Upcoming Courses: Fall 2024
The WGSS Curriculum is divided into categories.
- Feminist and Queer Theories (WGFQ)
- Methods for Knowledge Production (WGKP)
- Gender and Violence (WGGV)
- Transnational Perspectives (WGTP)
- Historical Perspectives (WGHP)
- Free Electives (WGSS)
ANTH 272 Global Women’s Reproductive Health (Nourse) WGTP
MW 3:00-4:15 pm
This is an introductory course to learn about the cultural diversity in women’s reproductive health attitudes, and outcomes, in the sphere of prenatal, birth, and post-natal treatment. Participants in the course will read anthropological research about birth around the globe, and learn discriminatory practices against minoritized women in the USA and beyond. The course requires no prerequisites, but an open mind about alternative practices and ways in which women around the globe circumvent and conquer discrimination while fighting for their right to make their own decisions about how to bring their children into the world.
*ANTH 303 Biopolitics in Medical Anthropology (Sweis) Special Contract WGGV
TR 1:30-2:45 pm
Advanced anthropology course examining the intersections of culture, politics and medicine from a variety of theoretical and scholarly approaches. With a strong emphasis on contemporary states and governments, the readings focus on how biology and politics—or biopolitics—converge in a myriad of ways to shape human experience, past and present. Study of the biopolitics in countries such as Cuba, Egypt, Haiti, South Africa, France, the United States, and more. Topics include: the history and culture of modern western biomedicine; religious perspectives of the body; organ donation and transplantation; sex, gender and reproductive technologies; racialized bodies in medical science; global poverty and infectious disease; ethics and medical humanitarianism; and how big pharmaceutical companies shape our ideas of health and personhood. Prerequisite: Anth 101
ANTH 379 ST: Transnational Feminisms and the Middle East (Sweis) WGTP
TR 3:00-4:15 pm
*CLSC 302 Roman Art and Archaeology (Baughan) Special Contract WGHP
TR 3:00-4:15 pm
FSVP
A survey of Roman art and architecture from the early republic through the late empire, and throughout the Roman world, from Spain to Syria. Explores the meanings of 'style' in Roman art and the social and political significance of Roman sculpture, painting, and architecture.
CLSC 329 The Ancient World in Cinema (Damer) WGHP
MW 10:30-11:45 am & T 6:00-9:30 pm
FSLT
Examines cinematic representations of the ancient Greek and Roman Mediterranean, viewed through a variety of literary and cinematic genres in European and American cinema of the 20th Century. The films offer an opportunity to reflect on how our various modern visions of (and desires for) the ancient world illuminate the present as much as they animate the past. Students will read selections from Greek and Roman history and poetry (in translation) in conjunction with weekly viewings and written assignments; secondary readings will be drawn from contemporary film criticism and theory.
ENGL 230 Women in Modern Literature (Outka) WGSS
MW 10:30-11:45 am; MW 12:00-1:15 pm
FSLT
Modern woman's search for identity and struggle for self-realization through study of selected figures from 19th-, 20th-, and/or 21st century literature.
FYS 100 Art as Political Action (Genoni) WGKP
T 3:00-5:30 pm
HIST 206 African American Women’s History (McCommons) WGHP
MW 9:00-10:15; 10:30-11:45 am
FHST
Through primary and secondary sources, the course will explore the experiences of African American women in the history of the United States as community members, leaders, organizers, and theorists from the fifteenth through the 20th century.
HIST 213 Lawrence V. Texas (Holloway) WGHP
TR 9:00-10:15 am
FHST
Examines the 2003 US Supreme Court decision that found laws criminalizing private consensual sodomy unconstitutional and the impact of historical scholarship in this landmark decision. In addition to an in-depth examination of the case, topics include the history of sodomy laws, origins of the LGBT movement, the Lavender Scare of the 1950s, and the constitutional theories of liberty and privacy that formed the basis for the Courts opinion.
HIST 240 Human Rights in Atlantic World (Watts) WGTP
TR 12:00-1:15 pm
This course examines the Western concept of Human Rights and how it emerged in an era of revolution. Born of philosophical inquiry, political debates, public protests, and mass uprisings, the claims of political and civil rights for marginalized peoples took center stage for newly declared nations in France, America and Haiti. On what basis were rights claimed? Under what means could equality and liberty be guaranteed to all people? This course focuses on the rights of women, Jews, free blacks and enslaved peoples, drawing on case studies to emphasize how radicals disrupted and disputed prejudice and sought (sometimes violent) change.
HIST 306 American Identities (Yellin)WGHP
W 12:00- 2:50 pm
Thematic exploration of historical issues of identity development and construction in the twentieth-century United States, focusing on such questions as: What do historians mean by "identity"? How do they use categories like race, class, and gender to understand the American experience? How have they approached issues of status, power, and individuality?
*LING 203 Introduction to Linguistics (Bonfiglio) Special Contract WGSS
MW 3:00-4:15 pm
FSSA
General, historical and/or descriptive linguistics. Prerequisites: Completion of Communication Skills II-Language requirement.
MUS 134 Songbirds and Sirens (Fillerup) WGSS
MW 10:30-11:45 am
FSHT
Examines how performers, composters, and operatic works shape and reflect cultural attitudes about gender and music. The interdisciplinary nature of opera, which combines text, music, and theatrical performance, will be considered through methodologies developed in music, literary criticism, theater and gender studies. Interplay between operatic characters and the public and private lives of women singers will deepen our engagement with both the artistic works we study and the cultures in which they were first forged.
PLSC 361 The Politics of Social Welfare (Erkulwater) WGSS
MW 1:30-2:45 pm
Study of the development and effectiveness of programs in the United States that seek to promote economic equality and alleviate need. A focus on programs for both the poor and the middle class.
