Fall 2024 Courses

Gender, Culture, and Society

G101 — A&H
MW 9:10 AM - 10:00 AM, 10:20 AM - 11:10 AM, 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM, 1:50 PM - 2:40 PM, 3:00 PM - 3:50 PM, 4:10 PM - 5:00 PM, OR TR 1:15 PM - 2:30 PM

Examination of the international emergence of the field of women's studies; the achievements and limitations of scholarly work exploring oppression and discrimination based on sex and sex differences; the development of the category "gender" and its uses and abuses; and the relevance of changing understandings of the term "culture" for the study of women, gender, and/or sexuality across diverse historical periods, regions, nations, and societies. Exploration of a series of case studies.

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Sex, Gender, and the Body

G105 — S&H
MW 1:50 PM - 2:40 PM Lecture; Discussion Sections: W 12:40 PM-1:30 PM (HONORS); W 4:10 PM - 5:00 PM, 5:20 PM - 6:10 PM; R 4:10 PM -5:00 PM, 5:20 PM - 6:10 PM

Examines the diverse and historically varying relationships forged between biological sex, culturally formulated discourses of masculinity and femininity, and the sexed body.

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Brave New Families

G205 — S&H
TR 9:45 AM - 11:00 AM

How do we define our families and the meaning of family ties? Who do we count as kin? How do our definitions compare with those instituted by governments, medical professionals, or cultural or religious communities? This course asks questions such as these as it examines the diversification of family in our contemporary era. By investigating familial contexts around the world, we will study the different values and principles that shape changes in family formation and roles. We will ask how different configurations of gender, sexual orientation, class, race and ethnicity, religion, and nationality affect how we form families, the significance of family ties, and the varied kinds of work that families do in our world today. We will also discuss how developments in medical science, such as assisted reproductive technologies, have transformed family composition and how we understand who counts as kin. We will use individual case studies to explore how changing values of care, new definitions of relatedness, and the shifting landscape of governmental and legal regulation are transforming family relationships as multifaceted sources of meaning and support in people's lives.

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Tattoos, Gender, Culture

G205 — S&H
MW 3:00 PM - 4:15 PM

In this course, we will examine the historical, cultural, economic, and political significance of tattoos through anthropological and gender studies lenses. We will consider tattoo in relation to constructions of self and community, appropriation, resistance, and the assertion of multiple identities. We will also examine function and purpose of tattooing in both contemporary popular culture and more broadly, across different times and spaces as they relate to human bodily expression. Selected readings and visual materials will cover topics from the history of tattoo to sexism and colorism in the tattoo industry. The course will have an experiential component involving visits to a local tattoo shop.

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Gay Histories, Queer Cultures

G206 — S&H
TR 9:45 AM - 11:00 AM

Examines the social, cultural, and political history of same-sex relationships and desires in the United States and abroad, emphasizing the historical emergence of certain American sexual subcultures, such as the modern lesbian and gay "movement" or "community". The course also highlights particular formations such as race, class, and regional difference that interrupt unified, universal narratives of lesbian and gay history.

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Gender, Sexuality, and Pop Culture

G225 — A&H
TR 9:45 AM - 11:00 AM, 1:15 PM – 2:30 PM, 3:00 PM - 4:15 PM ; MW 1:15 PM - 2:30 PM

Examination of popular cultural "makings" of masculinity, femininity, and sexuality through typical representation of gender within fiction, theater, cinema, radio, music, television, journalism, and other secular mass media.

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Women's Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music

G302 — A&H
TR 11:30 AM - 12:45 PM

This combined undergraduate and graduate course explores women's folklore. We engage with a range of cultures, locations, and practices that emphasize the central yet constructed nature of gender and sexuality. Topics include but are not limited to artistic creation, migration, trauma, family relations, the body, spirituality, and social movements. Course materials include fairytales, rituals, film, literature, visual art, and performance. Women¿s expressive culture from Kenya, Senegal, Japan, Cuba, the United States, Ancient Greece, France, (among other transnational cultural contexts), will be engaged with in this class.

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Explaining Sex/Gender Differences

G335 — S&H
MW 3:00 PM - 4:15 PM

Compares biological, psychological, and social theories regarding the development and maintenance of gender differentiated behavior, gender and sexual identities, and the meaning of sexed bodies. The course scrutinizes the social and cultural forces that magnify, minimize, or subvert the expression of gender differences.

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Regulating Gender

G399 — S&H
TR 4:45 PM - 6:00 PM

Explores the regulation of gender relations through the institutions of state, church, and/or civil society, including: public policies; laws and their enforcement; religions; ethical and moral norms; and other social conventions and cultural norms. Strong focus on cross-cultural and transnational comparisons and may be thematically concentrated around case studies.

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International Feminist Debates

G410 — GCC
TR 1:15 PM - 2:30 PM

Investigation of debates among feminists as to whether aspirations towards global feminism are possible and desirable. The course compares concerns about the global situation of women, as articulated by international bodies such as the United Nations, with concerns articulated by feminists in different parts of the world.

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Health, Sex, and Gender

G435 — S&H
MW 3:00 PM - 4:15 PM

Examines health as it relates to female and male sexuality and to the roles and status of men and women in society. It explores public policy decisions related to medical research practices. 

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Seminar in Gender Studies: Black Performance

G498
R 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM

In Black Performance, we will explore how performance is inextricable from Blackness, which is inextricable from gender and the limits of performance. In doing this, we will trouble the construction and ontology of Blackness, the gestures, behaviors, and timbres of Blackness and investigate the “quareness” of Blackness. We will consider how Black performance contributes to and undergirds Performance Studies, which has been instrumental in Gender Studies. From plays to music to poetry and more, we will use Black performance as, and to elucidate, theories of race, gender and culture. Thus, we unite art, performance, and academic texts as tools of inquiry into Black performance that offer insight and meaning that neither can do alone.

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Senior Honors Thesis

G499
1-6 Credits

Prerequisite: Consent of faculty honors thesis advisor and department.  Research and preparation of senior honors thesis.

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Practicum in Gender Studies

X476
3-6 Credits

Prerequisite: Junior or Senior standing; 12 credit hours of Gender Studies course work; consent of faculty advisor and department.

Directed study of issues or policies related to gender or sexuality based on a field experience. Directed readings, papers, and/or an analytical journal may be required. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours in GNDR-G 480 OR GNDR-X 476.

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Readings and Research in Gender Studies

X490
1-6 Credits

Prerequisite: Consent of instructor and department. Individual readings and research available for gender studies major and minor students.

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Internship in Gender Studies

X474
1-6 Credits

Prerequisite:  Junior standing; 15 credit hours of Gender Studies course work.

Does not count toward major. Selected career-related work in a cooperating institution or business. Evaluation by faculty supervisor and employer. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours. S/F grading.

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