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. We will also address the ways in which women have resisted inequality and effected social and political change. 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.
Feminism Meets Popular Culture
WOST 390
Professor Astrid Henry
TR 11:00-12:15
Since the beginning of the U.S. women's movement in the nineteenth century, feminism and feminists have been represented in popular culture. In this course we will study two distinct but connected aspects of the "meeting" between feminism and popular culture: (1) the ways in which feminism, feminists, and feminist movements have been represented (sometimes quite negatively) in popular media forms, such as mainstream news and magazine journalism, television shows, and films and (2) the ways in which feminists have used popular culture to "talk back" to the culture and offer a feminist critique of both society and the media. Our course will follow a chronological history of the intersection between feminism and popular culture in the United States since World War II, examining the changing representation of feminism and feminists in popular culture and the ongoing engagement by feminist activists and scholars with popular culture. We will explore the ways in which popular culture has helped to transmit feminist ideals, as well as the ways in which popular culture has expressed anxiety about the social and political changes brought by feminist movements. In addition to critical essays that address these issues, students will also study films, television programs, music and music videos, advertising, websites, women's magazines, and mainstream journalism about feminism and feminist movements. We will read Patricia Bradley's Mass Media and the Shaping of American Feminism, 1963-1975 (2003); Susan Douglas's Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media (1994); and Joanne Hollows's Feminism, Femininity and Popular Culture (2000). We will also watch mainstream television programs, such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Sex and the City , and Hollywood films, such as The Stepford Wives and Waiting to Exhale , as well as independent media by feminist filmmakers that take on the issues of female and feminist self-representation. Assignments will include an oral presentation in class, three short papers, and a final writing project. Prerequisite: WOST 207 or permission of instructor. THEORY
Independent Study
WOST 497
Susan Alexander, Ann Clark, 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.
Anthropology of Women
ANTH 346
Professor Catherine Shoupe
TR 3:30-4:45
This class takes a global cross-cultural and comparative perspective on gender. We will examine some of the social, economic, political, and religious or ideological factors that affect the status of women and the relationships that exist among women and between
women and men. Texts will include four or five ethnographies that interpret women's experiences in diverse societies around the world. Some texts that have been used previously include Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman (Namibia); Women of Deh Koh (Iran); Papago Women (Native North America); All Our Kin (African American); Nazare: Women and Men in a Portugese Fishing Village (Portugal); and Nan: The Life of an Irish Travelling Woman (Ireland). A variety of theoretical orientations will be employed to analyze key issues such as marriage practices and family structure, social organization and kinship, political leadership and decision-making, economics and exchange, and ritual and religious belief and practices. Assessment will consist of tests, in class writing, and papers. Each student will be expected to write a research paper and given an oral presentation on a topic and a culture of her choosing that demonstrates her engagement with the subject matter of the class and extends her knowledge about women experiences in another cultural paradigm.
Gender and Race Issues in Management
BUAD 329
Ujvala Rajadhyaksha
MWF 9:00-9:50
This course explores the dynamics of race and gender in organizations. Attention is given to the concepts of institutional racism and sexism, socialization processes, cultural stereotypes, role theories, conflicts and stress, dual career marriages, and implications of organizational expectations on the individual. Open to non-business majors. Prerequisite: BUAD 221 or permission of instructor.
History & Criticism of Public Address
COMM 302
Professor John Pauley
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.
Chicana Literature
ENWR 293
Professor Maria Meléndez
TR 9:30-10:45
This course will challenge students to become more dynamic readers through hands-on experience with imitative writing, performance adaptation, and feminist literary analysis. Our primary texts will be works of memoir, fiction, and poetry by contemporary Chicana (Mexican-American) authors. Through exploration and interrogation of both the texts and their contexts, we'll engage some of the many ways the literary arts draw from, and extend, the "known world.
Women Coming of Age: The Female Bildungsroman
ENWR 373
Professor Laura Haigwood
MW 11:00-12:15
"Bildungsroman" is a German word meaning "novel of education," and critics have identified the female bildungsroman as an important sub-genre. This course will focus on a diverse range of novels of "education," in the broadest sense, whose central characters are typically women in their late teens and early twenties, just "coming of age." Throughout the course we will discuss such questions as: What common plots and patterns do these novels share? What educational issues or challenges specific to women do our heroines share across historical periods and social classes? What is the relationship between the knowledge women gain in school and their "real world" education outside of or after formal training? What motivates women to take control of their own educations? And how do they respond to forbidden knowledge, to the discovery of lies and secrets? In addition to research and analytic writing, this course will allow opportunities for students to reflect on their own educations, both formal and informal.
Feminism Meets Popular Culture
ENLT 390
Professor Astrid Henry
TR 11:00-12:15
See description for WOST 390 above. Course offered as both WOST 390 and ENLT 390.
Experience of Women in American History
HIST 324
Professor Kelly Hamilton
TR 2:00-3:15
Our major goal in this course will be to explore the historical experiences of women in the United States from a multicultural perspective. Categories of race, gender and class will be investigated as complementary and interconnected aspects of the identities of North American women. Another goal of this course will be to develop your thinking skills so that you can master a variety of historical tasks. By the end of the course you should be able to understand the methodologies and vocabulary of women's history. You will have analyzed primary source documents pertaining to women in light of the frameworks women's historians have developed to understand the complex relations among race, class, religion, and gender. This will enable you to understand how historians analyze gender and race as cultural systems that position men and women differently in relation to social power. In the course of investigating your own heritage, you will come to understand some of the ways ideas concerning gender and race have changed in response to economic, social, political and cultural forces.
