Courses
WGSS courses come from disciplines across the liberal arts. Each semester students can select from among dozens of courses (with and without a WGSS prefix) that count toward the WGSS major.
There are two types of courses that can count for WGSS credit, regular courses and special cross-list courses. The latter require students to make arrangements with the instructor to complete the course for WGSS credit. Contact the course instructor or the WGSS coordinator for more information on those.
Previous course offerings are listed by term and subject to assist students with planning their programs. In addition, see course offerings for the upcoming term.
For faculty looking for information about special cross-list opportunities, see the WGSS cross-listing policies and procedures.
WGSS
200 Introduction to Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies
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.
Unit(s): 1
WGSS
201 WILL Colloquium: Gender, Race and Activism
Introductory course of the WILL Program. Examines the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality in women's lives with particular focus on an analysis of social justice activism and strategies for social change.
Prerequisite(s): Enrollment in the WILL Program.
Unit(s): 1
WGSS
221 Feminist Political Theories
(See Philosophy 221.)
Unit(s): 1
WGSS
240 Sexual Violence and War
Sexual violence has long been a pervasive yet invisible part of wars ¿ sometimes permitted as payment for soldiers and sometimes seen as an inevitable byproduct of the insanity of war. Analyzing this phenomenon from a historical, political, as well as social psychological perspective is the task of this course. Examines different theories of sexual violence (with special focus on the role of sexual violence in war), historical cases of widespread sexual violence during war, and the global response to this historical phenomenon.
Unit(s): 1
WGSS
250 Politics of the Body
Examines both historical and contemporary interdisciplinary material on the body. Special attention will be paid to examining images of the body in contemporary popular culture and long-standing historical connections between medicine, technology, and the body, such as eugenics movements.
Unit(s): 1
WGSS
280 Women and Work
Examines women's work and the struggle to achieve balance between work and personal life from a theoretical, historical, and comparative perspective, focusing on women in the United States, but placing their labor in a global socioeconomic context. Historical studies of women's labor in the past are used to provide a framework for understanding women's challenges in the workplace today.
Unit(s): 1
WGSS
301 WILL Senior Seminar
Capstone course for the WILL program.
Prerequisite(s): WILL program participant.
Unit(s): .5
WGSS
302 Women and the Law
Traditional and contemporary relationship of women to the law. Includes study of legal history and of factors bearing on women's legal status.
Unit(s): 1
WGSS
303 Women in Television: Representations, Images and Stereotypes
Examination of female roles in television drama, comedy, and advertising. Content analysis of selected programs and ads reflecting television history to reveal patterns of representation of women against a background of social attitudes and political actions.
Unit(s): 1
WGSS
370 Sexual Orientation and the Law
Examines legal rights of lesbians and gay men. It explores the concept of sexual
orientation and the legal system's regulation of life experiences of lesbians and gay men, including sexuality, expressions of identity, public and private enjoyment, same-sex relationships, and parenting.
Unit(s): 1
WGSS
379 Selected Topics
Varying issues of current relevance and importance to women's studies. May be repeated for credit if topics differ.
Unit(s): 1
WGSS
388 Individual Internship
No more than .5 units of internship may be applied to the women, gender, and sexuality studies major or minor. No more than 1.5 units of internship in any one department and 3.5 units of internship overall may be counted toward required degree units.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of department.
Unit(s): .5-1.5
WGSS
398 Independent Study
Pass/fail grading may be designated by department for certain enrollments.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of department.
Unit(s): .5-1
WGSS
399 Topics in Advanced Feminist Theory
Selected topics in advanced feminist theory. Topics vary by semester and will focus on specific applications of feminist theories in a variety of disciplines. Topics may include feminist literary and film theory, feminist materialist/economic theories, and feminist social theories.
Unit(s): 1
WGSS
489 Research Methods and Capstone Preparation
A seminar for women, gender, and sexuality studies majors in which students will hone research skills, review theoretical material in the discipline, and prepare a research or creative-project proposal for their capstone experience. Proposals will be presented for approval to a panel of women, gender, and sexuality studies faculty.
Prerequisite(s): Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies 200 and department approval.
Unit(s): 1
WGSS
490 Senior Capstone Experience
An independent research or creative project approved the previous semester by a panel of women, gender, and sexuality studies faculty and undertaken under the direction of a faculty mentor supervised by the women, gender, and sexuality studies coordinator.
Prerequisite(s): Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies 489.
Unit(s): 1
