Course Descriptions
Undergraduate Courses
Women in the Classical World; CLST 295/WSGS 295
This course will investigate the social roles available to women in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds, together with beliefs, behaviors, and cultural expressions supporting ancient Greek and Roman constructions of womanhood. How did a woman's gender affect the shape of her life and the possibilities open to her? How did she respond? How did thinking about women, and women's lives and responses, change in relationship to other changes and differences in ancient Greek and Roman societies? Ancient texts (read in translation) and visual representations provide material for study. By analyzing the complex interactions of different forces shaping ancient Greek and Roman women's lives, students will build understanding of how biology, gender, class, culture, philosophy, politics, history, and economics articulate social difference and influence human behavior, including self-formation and interaction with others.
Classical Tragedy, CLST 273/WSGS 297
This Core Literature course surveys some of the masterworks of classical Athens' stage -which form a still-living basis of modern Western drama- with a particular focus on concerns of gender and women's history. How do plays written for competition in civic festivals, for a community that identified the capacity for full civic participation as men's, not women's, deal with figures of women? What capacity for action and choice do women in classical tragedy enjoy, in comparison with men and in relationship to men? How are women's actions and choices evaluated? Our primary material will be translated texts of ancient tragedies; we will also assess selected pieces of modern feminist criticism of classical tragedy and the world for which it was initially written and performed. Discussion, research and writing, and our own experiments in performance, will help us to see through the female figures on the ancient stage to transcendent concerns like women's part in justice, human dignity, the civic community, and the cosmic order to which the dramatic festival-competitions paid tribute.
Domestic Violence; CRMJ 373/WSGS 392
In this class, you will be acquainted with two major perspectives on domestic violence: family violence and feminist theory. These perspectives are used to discuss the prevalence of domestic violence against men and women as well as the origins of domestic violence. The course focuses primarily on responses to intimate violence between couples with an emphasis on men's violence toward women, though lesbian and gay violence as well as the effects on children will be covered. This course examines how victims, criminal justice professionals, health professionals, and legislators make decisions about how to handle the violence. The lectures, discussions, and readings are intended to provide a critical analysis of responses to domestic violence by health providers, the public, criminal justice professionals and legislators. Students will be acquainted with the complex situational and personal considerations surrounding battered women's decisions to leave or stay with an abusive partner. The class also examines ethnic and cultural variation in the responses to and definitions of domestic violence across the world.
Women in Literature; ENGL 283/WSGS 283
The problem and question of representation has long been a source of critical discussion in both feminism and literature. This course will engage in that discussion by not only examining and analyzing representations of women in a variety of time periods, but also re-presentations of women in more contemporary literature and film. The literature in this class will focus on visions and revisions of women, and why there seems to be a “remixing” trend in contemporary novels about women. Fiction will include, but not be limited to, Austen’s Jane Eyre, Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea, Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, Cunningham’s The Hours, and Atwood’s The Robber Bride. Students will also be reading some of the criticism surrounding these texts, as well as criticism that focuses on the more general issues of feminism that are exhibited in the literature of the course. Course assignments will include three essays, oral presentations, quizzes throughout the term, and a final exam. Participation will also be a factor in the determination of the final grade.
Women in Renaissance and Baroque Art; FNAR 360/WSGS 359
This course deals with issues related to women, art, and society in early modern Europe (15th-17th centuries). Visual culture serves as the lens through which to examine attitudes about gender and the role of women in Renaissance and Baroque culture and society. The course includes a study of women as subject matter, viewers, producers, and patrons of art. A multi-disciplinary approach is employed to explore how gender as a social, political, and psychological category was reflected in visual culture as well as how art constructed and reinforced gender concepts. The course illuminates the historical basis of gender attitudes as well as provides new perspectives on art.
Women, Art, and Society; FNAR 207/WSGS 207
This course is an examination of women artists in Western culture and the societies in which they worked from the medieval period to the present. Women’s artistic production, factors that affected their participation in the art world, the styles and subject matter they embraced, and their relation to artistic trends of their eras are explored within the context of social attitudes about gender.
