0801. Border Crossings: Gendered Dimensions of Globalization (3 s.h.) RCI: GG.

Explore the ways in which gender “works” in different cultural and national contexts, and the impact globalization has on gender relations. “Gender” indicates the ways in which our social lives are organized around categories of male and female – in relation to work, family, sexuality, culture, and nation. “Globalization” describes the transfer of economic and cultural goods between nations and peoples. Questions we will ask include: What is globalization and how do women and men experience it differently? Do women and men work the same jobs in the global labor market, and do they get paid the same wages? How does immigration affect families? Does a growing connectedness between cultures and nations change traditional gender roles? How different are experiences of women in the “Third World” from those of women in the “First World,” and why? Investigate these issues together by reading critical writings as well as Internet blogs, watching films/documentaries, and analyzing popular media.

Note: This course fulfills the World Society (GG) requirement for students under GenEd and International Studies (IS) for students under Core.

0824. Gender and World Societies (3 s.h.) RCI: GG.

Learn about the history of feminine and masculine gender roles from comparative and international perspectives. Using case studies from Ancient Greece, Medieval Europe, West Africa, Victorian Britain, Modern Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, and/or Latin America, we will explore certain themes—The State, The Sacred, Work, The Family, The Body and Sexuality, Modern Revolutionary Movements—to investigate how gender and gender roles have changed over time, and their significance today. Readings include primary sources written both by men and by women, secondary sources, novels, and films.

Students cannot receive credit for this course if they have successfully completed History 0824.

0832. Politics of Identity in America (3 s.h.) RCI: GD.

Gay or straight. Black or white. Male or female. What do these different group identities mean to Americans? How do they influence our politics? Should we celebrate or downplay our diversity? This course explores how we think about others and ourselves as members of different groups and what consequences it has for how we treat one another. Our fundamental social identities can be a source of power or of powerlessness, a justification for inequality or for bold social reform. Students learn about the importance of race, class, gender and sexual orientation across a variety of important contexts, such as the family, workplace, schools, and popular culture and the implications these identities have on our daily lives.

Students cannot receive credit for this course if they have successfully completed History 0832, POL SCI 0832, SOC 0832 or Women’s Studies 0932.

0851. Gender in America (3 s.h.) RCI: GU.

Being a man or a woman means feeling like a man or a woman. People display gender by learning the routines and expectations associated with being male or female. How do people learn gender? How does living in a gendered society lead to differences in power and opportunities between men and women? How do race, ethnicity and sexuality affect the way gender is experienced for these different groups? How does gender acquire such important meaning in terms of identity and behavior? Using a variety of written materials including novels that explore gender identity construction, this course looks at how gender has become such a prominent feature of life in America.

0932. Honors Politics of Identity in America (3 s.h.) RCI: GD.

Gay or straight. Black or white. Male or female. What do these different group identities mean to Americans? How do they influence our politics? Should we celebrate or downplay our diversity? This course explores how we think about others and ourselves as members of different groups and what consequences it has for how we treat one another. Our fundamental social identities can be a source of power or of powerlessness, a justification for inequality or for bold social reform. Students learn about the importance of race, class, gender and sexual orientation across a variety of important contexts, such as the family, workplace, schools, and popular culture and the implications these identities have on our daily lives.

1076. Introduction to Women’s Studies (3 s.h.) RCI: IN.

(Formerly: WOM STD C051.)

An interdisciplinary course covering a variety of perspectives on women and gender. Emphasis on women in American society with consideration of special conditions of women in third world societies. Studies the central institutions of gender-including family, sexuality and love, the sexual division of labor, the ideology of femininity, and the structural basis of this ideology - women’s social roles, and symbolic representations of women in culture. Special emphasis on class and racial differences and similarities.

Note: This course can be used to satisfy the university Core Individual and Society (IN) requirement. Although it may be usable towards graduation as a major requirement or university elective, it cannot be used to satisfy any of the university GenEd requirements. See your advisor for further information.

