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Fall 2009 Courses

NOTE: Letters in parenthesis indicate how the class fills a distribution requirement in the WST General Concenrtation and/or whether it counts for the TPS or GID track in the major.  If a course fils a Gen Ed requirement, that is specified separately.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Women's Studies

Amanda Davis
Anita Anantharam 
WST 3015 – Section 0853
WST 3015 – Section 1579 (Gordon Rule 4)
T 3,  R 3-4; TUR 2333; 3 Credits
M 8-10; TUR 1315; 3 Credits

The life experiences of women through the study of materials in the humanities, social and natural sciences and in the health professions. This is a required course for the Women’s Studies major and minor and it fulfills the general education requirement in  diversity. It can also be taken as an elective. (Gen Ed: H, S, D;  WST: Core)    

Transnational Feminisms

Anita Anantharam
WST 3415 – Section 1535
T 5, R 5-6; MAT 108; 3 Credits                                                                                             

This course places women and feminism in a transnational perspective, focusing on various theories and movements engendered by women in contemporary national contexts. Development, reproductive politics, women’s health, etc., will be examined. (Gen Ed:  S, N; WST: Core)

Gender, Travel and Tourism

Florence Babb
WST 3930 – Section 2535
T, 7 R7-8; TUR 1315; 3 Credits

This course considers how gender, global travel, and tourism come together in the contemporary world.  We will examine gender differences (as well as differences of race, class, sexual orientation, national origin) in the experiences of travelers as well as of those who work in the service industries that accommodate travelers’ needs.  We will also examine the gendered and racialized ways in which travel destinations are represented and marketed.  Among the questions we will ask are the following:  How are “exotic” locations portrayed as feminine?  How are men and women treated differently as they participate in transnational currents of tourism?  When and where are gender and sexual identities commodified through tourism?  How are power relations negotiated and what prospects are there for communities of women and men in the Global south to actively construct the terms of their engagement with travelers from the Global north?
(WST: H)

Women and Poverty

Amanda Davis
WST 3930 – Section 2550
R 10-E1; Pugh 120; 3 Credits     

Over 37 million people in the U.S. were in poverty in 2007 alone, with many increasingly vulnerable to living below poverty thresholds given current economic conditions. This course will examine some of the varied effects of poverty on women and children in the wake of recent social, political and programming shifts, as well as how poverty intersects with other systems of inequality like racism and sexism. Three core segments will constitute the majority of the material covered: women’s low-wage work and their status in the labor market following the 1996 welfare reforms; the effects of globalization and the growth of low-pay positions on immigrant women working in a transnational economy; and literary examinations of poverty, identity, race, and community in such remarkable texts as  The Women of Brewster Place and The Third Life of Grange Copeland. 
(WST: H/SS)

Sexualities Studies

Kendal Broad-Wright
WST 3930 – Section 4127
M,W,F 8 ; LIT 0113; 3 Credits

This is a course which will provide an overview of the interdisciplinary study of sexualities. It will cover diverse approaches to the study of sexualities and desire (in literary studies, cultural studies, and social sciences) and pay attention to human sexuality as socially constructed and regulated behaviors. Central to class will be attention to connections between sexualities and other social locators, such as race, ethnicity, gender, social class, age, and ability/disability. Some of the topics covered in the course will be sex education, Internet sex, LGBTQ expressions, sexual violence, and commercial sex, among others. This course serves as the core course for the minor in Theories and Politics of Sexuality in the Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research.

Women and Men in Contempory Culture

Milagros Peña
WST 3930 – Section 4127
MWF, 6; FLG0260; 3 Credits    

This course considers the social construction of gender, sexuality, race, class, and other identity categories.  Readings focus on individuals, families, and cultural groups, mainly in the U.S. but with attention to other nations.  Subjects as intimate as the body and violence and as pervasive as politics and the law are included.  We emphasize differences in daily life experiences of health care, education, sports, and religion.  Finally, we examine the potential of movements for social change.       

Independent Study

Faculty
Variable Credits 1-3
WST 4905 – Section Department Controlled
Can be repeated up to 6 credits

For advanced undergraduate students who desire to supplement the regular courses by independent reading or research. Online application.