Women’s Theatre Workshop THTR 395/WSGS 395
This course is an introduction to feminist theories of dramatic criticism and theatrical performance practice. We will begin with an introduction to trends in feminist theatre criticism and practice, followed by a historical survey of texts by female playwrights. The survey will include Hrosvitha, Aphra Behn, Susan Glaspell, Lillian Hellman, Lorraine Hansberry, Caryl Churchill, Maria Irene Fornes, Pam Gems, Anna Deveare Smith, Karen Finlay, Sarah Kane, and Susan Lori-Parks. We will cover the relationship between feminist theories of representation and other revisionist theories addressing racial, ethnic, cultural and political constructs. The second half of the semester will be devoted to active application of theories and performance forms covered in the introduction. Students will create an original performance piece applying one or more of the principles covered to their own creative practice. The final for this class will be a first draft of an original dramatic piece. Final projects may include dramatic texts exploring feminist forms, one-person shows, literary adaptations, and documentary exercises. There are no prerequisites for this course. Men and women are equally encouraged to enroll.
Italian and Italian American Women Writers; LITR 280/WSGS 297
A comparative study of 20th century Italian and Italian women writers from different periods and geographic areas. We will begin with a pair of writers from the early 20th century, one Italian and one Italian American; two writers from the 2nd World War to the post-war period; and two writers from the close of the century.
Russian and Eurasian Women Since 1800; HIST 300/WSGS 297
This course examines the experiences of women from different backgrounds in the Russian empire, in the USSR, and in the fifteen republics that now comprise the region. Readings cover topics such as work, family, education, revolutionary activity, leadership, and artistic endeavors among a wide range of social groups. Students complete a substantial essay as part of the course requirements.
U.S. History: Rebels/Reformers; HIST 381/WSGS 303
This course examines the history of social reform movements in the United States from the antebellum period to the 1960s, with particular focus on abolitionism, women's suffrage, populism, peace activism, and the quest for racial equality. Among the topics to be studied are the origins of reform movements, their ideologies and leaders, their supporters and opponents, the strengths and weaknesses of their methods, and their results.
History of U.S. Sexuality; HIST 392/WSGS 320
This course provides a historical introduction to sexual behaviors and attitudes in the United States from the colonial period to the present. The primary emphasis concerns the impact of social and political change on sexual norms and behavior. Particular attention is paid to changing standards of sexual morality and their effect upon the structure and organization of the American family and physical intimacy over the past three and one-half centuries. As the American population and its institutions changed, so did the boundaries of sexual behavior and ideology. This course seeks to discover and define those evolving boundaries and thereby better comprehend the ongoing transformation of the family, sexuality and personal identity in the United States. Since sexual behavior, ideas and identity define much of the current political and social landscape of the United States, those issues will be studied in their historical context. The course is chronologically structured and interwoven with topical themes, beginning with the colonial period and ending with contemporary America. The more important topics include changing gender roles and their impact on sexual relationships, courtship and marriage, the evolution of birth control and abortion, the role of medicine and politics in defining appropriate norms and forms of sexuality, the rise of sexology as a scholarly discipline, social communities and subcultures defined by alternative sexual behaviors, and so-called "deviant" forms of sexuality.
French Women Writers; FREN 341/WSGS 280
The course aims to introduce students to French women writers from the Middle Ages to the present. Writers include Christine de Pisan, Marguerite de Navarre, Madame de Lafayette, George Sand, Colette, Simone de Beauvoir, Helene Cixous, Julia Kristeva and Marguerite Duras. Textual analysis and discussion will focus on the important contributions of French women writers to the history of feminist thought. Student writing includes several short essays and a final project in French. The course is taught entirely in French.
