BK 138 Race, Class and Gender (Fall: 3)
Cross Listed with SC 038
Offered Periodically
Viewing race, class, gender, sexuality, and other identities as inseparable from discussions of inequality and power, this course will begin by discussing the social construction of these categories and how they are connected. We will then look at how these social identities shape and are also shaped by four general subject areas: (1) wealth and poverty, (2) education, (3) family, and (4) crime, law, and social policy. Although this course is separated into subject areas, we shall see that these areas greatly overlap and are mutually influenced by one other. C. Shawn McGuffey
CO 451 Gender Roles and Communication (Fall/Spring: 3)
Satisfies one of two writing intensive course requirements within the Communication major
This course is both a writing-intensive seminar and a women's studies course. Focus is on the social construction of gender through communication. The early section of the course compares historical and cross-cultural notions of gender. Then, building on these comparisons, students read about, examine, and analyze communication texts, focusing particularly on television programming and advertising. Students are encouraged to develop a sense of themselves as active participants in the social construction of gender rather than as passive consumers and receivers of mass-mediated communication.
Lisa Cuklanz
EN 12501 Introduction to Feminisms (Fall: 3) T Th 4 30*
Cross Listed with HS 148, PS 125, SC 225
This introductory course offers a foundation for understanding the cultural and historical context for the feminist movement in the U.S. Because systems of privilege and disadvantage shape women's and men's identities and social positions in multiple and unique ways, Introduction to Feminisms analyzes gender from an interdisciplinary approach--applying numerous academic disciplinary methods to the study of gender (history, literature, psychology, and sociology) and explores women's and men's experiences within various cultural contexts, including socioeconomic class, race and ethnicity, religion, and sexual identity. Women's studies takes into account, not only the cultural diversity of women in the U.S., but the globalization of feminist organizing and interaction. Activism, advocacy, and academic scholarship make up any comprehensive study of feminism--as do the matrices of privilege and oppression that regulate women's lives around the world. This introduction to the various strands that make up feminist movements is shaped by an understanding of cultural complexities, certainly, but most importantly, a commitment to the aspirations, hopes, and values of women and men who are working together to create more just and equitable social structures, systems, institutions, and relationships.
Connie Griffin
See Syllabus
EN 152 Women in Russian Literature (Fall: 3)
Fulfills Women Writers requirement for LSOE/EN majors.
All texts read in English translation
A study of the representations of women in Russian literary works from the Kievan period to date, with a special emphasis on classical and post-modern literature. An exploration of the notions of the "strong woman" versus the "superfluous man", and of "terrible perfection", a discussion of the utility of these concepts in characterizing the literary representations.
Cynthia Simmons
EN 27501 Early Women Writers (Fall: 3) T TH 9:00
Fulfills the pre-1700 requirement.
Cross listed with Women’s Studies
This course explores competing strategies of "authoring" (and authorizing) women in early modern England. We focus on six writers: Queen Elizabeth, Amelia Lanyer, Anne Clifford, Margaret Cavendish, Aphra Behn, and Mary Carleton. We will read a range of materials (including letters, speeches, diaries, devotional poetry, romances, and court trials), as we consider the changing role of women in these centuries, both as producers of culture and as productions of it. Topics will include women and representation; chastity; literacy; crime; "public" and "private" modes. Two papers; a mid-term; and a final take-home project.
Amy Boesky
EN 447 Twentieth Century Irish Women Writers (Fall: 3) MWF 11:00
This course will serve as an introduction to the major female Irish writers from the Literary Revival period to the present. We will investigate the ways Irish female writers have negotiated a developing national identity with changing ideas about gender and sexuality through the course of the century. In doing this, we will trace various themes, including the importance of Mother Ireland as a symbol of the nation, approaches to Irish mythological sources, and the use of popular and folk material. The readings will mailnly be in fiction, drama, and poetry, but will also include some non-fiction, music, and film.