1096. Introduction to Women’s Studies (3 s.h.) F S. RCI: IN & WI.

(Formerly: WOM STD X051.)

An interdisciplinary course covering a variety of perspectives on women and gender. Emphasis on women in American society with consideration of special conditions of women in third world societies. Studies the central institutions of gender-including family, sexuality and love, the sexual division of labor, the ideology of femininity, and the structural basis of this ideology - women’s social roles, and symbolic representations of women in culture. Special emphasis on class and racial differences and similarities.

Note: This course can be used to satisfy a university Core Individual and Society (IN) and Writing Intensive (WI) requirement. Although it may be usable towards graduation as a major requirement or university elective, it cannot be used to satisfy any of the university GenEd requirements. See your advisor for further information.

1101. American Women’s Lives (3 s.h.) F S. RCI: AC.

(Formerly: WOM STD C076.)

This course will look at American women’s autobiographical writings, diaries, journals, and book length accounts, to understand the role women’s narrative tradition has played in the development of American culture. The writings will be approached from social, literary, and historical perspectives. Subjects may include slave narratives, social reformers, social movements, pioneers, and literary figures. Issues of gender, race, and class will be highlighted.

Note: This course can be used to satisfy the university Core American Culture (AC) requirement. Although it may be usable towards graduation as a major requirement or university elective, it cannot be used to satisfy any of the university GenEd requirements. See your advisor for further information.

1197. American Women’s Lives (3 s.h.) F S. RCI: AC & WI.

(Formerly: WOM STD X076.)

This course will look at American women’s autobiographical writings, diaries, journals, and book length accounts, to understand the role women’s narrative tradition has played in the development of American culture. The writings will be approached from social, literary, and historical perspectives. Subjects may include slave narratives, social reformers, social movements, pioneers, and literary figures. Issues of gender, race, and class will be highlighted.

Note: This course can be used to satisfy a university Core American Culture (AC) and Writing Intensive (WI) requirement. Although it may be usable towards graduation as a major requirement or university elective, it cannot be used to satisfy any of the university GenEd requirements. See your advisor for further information.

1201. International Women’s Writing (3 s.h.) F S SS. RCI: IS.

(Formerly: WOM STD C080.)

Reading and discussion of fiction, diaries, memoirs, and personal essays written by women in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Will examine the ways in which such “universal” themes as love, family, work, and personal identity are shaped by cultural contexts.

Note: This course can be used to satisfy the university Core International Studies (IS) requirement. Although it may be usable towards graduation as a major requirement or university elective, it cannot be used to satisfy any of the university GenEd requirements. See your advisor for further information. In addition to meeting the university Core International Studies requirement, this course meets the Non-Western/Third World IS requirement for Communication Sciences majors. Please note the recent update to the Core IS requirement at www.temple.edu/vpus/documents/Core_IS_UpdateFinal.pdf.

1301. Essentials in Women’s Studies (3 s.h.) S.

(Formerly: WOM STD 0100.)

Prerequisite: Permission of department chair required.

For students who would like to pursue topics on women and sex roles not offered within regular college courses. Original research and projects encouraged. Close faculty supervision both in designing and carrying out the independent study.

Note: Students must have selected a faculty advisor and submitted a formal proposal before registering for the course.

2096. The Politics of Diversity (3 s.h.) F. RCI: WR.

(Formerly: WOM STD R152.)

What does cultural diversity mean to you? To some of us, it is an attempt to forge a new definition of pluralism and community in American culture. To others, it is an opportunity to re-examine American life based on new concepts about race, gender, and class. To others it implies the abandonment of the Western intellectual tradition. Some see it as a way to avoid dealing with racism in the United States by focusing attention on women, gays, the disabled, and white ethnic and religious minorities. This course will examine the current debate about diversity. We will focus our attention on cases that have been part of the controversy.