(WST: H/SS)

Women in Modern Hebrew Literature

Avraham Balaban
WST 3930 – Section 3265
T 5, R4-5,  AND 0134, CSE E119; 3 Credits

This course examines the different images of women as depicted in Hebrew literature throughout the twentieth century. It starts with a close reading of stories by writers who established the new center of Hebrew literature in then-Palestine: S.Y. Agnon, Devora Baron. Then we study some stories of the "Palmach generation" (Moshe Shamir, Aharon Megged, Yigal Mossinson). A major part of the course is dedicated to the works of the "New Wave" writers of the early 1960's, Amos Oz, A.B. Yehosua, Amalia Kahana-Carmon, and Aharon Appelfeld. The final part of the course deals with the new wave of female writers, who started publishing in the late 1980's. No knowledge of Hebrew is required.

Capstone Seminar

Stephanie Evans
WST 4935- Section 1537
T 3, R 3-4; Ustler 108

This course (required for all majors) is the culmination of the Women’s Studies major. It explores some examples of past and present scholarship to reaffirm the interdisciplinary nature of the field and to highlight the relationships among feminist theory, intellectual practice, and social change. The bulk of the semester is devoted to a full-length independent project on a topic of student’s own choosing.

Internship

Faculty
WST 4940 – Section Department Controlled
Can be repeated up to 6 credits
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor and program chair

This course is designed for students desiring practical experience in the community. Students intern with a local agency, group or business involved in women’s issues. Online Application

Women's/Gender Studies Honors Thesis

Faculty
WST 4970- Section department controlled
TBA; 3 Credits

Students register for this course when pursuing an Honors Thesis in the WST major.  In accordance with the protocols established by WST and the Honors Program, students design and pursue an independent research project with guidance from an advisor.  Further information is available here.

Proseminar

Kendal Broad-Wright
WST 5933 - Section 0432
R 8-10, Ustler 108;  3 Credits

This Proseminar will prepare you for work in graduate-level women's and gender studies. There will be an overview of feminist scholarship, interdisciplinary research, and writing. Reading, discussion, and assignments will focus on the development of women's studies as an academic field and on current trends and standards in scholarship. The Proseminar's grounding in the broad discourse of interdisciplinary women's studies will help you frame and make use of more specialized courses and to conceptualize your thesis or non-thesis project. By the end of the semester, you will be prepared to design and carry out independent research projects required in your women's and gender studies graduate programs. Moreover, you will be familiar with humanities and social science methodologies suitable to women's studies; options for further study and for careers; professional associations in the field of women's studies; and leading journals in the field.

Independent Study

Faculty
Variable Credits 1-3
WST 6905 – Section Department Controlled
Can be repeated up to 6 credits

Prerequisite: Permission of instructor and department chair and 1 Women's Studies course or course that counts for women=s studies Independent reading or research under guidance. Online application.

Gender and Social Justice Literature

Anita Anantharam
WST 6935 - Section 0435
W 7-9; Ustler 108;  3 Credits

The study of literature and film offers social scientists a stimulating mode of inquiry into social and political institutions and principles. This class explores the ways in which literature provides unique insights into the nature of political life and the study of politics. Additionally, we will explore how activists and politicians have used literature (memoirs, autobiographies, film, poetry, etc) to find a critical voice to address social injustices.

Issues in Theory: Bell Hooks

Tace Hedrick

WST 6935 - Section 0940
R E1-E3;  3 Credits

In this class, we will be reading many of the works of feminist, public intellectual, race theorist and cultural worker bell hooks. I envision this course as one which not only looks at the many concerns which hooks addresses (race, feminism, love, writing, teaching, cultural criticism), but also investigates certain ideas about how a black intellectual career is shaped over time: how a reader balances, and/or values, the varied moments of an intellectual career; what we think the terms “public” or “organic” intellectual mean; the presumed split between the intellectual and the public (“mind” and “body”); the role of influence; what it means to be a public feminist black woman; what “black cultural studies” might be; and others. We will also be doing some of what I call “reading around/with hooks”: looking at other writers who have influenced her work in one way or another.

Internship

Faculty
1-3 Credits
WST 6946 – Section 0588
Can be repeated up to 6 credits
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor and program chair

Practical experience in community. Internship with local agency, group, or business in women’s issues. Online Application

Master's Research

Faculty  
WST 6971 – Section 6363
1-15 Credits

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