Letters in parenthesis indicate how the class fills a distribution requirement in the WST General Concentration (SS=Social Science, HUM=Humanities, G&S=Gender & Science) and/or whether it counts for the TPS or IPG track in the major. If a course fills a GenEd requirement, that is specified separately. Click on the hyperlinks below for a course syllabus.
Majors may count any one 2000-level class towards the WMS major. Only WST2322, 2611, or 2612 count towards the WMS minor; only WST2611 or 2612 count towards the TPS minor.
Introduction to Health Disparities
Laura K. Guyer
WST 2322 – Sec 2322- Class # 20901
MWF 2; FLG 0230; 3 Credits
Laura K. Guyer
WST 2322 – Section 2UFO, 3ROL
Online; 3 Credits
This introductory course examines the multifaceted issue of health disparities through the lens of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, and special populations. It also addresses the concepts of medically underserved areas/populations, health literacy, cultural competence, readability & linguistic appropriateness and social determinants of health as they relate to health equity.(WST: SS, G&S; GenEd: S, D; HDS Minor: Core.)
The syllabus for in person sections can be found here. The syllabus for online sections can be found here.
Humanities Perspectives on Gender and Sexuality
Devan Johnson
WST 2611 – Section 2C87-Class # 20902
MWF 3; FLG0220; 3 Credits
This course uses close readings of cultural representations (in literature, the visual arts, movies, television, the internet, etc…) to understand intersecting categories of identity such as gender, sexuality, class, and race. We will examine how such categories operate in everything from novels to YouTube to the evening news. (WST: HUM; TPS; Gen Ed: H, D; Gordon Rule 2000)
The syllabus can be found here.
Social Science Perspectives on Gender and Sexuality
Maddy Coy
WST 2612 – Section 17E7- Class # 20903
MWF 3; FLG 230; 3 Credits
This course considers the social construction of gender, sexuality, race, class, and other identity categories. Readings focus on 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. (WST: SS; TPS; Gen Ed: SS, D, Gordon Rule 2000)
The syllabus can be found here.
Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Women’s Studies
Jillian Hernandez
WST 3015 – Section 3015- Class # 20904
T 4-5, R 5; Rolfs 205; 3 Credits
Drawing on materials and methodologies from a variety of disciplines, this class explores the diverse experiences of women, both in past eras and in the present, in the U.S. and abroad. Required for the Women’s Studies major and minor; fulfills the General Education requirement in diversity. (WST: Core; Gen Ed: H, SS, D and Gordon Rule 4000)
The syllabus can be found here.
Women in American Film
Carolyn Kelly
WST3335– Section 3335- Class # 23284
MWF 4; FLG 0270; 3 Credits
This course examines the ways Hollywood cinema represents women by focusing on close readings of filmic texts (both discursive and formal elements) and blending these close readings with feminist theory/ feminist film theory in relation to the feminism versus post-feminism debate, “the chick flick,” the gaze, and the new Hollywood “Fempire.” We will also discuss types of women characters found in Hollywood films, such as “the working girl,” “the good wife/mother,” and” femme fatale.” Throughout the course, we will study how race, gender, sexual orientation, social class, and historical context intersect with Hollywood cinema. Films will include Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979), The Blue Gardenia (Fritz Lang, 1953), Body Heat (Lawrence Kasdan 1981), Bridesmaids (Paul Feig, 2011), The Children’s Hour (William Wyler 1961), Go Fish (Rose Troche 1994), Legally Blonde (Robert Luketic, 2001), Real Women Have Curves (Patricia Cardoso 2002), and Working Girl (Mike Nichols, 1988). Students who have not taken a prior film class will need to review an introductory film style guide/textbook before or during the semester. (WST: HUM, Gen Ed, GR 2000)
Ecofeminism
Anita Anantharam
WST3349– Sections 3349- Class # 23302
T 8; R 7-8; MAT 0018; 3 Credits
Ecofeminism focuses on Western tradition’s naturalization of women and feminization of nature, drawing the conclusion that the domination of women and the domination of nature are intimately connected and mutually reinforcing. This hypothesized connection of women and nature oppressions gives rise to a common formative structure of “othering” shared by women, animals, nature, people of color and ethnically colonized groups. The course surveys ecofeminist theories, exploring the links between ecological values, principles, activism, and feminisms. Spiritual, philosophical, and activist perspectives are examined through interdisciplinary lens. Teamwork, field trips, and a joint class project are important components of the course. (SS/HUM, Gordon Rule 4)
The syllabus can be found here.
