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Currently Offered Courses

Currently Offered Courses - Fall 2024

GWS 100 - Intro Gender & Women's Studies

Interdisciplinary introduction to the study of gender, women, and sexuality. Addresses issues such as social experience, representation and popular culture, femininities and masculinities, family structure, education, employment, economics, literature and the arts, religion, history, and technology. Explores interrelationships of race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, ability, and age from a transnational perspective. Same as HDFS 140 and SOC 130.

GWS 201 - Race, Gender & Power

Presents multiple windows into perceptions and perspectives upon gender, sexuality, power, identity and culture, and their multiple intersections. The concept of race in its many manifestations is used to examine relationships of self to society, state institutions and cultures. By paying greater attention to race and power, nuanced understandings of the way the gender systems are maintained, patrolled and formed will be examined. Topics may include: film, media, technology, culture, religion, identities, sexualities. Same as SOC 201.

GWS 204 - Gender in Gaming

Examines the history of gender in videogames, focusing on how movements like #GamerGate, #RaceFail09, internet bullying, doxing and trolling emerged as the coordinated effort to consolidate and maintain videogames and geek culture as the domain of masculinity and whiteness. We also consider how the embodied elements of play as well as the spatial logics of games function to promote and resist representation, and we will end by looking at how games designed by women and people of color are transforming how and why we play games. Same as ENGL 277 and MACS 204.

GWS 218 - Intro to Social Issues Theatre

Same as THEA 218. See THEA 218.

GWS 270 - Sexuality and Literature

Same as GER 270 and CWL 272. See CWL 272.

GWS 272 - Women and Politics

Same as PS 272. See PS 272.

GWS 280 - Women Writers

Same as ENGL 280. See ENGL 280.

GWS 295 - Beginning Topics GWS

Approved for letter and S/U grading. May be repeated in the same term to a maximum of 9 hours; may be repeated in separate terms to a maximum of 12 hours.

GWS 305 - Theories of Race, Gender, and Sexuality

Same as AAS 300 and LLS 305. See AAS 300.

GWS 317 - Gender and Human Rights

Examines the complex relationship between culture, gender roles, and gender-based human rights and violations. Addresses topics such as the evolution of the human rights framework, strategies and ethical dilemmas of human rights work, and transnational feminist activism. Students will discuss case studies of rights violations and local change-making strategies and will construct a human rights campaign on a gender-based issue. Prerequisite: GWS 100, GWS 201, or GWS 202 are highly recommended.

GWS 340 - Gender, Relationshps & Society

Same as HDFS 340 and SOC 322. See HDFS 340.

GWS 356 - Sex & Gender in Popular Media

Same as MACS 356. See MACS 356.

GWS 370 - Queer Theory

Traces the development of queer theory as a mode for understanding queer studies methodologies and the changing intellectual landscape of key issues in the field. As part of the course, students will review key concepts and theoretical schools of thought, navigating important debates guiding the field. Theories will engage questions of the social and cultural through topics including race, gender, nation, family, history, identity formation, sexology, the state, and capital. Same as SOC 320. Prerequisite: GWS 100, GWS 201, GWS 202, or consent of instructor.

GWS 376 - Children and Youth Literature

Same as CWL 376, EURO 376, and SCAN 376. See SCAN 376.

GWS 378 - Fairy Tales & Gender Formation

Discusses how femininity and gender formation are related through fairy tales. As children grow they are taught the difference between male and female roles. One of the main ways this instruction takes place is through the pleasurable media of fairy tales in books, poems, and more recently, films. Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Beauty and the Best, and the Little Mermaid, among others, will be examined to understand how sexual identity is constructed differently in different cultures, and how issues such as rape and incest are addressed within the narratives. The readings explore the ways that fairy tales work to express psychological reactions to maturation while conditioning both characters and readers to adopt specific social roles in adulthood. Same as ENGL 378.

GWS 395 - Intermediate Topics GWS

Approved for letter and S/U grading. May be repeated in the same term to a maximum of 9 hours; may be repeated in separate terms to a maximum of 12 hours.

GWS 409 - Women's Health

Same as HK 409. See HK 409.

GWS 417 - Leading Post-Perform Dialog

Same as THEA 417. See THEA 417.

GWS 418 - Devising Social Issues Theatre

Same as THEA 418. See THEA 418.

GWS 432 - Gender Communication

Same as CMN 432. See CMN 432.

GWS 442 - Body, Culture & Society

Same as HK 442. See HK 442.

GWS 459 - Gender, Sex, & Postcoloniality

Explores the relationship of imperialism, sexuality, and race through the lens of postcolonial theory. Same as HIST 459. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: GWS 100 or GWS 250 and GWS 350 or GWS 370; or consent of instructor.

GWS 478 - Sex, Power and Politics

Examines representations of the relationship between sex, power, and subjectivity and how they have shaped feminism. Explores critical approaches to feminist analyses of women's oppression and debates about sexuality, including issues such as consent, rape and prostitution. Same as PS 413. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: One course in Gender and Women's Studies at the 200- and 300-level or consent of instructor.

GWS 490 - Individual Study

Supervised reading and research in Gender and Women's Studies chosen by the student with instructor approval. 2 to 4 undergraduate hours. 2 to 4 graduate hours. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 hours. Prerequisite: Two courses in Gender and Women's Studies at the 200-400 levels; or junior standing; or consent of instructor.

GWS 498 - Senior Seminar

Considers the relationship between theory and research in Women's Studies. Reviews and examines the key issues of feminist scholarship. Provides students with the methodological knowledge and opportunity to carry out a research project. 3 undergraduate hours. No graduate credit. Prerequisite: Senior standing and enrollment as a major in Gender and Women's Studies, or consent of instructor.

GWS 550 - Feminist Theories & Methods

Interdisciplinary study in diverse feminist theories and methods produced in and across various disciplines. Contemporary philosophical and theoretical developments in the study of gender to specific histories of class, race, ethnicity, nation and sexuality. Prerequisite: At least one graduate-level humanities course or consent of instructor.

GWS 580 - Queer Theories & Methods

Interdisciplinary study in queer theories and methods produced in and across various disciplines. Contemporary philosophical and theoretical developments in queer studies specific to histories of class, race, ethnicity, nation and sexuality. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

GWS 590 - Topics in GWS

May be repeated. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and previous coursework in women's or gender studies, or consent of instructor.