Academics > Curriculum

Curriculum

Farrell and Janca-Aji, Administrative Coordinators.

The Gender Studies program is an interdisciplinary program that seeks to provide an open inquiry into the ways in which gender and sexuality inform constructions of identity, societies, and ideologies across race, ethnicities, social class, and historical periods.  Course topics, materials, and activities are offered from a perspective that advocates equality and emphasizes the importance of the role of gender and sexuality in shaping experience.
The major in gender studies is designed by the student, with help from advisors, to suit individual needs and interests. Students are required to complete the capstone experience during their senior year.

Collateral Major in Gender Studies

  1. Fulfill requirements for any of the majors listed on p. 10
  2. GS-107 Introduction to Gender Studies
  3. GS-405 Gender Studies Capstone
  4. Seven courses to be chosen as indicated from the two lists below. At least three academic disciplines must be represented in the seven courses, and no more than three courses may be chosen from the student’s primary major(s).
    a.    A minimum of four courses from the following list of core courses:
    ART-207 Gender and Art
    ENG-187,-188 Literary Studies in Gender
    GER-445 Race, Class and Gender (in German)
    GS-207 Dress, Gender, and Identity
    GS-216 Gender in the Non-Western World
    GS-227 Gender Theory and Social Movements
    GS-247 Gender Studies Symposium
    HIS-397 Women in America
    NUR/PSY-237 Human Sexuality
    PHL-277 Philosophy of Gender and Race
    POL-277 Women and Politics in the United States
    PSY-208 Gender Psychology
    RHE-357 Environmental Rhetoric
    RHE-417 Sex, Race, and Gender in the Media
    THE-288 History of Dress

    b.    One or more courses from the following lists of component courses to bring the total elective courses to seven:
    EDU-387 Human Relations
    ENG-485 Restoration and Eighteenth-Century British Literature
    ENG-515 Victorian Fiction
    RHE-237 Interpersonal Communication
    RHE-246 Intercultural Communication
    RHE-255 The Essay
    RHE-277 Cultural Studies
    SOC-207 Sociology of the Family
    SOC-415 Social Conflict
    SOC-425 Social Change

When topic is appropriate, as determined by Gender Studies Coordinators:

ENG-125,-127,-128 Exploring Literature
ENG-347 American Literature
ENG-705,-715,-725 Seminar in Literature
FRE-145,-146,-148 Literature in Translation
FRE-495 Topics in French Literature
HIS-316, -317, -318 Topics in History
HON-715 Style and Transformation in the Arts
HON-725 Continuity and Transition in Non-Western Societies
PSY-705 Seminar in Psychology
REL-330 Topics in Hebrew Bible
REL-385 Topics in Religion

Gender Studies Minor

  1. GS-107 Introduction to Gender Studies
  2. GS-405 Gender Studies Capstone
  3. At least two courses from list 4a above for the collateral major.
  4. One additional course from either list 4a or 4b above for the collateral major.

At least two academic disciplines should be represented among the three elective courses, and no more than one of these courses may be chosen from the student’s primary major(s).

Courses in Gender Studies

GS-107 Introduction to Gender Studies
An examination of the ways in which societies shape our notions of gender, including, but not limited to, how class, race, and sexual orientation influence this process. Topics for lecture, discussion, and readings are selected by the instructor and are drawn from a variety of academic fields.

GS-207 Dress, Gender, and Identity
Explores the issues of personal adornment and dress related to the projection of gender and identity. Examples from contemporary cultures around the globe are analyzed and compared following a variety of themes. Those themes include: revealing and concealing gender and/or identity, dress codes as social markers, body image and gender, and group identity through dress and adornment. Open to all students.

GS-216 Gender in the Non-Western World
A study of gender rituals, family practices, sexuality, gendered work, and other aspects of gender in non-western cultures.

GS-227  Gender Theory and Social Movements 
Focuses on the histories, theories, and cultures of social movements centered on gender and sexuality.  This course provides an important critical lens for analyses of contemporary art and culture. Topics vary, and they include, but are not limited to, suffrage, queer theory, the Stonewall Riots, gender trouble, écriture féminine, ecofeminism, the Third Wave, mens' movements, the feminine mystique, lavender linguistics. Prerequisite: Introduction to Gender Studies (GS-107).

GS-247 Gender Studies Symposium
Study of selected works and subjects dealing with gender. Specific topics vary from year to year. May be taken twice, provided the topics are substantially different.

GS-405 Gender Studies Capstone
Integrates skills and methods acquired through Gender Studies coursework and requires that the student make a public contribution to the community. During the course of the term, the student: 1) completes a self-designed project which has a public outcome and which is related to the student’s major, the student’s current ethical or social concerns, or the student’s possible post-college vocation; 2) participates in a specified number of gender-related campus or community events, with either direct involvement in or written response to each. Participation by consent of directing faculty member after submission and acceptance of proposal for project to the Gender Studies coordinator.