Upcoming Courses (Spring 2010)Women Today (WOS 225) This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the field of women’s studies. You will learn about historical and contemporary experiences of oppression and privilege, which affect women and men’s lives on a daily basis. The readings include both classic and recent statements about gender and feminism, race, class, sexuality, and nationality from a variety of theoretical and practical perspectives. A large section of this class demonstrates how to apply theoretical ideas towards positive social and personal change. I will discuss and encourage you to discuss these connections. There are no prerequisites, and students from all majors are encouraged to enroll.Gender and Science (WOS 335) Since the seventeenth century, when science emerged in the West as a distinct mode of understanding nature, both men and women have worked to advance scientific knowledge. However, by the nineteenth century, science had become a profoundly male-dominated enterprise. Even a scientist as able as Marie Curie was denied admission to the French Academy of Sciences. Focusing on the implications for both science and society of this marginalization of all women and men of color, the course examines not only individual scientists, but also the institutional, social, and cultural contexts of scientific work, and scientific debates on the “nature” of men and women and the “nature” of race. The course addresses three interrelated sets of questions: (1) To what extent have all women and men of color been part of the scientific and technological community? How have all women and men of color in the past and in the present, been excluded from or encouraged to participate in the scientific enterprise? Has the work of all female and male minority scientists differed from that of white male scientists? (2) How has science investigated and understood gender and race? What has been and is the relationship between cultural construction of gender and race and science? (3) How have feminists critiqued science? What has been the impact of such critique on the practice of science and the inclusion of under-represented groups within the scientific and technological disciplines? The course will integrate methodologies from the sciences (broadly conceived to include social sciences, mathematics, engineering, and technology) and humanities. The course will include materials pertaining to issues of gender, class, and race. Feminist Theory (WOS 405) The course examines the major issues and themes in contemporary feminist theory. Each week we will read a classic article which exemplifies the type of feminist theory for that week. One or two additional articles will show how that theory is used either to challenge particular academic disciplines or mainstream ideas in society. Chronologically, the course examines modern and postmodern ideas from standpoint theory through transnational feminisms. It is designed as a seminar. Essential Questions include: How are feminist theories essential to understanding physical sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the arts? How do feminist theories embrace, challenge, and use intersectionality theory? How do feminist theories help explain relations of power through social and economic systems, individual bodies, and whole nations? How do feminist theories explain exploitation, empowerment, and resistance? How can we apply feminist theories to our personal lives, to our communities, to our work, and to our social justice efforts? Women’s Literature I (CLS 258) This course will provide an introduction to select works of international women’s literatures, including, most importantly, a sense of the historical trajectory of women’s writing from 800 BCE to 1800 ACE. In so doing, the course will show how women experienced their world, lives, sense of themselves as creative artists, and themselves as public figures occupying spaces by their discourses. We will examine several different genres of women’s writing, and study the intellectual, historical, and cultural contexts that produced this literature. The course will also provide a feminist theoretical framework for understanding these works. Some key questions we will consider include: How do these early and early modern women position themselves as writers? What notions of identity do they build? What ideas of community do they have? How do they handle “male” genres? What female genres have they devised? What is the modern woman’s intellectual heritage from these texts? What intertextual links can we discern? In which dialogues and debates do these women engage? This course meets the Diverse Communities requirement (J). Latina Writing (ESP 333) (Spanish Culture Cluster) This course is an examination of representative literary works produced by Latinas (Chicanas, Puertorriqueñas, Dominicanas, Cubans, and Latinoamericanas from Other Countries) in the twentieth century. The study of this literature will include a cross-cultural approach that will elucidate sociopolitical, economic, and feminist themes emerging from the texts, as well as the literary techniques used by the authors to explore matters of content. The course will introduce students to the literary accomplishments of Latina writers, acquaint students with techniques of literary analysis and interpretation, and utilize the work of Latina writers to illuminate social, economic, political, and historical issues throughout the Americas. The course will also create a forum for the discussion of feminist issues (e.g., the construction of subjectivity and patriarchy) and machismo as reflected on the social, political, and economic arenas of power. Gender and Peace (HIS 329) The purpose of examining war and peace through the lens of gender is twofold: to gain some purchase on the meanings of these events