Spring 2004

Women's Studies Spring 2004

Introduction to Women's Studies
WOST 207
Professor Astrid Henry
TR 3:30-4:45

This course will focus on the lives and work of American women, the significance and meaning of gender at different periods in American history, and the development of U.S. feminism and feminist theory.Central to this course will be the ways in which race, ethnicity, sexuality, class, and age and generational location shape women's experiences and the various socio-political meanings of gender in the U.S.This course will be interdisciplinary in its approach, meaning that we will read feminist essays from a wide range of disciplines, including cultural studies, economics, history, philosophy, political theory, psychology, and sociology.Gen Ed.

Feminist Thinking and Practice in the Middle East and North Africa
WOST 290
Professor Isis Nusair
MW 11:00-12:15

The course will investigate contemporary feminist thinking and practice in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It will provide students with the ability to understand, critique, and comparatively analyze the politics of gender in the MENA region. The class will cover current debates on women's rights, and closely examine the processes by which the private/public lives of women are gendered. It will address women's visibility in society and the development or lack thereof of women's and feminist movements. The main issues covered in the course include colonization, women and the state, nationalism, religion, sexuality, representation, development, militarization, human rights, and women's movements. The course will focus on the following countries: Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Tunisia. The class is interdisciplinary and will use feminist pedagogy to challenge orientalist, monolithic, and Eurocentric notions in studying the region and particularly the status of women. It will give equal weight to theory and practice, and will draw on writings by local and global activists and theorists.THEORY

Women and War
WOST 390
Professor Isis Nusair
MW 3:00-4:45

This course aims to make feminist sense of contemporary wars and conflicts. It will trace the intersections between gender, race, class, and ethnicity in national conflicts. The class will analyze the gendered processes of defining citizenship, national identity and security. It will examine the role of institutions like the military in the construction of femininity and masculinity. The course will focus on the gendered impact of war and conflict through examining issues like torture, mass rape, genocide, and refugee displacement. It will analyze the strategies used by women's and feminist movements to oppose war and conflict, and the gendered impact of war prevention and post-war reconstruction and peacekeeping. The class will focus on the following countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Former Yugoslavia, Guatemala, India, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the USA. The class is interdisciplinary and will give equal weight to theory and practice while drawing on writings by local and global activists and theorists.THEORY

Independent Study
WOST 497

Susan Alexander, Laura Haigwood, and Astrid Henry are among the Women's Studies faculty willing to direct independent study projects. Students interested should speak first to the Women's Studies faculty member who will guide the project, then contact Professor Henry to formalize the proposal and ensure proper registration.

Internship
WOST 499

Practical off-campus experience in a Women's Studies related field at an approved site.Jointly supervised by a faculty member and a representative from the sponsoring agency. Open to junior or senior Women's Studies majors or minor who have taken at least two Women's Studies courses. Must be approved by Professor Henry. Graded S/U. May be repeated for up to three hours. A reflection paper appropriate to the nature of the internship will be required.

Women in Business Leadership
BUAD 390
Professor Jack Ruhe
TR 11:00-12:15

This course is designed to take advantage of recent research and writing that suggests the skills and values of women leaders critical for restoring trust in our institutions.We will focus on both the scholarly and practical orientation of women in leadership, and will develop skills such as teamwork and trust-building

History & Criticism of Public Address
COMM 302
Section 01:Professor John Pauley
MWF 11:00-11:50
Section 02:Professor Michael Kramer
MWF 11:00-11:50

This course focuses on the principles of public communication. These concepts are illustrated by examining the communicative acts of others. Particular attention is given to the public speaking of women and challenges or obstacles women face in the arena of public communication.

Family Communication
COMM 490
Professor Kamiko Akita
TR 11:00-12:15

Family communication examines everyday interactions in families and focuses on how such interactions shape a family's communication patterns, identity, culture, and life. The fundamental communication instruments we use to live our lives are shaped within the family, and we then apply them to other interactive (communicative) situations (i.e., communication with friends and strangers, organizational communication, cross-cultural communication, intergenerational communication, etc.).This course will take theoretical approach as well as practical approach.We will study various social interaction theories first.We will apply the theories to study and analyze various relational situations that take place in families.During the process, we will learn the complexity and the difficulty of family communication management.Since gender plays a significant role in family relationships, we will also study the role of gender such as how gender is taught in a family, expected roles and responsibilities depending on gender, differences between fathering and mothering, feminist perspectives on women in the family, etc.

