Undergraduate Programs

This course is an introduction to the interdisciplinary scholarship of Gender, Sexuality and Women's studies. As a survey course, this class is designed to give students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines a basic understanding of debates and perspectives discussed in the field. We will use gender as a critical lens to examine some of the social, cultural, economic, scientific, and political practices that organize our lives. We will explore a multitude of feminist perspectives on the intersections of sex, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, religion, and other categories of identity. In this course, we will interrogate these categories as socially constructed while acknowledging that these constructions have real effects in subordinating groups, marking bodies, and creating structural, intersectional inequalities.

Location

(M 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

What is the relationship between love and sex? Is BDSM ethical? How is sex tied to the concept of family? Should the state regulate certain sexual practices? This course is a survey of topics in the philosophy of sex and will discuss some of the moral, metaphysical, epistemological, political, and social aspects of sex in contemporary Western society. This includes the relationships between sex and love, marriage, gender, race, neurodivergence, and sexuality. Students can expect to engage with a range of contemporary philosophical debates on these topics as well as develop their ability to discuss them critically and situate the debates within moral and political philosophy.

Location

(MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

This course provides an overview of the interdisciplinary field of medical anthropology. Using a range of ethnographic case materials (including graphic novels, documentaries, and texts), we will explore how cultural, biological, and political contexts variously shape understandings and experiences of health and illness. Key topics include cultures of medicine, medical pluralism, medicalization, social suffering, and ethics in medical research, medical technologies, and global health. This introductory survey in medical anthropology is open to first- and second-year undergraduate students.

Location

(TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

The aim of this course is two-fold: First, to develop an understanding of the extraordinary variety of ways meaning is produced in visual culture; secondly, to enable students to analyze and describe the social, political and cultural effects of these meanings. By studying examples drawn from contemporary art, film, television, digital culture, and advertising we will learn techniques of analysis developed in response to specific media and also how to cross-pollinate techniques of analysis in order to gain greater understanding of the complexity of our visual world. Grades are based on response papers, class attendance and participation, and a midterm and a final paper. Occasional film screenings will be scheduled as necessary in the course of the semester.

Location

(TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

This course surveys African American literature of a variety of genres—primarily fiction, poetry, and non-fiction essays—from the early 20th century to the present. The course interprets this tradition not only as the creative expression of American writers of African descent, but also as a set works displaying formal characteristics associated with black cultural traditions. Discussion topics will include the meanings of race, the construction of black identity, and intra-racial differences of class, gender, and sexuality, as well as how experimentation, 1960s black radicalism, and the contemporary Movement for Black Lives have shaped black literature. Our readings will traverse a range of influential writers, such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Nella Larsen, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, Claudia Rankine, and Danez Smith.

Location

(MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

Across West Africa, street parties are an essential part of urban culture featuring music, dance, and fashion. This class explores the phenomenon of these street parties, or “Dundunba”, as well as the dance styles, music, and fashions associated with them. Students will learn the iconic dance styles Dundunba, Sabar, Sidi Yankadi and more. They will learn technique to add style through gestures such as the fast-paced dance steps known as "échauffement." They will discuss the gender dimensions of street parties and the types of dance steps, clothing, and public presentation unique to men and women respectively. Videos and short readings will complement our experience on the dance floor.

Location

(MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

In this colloquium we will look at the history of international feminism and explore its many faces. We will examine the various factors that have contributed to women’s historically lower status in society; will look at the emergence of women’s rights and feminist movements as well as the distinctions among various feminist theories, and will discuss the relevance of feminism today.

Location

(T 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

In this colloquium we will look at the history of international feminism and explore its many faces. We will examine the various factors that have contributed to women’s historically lower status in society; will look at the emergence of women’s rights and feminist movements as well as the distinctions among various feminist theories, and will discuss the relevance of feminism today.

Location

(T 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

Survey course on understanding sexuality. Includes such topics as biological sexual differentiation, gender role, gender-linked social behaviors, reproduction issues, intimacy, and the role of social and personal factors in psychosexual development.

Location

(TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

Who is the modern woman? Is she simply someone who lives through modernity? Or someone ahead of her time? How has the depiction of modern women evolved and changed in Japanese literature? These are a few of the questions we will be considering in this course. Our journey will start during the Meiji period and bring us all the way to the late 2010s as we explore the many incarnations of the modern woman in Japan. Students will engage with questions of identity, race, and sexuality to discuss the depiction of Japanese modern women. By the end of this course, students will have a clear notion of what modernity and modernism mean in the context of Japan, with a focus on gender issues.

Location

(MW 4:50PM - 6:05PM)

This course examines representations and expressions of gender, sexuality, and desire in works of Chinese literature from the late 19th- early 21st centuries. What were normative gender expectations and sexual mores? How did they change over time and in shifting socio-political currents? We will read a broad range texts, which include a radical proposal to abolish gender hierarchies in the late Qing; critiques of patriarchal social structures and representations of same-sex desire and the new woman in the early 20th c.; depictions of revolutionary romance and sexual repression under socialism; and the more organic depictions of desire and gender identity that reemerged in the post-Mao era.

Location

(MW 11:50AM - 1:05PM)

Foundations and Principles of Dance/Movement Therapy examines the ways dance/movement therapy in the west has integrated Asian concepts, natural movement, formal elements of dance, creative processes, music, verbal expression, and constructs drawn from psychology and counseling to treat a wide range of populations. Students will compare and contrast the treatment of individuals seeking help for a range of concerns (e.g., psychosis, autism, anxiety, eating disorders, histories of abuse). Experientials, creative dance, and videotapes of actual sessions with a variety of populations highlight these concepts. Dress comfortably and be prepared to move.