Note: This course can be used to satisfy a university Core Studies in Race and Writing Intensive (WR) requirement. Although it may be usable towards graduation as a major requirement or university elective, it cannot be used to satisfy any of the university GenEd requirements. See your advisor for further information.

2108. Women’s Voices in Russian Culture (3 s.h.)

Prerequisite: English C050/1002/0802 or equivalent.

Cross Listed with Russian 2108.

In this course we will study the depiction of women’s voices in Russian culture (memoirs, fiction, feature and documentary films, research in both anthropology and sociology), by female and male authors, researchers, and filmmakers in the context of a larger study of women in Russian culture. Our course will start with an historical survey, but focus most closely on Russian women in the 20th century.

2109. Sexuality and Gender in American History (3 s.h.) F.

(Formerly: WOM STD 0172.)

Cross Listed with History 2109 (0172).

This course takes us from the beginning of the 20th century (actually, from the tail end of the 19th) to the present, exploring the social, cultural, and political dimensions of the public and private roles of women and men in the United States. It examines changing cultural values and social norms of masculinity and femininity as well as actual behavior of women and men in the family, at work and at play, in love, and in the life of the nation. It also probes the ways in which race, social class, and sexual orientation have affected the experience of gender.

2159. Sex/Gender/Film/History (3 s.h.)

(Formerly: WOM STD 0159.)

Cross Listed with History 1006 (0075).

Students will analyze mainstream, popular films produced in the post-WWII 20th century U.S., treating them as cultural texts that shed light on the ongoing historical struggles over gender identity and appropriate sexual behaviors.

2197. Women in Literature (3 s.h.) F. RCI: WI.

(Formerly: WOM STD W126.)

Cross Listed with English 2197 (W160).

Variable content course which examines the representation of women and the literature created by English, American, or other countries’ women writers. This course has been offered with many specific topics: in-depth study of Woolf, Plath, and H.D., combining biography and literary texts; neglected masterpieces of American literature by black and white women; woman as hero/woman as heroine; the questions of love, marriage, and vocation for women from 1850 to 1940 and other thematic motifs of 20th century women’s literature.

Note: A variable topics course.

2405. Gay and Lesbian Lives (3 s.h.) S.

(Formerly: WOM STD 0237.)

Cross Listed with LGBT 2405 (0237).

In this course we will read autobiographical accounts (memoirs, essays, diaries, and poems) in which a significant portion of the narrative focuses on same-sex erotic attraction and/or gender difference, identified in contemporary society by the label Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Intersex or the generic (and contested) Queer. The works were selected both to examine how gay and lesbian lives have been defined and altered over the course of the last sixty years and to provide a perspective of national, ethnic, religious, and racial diversity. Our main focus in the classroom will be discussion of these texts and their contexts. The classroom will be augmented by a research assignment focused on a gay or lesbian life we have not examined together in class.

2815. Love, Marriage, and Family (3 s.h.) S.

(Formerly: WOM STD 0105.)

Cross Listed with History 2815 (0105 ).

It is easy to assume that love, marriage, and family go together, but this has not always been the case. These concepts have a history. This course is a comparative examination of love, marriage, and family and the related themes of gender and sexuality in different historical periods and geographical areas. It includes ancient, medieval, and modern texts and materials and covers both western (European and American) and non-western (Asian, African, and perhaps Middle Eastern and Latin American) case studies.

Note: Each instructor may place a different emphasis among those topics and regions.

2816. Gender, Class, and Nation (3 s.h.)

(Formerly: WOM STD 0156.)

Cross Listed with History 2816 (0156).

This course explores the social and economic roles of women and men in modern Europe. Comparison of the impact of gender, class and nationality on middle-class, working class and peasant women and men in England, France, Germany, Italy and Russia. The effects of industrialization, nationalism, war, fascism, communism and the welfare state on women and men’s lives. Covers the evolution of the role of girls and women in the family and the changing status of single and married women in the home and the workplace.

