Women’s Studies


Co-Directors of the Women's Studies Program: Catherine White Berheide, Leslie Mechem

Affiliated Faculty

American Studies: Mary C. Lynn

Asian Studies: Mao Chen

Anthropology: Susan Bender

Art History: Lisa Aronson, Katherine Hauser, Mimi Hellman, Penny Jolly

Classics: Leslie Mechem

English: Barbara Black, Joanne Devine, Catherine Golden, Sarah Webster Goodwin, Kate Greenspan, Susan Kress, Susannah Mintz, Phyllis Roth, Mason Stokes

Economics: Maeve Powlick

French: Adrienne Zuerner

Government: Patricia Ferraioli, Katherine Graney, Natalie Fuehrer Taylor

History: Erica Bastress-Dukehart, Jordana Dym, Margaret Pearson

Italian: Shirley Smith

Library: Barbara Norelli

Management and Business: Pushkala Prasad

Religion: Joel Smith, Mary Zeiss Stange

Sociology: Catherine White Berheide, Susan Walzer, Kristie Ford

Spanish: Viviana Rangil, Patricia Rubio

Theater: Carolyn Anderson

THE GENDER STUDIES MAJOR: Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that draws on feminist, gender, and queer theories and scholarship to analyze the experiences, perspectives, and contributions of women, men, and intersexed people and systems of gender relations in various cultural settings and time periods. The gender studies major is a multidisciplinary program that involves students in the exporation of topics such as the social construction and role of gender within various societies, women's historical and contemporary experiences, and multiple social identities.

THE WOMEN'S STUDIES MAJOR: Women's studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that draws on feminist theories and scholarship by and/or about women to analyze the experiences, perspectives, and contributions of women and systems of gender relations in various cultural settings and time periods. The women's studies major is a multidisciplinary program that involves students in the exploration of topics such as the social construction of gender, women's historical and contemporary experiences, and their roles within various societies.

Completion of the major strengthens students' preparation for further work in fields including gender studies, women's studies, law, public and international affairs, social sciences, the humanities, communications, and the arts. Through the major, students also gain a foundation for understanding the social, intellectual, and political forces that shape their personal and professional lives. The major leads to a bachelor of arts degree.

Students majoring in women's gender studies must successfully complete nine courses, at least three of which must be at the 300 level, for a total of at least thirty credit hours, including:

1. Introduction to Women's Gender Studies. This requirement may be fulfilled in one of two ways:
   
   
   1. WS101 GW101, Introduction to Women's Gender Studies
      
   
   
   2. In exceptional cases and only with permission of the director of the Women's Gender Studies Program, two entry-level courses in the women's gender studies curriculum in different areas (social sciences, humanities, or the sciences). Students who take this option must successfully complete eleven ten courses for the major.
      


2. WS201 GW201, Feminist Theories and Methodologies. Prerequisite: WS101 GW101.
   


3. At least one course from the women's gender studies curriculum including works by or about women of color or women from other cultures which includes the analysis of the intersection of gender and race. This category includes courses with a non-Western focus (e.g., "Issues of Gender in African Art," "Women in the Global Economy") as well as those that deal centrally with culturally diverse groups within the United States and elsewhere (AM342, GW227, HI228, MB336H, RE220, SO203, SO316, SO331).
   


4. Five additional courses in the women's gender studies curriculum. Courses should These courses must reflect the interdisciplinary nature of women's gender studies by drawing from at least three different disciplines. Electives should be selected in consultation with the program director so as to constitute both exploration and concentration. A concentration, normally three courses at least one of which is at the 300 level, may be designed to focus on a discipline, a theme, a time period, or an issue. Students select their courses in consultation with their advisor so as to constitute both breadth and depth.
   


5. WS375 GW375: Senior Seminar in Women's Gender Studies. Prerequisites: WS101 and 201GW101 and GW201.
   

HONORS: Students desiring honors in women's studies Gender Studies must meet the requisite grade-point average and must complete a senior thesis under the supervision of a women's studies Gender Studies faculty member that receives at least an A-, and is approved for honors by the faculty on the Gender Studies Advisory Board. The thesis must be approved for honors by the Women's Studies Advisory Board.

THE WOMEN'S GENDER STUDIES MINOR: A minor consists of five courses, for a total of at least eighteen semester hours, including WS101 and 201 GW101 and GW201; and three additional courses, at least one at the 300 level, chosen from the women's gender studies curriculum in consultation with the program director.