Location

(MW 9:00AM - 10:15AM)

How do people across the world experience, construct, and perform gender? How have notions of gender been shaped by cultural, economic, political, and social forces? This course will examine gender as a key component of social life. Beginning with a basic overview of anthropological and sociological approaches to gender and sexuality, we will move on to examine some of the key theories and concepts that inform this work. What distinguishes sex from gender? How does gender intersect with race, class, religion, and nationhood? Special attention will be given to how colonialism, globalization, and neoliberal capitalism have shaped gendered experiences and practices across the world. By interrogating these concepts, we challenge binary understandings of gender and open space for a more inclusive, global exploration of the topic. Students will be introduced to feminist, queer, and decolonial theories, providing multiple perspectives for analyzing gender as a social structure and lived experience. The course will then examine ethnographic case studies from diverse regions, highlighting how gender is constructed and performed in different sociocultural contexts. Topics include rituals of gender transition in Indigenous cultures, gender nonconforming roles in South Asia (such as hijras), the fluidity of gender categories in Polynesia, and state regulation of bodies and identities. Students will be encouraged to think critically about how anthropological approaches to gender are relevant in everyday life. We will explore the gendered dynamics of work, politics, education, healthcare, and media, examining how cultural assumptions about masculinity and femininity are embedded in these spheres. Students will build essential skills in critical thinking, argumentation, and academic writing. Readings will span ethnographic studies, theoretical essays, and multimedia sources such as films and advertisements, offering diverse examples of how anthropologists study gender.

Location

(W 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

Biographies of Emancipation in the Black World explores the sites and emblematic figures who contributed to the emancipation of the Black world, understood here as the African continent and peoples of African descent. Ghana, under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah, assumed a decisive role in the articulation of the narrative of black emancipation. The course introduces students to charismatic figures such as Kwame Nkrumah, Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela who all have articulated a powerful network of black international to counter racism in the United States of America, apartheid in South Africa or colonialism on the African continent. Cultural producers, activists and writers such as Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Billie Holiday, Lorraine Hansberry, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, and Maryse Condé have contributed advance the global struggle for the emancipation of the Black world.

Location

(TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

This course will explore the relationship between medical and legal understandings of gender. What does it mean to look beyond a simplistic binary of "man" and "woman"? We will center transgender identity to explore how law and medicine regulate lived experiences of gender and sexuality. Adopting a holistic framework that views the development of gender identity and expression as a complex dialogue between biology and culture, the course challenges the hegemonic artifice of a “natural” binary opposition between female/male and woman/man. We blur these contested categories, complicating them with sexuality, race, class, ability, history, and location. Citing current, historical and cross-cultural examples of individuals and communities who destabilize prevailing sex/gender norms, the course critiques how societies react to the presence of “other” gender identities, embodiments and expressions. We will focus on the recent increase in trans visibility and advocacy, and the ensuing challenges to legal, medical and social norms and attitudes predicated on the existence of only two kinds of gendered persons. We will center marginalized voices by reading scholarly texts written by trans people, and also watching films, listening to music, reading comics, memoirs, and magazines to theorize trans lives from the lived experience of trans people themselves. From this standpoint, we will take a critical and interdisciplinary look at trans studies across the fields of anthropology, history, interdisciplinary theory, politics, and the arts, to analyze global medical and legal discourses on gender.

Location

(R 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

This course will explore the relationship between medical and legal understandings of gender. What does it mean to look beyond a simplistic binary of "man" and "woman"? We will center transgender identity to explore how law and medicine regulate lived experiences of gender and sexuality. Adopting a holistic framework that views the development of gender identity and expression as a complex dialogue between biology and culture, the course challenges the hegemonic artifice of a “natural” binary opposition between female/male and woman/man. We blur these contested categories, complicating them with sexuality, race, class, ability, history, and location. Citing current, historical and cross-cultural examples of individuals and communities who destabilize prevailing sex/gender norms, the course critiques how societies react to the presence of “other” gender identities, embodiments and expressions. We will focus on the recent increase in trans visibility and advocacy, and the ensuing challenges to legal, medical and social norms and attitudes predicated on the existence of only two kinds of gendered persons. We will center marginalized voices by reading scholarly texts written by trans people, and also watching films, listening to music, reading comics, memoirs, and magazines to theorize trans lives from the lived experience of trans people themselves. From this standpoint, we will take a critical and interdisciplinary look at trans studies across the fields of anthropology, history, interdisciplinary theory, politics, and the arts, to analyze global medical and legal discourses on gender.

Location

(R 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

What does it mean to be human? What political, economic, religious, social, or sexual rights might be part of different people's working definitions? This course will look at both a) the historical development of conflicting theories of human rights and b) more contemporary debates about their ideal extent, their exercise, and their enforcement. Special topics will include debates over the meaning of the American and French Revolutions, the fight to design an International Declaration of Human Rights in the aftermath of World War II, the history of organizations such as Amnesty International, and the controversy around UN events such as the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing, the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, and the 2000 and 2005 Millennium Summits in New York City.

Location

(M 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

Under the guidance of a faculty advisor, Seniors identify a topic, develop a project plan, conduct substantive work, and present their findings or creations in a final written report, portfolio, performance, or presentation. Responsibilities and expectations vary by course and department.

Location

(M 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

Under the guidance of a faculty advisor, Seniors identify a topic, develop a project plan, conduct substantive work, and present their findings or creations in a final written report, portfolio, performance, or presentation. Responsibilities and expectations vary by course and department.

Location

(M 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

This course provides undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue in-depth, independent exploration of a topic not regularly offered in the curriculum, under the supervision of a faculty member in the form of independent study, practicum, internship or research. The objectives and content are determined in consultation between students and full-time members of the teaching faculty. Responsibilities and expectations vary by course and department.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)