Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies

This course will explore the poetry of four important mid- twentieth-century American women poets: Gwendolyn Brooks, Anne Sexton, Adrienne Rich, and Sylvia Plath. We will employ close readings of their work, feminist literary theory, and interdisciplinary approaches to understand their position in literary history, their response to American culture, and their “revisioning” (to use Adrienne Rich’s term) of women’s experience. Special attention will be given to women’s leadership and social responsibility.

This course introduces students to cultural anthropology, considering such topics as ethnography, ethics, culture, society, religion, and ritual. Students also learn how anthropologists have approached difference and inequality within and across cultures - focusing on race and gender as well as considering global varieties of economies, political structures, and kinship.

This course examines the ways in which gender intersects with social class, work, politics, sexuality, and religion in multiple cultural contexts. We also consider multiple gender identities—masculine, feminine, transgender, and others—as well as multiple sexualities with a global perspective.

Introduces students to women writers, past and present, who write in a variety of genres. Focuses on the way women explore or subvert gender. Includes writing about women and literature.

This course surveys the wide range of Modernist literature that responds to the social, artistic, technological, intellectual, and economic changes that took place in the early twentieth century. Students will use literary theory and criticism, as well as other cultural artifacts, to understand the ways in which writers make sense of their rapidly changing world. Special attention will be given to women's leadership, social responsibility, and global awareness.

This course will explore the poetry of four important mid- twentieth-century American women poets: Gwendolyn Brooks, Anne Sexton, Adrienne Rich, and Sylvia Plath. We will employ close readings of their work, feminist literary theory, and interdisciplinary approaches to understand their position in literary history, their response to American culture, and their “revisioning” (to use Adrienne Rich’s term) of women’s experience. Special attention will be given to women’s leadership and social responsibility.

This course will consider poetry as a means of resistance and a tool of social justice. Students will examine historical, cultural, political, and social context to analyze a wide range of poetic genres from different periods. Special emphasis on women's leadership, social responsibility, and global awareness. Topics vary.

This course considers the depictions of women in British and American literature written before 1900. Special emphasis on women’s leadership and social responsibility, and on feminist theory.

This course surveys the wide range of Modernist literature that responds to the social, artistic, technological, intellectual, and economic changes that took place in the early twentieth century. Students will use literary theory and criticism, as well as other cultural artifacts, to understand the ways in which writers make sense of their rapidly changing world. Special attention will be given to women's leadership, social responsibility, and global awareness.

This class will explore the development of Jane Austen's literary career through a focus on her six major novels and some of the juvenilia. Background information on Austen's life and times will enable students to appreciate the many themes and subtexts of these works. Suitable for Jane-ites as well as those unfamiliar with her work, the class will explore, through close reading, lecture, active class discussion, and research, what made Austen so popular in her time as well as why she remains so compellingly popular today.

Exploration of the development of Toni Morrison’s literary career, focusing primarily on her novels and criticism.

Exploration of Edith Wharton’s life and work in the context of women’s leadership, social responsibility, and global awareness, and through the lens of feminist literary theory. Students will read a variety of genres and complete a wide range of assignments.

Survey of women in United States from colonial to modern times. Introduces political, social, religious and economic factors that influenced women's roles in and contributions to U.S. society.

Introduces theoretical and practical understanding of leadership. Assists in defining personal leadership orientation and philosophy, building relationships, initiating change, and empowering others. Emphasis on women’s leadership.

In this course, students will compare women’s participation in and contribution to their communities across different countries. In so doing, they will analyze how the political make-up and power structures of societies are systematically related to women’s empowerment or the lack of it. The main topics covered in this course will include women’s participation in institutional and non-institutional politics, the gendering of public policy, and the role of gender in the politics of development. Throughout the course, students will read case studies on a wide variety of important issues such as abortion laws in Ireland, sexual violence in post-conflict Sierra Leone, women-led successful microcredit movements in Bangladesh and Pakistan, and glass-ceilings in the United States. After taking this course, students should be able to critically think about women’s issues across the world and analyze the impact of political structures and institutions on the role that women play in their communities and beyond. They will also be trained to use their own identity as women to reflect on and relate to the issues surrounding women’s empowerment. Assessment techniques used in this class will include critical reaction papers, an incremental policy brief, discussion leadership, midterm, and final. This course will be appropriate for students interested in women’s empowerment, gender justice, and most importantly, human rights.

Critical examination of the multiple aspects of human sexuality across historical, social, and cultural contexts. Topics such as anatomy, sexual responding, contraception, sexual behavior, STI’s, gender, sexual development, sexual orientation, and sexual aggression will be examined in readings, discussion, and film. Fulfills writing-intensive requirement.

Critical examination of psychological theories and research on gender. Topics such as gender roles, development of gender identity differences and similarities between the sexes, relationships, mental health, mothering, violence against women, and sexuality will be examined across multiple historical, social, and cultural contexts, with particular emphasis on women and feminist perspectives.

This course will examine the major psychological theories related to sport and exercise behavior. The course is designed to introduce students to the field of sports and exercise psychology by providing a broad overview of the major topics in the area, including the history of sports and exercise psychology, foundations of personality, motivation, coaching and leadership, gender and cultural issues, team dynamics, performance enhancement strategies, and sports as recreation. Particular attention will be paid to issues of gender, race, and sexuality regarding sport.

This course will introduce students to a variety of critical approaches to gender, sexuality, and feminist activism. It is the introduction course to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

This course will introduce students to the interdisciplinary field of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender studies. This course highlights reading, writing, and critical thinking skills as we explore the intellectual, artistic, social, and political capacities of queer theory, activism, and art.

This course examines feminist approaches to the politics of health, attending to the role of institutions and technologies as well as social and economic forces in shaping health and health outcomes. This course highlights reading, writing, and critical thinking skills as we explore key conversations within Feminist Health Studies.

How have scholars in WGS theorized relationships between people, plants, and animals? How do social categories inflect our understandings of the more-than-human world? This course brings feminist studies, disability studies, and ethnicity studies into conversation with post humanist theory, animal studies, and plant studies to explore subjectivity, ethics, and multispecies politics.

What is feminist theory? What is the relationship between feminist theories and feminist activism? This interdisciplinary course provides a historical and thematic survey of feminist theories, engages students in critical examinations of those theories, and encourages students to apply feminist theories to their lives and work.

How have scholars in WGS theorized power, resistance, and solidarity through a transnational lens? This course explores the ways in which feminist resistances and solidarities are structured transnationally in our contemporary world, as well as the gendered effects global structures bear across diverse populations. By the end of the semester, students will be able to apply a transnational feminist lens to global issues.

How have scholars in WGS engaged with questions of environment and ecology? This course will introduce students to ecofeminist theoretical and activist texts from a variety of disciplines to explore relationships between the oppression of women and the exploitation of the environment. The course includes an off-campus service learning requirement.

The culmination of the student's work in the major. Students will complete a thesis under the direction of a WGS faculty member. Class will entail the development, critique, and public presentation of one's work. Class assignments will vary based on student need(s).