Gender Studies Curriculum

WS GW 101.    INTRODUCTION TO WOMEN'S GENDER STUDIES    4
An introduction to the origins, purpose, subject matters, and methods of women's studies Through an interdisciplinary investigation of the evolving body of scholarship by and about women, this course presents a survey of women's social, psychological, historical, political, and cultural experiences. The goal of the course is to help students develop a critical framework for thinking about gender and sexuality, with special attention to issues of class, race, and ethnicity. An introduction to the origins, purpose, subject matters, and methods of the interdisciplinary study of gender. Students are expected to expand their knowledge of the relative historical and present social conditions of women and men in different contexts and to develop analytical skills for the examination of socially significant variables - race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality. Students will explore different and often opposing understandings of what constitutes feminism and feminist action. The class format will combine interactive lectures, reading assignments, discussion, formal research and writing assignments and other student projects. Ideally, students will leave the class with an understanding of how gender structures cultural, political, economic and social relations in various contexts.

WS GW 201.    FEMINIST THEORIES AND METHODOLOGIES    3
A critical exploration of the history, development, impact, and implications of feminist theory. Beginning with seventeenth- and eighteenth-century proto-feminism, the course moves through the "first and second waves" of the women's movement in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and looks toward the future through consideration of current trends in feminist theory and method. Emphasis is placed on the cross-disciplinary nature of feminist inquiry, and the specific ways in which particular methodologies arise from or relate to specific theoretical positions. A critical exploration of the history, development, influence, and implications of feminist theories and methods. Beginning with seventeenth- and eighteenth-century proto-feminism, the course examines the first and second waves of the women’s movement in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as well as current trends in feminist, gender, and queer theories. Emphasis is placed on the cross-disciplinary nature of inquiry in gender studies and the ways in which particular methods arise from and relate to specific theoretical positions. Prerequisite: WS101 GW101.

WS GW 210.    ECOFEMINISM, WOMEN AND THE ENVIRONMENT    3
An interdisciplinary exploration of the complex relationship between feminist theory and praxis, and environmental philosophy and activism. Using the idea of "ecofeminism" as its unifying focus, the course examines such national and global issues as deforestation, overpopulation, species extinction, bioregionalism, environmental pollution, habitat loss, development, and agribusiness. Representative perspectives include those based in deep ecology, social ecology, animal and nature rights, human ecology, earth-based spiritualities, "wise use," the "land ethic," conservation, and wildlife management.  An interdisciplinary exploration of the complex relationship between feminist theory and praxis, and environmental philosophy and activism. Using the idea of "ecofeminism" as its unifying focus, the course examines such national and global issues as deforestation, overpopulation, species extinction, bioregionalism, environmental pollution, habitat loss, development, and agribusiness. Representative perspectives include those based in deep ecology, social ecology, animal and nature rights, human ecology, earth-based spiritualities, "wise use," the "land ethic," conservation, and wildlife management.   M. Stange

WS GW 212.    WOMEN IN ITALIAN SOCIETY: YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW    3
Students examine the changing role of women in Italian society. Authors and filmmakers studied include Natalia Ginzburg (Family Lexicon), Dacia Maraini (The Blind Countess), and Lina Wertmuller (Pasqualino Seven Beauties). A portion of the course is dedicated to the new multiethnic Italian reality. Texts by women immigrants in Italy in the last decade include works by Igiaba Scego and Christiana de Caldas Brito. Also counts for the minor in Italian.    S. Smith, Foreign Languages and Literatures

WS GW 220.    TOO FAT? TOO THIN? WOMEN AND EATING DISORDERS    3
The course begins with a historical examination of the ways in which the female body has been coded with meanings, and the effects those meanings have had on women’s real lives. We will study the ambivalence and contradictions regarding norms of health, thinness, and obesity. We will approach eating disorders from feminist perspectives, which consider these behaviors as women’s responses to oppression. Finally we will consider food from a scholarly as well as real-life perspective. Prerequisite: WS101 GW101 or one course listed as applicable to Women’s Studies.    V. Rangil

WS GW 225.    WOMEN IN SCIENCE    3
An exploration of the historical and contemporary roles of women in the natural science professions. Attention is given to the gendering of science, the interaction of culture and science, the feminist perspectives on science, and the future of women in the science workforce. This course will also examine the barriers to the full participation of women in the natural sciences and mathematics with a view to envisioning the future of women in the science workforce. Students engage in written critical analyses of assigned readings as a basis for regular classroom discussion.   

