Women and Gender Studies

An introduction to gender studies, including the fields of women's studies, feminist studies, LGBT studies, & masculinity studies. Students will examine historical movements, theoretical issues, & contemporary debates, especially as they pertain to issues of inequality & to the intersection of gender with race, class, sexuality, & nationalism. Topics will vary according to the interdisciplinary expertise & research focus of the instructor.

Offers a study of race-racialization in relation to gender-sexuality. Consider how the concept of race shapes relationships between gendered selfhood & society, how it informs identity & experiences of the erotic, & how racialized gender & sexuality are created-maintained-monitored. With an interdisciplinary perspective, we will consider how race & power are reproduced & resisted through gender & sexuality, individually-national-international.

The course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of women, gender & sexuality

Examines human sexuality from psychological, biological, behavioral, social, and historical perspectives. Topics include sexual research and theoretical perspectives, sexual anatomy and physiology, sexual health, intimacy, communication, patterns of sexual response and pleasure and sexual problems and therapies. Course will also include examination of the development of sexuality and the intersections of other identities, gender identity, sexual orientation, sexuality and the law, sexual assault, and other social issues in sexuality.

This course will examine the portrayal of sex and sexuality in a variety of shows on television streaming platforms through the lens of media studies and intersectional, feminist and queer theory. The analysis will address the ideologies, narratives, values and ethics the shows impart. Topics include: the interdisciplinary meaning and representation of sexual orientation, queerness, sexual health, sexual harm, and notions of joy and pleasure.

"What is understood as ""masculine"" has varied throughout time as well as across cultural contexts and distinct social groupings, it is equally true that most historical periods, cultures, groups, etc. believe their own understandings of masculinity to be universal. In this course, we will deconstruct this. From this class, you should be able to think critically about where men and masculinity have been, where they are going, and what this might mean more generally for gender relations and gender inequality."

Motherhood, mothering practices, and maternal identities have long been crucial elements of human existence that have not received the level of attention or support that their importance calls for. This course takes an interdisciplinary look (inc. anthropology, feminist theory, media studies, philosophy, psychology, sociology) at scholarly conceptualizations of "good" mothering and analyzes depictions of mothering practices.

Explores major debates, key ideas, and historical developments in women, gender, & sexuality theory. Students will gain familiarity with queer, trans, and feminist theory, including Black, Native, socialist, crip, and other approaches. Will consider the different methods that gender & sexuality scholars have used to explain the social world, and why such explanations are vital to WGS. Course emphasizes reading, discussion,and critical writing.

This course is an interdisciplinary analysis of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) Studies. We will study historical events and political, literary and artistic figures and works; contemporary social and political issues; the meaning and development of sexual and gender identities; and different disciplinary definitions of meaning and knowledge.

Course focuses on 20th century history of LGBTQ activism, but will include formation of heterosexual and homosexual identities and historical constructions of sexual practices prior to the 1900s. From 20th c. the course will focus on the Homophile Movement, Gay Liberation, and ACT UP, among other activist movements. Although primary emphasis will be placed on historical activism, contemporary movements regarding LGBTQ-rights will be included.

This course places women, feminism, and activism in a transnational perspective, and offers students the opportunity to examine how issues considered critical to the field of gender studies are impacting women's lives globally in contemporary national contexts. We will look closely at how violence, economic marginality, intersections of race and gender, and varied strategies for development are affecting women in specific geographical locations.

Offers a study of race-racialization in relation to gender-sexuality. Consider how the concept of race shapes relationships between gendered selfhood & society, how it informs identity & experiences of the erotic, & how racialized gender & sexuality are created-maintained-monitored. With an interdisciplinary perspective, we will consider how race & power are reproduced & resisted through gender & sexuality, individually-national-international.

This course will examine how film has portrayed women's sports and female athletes. We will explore how well the film industry has documented the history of women's sports, issues important to female athletes such as race, sexuality, equality and issues of femininity, and we will look to see how well these productions stack up against films portraying male athletes and men's sports.

This course will examine female athletes from a global perspective, comparing and contrasting their experiences, and placing them in historical perspective. Among the topics considered will be the Olympic Games, Chinese sports schools, the post-apartheid athletic landscape of South Africa, and Iranian women athlete's struggle against clothing restrictions.

In ancient Greece, women risked death if they even attended the Olympic Games. As Pierre de Coubertin looked to revive the games in 1896, he thought women better suited to cheering on the male victors, than to competing themselves. This course will explore women's early participation in the Olympic Games, the pressures upon Olympic sportswomen to be feminine, and the important intersections of race, class, and sexual orientation.

Explore the intersection of gender and race in sport, specifically examining the African-American female experience in sport. This course will ask students to consider whether sport was (and continues to be) the great equalizer for both African-American sportsmen and sportswomen, and to evaluate their portrayals (or lack thereof) in both the white and black media.

This course is an interdisciplinary analysis of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) Studies. We will study historical events and political, literary and artistic figures and works; contemporary social and political issues; the meaning and development of sexual and gender identities; and different disciplinary definitions of meaning and knowledge.

This course places women, feminism, and activism in a transnational perspective, and offers students the opportunity to examine how issues considered critical to the field of gender studies are impacting women's lives globally in contemporary national contexts. We will look closely at how violence, economic marginality, intersections of race and gender, and varied strategies for development are affecting women in specific geographical locations.

This course will explore the complex cultural dynamics of LGBTQ media visibility, along with its social, political, and psychological implications for LGBTQ audiences. It explores four domains: (1) the question of LGBT media visibility (2) the complex processes of inclusion, normalization, and assimilation in popular culture (3) media industries and the LGBT market (4) the relationship between digital media, LGBT audiences, and everyday life.

From message boards to dating apps, sex and sexuality have been on the internet since its founding. At the same time, attempts to curb certain kinds of eroticism have long followed sexual content online. This course explores the ways that sexuality, eroticism, and desire have taken shape online, the ways it has been promoted and restricted, and the ways that marginalized groups have used the internet to take sexuality "into their own hands."

This course develops fundamental skills for critical thinking, researching, writing, and communicating in WGS. Students will learn methods for finding and analyzing sources, approaches to framing arguments, and skills for effective written and oral communication. Seminars are offered on a variety of topics. This class fulfills the Second Writing Requirement and Enhanced Writing Requirement.

This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subjects of women, gender and sexualities.

The history of white supremacy & the heteropatriarchy includes denying sexual pleasure of marginalized communities. A major benefit of pleasure is empowerment, which threatens power structures & leads to restrictive practices & laws. This course focuses on queer activists & feminists of color who examine pleasure, systemic oppression, & the connection of inner desires & needs -physical, mental, & emotional -as a part of enacting social change.

This course explores the significance of gender and sexuality in the territory of the present-day U.S. during the period from the first European settlements to the Civil War.

This course explores the significance of gender and sexuality in the territory of the present-day U.S. during the period from the Civil War to the present.