2817. Gender, War, and Society (3 s.h.)

(Formerly: WOM STD 0157.)

Cross Listed with History 2817 (0157).

In wartime, the traditional organization of society is often radically altered to meet the pragmatic and ideological needs of triumphing in the ongoing conflict. Ideas about gender - i.e., how masculinity and femininity are defined - are frequently subject to radical revision in the context of a society at war. This course examines the European and, to a lesser extent, the American experiences of war during the two World Wars and the intervening twenty-year period, to understand how war and ideas of gender are related. Using both primary and secondary source materials, as well as films about World Wars I and II, the course looks at the experiences of men and women on the front lines and on the home front, those who participated in the wars and those who resisted them, those who benefited from war and those who participated in the wars and those who resisted them, those who benefited from war and those who were its victims. The course examines not only how wartime experiences construct and revise ideas about gender, but also how the rhetoric of gender is often used to further wartime aims.

2900. Honors Topics in Women’s Studies (3 s.h.) F S SS.

(Formerly: WOM STD 0292.)

Specific cultural or social studies in gender issues with an emphasis on interdisciplinary analyses.

Note: A variable topics course.

2996. Honors The Politics of Diversity (3 s.h.) F. RCI: WI.

(Formerly: WOM STD H195.)

What does cultural diversity mean to you? To some of us, it is an attempt to forge a new definition of pluralism and community in American culture. To others, it is an opportunity to re-examine American life based on new concepts about race, gender, and class. To others it implies the abandonment of the Western intellectual tradition. Some see it as a way to avoid dealing with racism in the United States by focusing attention on women, gays, the disabled, and white ethnic and religious minorities. This course will examine the current debate about diversity. We will focus our attention on cases that have been part of the controversy.

3000. Topics in Women’s Studies (3 s.h.) F S SS.

(Formerly: WOM STD 0202.)

Specific cultural or social studies in gender issues with an emphasis on interdisciplinary analyses.

Note: A variable topics course.

3003. Women Writers In Black Literature (3 s.h.)

(Formerly: WOM STD 0230.)

Cross Listed with African American Studies 4146 (0346).

Examines the concerns of black women writers: philosophical overtones, universal statements, literary structures, dominant themes. Will be taught from a comparative perspective by examining representative black women writers in the United States, the Caribbean and Africa. Will include the poetry, drama, short stories and the novels of major writers including Zora Neale Hurston, Buchi Emecheta, Lorraine Hansberry, Efua Sutherland, Sonia Sanchez, and many others. The readings will attempt to demonstrate that, notwithstanding the diversity in cultural, historical, and political backgrounds of the writers, a common thread runs through the works of black women writers.

3082. Independent Study (1 to 6 s.h.)

(Formerly: WOM STD 0291.)

Prerequisite: Permission of department chair required.

For students who would like to pursue topics on women and sex roles not offered within regular college courses. Original research and projects encouraged. Close faculty supervision both in designing and carrying out the independent study.

Note: Students must have selected a faculty advisor and submitted a formal proposal before registering for the course.

3096. The American Woman: Visions and Revisions (3 s.h.) F. RCI: WI.

(Formerly: WOM STD W206.)

Cross Listed with American Studies 3096 (W118).

This course examines the images and roles of women in American culture. Using fiction, poetry, and autobiography, we develop an understanding of stereotypes and myths and we relate these images to the real-life experiences of American women. The readings include all classes and many ethnic groups, and focus primarily on the 20th century.

3097. Feminist Theory (3 s.h.) F S. RCI: WI.

(Formerly: WOM STD W363.)

Cross Listed with English 3097 (W275).

An examination of contemporary feminist theory as it applies to various fields of academic and social discourse. The course encourages critical analysis of the foundation of knowledge.

3197. Themes/Genres in Women’s Literature (3 s.h.) S. RCI: WI.

(Formerly: WOM STD W128.)

