Currently Offered Courses - Spring 2026

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 SOC 130.

GWS 199 - Undergraduate Open Seminar

Approved for letter and S/U grading. May be repeated.

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

Same as ENGL 277, GSD 204, and MACS 204. See GSD 204.

GWS 215 - US Citizenship Comparatively

Same as AAS 215, AIS 295, AFRO 215, and LLS 215. See AAS 215.

GWS 226 - Black Women Contemp US Society

Same as AFRO 226 and SOC 223. See AFRO 226.

GWS 230 - Latina/o Genders & Sexualities

Same as LLS 230. See LLS 230.

GWS 285 - US Gender History to 1877

Same as HIST 285. See HIST 285.

GWS 288 - Global Islam and Feminisms

Examines gender and sexuality in Muslim-majority societies and diasporas. Introduces students to transnational feminist theories and methodologies in order to examine key issues and debates. Topics include constructions of femininity and masculinity, imperialism and neo-imperialism, Islamic feminisms and exegesis, nationalisms, war and violence, sexuality, diaspora and transnationalism, and race and racialization. Same as AAS 288.

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 335 - Film, TV, and Gender

Examines the history and theory of film, television, and their interrelationship through one or more specific case studies. Topics may include: film and feminist movements; girl films; queer TV; gender, sport and TV. Focuses attention on gender and related issues such as race, ethnicity, sexuality, age, ability and disability, class, and nationality. Addresses issues of representation, narrative, genre, industry, audience, exhibition, media convergence, new and mobile media, and social space. Same as MACS 335.

GWS 337 - Interrogating Masculinities

Explores the social construction of gender as it pertains to masculinities in conjunction with analyses of race, class, gender, ability, and sexuality. Masculinities, in its various forms, shapes and lives of both women and men and this course will examine the construction, reproduction, and impact of masculinities on the institutions of politics, education, work, religion, sports, family, media, and the military to name a few. Paying careful attention to the conjunctions between materiality and culture, this course will interrogate how masculinities shape individual lives, groups, nationalisms, organizations, and institutions and will analyze the ways in which power functions within local transnational contexts. Above all, this course offers a road map for forging new, progressive models of masculinity.

GWS 350 - Feminist & Gender Theory

Interdisciplinary survey of feminist and gender theory. Traces developments in feminist theory and LGBT/Q approaches and explores contemporary debates.

GWS 356 - Sex & Gender in Popular Media

Same as MACS 356. See MACS 356.

GWS 357 - Literatures of the Displaced

Same as AAS 357, AIS 357, ENGL 357, and LLS 357. See LLS 357.

GWS 385 - Transnational Sexualities

Investigates the ways in which sexual identities change as national contexts change, as borders are imagined, valued, and crossed, and as definitions of race, gender, and religion shift. Interrogates how national and transnational identities (at home and abroad), modernites, histories, and colonial and global narratives are built on ideas of racialized sexualities, and as such, is particularly interested in the study of queer diaspora. Importantly, this course utilizes transnational feminist frameworks for re-thinking issues related to sexuality, immigration, nation-building, race and gender. Areas of inquiry include imperialism, immigration, war, tourism and globalization. Same as HIST 385. Prerequisite: GWS 100, GWS 201 or GWS 202 or consent of instructor.

GWS 390 - Individual Study

Special topics not treated in regularly scheduled classes. Approved for letter and S/U grading. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 hours if topics vary. Prerequisite: One course in Gender and Women's Studies; consent of instructor.

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 399 - GWS Internship

Directed internship experience for GWS students. Students will complete course requirements in addition to holding a semester long internship. Students must have consent of the Internship Coordinator. Approved for Letter and S/U grading. Prerequisite: GWS major or minor; junior or senior standing and completion of six hours of coursework in GWS, or consent of the instructor.

GWS 409 - Women's Health

Same as HK 409. See HK 409.

GWS 415 - Africana Feminisms

Same as AFRO 415 and AFST 420. See AFRO 415.

GWS 416 - Latinx Feminisms

Examines historical and contemporary Latinx feminist thinking in its complex and uneven genealogies. Considers the multiplicity of Latinx identities and their complex relationship to Latinidad by attending to transnational issues of anti-Blackness; anti-Indigeneity; gender-based violence and femicides; colonization, colonialism, and coloniality; and feminist and LGBTQ struggles for liberation. Same as LLS 416. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: At least one previous course in either GWS or LLS, or consent of instructor.

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 465 - Race, Sex, and Deviance

Same as AAS 465, AFRO 465, and LLS 465. See LLS 465.

GWS 467 - Locating Queer Culture

Our goal is to learn different methods for researching "queer culture," with a special focus on the local context. Explores two research methods in depth: history and ethnography. Students will produce their own original research based on genuine gaps in existing knowledge. Provides an opportunity to learn both received knowledge about queer culture, as well as that which we do not yet know. By the end of this course, the class will collectively produce new knowledge about queer culture using local stories. Same as HIST 468. 3 undergraduate hours. No graduate credit.

GWS 470 - Transgender Studies

What are the issues and politics related to transgender and transsexual identities? Students will examine and critically evaluate historical and contemporary debates that contest normative male/female binaries and traditional categorizations of sexuality. The course moves beyond these initial inquiries into gender theory to consider the effects of institutional discourses produced through stage and civil society. Taught with particular attention given to questions of race, national formations, medical, and legal discourses. Areas of inquiry may include gender theory, transnational identities, gendered and racial performances, medical and psychological diagnoses, violence, the law, and the Prison Industrial Complex. Through these topics, students will be asked to consider important questions over political and legal representation, autonomy, the rights of citizenship, and the practice of everyday life. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: One course in Gender and Women's Studies at the 200- or 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 495 - Advanced Topics GWS

3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Approved for letter and S/U grading. May be repeated in the same term to a maximum of 9 undergraduate hours or 12 graduate hours; may be repeated in separate terms to a maximum of 12 undergraduate or 12 graduate hours.

GWS 496 - Experiments in Queer of Color Performance

Same as AAS 496, ENGL 496, FAA 496, and THEA 486. See FAA 496.

GWS 512 - Gender Relations & International Development

Same as CGGE 581 and SOCW 581. See CGGE 581.

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 561 - Race and Cultural Critique

Same as AAS 561, AFRO 531, ANTH 565, and LLS 561. See AAS 561.