases, such as the Lewinsky Affair and the Bobbitt case. We shall also examine other materials (e.g. comic strips) that deal with political and sexual scandals. Some of the questions we shall address include: How does the gender of an individual alter the nature of the testimony? How are male and female bodies portrayed and subjected to investigation, as they become themselves the domain of inquiry? How does the investigation of the privacy of sexuality intersect with our notions of privacy and shame? How do the different media (include electronic ones) contribute to this erosion of privacy? How do the languages of the different media help us to understand the complex issues of privacy?
G701: Gender, Medicine, and the Body (3 credits)
- Lecture Instructor: Gremillion
Gender, Medicine, and the Body examines topical themes related to medicine and the body as they interact with gender, through portrayals by a variety of fields and texts. Theoretical works are positioned against primary texts, the latter drawn from both fiction and non-fiction works. Both Western and non-Western cultural traditions receive scrutiny. Topics include cross-cultural inquiry into gendered systems of healing, feminist critiques of medical models, critical perspectives on gender and medicalization, and the gendering of bodies through technological mediation.
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