Cross Listed with English 3197 (W260).

A variable content course in which students examine in depth the ideas, languages, and cultural stances in literature written by women. A specific theme or genre will be taken up each semester. (Courses previously taught under our general [nondisciplinary] Special Topics number have included Women and Poetry, Women’s Worlds in Science Fiction and Utopian Literature, and Women’s Autobiographical Narratives.)

Note: A variable topics course.

3225. Women in U.S. History (3 s.h.)

(Formerly: WOM STD 0287.)

Cross Listed with History 3225 (0287).

Explores the ways in which women have both been affected by, and helped to shape, this nation’s history. Emphasis will be on how women of different socio-economic backgrounds, races, and ethnic groups have experienced colonization, American expansion, sectionalism, the industrial revolution, urbanization, immigration, war, economic depression, cultural transformations and political change. Commonalities and differences among women, as well as conflicts between them, in a society based on male supremacy will be explored. Issues on how race, ethnicity, and class affect the experience of gender will be highlighted.

3236. Gender and Technology in Popular Culture (3 s.h.)

(Formerly: WOM STD 0236.)

The wider context of this seminar is how science and technology influence and shape the world we live in. The focus is on gender related approaches - in what way does technology and its representations shape gender identity - and how this is reflected in popular culture, such as in the science fiction novel and film. Some points of discussion will be feminist critiques of technology, reproductive technologies, virtual reality, and alternative technologies as they are developed as theoretical concepts on the one hand, and are mirrored in science fiction, on the other.

3241. Getting Medieval: Gender, Sex, Power (3 s.h.)

(Formerly: WOM STD 0240.)

Cross Listed with History 3413 (0240).

Does Europe have a sex? Can everyday gender normativity be politically constitutive and also the occasion of excessive violence? To answer these questions we will study what bodies mattered in pre-modern Christian Europe and think about the fate of bodies that did not matter. This course explores different strategies of constructing masculinities and femininities in pre-modern Christian Europe and asks who/what had the power to universalize and discipline such fabrications. We will study how the papacy and medieval monarchies regulated gender and sexuality among Christians and also between Christians, Jews, Muslims and so-called “pagans” from c 500 CE to 1500 CE and in so doing creating a powerful political notion of a territorial “inside” called Europe.

3258. Women and Work (3 s.h.)

(Formerly: WOM STD 0275.)

Cross Listed with Sociology 3258 (0258).

Women’s work will be defined in the fullest sense. We shall examine the division of labor between the sexes and changes in women’s production in the labor force and in the home from both a historical and a cross-cultural perspective. We shall discuss trends in the employment of women by race, age, and marital status as well as trends in the distribution and nature of household work.

3259. Women and Poverty (3 s.h.)

Prerequisite: Lower level (or 2000 level) sociology course.

Cross Listed with Sociology 3259.

This course focuses on women’s poverty in the U.S. and the social welfare policies designed to address it. We begin with an overview of poverty in the U.S., ways to measure poverty, and how to read census tables on poverty and income. We then dive into the history of the welfare state in America, starting with the Poorhouse Era and moving through 1996’s welfare reform legislation. The second part of the course addresses major issues and themes in poverty scholarship: the culture of poverty thesis, low-wage work, teenage motherhood effects, marriage and single motherhood, social capital, and neighborhood effects. We conclude with a comparative analysis of U.S. and international welfare states.

3277. Women in the Economy (3 s.h.) S SS.

(Formerly: WOM STD 0277.)

Cross Listed with Economics 3546 (0272).

Explores five major themes: unpaid work performed by women in the home; why so many women work for pay; why so many women are clerical workers; why so many women earn substantially less than men (wage differentials). Consideration of these topics and women workers in the Third World - requires understanding alternative economic theories of the labor market and economic approaches to discrimination as well as historical changes in the nature of unpaid and paid work. We shall discuss these theories and apply them to the economic situation of women here and in other societies.