Transnational Feminism
Anita Anantharam
WST3415– Section 3415- Class # 20399
T 3; R 3-4; NRN 1-130; 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. (WST: Core; Gen Ed: S, N)
The syllabus can be found here.
Sexualities Studies
Kendal Broad-Wright
WST3603– Section 3603- Class #20400
T 5-6; CSE E121; R 6; FLG 0280; 3 Credits
This course is an introduction and overview of the study of sexuality as a social phenomenon. Course readings include research detailing different ways people learn, do, and define sexuality with a focus on how sex is social and influenced by education, media, politics, medicine, as well as structures and processes of creating inequalities by race, class, gender, social, class, age, and disability (at minimum). Central to the course is an overview of how sexuality has been investigated, focusing on various theories of sexuality as social (from biology, history, anthropology, sociology, feminist studies, queer studies, etc.). The course also provides students critical frameworks for thinking about patterns of marginalization and valorization of different sexualities. (WST: SS; TPS: Core)
The syllabus can be found here.
Violence Against Women
Maddy Coy
WST3930– Section 39MC- Class # 20403
MWF 5; JHH 0221; 3 Credits
This course will examine the international evidence base on violence against women and responses to it, including prevention initiatives. We will explore myths and stereotypes, conceptual frameworks, the extent, prevalence and impact of different forms of violence against women, law and public policy responses, and how the media report and frame violence. How violence against women is experienced and perpetrated in specific social and geographical contexts will be a key theme, alongside globalised practices of violence and human rights approaches. (WST: HUM/SS; IPG)
The syllabus can be found here.
Independent Study
Alyssa Zucker
WST 4905 –Departmentally Controlled, Variable Credits 1-3; Can be repeated up to 6 credits
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor and program chair
For advanced undergraduate students who desire to supplement the regular courses by independent reading or research. Online Application (PDF) .
Undergraduate Research in Women’s Studies
Alyssa Zucker
WST4911-Departmentally Controlled-Variable Credits
Prerequisite: Permission of Undergraduate Coordinator/Program Chair
For advanced undergraduate students who desire to supplement the regular courses by independent reading or research. Click here for an application form.
LGBTQ+ Movements
Kendal Broad-Wright
WST4930-Section 49KB- Class #20431
W 4-6; Rolfs 205; 3 Credits
This course will center on LGBTQ+ social movements and “internal” critiques thereof. It is a course designed to answer the question of how LGBTQ+ social movement work has been (and is) done, a primary emphasis of which will be how it has fallen short (of its ideals). As such, the course will center critiques (e.g., Queer, Feminist, Queer of Color critique, etc.) of LG(BT) movement activism and untangle our dominant narratives of it. The course will also focus on how LGBTQ+ movement work is being re-imagined and redone, hence will include examples of current Queer, Trans, Intersex and BLG movement interventions. (WST: HUM/SS, TPS)
The syllabus can be found here.
Womanist Intellectual Thought
Debra Walker King
WST4930-Section 4DWK Class #22402
T 2-3; R 3; LIT 0127, TUR 1105; 3 Credits
The obscure position of African American women in the record of American intellectualism has resulted in a consensus among the uninformed that the phrase “Black womanist intellectual” is an oxymoron. This course disputes that assumption by challenging imposed boundaries. Students will examine the intersection of the public intellectual, academic, and political activism while discussing the influences of Black female intellectualism in the development of literary, spiritual and cultural criticism, education, law, and American (as well as global) social and political issues.
