Gender and Women's Studies

Professor:  Segrest; Assistant Professor:  Sharma

Associated Faculty:

Professors:  Bhatia (Human Development), Borrelli (Government), Boyd (English), Chrisler (Psychology), Harlan (Religious Studies), Kushigian (Hispanic Studies), Rivkin (English), Van Slyck (Art History and Architectural Studies), Wilson (History); Associate Professors:  Dooling (East Asian Languages and Cultures), Downs (History), Eastman (Biology), Fredricks (Human Development), Garofalo (History), Grande (Education), Heredia (Hispanic Studies), Lanoux (Slavic Studies), Martin (Film Studies), Pfefferkorn (Philosophy), Sica (Italian); Assistant Professors:  Baker (English), Collins (Dance), Davis (History), Etoke-Ilde (French), Harris (Sociology), Henderson (Dance), Jafar (Sociology), Manion (History), Reder (English), Rudolph (Hispanic Studies).

Gender and Women's Studies is an interdisciplinary transnational course of study designed to help students understand the ways in which gender politics shapes social experience.  We examine the nuanced historical processes through which women and men and transgendered people live out gender; the set of institutional and ideological practices that shape it; and the concrete processes and political movements through which inequities are transformed.  Employing a transnational, comparative approach, students explore how gender intersects with issues of nation, culture, religion, sexuality, class and race.  Gender and Women's Studies prepares students to utilize feminist methodologies and approaches to examine and enrich other disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and arts.

The Major in Gender and Women′s Studies

The Gender and Women's Studies major consists of courses 103, 224 or 226, 295 or 296, 306, 312, one of the 400-level capstone seminars offered by departmental faculty, and five additional courses from among electives either offered by departmental faculty or cross-listed with the associate faculty.  Of the five additional courses, three must be at the 200 level or above, with one of these at the 300 or 400 level.  Given the transnational focus of the department, students are strongly advised to gain language competency and to study abroad.

Students may choose to double major in Gender and Women's Studies and another discipline.  Majors are encouraged to undertake independent work in seminars, individual studies courses, or Honors Study.  Departmental and associated faculty serve as advisers.

The Minor in Gender and Women's Studies

The minor in Gender and Women's Studies consists of at least five courses, including courses 103 and 306.  In addition, students must elect three courses. At least two of these three courses must be taken at the 300 or 400 level.  A plan of study organized around a specific topic, theme, or area of interest should be submitted to the faculty adviser for approval.             

Advisers:  M. Segrest, S. Sharma, and Associated Faculty as appropriate

Learning Goals in the Gender and Women′s Studies Major

 The Department of Gender and Women′s Studies develops students to be passionately engaged with their studies and the world - as intellectuals, activists, artists, and writers who will apply a knowledge of gender in work, families, and communities, intelligently and creatively, for their entire lives.  We welcome women, men, and transgender students.

Our major has as its core six required courses that take the student from the basics of understanding gender as an analytic lens and a force of culture across geography and history, to an advanced understanding and application of transnational feminist theory, methodology, and practice.  Majors add to this core at least four interdisciplinary electives that allow the student to shape the major according to particular interests and talents and to understand the ″common differences″ among gendered and/or feminist approaches.

This department follows ideas, movements, and bodies across all kinds of disciplinary and political boundaries to arrive at new syntheses and insights that are necessary for creating local and global communities of justice, sustainability, and peace in the 21st century.  It also works to set the student on a vocational path into a world that needs such talents, training, and dedication. 

Upon completion of a Gender and Women′s Studies Major, students will master the power of gender as an analytical concept and be able to apply it in other academic disciplines and in everyday life.  The GWS major will:

GAIN ANALYTICAL SKILLS:

• Understand the nuanced historical processes by which humans live out gender across geographies and histories, and the institutional and ideological practices that shape them; 
• Know how other forces of identity and power such as race, sexuality, class, religion and nationality intersect and interact with gender;
• Understand the varieties of feminist theories, the major debates in the field, internal and external critiques of feminism (from conservative, anti-imperialist, queer, and other positions), and its overall evolution;
• Learn how major social movements shape history, how the great social movements of modernity are gendered, when and how autonomous women′s organizing emerged, and how these movements are engaging the conditions of human lives and communities globally;
• Understand the major issues facing women nationally and globally, and the stakes and strategies in addressing these challenges.

