Misty York, Leigh Johnson, and Lindsey Bale
Earned the WS Graduate Certificate
Women's Studies Graduate Studies Course Descriptions
Core Courses
WOMN 545 Feminist Knowledge & Social Change (offered every fall semester)
From the catalog: Examination of both feminist knowledge and research as political practices with the goal of improving the lives of women and challenging rigid configurations of race, class, gender, and other elements of difference.
Elaboration: Readings and films examine social movements and action, with focus on particular social movements that have been important to the women’s movement, such as pornography and more recently prison reform. Readings are grounded in a critique of the ideas and policies that have defined Western, and particularly, U.S. culture. All the writers they take their positions and “arm” themselves differently. Whether it’s the writers themselves or the people in the films, they inspire us to use our feminist knowledge to make our own social change. In addition to intensive reading and discussion, a “social change project” is expected.
WOMN 555 Global & Cross-cultural Perspectives on Women (offered every spring)
From the Catalog: Examination of a range of disciplinary work on global women's movements and a comparison of women's experiences cross-culturally.
Elaboration: Readings and films offer feminist perspectives on a range of national and international issues affecting all people, with an emphasis on the realities women face. Given the “war on terrorism” our country is engaged in, part of the class is typically devoted to readings and issues in Southwest Asia (Middle East), India, and the US. Other readings address issues that women face globally or cross-culturally, and at least part of the class is devoted to multiculturalism in the U.S. Readings vary across the disciplines. In addition to intensive reading and discussion, a research paper is expected.
Electives
ENG 497G Women’s Fiction (offered spring semester, even years)
The focus changes each time the course is taught. In Spring 2006, the content was women’s short fiction, and in Spring 2008, on “giants and upstarts” of the 21st century.
Elaboration: 2006 syllabus: We’ll read short stories written by women, primarily in the 20th century. We’ll consider the stories on at least two levels: as literary works of art, including the ways that they achieve literary merit; and as representations and explorations of women’s realities. 2007: Giants include novels and short story collections by Margaret Atwood, Toni Morrison, A.S. Byatt, Joyce Carol Oates, and Louise Erdrich; “upstarts” are Marilynne Robinson, Kelly Link, Yiyun Li, Nicola Griffith, and Lisa See.
In our reading, writing, and discussion, we will explore these (and other) questions: Which writers are telling stories that (seemingly) haven't been told before? How do they use or modify familiar stories? How do they make use of their historic and cultural past? How do they define themselves? How do gender, race, ethnicity, and class intersect to shape experience and the literary imagination? What narrative strategies and techniques do the writers use to give their stories shape and significance? Finally, we will be white reading black, male reading female, gentile reading Jewish, straight reading lesbian—how do our differences impact our reading?
WOMN 535 Roots of Feminism (offered in the summer, usually the July term)
From the catalog: Survey of key historical feminist writings with emphasis on intersections of gender, race, class, and sexuality in feminist theory.
Elaboration: “Roots”will introduce students to key writings in the evolution of Western feminism. These influential works span more than two centuries and dozens of feminist writers (and a few men).
The course begins with a look at writings on women’s nature by noted male philosophers, followed by challenges to women’s subordination posed by pioneer feminists such as Mary Wollstonecraft. Subsequent units will explore the ideas of the nineteenth-century woman’s rights movement; First Wave feminism (early twentieth century) and Second Wave feminism (beginning in the late 1960s); readings draw from classic feminist works by numerous thinkers, including Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Betty Friedan, and Audre Lorde. Films augment the readings. Intensive reading and discussion are expected.
WOMN 421G Women and Science (hope to offer in the spring semesters, even years)
From the catalog: Study of women's participation in the natural and physical sciences, the scientific education of women, contemporary science workplaces, and feminist critiques of science.
WOMN 615 Global Women’s Health Inequities (hope to offer this in the fall, odd years)
This course will be a comprehensive review of the multifaceted factors that affect women’s health around the globe. Students will explore issues that range from low socioeconomic status and the impact of the debt crisis to more direct medical determinants, such as poor nutrition, hemorrhage, and HIV. The course will encourage students to synthesize the varying perspectives of policymakers and practitioners in an effort to understand the plight of women’s health on a global level. Students will develop and understanding for both biological elements such as the life cycle of women as well as cultural constraints and socioeconomic realities.
WOMN 625 Women and Leadership (currently spring semesters, may shift to odd years)
The course will explore basic questions about authority, the appropriate use of power, community building, ethics and responsibility for self and others. The course has four objectives: (1) to enable students to appreciate women's contributions and accomplishments, (2) to introduce students to the ways in which feminist analyses reveal new ways of understanding leadership, (3) to empower students to prepare themselves to become active, responsible citizens, (4) to enable students to analyze and assess their own performances as both leaders and followers.
Return to Academic Program Page
Return to Women's Studies Homepage
