Undergraduate Programs

This course critically examines the creation and dynamics of queer spaces on social media, with a focus on the intersections of technology, data ethics, and LGBTQ+ identities. Students will explore the concept of counter publics, engage with hashtag activism, and analyze instances of algorithmic oppression affecting queer communities. Through readings, discussions, and practical assignments, participants will gain insights into the complexities of queer spaces in the digital age.

Location

Lattimore Room 540 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

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

Morey Room 502 (M 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

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

Morey Room 504 (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

This course explores the role of religion in the politics of the Middle East. It examines the origins, evolution, and potential future of political Islam in the region. The course begins by introducing students to key concepts and terms necessary for understanding contemporary Middle Eastern politics and political discourse. The second part focuses on the key issues from the late 19th century through to the Arab Spring, such as the emergence of constitutionalism, Arab nationalism, the rise of Islamism, the debate on Islam’s compatibility with liberal democracy, and the concept of post-Islamism. The third part of the course illustrates these theoretical discussions with four corresponding case studies which provide insight into the trajectories of political Islam in Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, and Egypt.

Location

Meliora Room 209 (MW 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

Meliora Room 218 (TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

This course will explore the gradual evolution of Freud’s thought toward the place and role of religion in society in conversation with other psychoanalytic thinkers, like C. G. Jung and Julia Kristeva. In Freud’s early works, he portrayed religion as a “collective neurosis of mankind” arguing that religious beliefs serve the fulfill the immature psychological and emotional needs of the child within the adult self. Therefore, he firmly advocated for replacing these illusions with a more scientific and materialistic attitude that would be based on science and impassioned observation. However, signaling a dramatic change in Freud’s attitude, his later works present religion as critical for the wellbeing of society and even vital for its survival. In the course we will trace important works and ideas that helped to shape Freud’s intellectual development illuminating his nuanced understanding of religion.

Location

Hylan Building Room 102 (WF 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

Traditional Folkloric roots of Middle Eastern Dance, focusing on specific Bedouin dance styles of North Africa (Raks Shaabi). Discourse and research will address issues of gender and body image. Improving strength, flexibility and self-awareness of the body, the class work will include meditative movement, dance technique, choreography and improvisation. No prior dance experience necessary.

Location

Spurrier Gymnasium Room 202 (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

Bausch & Lomb Room 315 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

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

Bausch & Lomb Room 315 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

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.

This is a social science course.

Prerequisite: PSYC 101

Location

Strong Auditorium Room 011 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

This class introduces students to the field of queer theory through three modalities: historiography, foundational concepts, and new directions. We will explore the history of queer theorizing to deconstruct the notion that queerness is “new;” we will read and discuss the foundational ideologies and concepts which shape queer theorizing, both historically and now; and we will explore recent work and consider what it tells us about the horizon of queer theory and queer studies in the 21st century. The course will attend to queer theorizing in a range of cultural and racial contexts, as well as engaging with the interdisciplinary, creative, and speculative play evidenced in the richest and most interesting theorizing around queerness.

Location

Bausch & Lomb Room 269 (T 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

How do we intentionally occupy space? What are the implications of demanding recognition in a world designed for able-bodied individuals? Where does society draw the line at accessibility for all? How do we demarcate what defines accessibility? Why the hell does gender even factor into the equation? (Dis)abled people are often consciously denied the ability to design a world filled with spaces attainable for everyone in some form. In a social climate increasingly bereft of basic needs met, the act of influencing how we consider the needs of others can be viewed as radically political. This course centers on the experiences of multiply marginalized (dis)abled people by engaging students in ideas like Crip Theory, Transnational Feminism, Queer Studies, and Trans Studies. From an intersectional and interdisciplinary multimedia perspective, students will learn to critically examine the history of Western medicine, law, politics, and culture. This class offers a space in which we approach disabilities like depression, anxiety, autism, Deaf culture, chronic illnesses, body size, sexual orientation, and gender identity as complex sites of social expectations, personal experiences, state interventions, knowledge production, and exuberant life.