Liberalism and Feminism; PHIL 327/WSGS 397
This course will examine the liberal and feminist traditions in contemporary social and political philosophy. We will begin by considering the foundational liberal social contract theory of John Rawls. We will then address the ways that feminists have incorporated and rejected liberal thought within their theories of justice and care. The course will also address radical feminist approaches that question the dominant liberal rights-based framework. We will consider issues such as distributive justice and the family, the gendered basis for care and caregiving, multiculturalism and feminism, and liberal versus radical feminist positions on pornography. Readings for the course will draw from the Anglo-American tradition in philosophy, possibly including works by John Rawls, Susan Moller Okin, Martha Nussbaum, Eva Kittay, Catharine MacKinnon, and Shulamith Firestone.
Women and Politics--A Cross-National Perspective; PLSC 300/WSGS 397
In many countries women hold 30-40% of the major political positions and female heads of state are increasingly common, on the other hand there are countries (such as the United States) where there has never been a female head of state and representation is far lower, barely reaching double digits. Why are women so poorly represented in some countries? And does it matter? We spend time on both of these questions looking at explanations for the considerable variation in women's access to positions of formal political power across countries. The course will consider the determinants of and consequences of women's participation not just in the developed countries, but also in the developing world.
Women and Family Policy; PLSC 300/WSGS 397
Demographers, sociologists, political scientists, lawyers, and policy analysts agree that family and household structure underwent far-reaching change in the course of the 20th century in Western democracies, which, on one hand, resulted in greater family diversity; but, on the other hand, made family a vulnerable unit in today’s society. In this course, we will engage in analytical discussions on what affects family wellbeing and how to design family policies to better serve the needs of contemporary families. The course has a strong comparative component. We will engage in comparative analysis of family policies in Western democracies (Western Europe, US, and Canada); study the changing socio-economic context in these countries; and try to design policy recommendations that could assist families in coping with challenges of today’s world.
Feminist Theory; PLSC 312/WSGS 318
This course provides an overview of the fundamental debates marking feminist theories today. Students will engage in a critical examination of influential works, using theory to understand concrete issues that mobilize concepts of sex, gender, race, and nation. Readings and discussions will focus on a series of themes and issues organized around the following general topics: (1) The role of women in traditional political thought and the emergence of modern feminist theories. (2) Considerations and contestations of identity. (3) A reexamination and a "rethinking" of basic political concepts and relationships and (4) global challenges.
Gender and Sex: Differences & Similarities; PSCY 238/WSGS 238
What are the psychological and behavioral differences between men and women? What is the origin of these gender differences? How do they affect the functioning of men and women in work, relationships, etc.? This class will engage psychological research and theory to examine the influence of gender on the lives of men and women. Both social and biological explanations will be explored. Emphasis will be placed on understanding gender as a social psychological construct. Topics include research reflecting gender and cognitive abilities, psychoanalytic, biological, and social learning theories, stereotypes, emotion, relationships, sexuality, careers, and mental and physical health. Research and theory about diverse populations of women and men will be incorporated. It is expected that all students demonstrate respect for the thoughts and opinions of others. This respect is especially fundamental with regard to the sometimes personally relevant and/or controversial topics that will be covered in this class.
Psychology of Women; PSYC 340/WSGS 340
Students will be exposed to variety of theories and research related to the psychology of women as well as information about critical contemporary social issues that impact women and girls.
Objectives: 1) To become familiar with feminist scholarship, feminist research methods, feminist pedagogy, and feminist therapy. 2) To obtain knowledge about critical contemporary issues and their psychological impact on women and girls. 3) To critically analyze psychological theory with an awareness of gender and power.
Popular Culture & Mass Media; SOCL 123/WSGS 123
Mass Media and Popular Culture examines media and society, examining them within the context of political, economic, cultural forces. We examine media and intersectionality, looking at representations as they portray race, class, gender, and sexuality. Our focus is on deconstructing media, including advertising, with a view to students gaining skills in media 'literacy' and the ability to 'read' between the lines to decipher what is true and what are lies. For example, we examine the Iraq War and analyze the misinformation fed through the mass media to rob the public of its democratic rights to accurate information. Alternative media is also a central area of exploration as our goal is enlightening students and raising global and liberatory awareness.