WS GW 227.    HOLDING UP HALF THE SKY: GENDER, WRITING, AND NATIONHOOD IN CHINA    3
Interdisciplinary exploration of gender issues in China, especially but not exclusively focusing on the roles of women in the making of modern Chinese history. Students will learn about cultural specificities in the experiences of Chinese women while exploring the diverse meanings of "women's status" and gender relations. Themes to be examined in the course content include gendered subjectivities, the ideology of the new women, the impact of globalization and transnational capital, different gender roles, and women’s writing from the Opium War to contemporary China. Emphasis on different stages of women’s writing in relation to their cultural conditions and social awakening, and on the ways ideologies helped form gender identities in the twentieth century. (Designated a non-Western culture course.)    M. Chen

WS GW 371, 372.    INDEPENDENT STUDY    3, 3
A program of individual reading and research under the direction of the women's gender studies faculty. Prerequisite: approval of the director of women's gender studies.

WS GW 375.    SENIOR SEMINAR IN WOMEN'S GENDER STUDIES    4
Exploration of primary and secondary sources in the interdisciplinary examination of a particular theme or topic in women's gender studies. The focus is on advanced research, and close attention is paid to the development, organization, and production of a major project. Students will present their research to the seminar; those intending to write an honors thesis will present their thesis proposals. Prerequisites: WS101 and 201GW101 and GW201.

WS GW 376.    SENIOR THESIS    3
Independent study and research leading to a thesis examining, from an interdisciplinary perspective, a topic relevant to women's gender studies. Students will work under the direction of a faculty advisor as well as a second reader. Open to women's gender studies majors only, and required of candidates for program honors.

WS GW 399.    PROFESSIONAL INTERNSHIP IN WOMEN'S GENDER STUDIES    3
Internship opportunity for students whose academic and cocurricular experience has prepared them for professional work related to women's gender studies. With faculty sponsorship and approval of the director of the Women's Gender Studies Program, students may extend their educational experience into such areas as counseling, education, crisis intervention, health care delivery, business and management, and other areas relevant to women's gender studies. Academic assignments will be determined by the faculty sponsor in consultation with the on-site supervisor. Prerequisites: Two courses in women's gender studies, at least one of which is at the 200 or 300 level.

The following list may be revised with the approval of the director as departments offer additional courses in women's gender studies.

AH 369    Topics in Gender and Visual Culture
AH 375   Seminar: Special Topics in Art History (when applicable)
AM 230    Born in America
AM 340    Women and Work in America
AM 342   Black Feminist Thoughts
AM 363    Women in American Culture
AM 376    Disorderly Women
AN 242    North American Indians
AN 311    Theoretical Approaches to Gender and Sexuality
AN 347    Women and Gender in Evolutionary Perspective
AN 351    Topics in Cultural or Biological Anthropology (when applicable)
CC 365    Advanced Topics in Classical Studies (when applicable)
EC 351     Gender in the Economy
EN 208    Language and Gender
EN 223    Women and Literature
EN 316    Nineteenth-Century British Novel
EN 338    Queer Fictions
EN 360    Women Writers
EN 363    Special Studies in Literary History   (when applicable)
EN 375    Senior Seminar in Literary Studies (when applicable)
GO 223    Current Issues in Public Policy
GO 313    Politics of Contemporary United States Social Movements
GO 352    Women and the Law
GO 353    Sex and Power
GO 354    Feminist Political Thought
GO 357    Sexing Global Politics: Gender and International Relations
HI 217    Topics in History (when applicable)
HI 228    Race, Class, and Gender in Latin America
HI 363    Topics in History (when applicable)
MB 336H    Diversity and Discrimination in the American Workplace: Is the Melting Pot Boiling Over?
PS 331    Psychology of Women
RE 205    Women, Religion, and Spirituality
RE 220    Encountering the Goddess in India
RE 330    Advanced Topics in Religion (when applicable)
SB 315    Work, Family, and Organizations
SO 203    Femininities and Masculinities
SO 217    Families in the United States
SO 225    Quantifying Women
SO 316    Women in Modern Society
SO 331    Women in Global Economy
TH 251    Theater Topics (when applicable)
TH 334    Special Studies in Theater History and Theory (when applicable)

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