REFINE MODES OF SELF-REFLECTION:

• Understand the concept of ″social location,″ including ones own;
• Grasp the ways that binary modes of thinking about and ″doing″ gender constrict human possibilities, and appreciate and value the implications of  ″queer″ and ″trans″ movements and identities;
• Learn to identify a range of masculinities and femininities and what is at stake in these choices.

APPLY THEORY IN PRACTICE:

• Appreciate the power of individual and collective agency;
• Learning to work in campus and community organizations to create a more just and sustainable world.

GAIN SKILLS IN WRITING, RESEARCH, READING, AND SPEAKING

• Utilize feminist methodologies and approaches in order to frame original research and organizing;
• Work on writing skills that bring clarity of expression and coherence of argument;
• Refine skills of information literacy and research, both library and web-based, and how to use digital technologies;
• Achieve oral proficiency to speak confidently, intelligently, clearly and constructively;
• Gain and refine critical reading skills, from the ability to identify an argument or thesis; to following its development through an essay or book; to engaging and critiquing it; to entering into scholarly and intellectual conversations about the key issues and debates in the field.

Required Courses

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  103  A TRANSNATIONAL FEMINIST INTRODUCTION TO GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  An interdisciplinary course that examines how feminism is constituted transnationally.  Drawing upon disciplines including political economy, history, literature, and sociology, the course examines the gendered forces that constitute modernities and post-modernities, including colonization, the transatlantic slave trade, body politics, the nation-state and gendered citizens, the global economy, and the family.

               Open to all students.  Enrollment limited to 40 students.  This course satisfies General Education Area 3.  M. Segrest, S. Sharma

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  224  TRANSNATIONAL WOMEN'S MOVEMENT  A gendered examination of twentieth-century social movements and the emergence of autonomouswomen′s organizations and networks worldwide.  Emphasis on violence and the state, anticolonial movements, communist and postcommunist states, feminism vs. nation building, women in industrial and postindustrial economies, and the challenges and opportunities of women′s organizations in the twenty-first century.  This is the same course as Comparative Race and Ethnicity 224.

               Enrollment limited to 25 students.  This course satisfies General Education Area 3.  M. Segrest, Staff

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  226  GENDER AND HUMAN RIGHTS  An introduction to human rights frameworks and practices for women and gender minorities, and their applications, including stopping gender violence and advocating for educational, economic, and cultural rights as the context for human development.  This course is an alternative to Gender and Women′s Studies 224 as a requirement for the major.  This is the same course as Education 226.

               Enrollment limited to 30 students.  This course satisfies General Education Area 3.  M. Segrest

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  295, 296  TRAINING FOR TRANSFORMATION  Theoretical readings in community organizing and leadership with supervised practical work at designated community-based agencies and governmental and non-governmental organizations or campus-based sites.  Two credit hours, pass/not passed marking.  May be taken in conjunction with one of the core courses required for the major.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  306  ADVANCED READINGS IN FEMINIST THEORY  Analysis of social, political and ideological relations through which feminist knowledge is produced.  Emphasis on significance of gendered analysis as an intervention in a range of disciplines and discourses and the evolution of complex modes of theorizing gender as they implicate and are shaped by other forms of power and identity.

               Prerequisite:  Course 103 for Gender and Women's Studies majors or permission of the instructor.  This course is recommended for juniors and seniors.  Enrollment limited to 20 students.  M. Segrest, Staff

GENDER AND WOMEN'S STUDIES  312  FEMINIST SOCIAL RESEARCH METHODS  This course focuses on developing feminist research questions and the design of research projects and gives students experience with different methods, including interview, survey, experimental and ethnographic techniques.  This is the same course as Comparative Race and Ethnicity 312.