3431. Women’s Lives in Modern Europe (3 s.h.) F S.

(Formerly: WOM STD 0243.)

Cross Listed with History 3431 (0243).

This course treats issues related to women’s status and power in modern European history from the 18th century to the present. The emphasis of the course will be on the experiences of women in England, France, Germany, and Russia where many economic and political changes have occurred in the last few centuries. The purpose of this course is to discuss important issues that women have confronted in the past, and that continue to influence problems that women face today such as: personal, economic, and political power, education, sexuality, psychology, and social esteem, women’s position in the home and the workplace plus the continuing question of conventional versus unconventional gender roles in Western societies. To supplement a general text and several published sources in European history, students will be reading memoirs and essays written by women on economic, political, and social issues pertaining to women, work, and the family during the past two centuries.

3542. Women & Society in Japan (3 s.h.)

(Formerly: WOM STD 0250.)

Cross Listed with Asian Studies 3542 (0315), History 3542 (0221).

This course analyzes the changing position of women in Japanese society from ancient times to the present. Through discussions, lectures, and audiovisual materials, students learn about goddesses, female diviners, empresses, the classical female writers, women in warrior culture, women in industrializing Japan, and Japanese women’s movements.

3546. Sexuality and Gender (3 s.h.) F.

(Formerly: WOM STD 0235.)

Cross Listed with Sociology 3546 (0246).

This is a historically oriented course focused on competing views of sexuality, in particular, essentialist theories and those which take a social constructionist approach. The first part of the course will lay the groundwork for the analysis of particular areas of sexuality by focusing on the transition from 19th century views of sexuality to the 20th century and on the learning of sexual scripts. The second part of the course will apply these perspectives to a variety of issues including rape, pornography, abortion, and prostitution.

3559. Health and Reproduction (3 s.h.) F S.

(Formerly: WOM STD 0259.)

Cross Listed with Sociology 3559 (0259).

This course will focus on health and human reproduction in the United States. We will view reproduction as both a biological and social event and will be particularly concerned with the medical and health aspects of reproduction. Decisions about child bearing, the medicalization of child bearing, fecundity, birth control, fetal and neonatal health, maternal health and new reproductive technologies are among the topics that will be considered in the research-intensive course. The course will also cover technical, methodological and statistical issues arising in the study of reproduction.

Note: This is a research-intensive course.

3721. Women in Pre-Industrial Societies (3 s.h.)

(Formerly: WOM STD 0203.)

Cross Listed with History 3721 (0201).

Women’s experience in the pre-industrial period varied greatly across different regions of the globe, yet there were also important commonalities. This course examines comparatively, in various traditional European and third world societies, some important themes in women’s history: work, sexuality, marriage, social control, science and medicine, and religion. It also discusses ways of studying the history of people who were for the most part not literate and left few traces of their own thoughts and experiences.

3900. Honors Topics in Women’s Studies (3 s.h.) RCI: HO.

(Formerly: WOM STD H292.)

A variable topics course. Additional work arranged by the instructor.

3997. Honors: Feminist Theory (3 s.h.) F S. RCI: WI.

(Formerly: WOM STD H393.)

Cross Listed with English 3097 (W275).

An examination of contemporary feminist theory as it applies to various fields of academic and social discourse. The course encourages critical analysis of the foundation of knowledge.

4000. Seminar in Women’s Studies (3 s.h.) S.

(Formerly: WOM STD 0301.)

A variable content course which selects one of the topics necessary for a comprehensive understanding of women in society and studies it in depth. The course may focus on a particular group of women, the study of women from a specific perspective, or the position of women in a particular institution.

4004. Women and Criminal Justice (3 s.h.)

(Formerly: WOM STD 0273.)

Cross Listed with Criminal Justice 4004 (0340).

