The following courses have been approved as Core Courses for the WMGS program for Summer 2012/Fall 2012. Students enrolled in courses not listed here—but where at least 60% of the material relates to issues of gender and/or sexuality—may petition the WMGS Executive Committee to have those courses count toward their WMGS major or minor.
PSYCH 370: Gender and Sexuality
Study of the social, biological, and cultural factors that contribute to human sexuality and gender-related behavior. Topics include sexual identity, typical and atypical sexual behavior, reproduction, communication, intimate relationships, and masculinity and femninity. Pre-requisite: PSYCH 101
Instructor: Michelle Ceynar
MTWR: 11:30-2:20pm
SOCI 387: Women, Crime, and Justice
No course description at time of distribution. Pre-requisite: Departmental consent.
Instructor: Kate Luther
MTWR: 8:30-11:20am
Pending WMGS Executive Committee Approval
COMA 303: Gender & Communication
In this course we focus upon the manner in which our language shapes our notions of gender and creates expectations for how our personal and professional relationships ought to be structured, and how our actual language use constructs those relationships. We also focus upon the role of mass mediated images in constructing preferred and marginalized social models of gender, sexuality, and human relationship. Throughout the course we examine gender as a cultural construction and performance. Moreover, as we will come to see, gender cannot be understood apart from sexual embodiment, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and social and economic class. We further examine how relations of gender are also relations of power, privilege, subordination, and disadvantage. The overarching frame for these issues is how you have come to be gendered, how you have come to hold the assumptions about gender that you hold, how you communicatively perform gender, and how your assumptions about gender function in your interactions.
Instructor: Peter Ehrenhaus
MWF: 12:30-1:35pm
ENGL 213 (01): Gay and Lesbian Literature
This class will be a fast-and-furious, fun-and-frightening survey of gay and lesbian literature from the last hundred years or so years, with a strong emphasis on contemporary work. Our readings and discussions will be guided by some prevailing questions: What are the special characteristics, if any, which define the works of gay and lesbian writers? What are the themes and stories which concern these writers? And a final, big question: why do writers write, why do artsits make art?
In the course of the semester, we will come up with multiple answers to those questions, sometimes contradicting each other. Our job will not be to arrive at unassailable truths that pertain to all these writers, but the particular truths that gve each writer a distinct subjectivity. We will some to understand that every writer's story or content has an intrinsic radiance, but more importantly we will hopefully see that what makes an artist an artist are the formal strategies that person employs to honor and describe his or her experiences. The class ultimately has a two-fold purpose: to introduce you to the art of a certain group of people, and to make you inquire critically into the ways that art is constructed. The way to hone your critical thinking will be through close analytical reading of each text--word by word, sentence by sentence, idea by idea. We will have some discussions of a theoretical nature, but a majority of our discussion will be the nuts-and-bolts kind, always keeping an eye on the text at hand.
Instructor: Rick Barot
MW: 1:45-3:30pm
HIST 359: History of Women in the U.S.
Why do we need a class specifically devoted to the experiences of WOMEN in the United States? What elements of the past in the U.S. have been omitted by "mainstream history" and why? Whose version of a historical event becomes the accepted version? What kinds of events are considered "historical" in the first place? Which values and criteria dictate the kinds of topics and questions that historians attempt to address through the collection and assessment of evidence, through debates and discussions with other historians?
In this class, we will return frequently to those questions about the processes of history, as we explore women's experiences in the past. We will ask how “woman” has been defined---how have social forces like racism or homophobia or classism shaped the dominant definitions of “woman” and how have marginalized women resisted or criticized such dominant definitions? We will consider the influences that women's historical activism and dissent have had on our society today—ranging from the many accomplishments of feminisms to persistent problems of sexism. We will use our examinations of women's past experiences to broaden and rearrange our understanding of the boundaries of history, and will simultaneously examine the ways in which alternatives to "mainstream" history emerge and become influential.
Instructor: Beth Kraig
TR: 11:50-1:35pm
PHIL 220: Women and Philosophy
An examination and critique of historically important theories from Western philosophy concerning women's nature and place in society, followed by an examination and critique of the writings of women philosophers, historic and contemporary.
Instructor: Erin McKenna
TR: 5:30-7:30pm
PSYC 375: Psychology of Women
This course will acquaint you with the history and current status of the psychology of women as a distinct area of theory and research. You'll have the opportunity to increase your critical understanding of the subjects through in-class discussion. We'll think critically about materials in terms of quality of psychological research and theory and in terms of the ideology about women that it employs.
Instructor: Dana Anderson
TR: 11:50-1:35pm
RELI 247: Christian Theology: Women, Nature, and the Sacred
This course explores theological perspectives on women's relationships with nature and the Sacred as a means of addressing the present environmental crisis. We will analyze the dynamic interplay between religious beliefs and the status of women around the world, as well as how the development of theology is informed by ecological, economic, and global political factors. We will listen to ecofeminists, deep ecologists, and women of faith working for eco-justice acroos the differences of race, culture, and class. Considering the geographical location of this course, will pay particular attention to the perspectives of native people of the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. and Canada. After revieweing selected ancient and modern creation accounts, we will consider how contemporary science and biblical religion have contributed to the ecological crisis as well as how they purpose solutions. Service learning required.
Instructor: Kathi Breazeale
TR: 3:40-5:25pm
RELI 390: Women in Ancient Mediterranean Religions
In this course, we will study the place of women within the ancient Mediterranean religions through a lose readings of the ancient texts. We will consider the practice of religion in different contexts (e.g. home, temple, public/private) and how the role of women changed in each of these contexts. Issues that we will consider include: the participation and/or leadership of women in ancient religion; the value of virginity; the worship of gods and goddesses; and the reality of gendered space.
Instructor: Agnes Choi
TR: 11:50-1:35pm
Pending WMGS Executive Committee approval
WMGS 201: Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies
This course is designed as an interdisciplinary introduction to the themes, issues, and methodological approaches that are central to the study of women, feminism, gender construction, and sexuality. We will examine the major themes, concepts, and methods used in the social and cultural study of gender in the U.S. and other nations. The course explores the richness and diversity of women's and men's lives and experiences from multicultural and interdisciplinary perspectives with a particular focus on the intersections of gender, sexuality, race, and class.
Instructor: Joanna Gregson
MW: 1:45-3:30pm
WMGS 387: Feminist and Gender Theories
This course covers current theories and methods in feminist and gender thought, including liberalism, Marxism, poststructuralism, postcolonialism, lesbian feminism, and cultural studies. In addition, attention will be paid to the emergence of queer theory and transgender studies. Course materials will foreground intersections of race, class, sexuality, ethnicities, global location, and nationalism so as to emphasize how such theories arise out of identity, association, and opposition. We will also examine the interdisciplinary applications of such theories as well as their relevance to social justice movements and activist work.
Instructor: Jennifer Smith
TR: 1:45-3:30pm