               Prerequisite:  Course 103 or 224 or permission of the instructor.  Enrollment limited to 30 students.  This is a designated Writing course.  S. Sharma

Electives in Gender and Women′s Studies

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  102  CHILDREN'S RIGHTS AND PUBLIC POLICY  This is the same course as Human Development 103.  Refer to the Human Development listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  106  DOMESTIC DISTURBANCES:  POSTWAR AMERICAN WOMEN′S LITERATURE  This is the same course as English 106.  Refer to the Literatures in English listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  203  AN INTRODUCTION TO QUEER STUDIES  This interdisciplinary introduction will ground students in queer theories and histories and the movements of queer and transgender people.  These theoretical and historical lenses will be used to examine literature, film, popular culture, and personal and group identities so that students gain facility in ″queering″ a wide range of intellectual and cultural pursuits.

               Enrollment limited to 30 students.  This course satisfies General Education Area 4.  M. Segrest

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  208  WORDS, WISDOM, AND WITNESS:  WOMEN OF COLOR IN THE AMERICAS  An examination of the ways in which women of color have invented themselves in the Americas over the past century.  Students will examine the contributions of women of color to feminist theory, theology, literature and the arts, and U.S. social movements and activism.

               Prerequisite:  Course 103 or 105, or permission of the instructor.  Enrollment limited to 30 students.  C. Highbaugh

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  209  RACE, GENDER, AND THE MASS MEDIA  This is the same course as Sociology 208.  Refer to the Sociology listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  210  BLACK WOMEN IN THE CARIBBEAN  An exploration of the ways women in the Caribbean have contributed to cultures of the African Diaspora.  The course will focus on ways of living in island countries, including Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba.  Consideration will be given to feminist analyses of topics such as community life and politics, religion and ritual, leadership and revolution, economic development, and artistic expression.

               Prerequisite:  One of the following:  Course 103, 224, or permission of instructor.  Enrollment limited to 30 students.  M. Segrest and C. Highbaugh

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  211  SEX, GENDER, AND SOCIETY  This is the same course as Sociology 212.  Refer to the Sociology listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  216  GENDER AND GLOBALIZATION  A study of discourses and practices of globalization and their relationship to cultural processes centered on labor and political economy in gendered contexts.  These contexts include those concerning women as a category, as well as those concerning the gendering of labor in the global economy.

               Prerequisite:  Course 103 or another introductory social science course, or permission of the instructor.  Enrollment limited to 30 students.  Staff

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  217  SAME-SEX SEXUALITY IN WORLD HISTORY  This is the same course as American Studies/History 217.  Refer to the History listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  222  HISTORY OF GENDER IN THE ANDES AND MEXICO  This is the same course as History 220.  Refer to the History listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  230 GENDER IN COMMUNIST AND POST-COMMUNIST SOCIETIES  This is the same course as Slavic Studies 230/East Asian Studies 230.  Refer to the Slavic Studies listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  235  "CHUTNEY-POPCORN":  BOLLYWOOD, GLOBALIZATION, AND IDENTITY An examination of the scripts of social reform in Bollywood films since the advent of globalization and economic liberalization in 1991.  Through a series of Hindi films made in the period between 1990 and 2000, this course makes connections between economic change and the gendered nature of social reform in contemporary India.  This is the same course as Anthropology 235.

               Prerequisite:  Course 103or equivalent, or with permission of the instructor.  Enrollment limited to 30students.  This is a designated Writing course.  S. Sharma