Women of Genius
ENLT 203, section 02
Professor Tom Bonnell
MWF 11:00-11:50

At the turn of the last century talented women of every description were fighting to have a voice ­ in politics, in society, in marriage; over their education, their bodies, and their economic destiny.How that struggle found its way into the fiction and drama of the era (roughly 1880 to 1920) is the focus of this course.A recurring motif is the woman of natural abilities ­ the woman with a "genius" for this or that calling ­ who attempts, against steep odds, to win a public audience for her talents, whether fromthe lectern, the stage, the pulpit, or print.Requirements: two papers, two exams.Texts will include The Bostonians, A Saloonkeeper's Daughter, The Awakening, Sister Carrie, A Man's World, House of Mirth, and A Woman of Genius.

Chicana Literature:Rebellion and Power in Contemporary Chicana Poetry
ENLT 293
Professor Maria Meléndez
MWF 2:00-2:50

How, when, and to what end do Chicana poets employ rebellion against traditional poetics, power structures, religious doctrine, social norms, etc.?What types of power are embodied and/or portrayed in their poems?As indicated in the poems themselves, what are the sources of this power and who has access to those sources?What are the possible relationships between women's acts of rebellion and women's power in these poems?These questions will guide the work of this class.Texts will include Sandra Cisneros, Loose Woman; Valerie Martinez, Absence, Luminescent; Carolina Monsivais, Somewhere Between Houston and El Paso: Testimonies of a Poet; Pat Mora, Agua Santa, Aunt Carmen's Book of Practical Saints, Chants and Nepantla; Michelle Serros, Chicana Falsa; Emmy Perez, Solstice.Requirements: 2 papers or 1 paper and 1 creative project, thoughtful writing in a Process Journal, in-class presentations, and memorization of 2-3 poems.

Feminist Memoirs
ENLT 331
Professor Astrid Henry
TR 11:00-12:15

The last decade has seen the memoir become one of the most popular forms of critical non-fiction.Memoir writing, however, is never just a reporting of facts, never history recorded as it really was.Rather, it always involves deliberate decisions regarding what aspects of one's life will be revealed, what will be emphasized or ignored, and ultimately, what story of the self will be told.In this course, we will read a wide range of memoirs by feminist writers in order to critically analyze the memoir as a literary form.Central to our course will be the ways in which feminist writers have used memoir writing to describe both personal and political experiences and to theorize from these experiences.As such, our course will be centered on the feminist notion that "the personal is political" and that personal experience can be the basis for feminist analysis.We will explore how feminist writers have used memoir to develop feminist theory and how memoirs function as theoretical texts.In addition to selected critical essays on memoir and autobiography, we will read recent memoirs by feminist writers such as Jane Gallop, bell hooks, Jane Lazarre, Shirley Geok-Lin Lim, Audre Lorde, and others.THEORY

20th Century African-American Women's Literature
ENLT 365
Professor Kim Orlinjan
TR 12:30-1:45

In this course, we will explore the ways in which issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality intersect in 20th Century African American women's literature.We will ask questions such as:What do African American women have to say about how they experience 'race' in the United States?What roles do public and private histories have in African American women's critique of racism or sexism?In what ways do historical moments/periods such as the Harlem Renaissance impact the writings of these women?How do the texts grapple with notions of individual and communal identity?Can we trace a trajectory in this literature?How do these texts articulate a Black feminism?What do they have to say about more general notions of feminism?We will read novels, poetry, memoirs, drama, essays, and music.The authors we will consider include Nella Larsen, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Paule Marshall, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, Lorraine Hansberry, Audre Lorde, Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni, June Jordan, Lucille Clifton, Rita Dove, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Macy Gray, and Lauryn Hill.

Women and Film
ENLT 367
Professor Mary Kate Goodwin-Kelly
T 6:00- 8:30

What's the relationship between women film directors and female representation?Does the gender of the film spectator affect the way she or he makes sense of images on screen? What textual and social significance has Hollywood historically imposed on female characters such as the African-American mammy, the "tragic mulatto" and the "working" mother?What does it mean for female characters to "behave like men"?In this course, we will engage these questions and many more as we examine a wide range of U.S.-produced mainstream and "independent" films.Through film screenings, readings, class discussions and writing, students will develop the skills to critically analyze both film texts and the cultures in which they are produced and consumed.THEORY

Radical Women Writers
ENLT 373
Professor Linn Vacca
TR 2:00-3:15

This class features close reading of a half-dozen or so texts by radical women writers, with an emphasis on their writing itself as a radical act.We will read essays by Adrienne Rich, Colette's The Pure and the Impure plus other selections by and about her, Monique Wittig's Les Guerillieres, Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa and excerpts from Judith Thurman's biography of Dinesen, selections from the often opaque writings of Gertrude Stein, and the remarkable modern autobiographical fiction Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg.Although none of the authors led a particularly conventional life personally, our focus in this class will be on examining how their prose itself challenges established literary conventions (and also, of course, social conventions).