The Family; SOCL 240/WSGS 242
The purpose of this course is to enable student to see the family within the context of the societies in which they exist. The family is the most important agency of the socialization process. This course examines families in the US and in other societies from the perspectives of: culture, society and its social institutions; the impact of personality and social relationships; the structure and functions of families; and social pathology.
Men, Women and Work; SOCL 240/WSGS 242
The roles of men and women are changing, especially in the workplace. This course explores theories and research on the various ways gender both shapes and is shaped by labor-market experiences. It considers the impact of this evolution in a relational institutional context, including a focus on gender role performance in the workplace and gendered demands imposed by the family structure. Students will examine how workplace organization contributes to gender and other social inequalities. Topics include: men and women at work, inequality in the workplace, work and life balance, and alternative work arrangements. We will look at how the norms of the ideal worker, individualism, and motherhood lead to care, wage and gender gaps.
Inequality in Society; SOCL 250/WSGS 250
An examination of the process and resulting structure by which people become differentiated from one another and arranged in graded strata with varying degrees of wealth, power, and prestige. Emergence and maintenance of social classes, class conflict, social mobility, and changes over time in the system as a whole. Attention will be given to the most influential classical traditions dealing with stratification as well as to modern theories.
Sociology of Sex and Gender; SOCL 271/WSGS 271
The purpose of this class is to develop critical, sociological tools for an analysis of how society is organized around sex and gender, with a specific focus on how gender intersects with race, class and sexuality. In this class, we ask important questions about what gender is, how we become gendered beings, and how our lives are impacted by our genders. We will explore how sociology moves beyond biology in understanding sex and gender, in addition to exploring various social institutions (education, workplace, family, etc.) and how they operate to maintain and/or challenge gender norms. We will place a special emphasis on the media as a location that shapes our understandings of gender, and further, how it can be a location for advocating change. Ultimately, we explore how gender at the micro level is shaped, constrained, enabled, and challenged, in addition to how it is challenging to, macro level structures.
Witchcraft and Power; SOCL 280/WSGS 297
Magic and witchcraft are two of the oldest, most enduring, and widespread religious concepts. In some societies and cultural groups, they are considered mainstream and common practices, in others they are seen as evil or associated with the devil. In this class we will be exploring different time periods and cultures and investigating how groups use and interpret magic and witchcraft. This is a sociology class; therefore, we will be using a sociological framework that focuses on the role of culture and the behavior of people within these cultures. We will be exploring the role of gender, religion, economics, politics and social conflict on witchcraft accusations, as well as modern witchcraft and magic beliefs and practices as New Religious Movements.
Women and Religion; THEO 178/WOST 278
This course will explore, in the light of both eastern and western religious traditions, the nature of women's religious experiences, the ways in which women have been perceived and described in the major religious traditions, and the ways in which women have functioned as significant religious figures. It will also explore the connections between cultural assumptions and attitudes toward and beliefs about women.
Gender and Values; THEO 192/WSGS 281
Courses in Moral Problems, Christian Life and Practice will critically examine one or more areas of moral concern from the viewpoint of Christian ethics. This course will focus on the relationship between expressions of moral issues and constructions of gender. This course will examine the critique and contributions of contemporary scholarship, exploring the ways in which values and value statements are associated with gender. The contextual segment of this course will examine gender and moral issues associated with women in the United States military. We will discuss issues such as gendered contributions to military ethics; rape and sexual harassment in military training and military service; heteronormality as an institutional construction in the military; and the moral values expressed in contemporary institutional expressions of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Throughout this course we will reflect on Christian theological constructions and questions brought to the fore by these contextually expressed moral issues. We will discuss and explore the relationship between values and culture as well as the significance of multifaceted expressions of moral judgments.