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  242  THE HISTORY OF WOMEN AND GENDER IN THE UNITED STATES  This is the same course as American Studies/History 242.  Refer to the History listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  244  MODERN CHINESE WOMEN'S WRITING IN TRANSLATION  This is the same course as Chinese 244.  Refer to the East Asian Languages and Cultures listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN'S STUDIES  252  ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE  This is the same course as Comparative Race and Ethnicity/History 252.  Refer to the History listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  253  DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS? SEXOLOGY AND SEX ACTIVISM  IN THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC  This is the same course as German Studies 253.  Refer to the German Studies listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN'S STUDIES  258  WOMEN, RELIGION, AND MODERNITY  This is the same course as Religious Studies 258.  Refer to the Religious Studies listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  270  HISTORY OF SEXUALITY IN THE U.S.  This is the same course as American Studies/History 270.  Refer to the History listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  301  AMERICAN WOMEN WRITERS  This is the same course as English 301.  Refer to the English listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  304  CHILDREN AND FAMILY SOCIAL POLICIES  This is the same course as Human Development 304.  Refer to the Human Development listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  305  ″FLOWERS FROM THE VOLCANO″:  IMPERIAL DISCOURSE, ECO-FEMINISM, AND RESISTANCE IN THE AMERICAS (In Spanish)  This is the same course as Hispanic Studies 305.  Refer to the Hispanic Studies listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  307  ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT  This is the same course as Human Development 307.  Refer to the Human Development listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  309  THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION IN THE AMERICAS  This is the same course as American Studies/History 309.  Refer to the History listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN'S STUDIES  311  MUSLIM WOMEN′S VOICES  This is the same course as Religious Studies 311.  Refer to the Religious Studies listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  313  REPRESENTING GENDER  This is the same course as Film Studies 311.  Refer to the Film Studies listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  314  FOREIGN BODIES FORBIDDEN SEXUALITIES IN AFRICA AND THE CARIBBEAN  This is the same course as Comparative Race and Ethnicity/French 314.  Refer to the French Department listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  316  IDENTITY AND PLACE INITALIAN CULTURE (In Italian)  This is the same course as Italian 316.  Refer to the Italian listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  321  CHILDREN AND FAMILIES IN A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY  This is the same course as Human Development 321.  Refer to the Human Development listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  322  CUBA IN/AND THE AMERICAS  This is the same course as American Studies/Comparative Race and Ethnicity/Education 322.  Refer to the American Studies listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN’S STUDIES  326  THRILLS, CHILLS, AND TEARS:  BLACK GENRE FICTION  This is the same course as English/Comparative Race and Ethnicity 326.  Refer to the Literatures in English listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  327  RADICAL BODIES:  CONTEMPORARY ART AND ACTION  This is the same course as Art History 360.  Refer to the Art History listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN’S STUDIES  330  MEDITATIONS ON THE  HISTORY OF  THE AMERICAN SOUTH  This is the same course as American Studies/History 330.  Refer to the History listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN’S STUDIES  330B  LOVE AND SEX IN THE MIDDLE AGES  This is the same course as English 330B.  Refer to the Literatures in English listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN'S STUDIES  332  EXQUISITE CORPSES  This is the same course as English 332.  Refer to the English listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  333  U.S. LATINO URBAN YOUTH NARRATIVES (In Spanish)  This is the same course as Hispanic Studies 333.  Refer to the Hispanic Studies listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  337  THE LITERATURE OF PASSING  This is the same course as English 337.  Refer to the English listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  340  PSYCHOLOGY OF MEN AND MASCULINITY  This is the same course as Psychology 340.  Refer to the Psychology listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  341  CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN U.S. HISTORY  This is the same course as American Studies/History 341.  Refer to the History listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  350  EDUCATION AND THE REVOLUTIONARY PROJECT IN LATIN AMERICA  This is the same course as American Studies/Comparative Race and Ethnicity/Education 350.  Refer to the Education listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  356 FEMINISMS IN AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE  This is the same course as Film Studies 395W, 396W.  Refer to the Film Studies listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  360  "THE STATE IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE STATE":  GLOBALIZATION AND STATE-MAKING IN THE 21ST CENTURY  The course introduces students to theories of the transnational modern state as it is challenged by globalization in its various permutations.  We will explore the implications of social networking on new and powerful people′s movements, especially across the Middle East, attempting to remove authoritarian regimes through peaceful congregation and state-based responses to such acts of non-violent resistance.  We will engage Foucauldian and feminist notions/theories of the state with such transnational developments, exploring the future of the state and the state of the future.