Experience of Women in American History
HIST 324
Professor Carol Meaney
MWF 12:00-12:50

A study of the significance of women in American history from the colonial period to the present. While sufficient attention will be given to notable individuals and feminist movements, major emphasis will be placed on the continuous importance of women in all aspects of American life: social, economic, cultural and political.

Quest for Human Rights
JUST 301
Professor Marianne Farina
MW 3:30-4:45

This course will provide the students with an overview to the historical, theoretical and practical underpinnings that have shaped and continue to shape the development of human rights in both domestic and international arenas. We will discuss the origin of the human rights concept and how these ideas have been crafted into international declarations, domestic law and policies that enforce and monitor the human rights record of global, national and local communities. The class will also explore specific human rights issues concerning women, children, immigrants, refugees, the environment and other topics.

Women's Health
NURS 222
Professor Ella Harmeyer
MW 3:00-4:15

This class is designed to explore the concept of health and its significance for women. Discusses the physical, emotional, social, and cultural factors that affect the health of women. Health promotion and healthy lifestyle choices are a strong focus. Women's responsibilities and leadership in health awareness are emphasized.Non-nursing majors

Women, Knowledge, and Persons
PHIL 243
Professor Amanda Walker
MWF 10:00-10:50

This course examines the relationship between practices of knowing and the intersectional differences of race, class, and gender.Through an examination of central themes in feminist epistemology, we will consider the ways in which feminist scholars have critiqued Western philosophical claims about knowledge and knowers as well as the ways in which feminist philosophers have spun new and critical understandings of how differences play into learning and knowledge claims.We will closely consider feminist rewritings of the mind/body dualism, the significance of reason and emotion to epistemological concerns, and other questions central to epistemological methodologies.Additionally, this course will introduce students to practices and theories developed within recent feminist epistemologies that stretch the vocabulary and contexts of this philosophical field.These practices and theories include the notions of code-switching, knowing praxis, traveling, border thinking, and embodied positioning.THEORY

Performing Identity
PHIL 390
Professor Amanda Walker
W 5:00-8:00

In this course, we will examine a number of philosophical and theoretical texts that discuss the relationship between various modes of representation (language, popular media, film, etc.) and identity.Central to this examination will be a consideration of the ways in which gendered, raced, and classed identities are performed differently across diverse cultural contexts.The readings from this class will come from a number of scholarly fields, including feminist theory, critical race theory, and queer theory."Performing Identity" should be of special interest to students with a major or minor in Women's Studies, Philosophy, Psychology, English, or Communication Studies and any student interested in thinking through the intersections of race and gender.The first half to two-thirds of this course will be organized around an engagement with writings by Judith Butler, namely her texts Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity and Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex.Within this concentration we will look closely at philosophical texts and feminist theories that Butler draws upon in order to claim that gender is a performative identity.In working through Butler's often complex writings, we will watch and consider a number of films and other visual clips that help to expose Butler's notion of gender performativity. Furthermore, students will also learn key vocabulary from psychoanalytical theories and existential philosophies.During the second half of the course, we will consider a number of writings by women of color feminists and lesbian theorists who critique and/or limit the scope of gender performativity.In this section of the course, we will focus on readings which will examine whether or not raced identities can or should be thought of as performative.Throughout the course, we will pay close attention to writings by African-American, Asian-American, Latina, Chicana, and Native American feminist scholars in order to think about the social construction of gender across cultural lines.THEORY

Psychology of Women
PSYC 402
Professor Catherine Pittman
TR 9:30-10:45

An advanced discussion/seminar course which examines the expereince of women from various psychological perspectives. We will consider biological, intrapersonal, interpersonal, social, cultural and cognitive factors as they relate to gender.Students will reflect on and discuss the material from an analytical point of view in addition to a personal point of view emphasizing personal values and subjective experience. Evaluation will be based on one paper, journal exercises, taking action exercise, and two essay examinations.Prereq:Psyc 156 and junior status.THEORY

Marriage and the Family
SOC 257
Professor Mary Ann Kanieski

Sec 01:MWF 9:00-9:50
Sec 02:MWF 10:00-10:50

In this course, we will consider the various forms of families and their relationships to their social environments.For example, we will examine historical trends, economic pressures, and the impact of public policies.We will also consider life within families as we examine gender, childrearing, household labor, divorce, and family violence.Finally, we will always examine the ways in which family life varies because of cultural differences, class position, race, and sexualities.

Social Construction of Gender
SOC 390
Professor Susan Alexander
TR 2:00-3:15

This course begins with the assumption that gender is social constructed rather than determined by biology. As a social construct, the meaning given to particular gender categories (e.g. feminine or masculine) is dependent upon the social, historical, political, and cultural context. Individually, we are socialized into patterns of gendered behavior that are shaped by the social structure of a given society. Over the semester, students will deconstruct the ways in which the social constructs of "femininity" and "masculinity" shape the experiences of women and men in American society and culture.THEORY