Introduction to Women's Studies
WOST 207
Professor Astrid Henry
Monday-Friday 1:00-4:00
This course will introduce students to key topics, concepts, approaches, and problems in Women's Studies as the field has developed over the past 40 years in the United States. We will focus on the lives, work, and beliefs of women in the United States but will adopt comparative and transnational perspectives at certain points. As part of the course, we will investigate the significance and meanings of gender at different periods in U.S. history and will explore the development of feminism and feminist theory. The ways in which race, ethnicity, sexuality, class, and age shape experience, culture, ideology, and politics will be central areas of
inquiry. We will also address the means through 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.
Sexuality, Intimacy, and Relationships Across the Lifespan
SW 341
Professor JoAnn Burke
Monday-Friday 6:00-9:00
This course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to examine human sexuality and intimacy within a lifespan, relational context. Students will address these topics through knowledge of the biological, social, spiritual, and psychological aspects of relationships, sexuality, and intimacy. We will also explore
populations-at-risk–namely, those who are experiencing issues with intimacy, sexuality, and relationships. Perspectives from feminist literature will be used to strengthen the analysis. Psychosocial issues are emphasized.
Family Violence and Sexual Abuse Issues
SW 370
Professor Fran Kominkiewicz
Monday-Friday 9:00-12:00
This course introduces students to issues of family violence and sexual abuse across the lifespan. We will examine different types of family violence and sexual abuse, including domestic violence, international violence against women, courtship violence and date rape, sexual assault, cultural issues related to abuse, school violence and abuse, child physical abuse, child sexual abuse, abuse against parents, elder abuse, sexual harassment, and abuse among vulnerable populations. Ethics and values, as well as criminal justice issues regarding family violence and sexual abuse, are emphasized. The history, policy, effects, and practice
regarding family violence and sexual abuse will also be examined. Students will visit agencies working with abuse and will have the opportunity to interact with local experts in the field. Prerequisite: SW 202, SW 235, Psyc156, or permission of instructor.
Contemporary Women's Drama
THTR 378
Professor Katie Sullivan
Monday-Friday 9:00-12:00
This course, a literary seminar open to any student, will begin with examining the vacuum left by Wendy Wasserstein's premature death in 2006. Who is going to step in and fill her place now, as one of the very few women playwrights to make a career writing for Broadway and Off-Broadway. Who are the American playwrights standing ready, poised on the horizon? What are women in theatre writing about now, as we have moved out of the twentieth century? What forces combine to keep them from joining this highest echalon? With Anna Deavere Smith, Paula Vogel and Eve Ensler leading us from the 1990s to current times, we will also be looking at the work of Rebecca Gilman, Diana Son, Suzan-Lori Parks, Lisa Loomer, Lisa Kron and Tracy Scott Wilson. American women of color are well represented both among the selected authors and the characters who fill these plays. The structure of the course relies heavily on group discussion regarding characterization, theme, language, symbolism, and personal relevance regarding each play. Evaluation is derived from quizzes on the play content, two essay exams and one analytical paper.