               Prerequisite:  Course 103 and either 224 or 306.  Open to junior and senior majors in anthropology, gender and women′s studies, international relations, or economics.  Enrollment limited to 16 students.  This is a designated Writing course.  S. Sharma

GENDER AND WOMEN'S STUDIES  362  ALICE MUNRO AND THE SHORT STORY  This is the same course as English 362.  Refer to the English listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  377  GRAPHIC STRIPS:  GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN COMICS, MANGA, AND ANIMATED FILM  This is the same course as East Asian Studies/Film Studies 377.  Refer to the East Asian Studies listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN’S STUDIES  400  THE SOCIOLOGY OF GLOBALIZATION  This is the same course as Sociology 400.  Refer to the Sociology listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  406  HEARING VOICES:  A STUDY OF VOICE, THEATRICALITY AND PERFORMANCE  (IN FRENCH)  This is the same course as French 493M, 494M.  Refer to the French listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  408  CHILD MALTREATMENT  This is the same course as Human Development 408.  Refer to the Human Development listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  410  ″DRAG YOU OFF TO MILLEDGEVILLE″:  MIND, POWER, AND MENTAL HEALTH  This seminar uses archives of Georgia′s state mental hospital, which became the largest in the world in the 1940s,  to examine issues of mental illness and mental health from a gender, race, and classperspective.  Materials include archival sources, films, novels, and psychiatric histories.  The interdisciplinary approach welcomes students interested in American studies, psychology, history, and disability studies.  This is the same course as American Studies/History 410.

               Prerequisite:  Course 224, 306, or advanced work in American Studies or History.  Enrollment limited to 16 students.  M. Segrest

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  413  JANE AUSTEN  This is the same course as English 493G, 494G.  Refer to the English listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  415  SOCIAL POLICY ANALYSIS IN URBAN AMERICA  This is the same course as Human Development 415.  Refer to the Human Development listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  416  GLOBALIZATION, CULTURE, AND IDENTITY  This is the same course as Human Development 416.  Refer to the Human Development listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  418  TONI MORRISON  This is the same course as English 493H, 494H.  Refer to the English listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  419  STUDIES IN AUTHORSHIP:  WOMEN DIRECTORS   This is the same course as Film Studies 493W, 494W.  Refer to the Film Studies listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  420  THE WOMAN′S BODY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE AND CINEMA (In French)  This is the same course as Comparative Race and Ethnicity/French 420.  Refer to the French listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  421  TOPICS IN ITALIAN CULTURE:  RESEARCH SEMINAR (In Italian)  This is the same course as Italian Studies 421.  Refer to the Italian Studies listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  426  HISTORY OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN JAPAN, 1850s-1980s  This is the same course as History 426.  Refer to the History listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  434  TOPICS IN MULTICULTURALISM:  MAPPING BODIES  This is the same course as Dance 434.  Refer to the Dance listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  448  HUMAN TRAFFICKING:  PROSTITUTION AND SEX-SLAVERY IN NORTHEAST ASIA, WESTERN EUROPE AND THE U.S. SINCE 1850  This is the same course as History 448.  Refer to the History listing for a course description.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  468  RACE AND SEX IN EARLY AMERICA  This is the same course as American Studies/History 468.  Refer to the History listing for a course description.

Additional Electives

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  291, 292  INDIVIDUAL STUDY

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  391, 392  INDIVIDUAL STUDY

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  495, 496  FIELD WORK  Six to nine hours weekly of supervised practical work at designated community-based agency, governmental or non-governmental organization, or campus site, with written reflection as final product.

               Open to senior majors and minors in Gender and Women′s Studies.  Students must find a faculty sponsor to oversee field work experience.  Students may only take this course once unless senior students get advanced permission for a two-semester field work assignment as an alternative to an honors thesis.

GENDER AND WOMEN′S STUDIES  497-498  HONORS STUDY