Women, Gender and Embodiment in Islam; THEO 365/WSGS 265
This course will consider women and gender roles in Islam as articulated in normative religious and legal systems and as embodied during various historical periods in a range of Muslim societies. In addition to reading a number of the most important academic studies in this field, we will consider anthropological and cultural materials including films and short stories that disclose Muslim practices and concepts of masculinity, femininity and gender relations. The role of women in Islam has been a source of perplexity and criticism in the eyes of the West. We will critically consider some current Western views of Muslim women as victims before reading translated Islamic texts on gender and examiningl evidence about women’s religious and social activities throughout Islamic history. These works include the Qur’an, legal texts, and biographies of women warriors, political leaders, religious scholars and Sufi mystics. Muslim apologists and feminists have used such materials in varying ways. In terms of examining embodiment in Islam, attitudes toward the body - involving sexuality, purity, segregation and seclusion - will be viewed in a comparative context. Finally, we look at Muslim women’s participation in contemporary religious and political movements worldwide, including in the West.
Issues in Feminism; WSGS 201
This course is designed to introduce you to ways in which gender can be understood as a social construction and the possible results of that construction. At the end of this course, you will have a better understanding of feminist theory and feminism as a socio-political perspective on social change. You will be more attuned to what it means to be male or female in society. No less importantly, you will be equipped with concepts and skills that will enable you to appreciate the capacities and contributions of both women and men. This particular section of WSGS 201 employs narrative and documentary film to explore these feminist issues. Films and film excerpts are used in two ways: first, as illustrations of the issues themselves and, second, as illustrations of how popular culture functions as part of the hegemonic process both in terms of maintaining such social structures as patriarchy but also in terms of challenging them.
Contemporary Feminist and Queer Theory; WSGS 397
This course traces a conflictual genealogy in contemporary feminist thought in the US that finds articulation in critical debates about space, temporality, and affects. The issue of space will be taken up in critiques of institutions (private and public). Our point of departure will be the infamous 1982 “Pleasure and Danger” conference at Barnard College and its twenty-year commemoration at Northwestern University. The first conference was boycotted and nearly shut down by the National Organization of Women because it objected to the conference’s focus on non-normative sexualities. Its sequel, in turn, signaled that queer theory had found legitimate institutional standing. Yet the radical, feminist strain that informed the first conference was, for the most part, conspicuously absent at Northwestern. The temporal assumption here is that Pleasure and Danger not only laid the groundwork for the emergence of queer theory in the early 90s, but in many ways anticipates queer theory’s key positions. These essays by Dorothy Allison, Gayle Rubin, Carol Vance, and Hortense Spillers, among others, boldly imagine alternative modes of being and belonging through trenchant critiques of traditional forms of kinship and intimacy (i.e. association and affects). After establishing the stakes for feminist thought and practice, as outlined by the earlier texts, we will examine recent scholarship by queer theorists (e.g. Lauren Berlant, Sharon Holland, Judith Halberstam) whose lines of inquiry are critically affiliated with a radical, feminist tradition.
Global Perspectives on Radical Women in the mid-20th Century; HIST 300/WSGS 397
This course takes a global approach to the history of feminist activism from the inter-war period to the 1950's. It combines historical and theoretical readings on feminism with autobiographical and fictional writing by publicly radical women from East Asia, South Asia, the Middle-East, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. The course focuses on the unique spaces that emerged in the mid-twentieth century for rethinking ideas of femininity, female subjectivity and women's active participation in various public spheres. On the one hand, we will focus our attention ont he Nation, asking how those designated as "women citizens" both experienced and represented themselves (or resisted such representations) as gendered subjects in relation to this modern political communities. On the other hand, we will turn our attention to women's participation and representations within other types of communities, such as the radical political and aesthetic cultures fostered by international socialist, anti-imperialist, anti-racist, and anti-fascist movements.
Graduate Courses
Feminist Methodologies/Foundations of Women's Studies; WSGS 402
Over recent decades, issues of gender and sexuality have become integral parts of the academic enterprise. This class investigates how ideas about women, gender and sexuality have developed, paying particular attention to how education and knowledge itself have defined gender. Three foundational dimensions of feminist practice studied are consciousness of inequality, critical analysis of structures of inequality and transformation of consciousness and structures from inequality to mutuality. Topics include the history of the exclusion of women from the academy; the exclusion of women's writings from various academic disciplines and canons; the history of women's education; the intellectual history of women's studies as an interdisciplinary force within the academy; and feminist theories, methods and methodology.