Becky Troeger
EN 603/HS665/SC665, Advanced Seminar in Feminist Theory and Pedagogy
(Fall 2007)
By permission
This seminar grounds itself in the historical context of the women's movement, explores the development of women's studies as a scholarly field, and addresses the contemporary praxis of feminist advocacy. Delving into the various facets of feminist theory (liberal, radical, psychoanalytic, socialist, womanist, postmodern) seminar participants prepare themselves for the more practical discussions that will take place in the Introduction to Feminisms discussion groups, which they will co-lead. There they will draw on the early maxim of the feminist movement--"the personal is political," which suggests that even one's most private actions are embedded within a highly gendered cultural context. Participants attend the Introduction to Feminisms lectures, facilitate seminar discussions, develop lesson plans for discussion groups, and maintain a journal reflecting on Seminar and Intro to Feminisms readings, group discussions and dynamics.
Connie Griffin
See Syllabus
EN 676.01 Seminar:Constructing Gender/Early Modern England (Fall 2007-2008: 3)
In this seminar we'll read a variety of kinds of texts (conduct manuals, anatomy books, plays, sermons, travel narratives, etc.) in order to explore the question of how gender was constructed in 16th- and 17th-century England. What made a man a "real" man? What made a woman a "real" woman? How did different authors and/or discourses complicate these ideas and offer up alternative visions of manhood and womanhood? Students will be expected to conduct an original research project and to contribute their ideas regularly in writing and in class discussion.
Caroline Bicks
PS 125 Introduction to Feminisms (Fall/Spring: 3)
Cross Listed with EN 125, HS 148, SC 225
This introductory course offers a foundation for understanding the cultural and historical context for the feminist movement in the U.S. Because systems of privilege and disadvantage shape women's and men's identities and social positions in multiple and unique ways, Introduction to Feminisms analyzes gender from an interdisciplinary approach--applying numerous academic disciplinary methods to the study of gender (history, literature, psychology, and sociology) and explores women's and men's experiences within various cultural contexts, including socioeconomic class, race and ethnicity, religion, and sexual identity. Women's studies takes into account, not only the cultural diversity of women in the U.S., but the globalization of feminist organizing and interaction. Activism, advocacy, and academic scholarship make up any comprehensive study of feminism--as do the matrices of privilege and oppression that regulate women's lives around the world. This introduction to the various strands that make up feminist movements is shaped by an understanding of cultural complexities, certainly, but most importantly, a commitment to the aspirations, hopes, and values of women and men who are working together to create more just and equitable social structures, systems, institutions, and relationships.
Connie Griffin
PS 344 Psychology of Gender (Fall/Spring: 3)
Prerequisite: PS 241 or 254
This course involves a multi-faceted and critical look at how gender shapes identities, beliefs, and behavior. Rather than concentrating on questions of sex differences, we will explore how females and males do gender in their everyday lives. We will review competing theoretical models and scrutinize empirical findings that support and fail to support common sense ideas about gender. Topics include a number of controversial issues such as violence in intimate relationships, sexual orientation, media constructions of femininity and masculinity, ethnic/racial/cultural critiques of feminist psychology, and gender harassment.
Judy Dempewolff
PS 364 Interpersonal Violence (Spring: 3)
Prerequisite: PS 241 or PS 242
This course will review research, assessment, treatment, and current controversies in the area of family violence, focusing on child sexual abuse, child physical abuse, and spousal abuse. The course will consist of a combination of a lecture and class discussion of the issues, including those related to memories of abuse, identification of abuse, and the legal, psychological, and social ramifications of extracting women and children from abusive homes.