The syllabus can be found here.
Latina Narratives
Elizabeth Garcia
WST4930-Section 49EG, Class #22957
R 6-8; UST 108; 3 Credits
In this course we will explore how Latinx women navigate citizenship and belonging In the United States as represented in the literary narratives of Latinx women. Given the historical anti-immigrant discourse that has existed in this country and which has targeted Latinx populations in particular ways, how do Latinx women (re)define citizenship and belonging for themselves. We will focus on literary narratives representing various Latinx groups in order to also explore how the particular historical backgrounds of Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban-Americans, Dominican Americans, and Peruvian Immigrants, and their respective experiences of (im)migration to the United States influence their experiences of citizenship and belonging. Furthermore, we will use an intersectional feminist approach in our analysis, looking at how race, gender, sexuality, and class, intersect to construct national identities.
The syllabus cane be found here.
African Women Writers
Rose Sau Lugano
WST4930-Section 26AB- Class # 20432
T 7-8; R 8; MAT 0105; 3 Credits
he course will enable students to explore African women writers and critics, look at their theoretical priorities, literary themes and cultural positions. It is designed to provide students with both a specific and a general view of the status, achievements and experiences of African women in fiction. Using different genres (novels and plays) we will endeavor to understand how women’s literary expression has been shaped by history, culture, and their experiences, as well as see how they are addressing issues of gender in their respective societies. Discussions will focus on issues of identity, oppression, resistance, exile, language, translation and colonialism, using as points of entry a diverse set of texts. Finally, students will examine how African women writers are using writing itself as a tool for social transformation and critique. (WST: HUM; IPG)
Settler Colonialism, Anti-Blackness, and Women’s Resistance
Ryan Morini
WST4930-Section 49RM- Class # 20434
T 3-5; TBA; 3 Credits
This course explores the linkages between settler colonial genocide and anti-Black racism in what is now known as the United States, focusing on intersections of race and gender. We will engage with scholarship that directly analyzes these linkages and intersections, but also look at the work of Native feminists and Black feminists past and present to draw further connections and comparisons. A guiding point of this course is that anti-Black violence in the U.S. has always been enacted on Indian lands, while anti-Native genocide has always been entangled with anti-Blackness. We will think seriously about the ways these structures reinforce each other in gendered ways, taking our guidance from the analyses that some women have put forth, as scholars and/or as activists, in fighting these systems and working to build alternative futures.Capstone Seminar in Women’s Studies. (WST: HUM).
The syllabus can be found here.
Capstone Seminar
Maddy Coy
WST4935– Section 4900- Class # 20435
W 7-9; UST 108; 3 Credits
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. (WST: Core for all tracks in major; pre-req: WST 3015)
The syllabus can be found here.
Internship
Alyssa Zucker
WST 4940 – Departmentally Controlled
Variable Credits 1-3; Can be repeated up to 6 credits
Prerequisite: Permission of undergraduate coordinator. Designed for students desiring practical experience in the community. Students intern with a local agency, group or business involved in women’s issues. Click here for more information and an on-line application.
Practicum in Health Disparities
Laura K. Guyer
WST 4941C – Departmentally Controlled
MWF 1; Bartram 211; 3 Credits
WST 4941C is a capstone experience for seniors who have taken WST2322,, Introduction to Health Disparities in Society. Students are matched with preceptors from community agencies working with under-served and disadvantaged populations. Students will learn about the agency and its organizational culture while applying concepts of cultural competence, linguistic appropriateness and health disparities. To register, contact Dr. Laura Guyer. (HDS Minor: Core; Pre-req: WST 2322).
The syllabus can be found here.
Women’s/Gender Honors Thesis
Alyssa Zucker
WST 4970- Departmentally Controlled; 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. Guidelines for the Honors Thesis are available here and the Application for the Honors Thesis is here (PDF).