Location

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

In this course, we will be examining works of literature from China’s late nineteenth, twentieth, and early twenty-first centuries in order to better understand how conceptions, representations, and expressions of gender, sexuality, and desire changed during periods of drastic political and intellectual change. Our readings will include (but not necessarily be limited to) the following areas: an introduction to gender in the late imperial period; modernist approaches to gender and heterosexual and same-sex desire in the May Fourth and early Republican periods; the ideological treatment of gender and sexuality during the high socialist period; and the reemergence of literary expressions of desire and gender identity in the post-Mao era and beyond. Taught in English.

Location

Lechase Room 181 (MW 11:50AM - 1:05PM)

This course will introduce students to various genres of writing through the work of four German women writers: Rosa Luxemburg, Hannah Arendt, Ulrike Meinhof and Christa Wolf. We will explore political treatises, letters, journalism, and prose, to ask: what makes these texts by these women rebellious? Our four main readings hail from three pivotal moments in 20th century German history: the era of political unrest preceding and following World War I; the Nazi era and its aftermath, and during the social movements and political upheavals of the 60’s in both East and West Germany. Readings and discussion in English.

Location

Lechase Room 103 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

This course will explore various concepts of mobility and encounters within ethnographic films and texts. Questions we will investigate include: How does one represent a culture? What notions of race, gender, sexuality and national identities are reinforced and challenged in these works? Who speaks for whom and what are the consequences? What kinds of power relationships are hidden or made visible in these films and texts?

Location

Lechase Room 161 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

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

Todd Union Room 107 (MW 9:00AM - 10:15AM)

How are Indigenous women represented in art? What is revealed in the differences between autochthonous representations and those created by outsiders? Focusing on images of Nahuatl-speaking women specifically, this course considers the intersecting roles of gender and power, labor and knowledge, sacrifice and sustenance in the conception of Nahua femininities from the pre-Hispanic period to the present day. Topics include the changing perception of Aztec female deities in New Spain and their Chicana reclamation, as well as historical figures such as Malinche, “tongue” of Hernán Cortés, and Doña Luz Jiménez, muse to the Mexican Muralists who fostered a cultural and linguistic revival in her community.

Location

Morey Room 524 (T 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

This course explores the same-sex desires, love, non-exclusive relationships, and adoptive families with two fathers, two mothers, etc. that were represented as ideal relationships in 18th century German literature. In contrast to traditional views of the 18th century obsession with bourgeois and aristocratic families determined by fathers interested only in economic endeavors and preserving heritage, this course will explore the counter discourses that arose in the 18th century that highlighted the fundamental need for love as the foundation of all families. This course is taught in English.

Location

Lattimore Room 401 (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

In recent years, we have seen a virtual explosion of writing by women, with women’s novels constituting some of the most widely read and critically admired work being produced today. The global reach of both its authors and audiences has made contemporary women’s writing a truly international phenomenon. We will examine what makes this work especially innovative: its experimentation with new voices and narrative forms and its blurring of genre boundaries. We will look at the dialogue it has established with the past, where it often finds its inspiration, self-consciously appropriating earlier literary texts or rewriting history. We will also consider what special challenges this work poses for its readers. Looking at works originating in a wide range of locations, this course, will explore the diverse shapes of contemporary women's imagination and attempt to account for the compelling interest of this new body of fiction.

Location

Bausch & Lomb Room 270 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

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

Rush Rhees Library Room 456 (M 9:00AM - 11:40AM)

This course is for students completing a GSWS thesis in their final semester. Since this is a small group, our meeting day and time may be flexible dependent on student schedules. This course is primarily taken by GSWS majors, but is open to students who wish to complete rigorous research in GSWS as well. Contact Tanya Bakhmetyeva with questions.

Location

Lattimore Room 540 (M 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

For students completing a GSWS Honors thesis in the final semester of their senior year. Students will complete their final GSWS honors projects started in the previous semester. Since this is a small group, our meeting day and time may be flexible dependent on student schedules. This course is primarily taken by GSWS majors, but is open to students who wish to complete rigorous research in GSWS as well. Contact Tanya Bakhmetyeva with questions.

Location

Lattimore Room 540 (M 2:00PM - 4:40PM)