The aims are to develop an understanding of the status of women in the Criminal Justice System as offenders, victims, and workers. We will examine the extent to which status is a reflection of stereotypes of women currently in vogue or a reflection of social structural arrangements in society. Patterns of female crime, treatment within the criminal justice system, victimization, and career opportunities will be studied and compared with those of males, as well as within other societies, where data is available.

4097. Gender, Race, Class and The City (3 s.h.) F. RCI: WI.

(Formerly: WOM STD W212.)

Cross Listed with Geography & Urban Studies 4097 (W212).

This course will focus on the relationships among gender, race, class, and urban spaces of the 20th century U.S. cities. The course will explore how urban spaces reflect and perpetuate different relations of power, inequality, and identity. How does urban space reflect and reinforce unequal power relations? How do multiple and contradictory identities shape one’s experience of the city? How are contemporary debates about the city imbued with racialized, gendered and classed meanings? Focus will be on housing (suburbanization, gentrification, and homelessness), economic restructuring and poverty, welfare policy, and urban social movements.

4121. Women and Politics (3 s.h.) S.

(Formerly: WOM STD 0261.)

Cross Listed with Political Science 4121 (0302).

The women’s movement and its implications for public policy. The role of politics and political philosophy in restraining women’s opportunities; an examination of the ideological roots of feminism; present discrimination in the workplace; and women as political activists.

4389. Field Work in Women’s Studies (3 s.h.) F S SS.

(Formerly: WOM STD 0299.)

Prerequisite: Consultation with and written approval of the Women’s Studies Program before registering for the course.

The opportunity to work in a public or private agency whose mission includes women’s advocacy. Available to students majoring in Women’s Studies and students throughout the College of Liberal Arts. A paper or project related to the area of the field study is also required.

Note: Placement and faculty advisors arranged prior to registration. (Call 215-204-6953.) Requires a designated supervisor at the field placement (minimum of 7 1/2 hours per week) and a faculty advisor within the College.

4396. Research Seminar in Women’s Studies (3 s.h.) RCI: WI.

(Formerly: WOM STD W300.)

Prerequisite: Women’s Studies 4389 (0299).

This course serves as the capstone for the Women’s Studies major. Students write a substantial research paper (20-25 pages) either drawn from and expanding upon their Women’s Studies internship, or on another selected topic. They work closely with the instructor and each other in increasing and applying their understanding of the writing process, scholarly research, and feminist theory and methodology.

Note: Capstone writing course. For majors only.

4411. Secularism: Jewish and Muslim Women (3 s.h.)

Prerequisite: Students are strongly encouraged to have at least one upper level Jewish Studies, Religion or Women’s Studies course, more than one of these courses is preferred.

Cross Listed with Jewish Studies 4411 & Religion 4411.

In its three-hundred-year history as a Western concept, secularism is often defined as the opposite of religion. Religious women have alternately found western secularism to be a source of liberation (as it grants them greater civil rights) and a source of oppression (as it putatively shrinks the religious sphere). In creating feminisms through Jewish and Muslim experience, feminisms that are both secular and religious, these religious women have complicated the meanings of secularism. They have also challenged the notion that feminism is necessarily secular. This course looks at examples of Jewish and Muslim women’s lives and feminist thought in the US, Europe, and the Middle East. The course will compare and contrast the feminism of these two groups of religious women, in order to more fully understand the role of concepts like secularism, feminism, and religion.

4696. Asian Women in Transition (3 s.h.) S. RCI: WI.

(Formerly: WOM STD W249.)

Cross Listed with History 3696 (W215), American Studies 2097 (W153) and Asian Studies 3696 (W317).

This course introduces and compares the experiences of women in Asia and Asian women in migration to the United States in the modern period, including rural and urban women, and ordinary and elite women in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Topics include women in households, women and work, and women’s activism.

4999. Honors Thesis Independent Study (3 s.h.) F.

(Formerly: WOM STD 0399.)

Individually supervised research and writing, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduating with Honors in Women’s Studies.

Note: Permission of program director required.
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Last updated 10/20/2009