for the people who participated in them, and to provide a series of case studies in how the concept of “gender” shapes and is shaped by cultural conceptions of war and peace. How did gender influence participation in modern European wars? Why is it “manly” to fight and “womanly” to nurture? How have these stereotypes been used to promote war and to work against it? How has war challenged or reinforced gender stereotypes? We will begin by engaging various definitions of “gender” as an analytic concept, and examining feminist approaches to the linkages between gender, war, and peace. The remainder of the course will be structured around primary and secondary readings that draw on the disciplines of history, political science, biology, psychology, and literature. Women in America (HIS 451) Students in this upper-level history, writing-emphasis, diverse communities, course practice writing within the genre of historical essays while augmenting, deepening, and enriching their knowledge of traditional androcentric U.S. history through an examination of the lives and roles of women and the ideologies of gender that helped to shape them. In short, we explore WOMEN—who make up the MAJORITYof the U.S. population—by reading and writing political, social, economic, and intellectual history. As a diverse communities course, students practice using the analytical categories of gender, class, ethnicity, religion, and age. Students grapple with the same historiographical questions that professional historians ask and answer, using the same skills professional historians use: analysis and interpretation of primary and secondary sources, reasoned debate, persuasive essays, individual research, and the preparation and conduct of a teaching unit. Students demonstrate these history learning outcomes: a) knowledge of historical eras, change over time, and key historical concepts in the history of the U.S., western, and global civilization; b) effective communication of historical knowledge in a variety of formal and informal written assignments and oral exchanges that demonstrate reasoned arguments supported by historical evidence and an appreciation for multiple causes, effects, and perspectives; c) an analytical appreciate of diverse perspectives through the ability to conduct basic historical research, locate and distinguish between primary and secondary sources, and recognize multiple points of view by analyzing and interpreting a variety of sources. Students should be able to make connections between their new historical knowledge and contemporary life and issues in a heterogeneous, global society. These outcomes also meet General Education and Information Literacy goals. Feminist Poetry (LIT 274) Feminist Poetry is a Writing Emphasis course that carries the “W” designation. Within a writing intensive climate, we will study a significant number of women poets from the 20th century and different cultures with definite focus on the U.S. tradition. We will also consider the place of these poets in relation to the canon (literary tradition) and examine and discuss the theoretical issues specific to reading and writing about women writers, such as the concept of a feminist poetics. Do women poets write a different type of poetry than men? Does a feminist perspective permit different types of creative responses for poets?; Do women poets conceive of their relationship to the muse differently from men? Students will also work to develop the critical reading, thinking, and writing skills. Women and Religion (PHI 390) Regardless of how explicitly “religious” women claim to be, religious ideologies past and present have an impact on them. This course will explore the ways in which religious beliefs have affected women’s lives. Our investigations will highlight how women’s opportunities have been both hampered and enhanced by the symbols, beliefs and practices of a very diverse set of religious systems. In all these traditions, we will find ideas and images that have been used to legitimize violence against women. On the other hand, we will discover a rich heritage of women’s influence and involvement, and will see how women have used ideas and images from these same traditions to undermine violence and exploitation. We will place these often marginalized voices in the foreground as we explore the multi-layered, dynamic nature of religion in the contemporary world. Sociology of Gender (SOC 346) This course examines gender norms and the problem of gender inequality. In the first half of the semester we study the difference between sex and gender and examine the concepts: femininity, masculinity, sexuality, and intersectionality. In the last weeks, we will use these concepts and their respective explanatory approaches to violence, law, and work. In your course paper you will have the option of a final exam or a final paper which applies at least two of the course concepts to a sociological topic of your choice. Women and Politics (PSC 301) The primary purpose of this course is to critically evaluate the role women play in current politics – their electoral participation, office seeking, political beliefs, their views on public policy issues and how those policies affect them. This course will also examine the changing trends in women’s political participation and political attitudes throughout the 20th century, and into the 21st century, as well as the origins of the women’s movement and the impact of each on present day feminism. In addition, this course examines a variety of public policy issues, some expressly related to women and others that have significant impact on women, though policy-makers may not present the issue that way. The goal of the course is to examine a variety of such policy issues and to achieve a deeper understanding of the ways in which gender functions in the policy arena.