courses

Elective Courses (totaling 12 cr.)

with approval of Program Director 

Following is a partial list of courses offered by the Women's Studies Program. Please check the current Schedule of Classes for a listing of the courses offered each semester, including new electives.

INTRODUCTORY AND CORE COURSES

Required Courses

WS 10000: Women's & Gender Roles in Contemporary Society (3 cr.)

Fulfills General Education requirement for a Perspectives Course, under the category Self and Society. 

An introduction to issues that arise when women's lives and gender roles become the focus of critical inquiry. How do different societies and academic disciplines define women? How do women's experiences vary in relation to factors such as race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, age, nationality? How have women resisted, adapted to, and transformed "women's space" in the United States and elsewhere?

This introductory, interdisciplinary course will present and problematize traditional and contemporary perspectives about women's and gender roles in society, both in the United States and abroad. Based on instructor selections, students may analyze and examine the history of women's struggles, oppressions, and resistance through the work force and the economy, education, home and family life, government and other political arenas, and religious life. Other focus topics may include, but are not limited to health and sexuality, law and social control, and constructions of race, nationality, ethnicity, and identity.

INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED COURSES

31000: Independent Study (1-4 hr/wk; 1-4 cr.)

The student will pursue a program of independent study under the direction of a WS faculty member. With the approval of the Program Director.

31100-32000: Selected Topics in Women's Studies (1-4 hr/wk; 1-4 cr.) 

Topics not covered in the usual program offerings, which will vary each semester. Credits and hours will be determined by the Program. 

WS 31258: Women & Work 

Women have been a part of the human productive forces throughout history; yet often their contributions are neglected and diminished. This class will look at the roles gender plays in both access to various types of labor and compensation received from that labor.  We will ask why some types of work are not recognized as work (i.e. bearing children, cooking, doing dishes) and why other types of work are criminalized (i.e. sexwork). Further, the class will look at current globalization patterns and their connection to gender oppression from historical, cultural and economic perspectives. Students will be asked to observe and share their own experiences and research as well as reflect on readings assigned for this class. 

WS 31255: Women, Peace, & Security 

This class examines women, war, and peace making. Globally, women are recognized for their ability to prevent and resolve conflict as well as to restore civil society in post conflict situations. Cases such as Liberia, the Balkans and Northern Ireland will be examined.  Women also feel the impact of violence during wartime as caregivers, civil society creators, and victims of sexual violence.  We will study women's historical and cultural experiences in the development of peace and security processes.  We will ask why there has been no substantial data collection, evaluation and measurement of women's roles in international security. We will also look at women as violent actors and ways that gender sensitive active nonviolence can be realized.

ELECTIVE COURSES IN OTHER DEPARTMENTS

Below is a partial listing of courses accepted for credit in the Women's Studies Program. Please consult an advisor for all applicable courses each semester.

Anthropology 

22500: Class, Ethnicity, & Gender

22600: Culture, Personality, & Gender

23200: Witchcraft, Magic, & Religion

23600: Sex, Marriage, & the Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective

25500: The Anthropology of Health & Healing

25600: Women/Cross Cultural Perspective

31107: Anthropology for Reproduction

31403: Women and the Violation of Human Rights

32400: Violation of Human Rights 

Art

29204: Women & Art II 

Asian Studies

20700: Asian Women

Black Studies

31160: Women of the African Diaspora

31706: The Black Woman

English

31713: Latina Writers

31746: Women's Literature

37501: Women Writers of the Middle Ages & the Renaissance

37502: Women Novelists of the 19th Century

37503: 20th Century Women Writers 

37517: 19th Century Women Writers 

41313: Gender Issues in Victorian Literature

41476: Feminist Theory

Foreign Languages and Literatures

31500: Selected Topics: French Women in Literature (in English)

40103: Women of Antiquity

45300: Gender Issues in Hispanic Letters

History

31129: U.S. Family 

31610: History of Childhood in America

31613: Women & Medicine 

31706: The Black Woman

31910: Women in the Middle East

35900: Women in World History through the Middle Ages

36000: Women in Modern History

43100: History of Sexuality

44400: Women in U.S. History

48200: Women & Gender in Latin America 

48500: Women and Gender in the Middle East

International Studies 

31108: Transnational Feminism

31510: Culture, Gender, & Class: Morocco (Study Abroad Course)

Jewish Studies

27300: The Jewish Woman

31500: Jewish Woman in Literature 

Latin American and Latino Studies

13100: Urban Hispanic Child 

31200: Women/Health: Latinas & Other Women of Color

31304: Gender & Sexuality in the Latino Community

Philosophy

34600: Feminist Philosophy

Political Science

22900: Women & Politics

31108: Feminist Political Theory

31117: Politics, Law, Families

31544: Family Law

Psychology

31823: Psychology of Women and Violence

35100: Psychology of Human Sexual Behavior 

36500/36504: Family Psychology 

38800: Psychology of Women

B9506: Gender Psychopathy (Graduate level course, requires professor's permission to register)

Sociology

26600: Family Relationships

27700: Ethnic Families in the United States

31701: Work & Family

38207: Sex Roles & Social Change

38209: Sociology of Sexualities

38210: Sociology of Gender

Theater

31126: Queer Theater