Global Feminisms; WSGS 450
WSGS 450 will focus on Asian Feminisms (special emphasis on postcolonial/postmodern/ poststructuralist thought) and incorporate extensive content about China (including Japan, Phillipines), Indian subcontinent, and Muslim Women. The course will also incorporate lectures and discussions on suitability and application of different feminist thought to sub groups of women from across the globe. The focus will be to examine global needs of women and social interventions in a feminist/womanist/identities frame of reference. The course material includes feminist writings, fiction from and about women (primarily Asia); and documentaries, in addition to lectures and presentations.
Sociology of Gender SOCL 426
This course surveys sociological and related scholarship on women and gender relations. The course begins by tracing the emergence of gender analysis in the feminist movement and in the critique of conventional sociology. The focus is on selected texts which take up central and emerging themes, issues, and debates. These may include the social construction of gender identity and sexuality; cultural aspects of gender relations; women's paid and unpaid work and the gendered division of labor; the family, reproduction, and parenthood; race, class, and feminism; gender and poverty; the sociology of masculinity; and sexual violence.
Collaboration among the Healing Professions: Hearts, Hands, and Minds in Chorus IPS 458/WSGS 497
Both medicine and ministry combine art and science, caring and competency. Both share some roots and some common beliefs. Both are, at their best, at the service of human well-being. Current high tech, low touch approaches in our society provide an invitation for medicine, ministry, and other healing professions to find new collaborations in their related services. This course will explore connections and possible collaborations among healing professions in their orientation toward human wholeness. Participants in this course will be expected to read appropriate texts and be present for discussions. They will also be expected to feed back, in a manner of their choosing, discoveries and conclusions relating to one facet of the course of greatest interest or use to them.
Topics in Modern Ireland: Women and Revolution in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries; HIST 425/WSGS 497
By the turn of the twentieth century, a generation of remarkable women recognized that the elevation of women to full citizenship in a democratic future was fundamental to the creation of a new world in old Europe. This course will examine the role of women revolutionaries in the transformation of Ireland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and will compare the role of women in the Irish revolution to that of women in the Russian revolution.
Liberalism and Feminism; PHIL 480/WSGS 497
This course will examine the liberal and feminist traditions in contemporary social and political philosophy. We will begin by considering the foundational liberal social contract theory of John Rawls. We will then address the ways that feminists have incorporated and rejected liberal thought within their theories of justice and care. The course will also address radical feminist approaches that question the dominant liberal rights-based framework. We will consider issues such as distributive justice and the family, the gendered basis for care and caregiving, multiculturalism and feminism, and liberal versus radical feminist positions on pornography. Readings for the course will draw from the Anglo-American tradition in philosophy, possibly including works by John Rawls, Susan Moller Okin, Martha Nussbaum, Eva Kittay, Catharine MacKinnon, and Shulamith Firestone.
Gender and Social Policy; SOCL 520/WSGS 497
In this seminar we will explore the relationship of gender and social policy from a variety of interrelated levels and standpoints. Students will become familiar with key concepts and the developing cross national and comparative analysis of the welfare state and gendered citizenship. Second, we will explore how the differing social, political and economic roles of men and women impacted and were embedded in the development and implementation of social welfare policies. Third, the course will analyze various American social welfare policies and systems with a “gender lens.” Finally, we will explore recent thinking on issues of social policy and sexuality.
Practicum; WSGS 498
This supervised field experience allows students to work with a women's political, cultural or educational organization or project. It gives students an opportunity to learn about public and private sector responses to women's issues and concerns. Prerequisite: One Women's Studies course. Permission of the Women's Studies program director is required. Students interested in this course should see the director as soon as possible.