RELG 305 Queer Bible (Graybill) WGKP
TR 12:00-1:15 pm
This course brings together queer theory, sexuality, and the Bible in order to explore what it means to “queer” the Bible and biblical interpretations. Readings include both biblical texts and queer and trans scholarship on the Bible. Topics may include questions of sexuality, gender identity, and queer hermeneutics, queer time, queer affect, and queer pleasure in the Bible.
*RHCS 103 Rhetorical Theory (Mifsud) Special Contract WGFQ
TR 12:00-1:15 pm; 1:30-2:45 pm
Introduction to theoretical study of rhetoric where we learn to think about language, speech, argument, and symbolic action at large as social forces, influencing how we perceive ourselves and others, how we understand our relationship to local and global communities, and how we address important issues in politics, law, and culture. Applies to majors/minors and general electives.
*RHCS 105 Media, Culture, and Identity (xxxx) Special Contract WGKP
MW 9:00-10:15 am; 10:30-11:45 am
FSSA
Basic theoretical frameworks and concepts in media studies. Through close analysis of a variety of texts including, but not limited to, films, music, television programs, newspapers, magazines, and websites, explores the ways in which culture is produced and consumed. Case studies and other examples will provide entry points into thinking about how culture shapes and also is informed by individual and collective identities.
RHCS 245 Digital Humanities (Wigard) WGKP
W 1:30-4:15 pm
Brings together computational methods with humanities questions. Explores the possibilities and limits of methods such as data visualization, network analysis, and text analysis for analyzing humanities data and modes of communication for scholarly arguments. Asks questions about computation, data, and digital methods. Same as AMST 298.
RHCS 353 Rhetoric and Law (Mifsud) WGSS
W 12:00-2:50 pm
Inquiry into the law from rhetorical perspectives, using the history and theory of rhetoric and its long-standing association with law and justice. Examination of interpretive processes on which legal arguments and ideologies are based. Exploration of the language of legal argument, court decisions, and of the role of rhetoric and the law in shaping of public life and social justice.
SOC 101 Foundations of Society (Richards only) WGSS
MW 1:30-2:45 pm; MW 3:00-4:15 pm
FSSA
This course serves an introduction to the discipline of sociology, including sociological theory and research, and sociological perspectives on the world with particular emphasis on the study of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, race, and social class. The primary goal of the course is aid students in developing a perspective to assess how our individual lives are shaped and constrained by social forces and by our unique location in the social world. We will examine the influence of particular social institutions (e.g., medicine, education) and social strata (e.g., race, gender, sexuality, and class) on our experiences and life chances. The course relies on readings, assignments, activities, lecture, and discussion to facilitate your learning.
SOC 319 Soc of Gender and Sexuality (Mowery) WGKP
TR 10:30-11:45 am
Advanced course serving as an introduction to the sociology of gender and sexuality. Draws from a social constructionist perspective to understand how gender and sexuality are shaped, influenced, and regulated by society in general, as well as particular social institutions and social norms. Examines how gender and sexuality serve as organizing principles in society. Draws on feminist and queer theoretiocal frameworks to explore the diversity in gender and sexuality, particularly at their intersections with sex, race, ethnicity, age, social class, disability, and weight. Prerequisite: Soc 211 or Soc 221
SOC 379 ST: Sociology of Black Families (Faulk) WGKP
TR 12:00-1:15 pm
*SOC 401 Capstone (Richards) Special Contract WGKP
T 1:30-4:00 pm
Senior capstone experience to complete sociology major. Builds upon what students have learned about sociology as a discipline: its central themes, theoretical perspectives, research methods, and substantive research findings. Examines various topics and issues that comprise subject matter of sociology and reflects on its major contributions.
THTR 239 Latinx on Stage: Barrio-Broadway (Herrera) WGTP
W 3:00-5:45 pm
FSVP
Examines the evolving formation of Latina/o identity in Broadway and community productions as well as popular culture with special attention to issues of globalization, migration, and transculturation. Crosslisted with AMST 381.
WGSS 200 Introduction to Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies (Holland)
TR 10:30-11:45 am
FSSA
Introduction to the broad, interdisciplinary field of women, gender, and sexuality studies. Special attention will be paid to the meaning and history of the terms "gender" and "sexuality" and to the political movements mobilized around those terms. Students will read both contemporary and historical materials and both primary and secondary sources.
WGSS 280 Gender and Work (Ooten) WGHP
TR 12:00-1:15 pm
Examines the gendered nature of both historical and contemporary workplace issues from a global perspective. Gender and workplace issues will be examined from theoretical, historical, and comparative perspectives.
WGSS 365 Gender, Sex, and Law (Skerrett) WGKP
R 3:00 – 5:40 pm
Laws both define and regulate social and individual lives based on gender and sex. In this course, students read landmark U.S. judicial decisions and model legislation concerning gender and sex, in order to critically explore their influence on civil and political rights in the United States. Prerequisite: WGSS 200 or permission of instructor.
WGSS 490 Senior Capstone (Singh) WGFQ
Title: The Art of Friendship
T 3:00-5:45 pm
What is friendship? This deceptively simple question turns out to be a vast and complex gateway into understanding political, ethical, and intimate life. As both concept and practice, friendship is often skirted as a vital form of social relation, subjugated culturally and legally to the more “legitimate” forms of intimacy such as marriage or kinship. Yet from ancient political treatise to feminist and queer theory, friendship turns out to be foundational not only to government but to life itself. Through explorations of friendship across theory, literature, film, art, and practice-based experiments in becoming friends, this interdisciplinary course will abide by the complexities and possibilities of the friend in all its forms, exploring friendship not only as intimacy, but as a mode of artful survival. Prerequisites: WGSS Major/Minor, 1 unit.