Amy Tishelman
HS 148 Introduction to Feminisms (Fall/Spring: 3)
Prerequisite: Any two semesters of HS 001 through HS 094
Cross Listed with EN 125, PS 125, SC 225
This class will introduce students to terms and concepts that ground feminist theory and gender analysis, to a range of issues that intersect with gender in various ways (e.g., nationalism and post colonialism, health, labor, sexuality, race, family), and to some classic texts in Women's Studies. It will also combine a brief historical overview of the development of first, second, and third wave women's movements, with an examination of their critiques by women of color. Finally, we will follow selected stories in the news that bear on the themes of the course.
Connie Griffin
HS 155 Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Straight (Fall: 3)
Prerequisite: Any two semesters of HS 001 through HS 094
Offered Periodically
The course has several aims: first, to examine aspects of the history of gay and lesbian people, movements, consciousnesses, sensibilities, and styles over the past century, focusing on experiences in France, Germany, England and the United States; second, to examine ways in which studying homosexuality historically makes it possible to approach what has been called History (as if sexuality were not involved) as, in part, the history of heterosexuality; and third, to examine some of the features and functions of fears about homosexuality and homosexual people.
Paul Breines
HS 189 African American History I (Fall: 3) MWF 9:00
Prerequisite: Any two semesters of HS 001 through HS 094
Cross Listed with BK 104
Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core Requirement
This two-semester survey examines the history and culture of African-Americans from the pre-colonial period to the present. The first semester treats the period before the middle passage, the evolution of slave and free society, the development of Black institutions, and the emergence of protest movements through the Civil War's end. During the second semester, the emphases are placed on issues of freedom and equality from Reconstruction, urban migration, civil rights struggles through current consideration of race, class, and gender conflicts.
Karen Miller
HS 219 Religion and Sexuality in European History (Fall: 3)
Prerequisite: Any two semesters of HS 001 through HS 094
Offered Periodically
The topic of this course is inspired by current issues and debates around sexuality affecting all religious life in the U.S. We will focus on the two major Western religious traditions, Christianity and Judaism, broadly conceived. Topics covered will include heterosexuality and homosexuality, marriage and the roles religious traditions play in shaping attitudes and beliefs concerning sexuality, identity, tolerance and intolerance. The course will have a methodological emphasis. We will look at how historians and a few theorists have approached issues of sexuality and religion, expecting to shed light on historical continuities and ruptures in contemporary debates.
Paul Breines
Virginia Reinburg
HS 654 Irish Women Emigrants: The Irish and American Context (Fall: 3)
Prerequisite: Any two semesters of HS 001 through HS 094
Offered Periodically
An outstanding characteristic of emigration from Ireland to North America was the large number of women in the emigration stream. This seminar course will be an examination of Irish women and emigration beginning with study of conditions in Ireland that resulted in women leaving in such large numbers. Following that will be an examination of their experience as immigrants in North America. Emphasis in the course will be on the use of research tools in historical work on Irish women, utilizing primary source materials such as estate papers, the letters women wrote home, and database characteristics of Irish women in America.
Ruth-Ann Harris
HS 140 Women in European History (Fall:3)
Prerequisite: Any two semesters of HS 001 through HS 094 Offered Periodically This course examines women's roles in society, the economy, culture, and politics from the French Revolution to the present. Particular emphasis will be placed on women's participation in mass political movements such as suffrage, peace, women's rights, and revolutionary uprisings. European women's history will be considered within a global context. Lisa DiCaprio
SC 008 Marriage and the Family (Fall: 3)
Satisfies Social Sciences Core Requirement
May be taken as part of the Women's Studies Minor.
This course analyzes sociological theories and research on the family with particular attention to (1) the family and the broader society; (2) changes in gendered expectations and behavior; (3) comparisons of family life by gender, social class, and race; (4) the family and the life cycle; (5) contemporary alternatives to the good provider/cult of domesticity family common between 1830 and 1980; and (6) policy.
