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 Women's Studies : Course Description


  • WMST 101 Introduction to Women's Studies
     This course offers all students, including prospective concentrators in Women's Studies, an introduction to the field, with attention to fundamental issues in women's studies. The course will identify the forms and sites of women's subordination, as well as women's collective responses to their conditions. In introducing the concept of structural inequality as it has affected women's lives, it will also explore the intersections of gender with race, sexual orientation, and class as significant factors in the construction of women's status.

  • WMST 490 Women's Studies Seminar
     A study of a particular aspect of feminist theory, history, or practice. Emphasis upon the theory and methodology of women's studies, collaborative learning and alternate source material. Topics may vary annually. Credit toward graduation only. Prerequisite: Junior standing, previous course work in women's studies, or permission of instructor.

  • ANSO 260 Women in Cross-Cultural Perspective
     Analysis of the role of women in traditional and modern societies, with emphasis on the impact of the degree of women's autonomy and influence on different family models, kinship systems, and economic patterns. AOS (SS); CR (Comparative), Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or permission

  • CHIN 325 Literature of Contemporary Chinese Women Writers
     This course will be a general introduction to women s writings in the 1980 s and 1990 s, as well as cultural norms for Chinese women. It will enable the participants to experience the heteroglossia, and comprehend the complexities of feminine subjectivity through reading works by famous and sometimes controversial women writers and watching films about the life of Chinese women. At the same time, it will provide a cultural background from the Confucian patriarchy to the Maoist equality between men and women for a better understanding of the gender issue. The stories to be discussed in this course provide a kaleidoscopic window into the vast, complex and rapidly changing society in which Chinese women live. AOS (LIT): CR (Asia)

  • ENGL 225 Literature of Women: The Historical Tradition
     A study of women's writing in English from medieval times through the modernist movement of the early 20th century, emphasizing continuities of theme, questions of voice, and conditions of female authorship. AOS (LIT), Prerequisite: Sophomore standing with readings course or permission.

  • ENGL 226 Literature of Women: Modern Voices
    A study of women's writing in English in recent decades, emphasizing cultural diversity, thematic commonalities, and questions of voice and gender. AOS (LIT), Prerequisite: Sophomore standing with readings course or permission.

  • ENGL 260 Women and Film
     Critical viewing of films with a focus on a special topic: moments in film history, theoretical perspectives, the work of individual directors, and thematic clusters. Topics will vary. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing with readings course or permission.

  • HIST 220 American Women's History to 1870
     An in-depth survey of the lives of women in America from the beginning of the colonial era to 1870. Topics include: the differences of class, religion, and race in women’s lives, religion, work, friendships, family life, community, health and sexuality, the women’s rights movement and the impact of the American Revolution and Civil War. AOS (SS): CR (US)

  • HIST 221 American Women's History Since 1870
     An in-depth survey of the lives of women in America from 1870 to today. Topics include the impact of race, class, and region in women’s lives, paid and unpaid labor, prostitution, family life, community, birth control, the women’s rights movement, and the impact of US involvement in international wars. AOS (SS): CR (US)

  • POLS 255 Women and Social Movements
     This course examines the benefits and disadvantages women have gained from and within social movements, the persistent myths and inconvenient realities. We will clarify the terms of art, examine the origins, characteristics, goals and shortcomings of various movements. As well, we will review the vigorous and on­going debates about and within movements. AOS (SS)

  • POLS 265 Feminism and Political Theory
     Examination and critical evaluation of the philosophical and methodological foundations of various feminist theories. Primary focus will be on how different feminists understand the relationship between gender and power. AOS (SS)

  • POLS 310 Women and the Western State
     An examination of the state and women's relationship to it from a feminist per­ spective. Students will explore classic conceptions of the state and assess differing strategies and contemporary debates within the U.S. and western European women's movements concerning whether and how to engage the state on women's behalf. AOS (SS)

  • PSYC 270 Feminist Psychology of Women
     This course is designed for students who are interested in a seminar dealing specifically with issues related to women’s lives and experiences from a feminist perspective. We will examine the field of psychology for its androcentric biases toward women and correct these biases by reviewing literature that places women at the center of inquiry, both as researchers and objects of study. Specific topics will include: silencing of women in classroom, pathologizing of women, sex bias in diagnosing, feminist developmental theories, sexual harassment in the academy, feminist responses to Freud, myth of beauty in adolescence, women and leadership, women’s sexuality, psychological consequences of incest, rape, and other forms of violence against women. AOS (SS), Prerequisite: PSYC 101 and one additional psychology course.

  • RELG 260 Women and Religion
     This course is designed to introduce students to some fundamental questions about women and religion. The class begins with feminist critiques of religion and explores the challenge of multiculturalism. It examines tensions between institutionalized religions and spirituality and concludes with an analysis of relationships between power and religion within different cultural contexts. AOS (REL)

  • IDSY/WMST 140 Women and Science
     In addition to tracing the history of women's participation in science and the cultural and economic barriers to women in science, we will examine some of the insights women have brought to the field because of their identity and experiences as women. We will study the similarities between women (as minorities in science) and racial minorities in science, and consider the particular difficulties faced by female racial minorities in science. We will discuss the ways that our changing definitions of science specifically exclude work done by women as well as people in many Third World countries. Throughout the term, we will investigate the ways that various issues surrounding women and science affect the women in our classes and our/their younger sisters, particularly through direct observation of and work with girls in science/math classrooms. Service Learning Class, AOS (SS or NS)

    Related Courses
  • ANSO 220 The Family
     Study of the family as a social institution. Informed by historical and crosscultural perspectives, the primary focus is on contemporary U.S. families. AOS (SS); CR (US)

  • HIST 281 Family, Women and Marriage in Chinese History
  • HIST 260 Women in the Modern World
     Drawing examples from various world areas, this course examines women’s historical experience from the 18th century to the present. AOS (SS)

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