Non-Western Women's History
HIST 390
Professor Edith Miguda
MW 3:00-4:15
The course explores diverse themes in the history of women of the global south including Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, across different historical periods in the twentieth century. Selected topics in the course will examine non-Western women's experiences in the past and analyze their contemporary situations at both national and global levels. We will explore case studies, study various countries and regions, and investigate the social, political, and economic underpinnings that have shaped the history of women in non-Western cultures and the agency of women from the global south in various historical periods. The course will explore how colonialism, imperialism, and globalization of the world's economy and information exchange have contributed to the production of women of the global south as different across different historical periods. We will explore and critique various dualisms: such as, self and other, civilized and primitive, developed and developing, east and west, south and north, traditional and modern. Themes to be discussed will include class, race, and gender in the 20 th century, women under colonialism and colonial resistance, women and nationalism, woman and the economy, women and religion, and non-western women in the international/global women's movement.
Women's Health
NURS 222
Professor Ella Harmeyer
TR 2:00-3:15
This class is designed to explore the concept of health and its significance for women. We will discuss the physical, emotional, social, and cultural factors that affect the health of women. Health promotion and healthy lifestyle choices are also a strong focus, along with women's responsibilities and leadership in health awareness. Non-nursing majors
Feminist Epistemology
PHIL 341
Professor Ann Clark
TR 12:30-1:45
What can women know? All of us have grown up in cultures in which representations of women knowing are shaped by the presuppositions which our cultures have about gender. Are any of these representations true? Is any knowing gender neutral? If not, why should I care about the things you know? If so, then how does the person knowing affect what she knows? What kinds of difficulties occur in attempts to know across cultural differences? Is knowledge only possible if I stick to my own neighborhood? The disparate answers to these questions have had an enormous effect on all areas of human life. In this course we will begin with selections from three Western philosophers whose thought still shapes views of gender and knowledge in the U. S.--Plato, Descartes and Kant. Feminist analyses will reveal the consequences when we think of Plato's cave as a womb, Descartes' "I" as an all seeing eye, and Kant's ego as xenophobic. We will then turn to second wave feminists' writing about knowledge, race, class and community including essays by Audre Lorde, Naomi Zack, Sandra Harding, Nancy Hartsock, Donna Harraway, Gloria Anzaldua and Vandana Shiva. In the last third of the course we will turn to the writing of contemporary feminists who are trying to construct positive alternatives to second wave critiques. These include discussions of knowledge through the body, knowledge through nature, knowledge across cultural borders, and the interactions between gender identities and knowing. We will read selections from Singing in the Fire: Stories of Women in Philosopy, ed. Linda Alcoff; The Sex of Knowing, by Michelle LeDoeff, What Her Body Thought by Susan Griffin, Ecofeminism as Politics by Ariel Sallah , The Book of Jessica by Linda Griffiths and Maria Campbell , The Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver and selections from Sarah Hoagland. The course will end with a small but elegant piece of feminist philosophical creativity: a book called Repair by Elizabeth Spellman. Active participation in discussion is required. Assignments will include three short papers and a final writing project. THEORY
Psychology of Adult Development
PSYC 302
Professor Rebecca Stoddart
TR 2:00-3:15
This is a seminar course that focuses on personality development from late adolescence through old age. Emphasis is placed on the changing personal growth issues which the developing adult faces. The course follows Erikson's stages, and includes the following topics: identity development, Jung's individuation theory of adult personality development, midlife crises, intergenerational relationships, and an examination of similarities and differences in men's and women's development. Prerequisite: Psyc 156 and 301 or permission of the instructor.
Psychology of Women
PSYC 402
Professor Gigi Awad
MW 11:00-12:15
Psychology of Women is the study of women's experiences, issues, and behavior in the context of psychological theory and research. This class integrates many subdisciplines of psychology, including physiological, personality, developmental, social, abnormal, and applied psychology. This course will explore a variety of topics relevant to the psychology of women, including for example, theories of women's personality, gender socialization, sex differences, victimization, oppression, and motherhood. We will also discuss the ways that socioeconomic status, culture, ethnicity, and sexual orientation impact the psychology of women. THEORY
Marriage and the Family
SOC 257
Professor Henry Borne
Sec 01: MW 4:00-5:15
In this course, we will be studying marriages and families from a sociological perspective using a family life cycle, longitudinal approach. Focus will be given to such issues as mate selection, love, and communication and problem-solving patterns between partners. 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. Consideration will be given to cultural and social class variations in family structures and processes.
Professor Carrie Erlin
Sec 02: TR 9:30-10:45
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 gender, cultural differences, class position, race, and sexualities. This course in the sociology of the family has two primary purposes, one being to introduce the student to the scientific study of the family: theoretical approaches, current research, and variations in the family over time. However, because the family is a social institution and a set of relationships in which almost everyone participates, a second purpose of the course is to provide a realistic appraisal of marriage and family in American society for the student in her personal life, considering her own values, expectations, and goals. Some of the topics to be covered include: the American family and social change; gender roles; the development and expression of sexuality; premarital relationships; marriage and divorce; parenthood and childhood; family interaction - the quality and style of relationships within the family; societal, class, and ethnic variations in family life; communes, singles and single parenthood, homosexuality, and differences in family choices; and the future of marriage and the family.