Lynda Lytle Holmstrom
SC 038 Race, Class, and Gender (Fall: 3)
Satisfies Social Sciences Core Requirement
Offered Periodically
Viewing race, class, gender, sexuality, and other identities as inseparable from discussions of inequality and power, this course will begin by discussing the social construction of these categories and how they are connected. We will then look at how these social identities shape and are also shaped by four general subject areas: (1) wealth and poverty, (2) education, (3) family, and (4) crime, law, and social policy. Although this course is separated into subject areas, we shall see that these areas greatly overlap and are mutually influenced by one other. C. Shawn McGuffey
SC 072 Inequality in America (Fall/Spring: 3)
Satisfies Social Sciences Core Requirement
May be taken as part of the Women's Studies minor.
This course examines class inequity in American society. It not only describes how the rich, the poor, and the middle classes live, but also how they relate to one another. Topics include the strategies used by the rich for maintaining the status quo, the hopes cherished by the middle class for improving their position, and the obstacles that keep the poor in their place. Students can choose between readings that emphasize the dynamics of inequality as they are enacted by men or women, and by people of color or Caucasians.
Eve Spangler
Eva Garroutte
SC 089 Women and the Body (Fall: 3)
Offered Periodically
This course covers Western cultural pressures on women be super-slender. We consider a range of biological, sociological, and feminist perspectives with regard to issues of beauty, and body image. Is women's anatomy her destiny? In what way do biological perspectives illuminate as well as cloud understanding of women's relationship to their bodies? We explore mass-mediated pressures on women's bodies through films Fat Like Me, Slim Hopes and Bridget Jones' Diary, as well as reality TV shows such as The Swan, and Extreme Makeover. We examine plastic surgery trends toward "designer bodies."
Sharlene Hesse-Biber
SC 144 Legal and Illegal Violence Against Women (Fall: 3)
May be taken as part of the Women's Studies minor.
This course will analyze the use of violence and the threat of violence to maintain the system of stratification by gender. The focus will be on rape, incest, spouse abuse, and related topics. Strategies for change will also be discussed.
Lynda Lytle Holmstrom
SC 225 Introduction to Feminisms (Fall/Spring: 3)
Cross Listed with HS 148, EN 125, PS 125
This course is taught by Women's Studies faculty and undergraduate student teams under faculty direction to acquaint students with a large range of academic and life experience topics that have been affected by Women's Studies scholarship. After a preliminary meeting the class divides into 12-14 person seminars that meet once a week to discuss and study such issues as women's history, feminist theory, sex roles, socialization, gender and health, religion, work, and literature and essays by and about women. The course emphasizes participation and collective work on projects, and usually includes a continuing personal and readings-oriented journal.
Connie Griffin
SC 520 Gender and Society (Fall: 3)
Offered Periodically
Although biological and psychological approaches will be considered, this reading and participation intensive course will examine gender primarily as a social and structural construct. The course will begin with central debates in gender studies (e.g., the merits of biological explanations of gender) and how feminisms - mainstream, Black, and others - have shaped theoretical and empirical studies of gender. We will then move into specific topics, such as family and sex work, and students will be required to lead a class discussion. The course will be highly attuned to differences based on race and class.
C. Shawn McGuffey
TH 217 Sex, Gender, and the Human Body (Fall: 3)
Limited to 20 students.
The scandal in the church prompts us to reexamine in-depth on how church teaching on each of these three topics has evolved historically (surprisingly the trajectories do not overlap as much as one might think). Then we will estimate critically the relevance these teachings have or should have on church members. We will then turn to contemporary proposals, to see what promise they may hold.
James Keenan, S.J.
TH 432 Women in World Religions (Fall: 3)
The issue of gender plays an important and at present controversial role in most of the World Religions. We will explore the position and roles of women in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Within each of these traditions, we will focus on the conception of women in sacred scripture, institutional and hierarchical development of the tradition, and contemporary feminist reflection. Critical issues which will be discussed; relation between the conception of the absolute and that of women, connection between religious authority and the traditional images of women, and diversity of contemporary conceptions of gender within any particular religion.
Catherine Cornille