02430/Women's Studies

LOWER LEVEL

X051. Introduction to Women's Studies (3 s.h.) FS. Core: IN and WI

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.

C065. Gender and History (3 s.h.) FS. Core: IS

A thematic introduction to the history of feminine and masculine roles from a comparative international perspective. The course will focus on topics such as The State, The Sacred, The Family, The Body, Work, and Modern Social Movements, using case studies from Ancient Greece or Rome, Medieval Europe, Africa, China, Japan, Modern Europe, and the Americas.
Cross-listed with History C065

C076. American Women's Lives (3 s.h.) FS. Core: AC

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 include slave narratives, social reformers, pioneers, and literary figures. Issues of gender, race, and class will be highlighted. (H)

C080. International Women's Writing (3 s.h.) FS. Core: IS

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. (H)

0083. The Psychology of Women (3 s.h.) FS

Starting from the traditional place of women in society, examines the development of female personality in different societies, social classes, and time periods. Topics include: the biological and the social foundations of sex roles; the implications for women's character and personality; intellectual characteristics of women; achievement motivation; women's mental health.
Cross-listed with Psychology 0083.

X091. Introduction to Women's Studies - Honors (3 s.h.) S. Core: IN and WI

Honors section of X051. Additional work arranged by the instructor.

UPPER LEVEL

0105. Love, Marriage, and Family (3 s.h.)

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. Each instructor may place a different emphasis among those topics and regions.
Cross-listed with History 0105

W126. Women in Literature (3 s.h.) FS. Core: WI

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; women 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. (H)
Cross- listed with English W160.

W128. Themes/Genres in Women's Literature (3 s.h.) S. Core: WI

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.") (H)
Cross-listed with English W260.

0146. African Women in Historical Perspective (3 s.h.) FS

The history of the African woman from Hatsheput to Yaa Asantewaa. Discussion of roles played by women in politics, religion, military, education, and resistance. An overview of historical problems and future prospects for women in Africa. (H)
Cross-listed with African American Studies 0170.

R152. or H195. The Politics of Diversity (3 s.h.) FS. Core: WR

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.

0156. Gender, Class, and Nation (3 s.h.)

An exploration of 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's and men's lives. 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.
Cross-listed with History 0156

0157. Gender, War, and Society (3 s.h.)

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.
Cross-listed with History 0157

0172. Sexuality and Gender in American History (3 s.h.)

This course takes us from the beginning of the twentieth century ( actually, from the tail end of the nineteenth) 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.
Cross-listed with History 0172

0186. Women and the Law (3 s.h.) S

A historical and legal analysis. Techniques traditionally employed to deprive women of autonomy and equality, together with the successful - and sometimes failed - challenges mounted by women and their advocates in areas of political and civil rights, employment opportunities, reproduction control, criminal justice, family law, credit access, public accommodations, and education. (SS)

0115, 0201, 0202, 292. Topics in Women's Studies (3 s.h.) FS

A variable topics course. Specific cultural or social studies in gender issues with an emphasis on interdisciplinary analyses.

0203. Women in Pre-Industrial Societies (3 s.h.)

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.
Cross-listed with History 0201

W206. The American Woman: Visions and Revisions (3 s.h.) Core: WI

An examination of 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 twentieth century.
Cross-listed with History W118
Cross-listed with American Studies W118.

0230. Women Writers In Black Literature (3 s.h.) FS

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. (H) Cross- listed with African American Studies 0346.
Cross-listed with History 0346

0235. Sexuality and Gender (3 s.h.)

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 pa rticular areas of sexuality by focusing on the transition from nineteenth century views of sexuality to the twentieth century and on the learning of sexual scripts. The second part of the course will apply these perspectives to a variety of issues includi ng rape, pornography, abortion, and prostitution.
Cross-listed with History 0246
Cross- listed with Sociology 0246.

0243. Women's Lives in Modern Europe (3 s.h.)

This course treats issues related to women's status and power in modern European history from the eighteenth 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.
Cross-listed with History 0243

0246. Men and Masculinity (3 s.h.) FS. Core: IN

Explores the social and personal meanings of "masculinity": the problems and conflicts associated with modern male identity, the variety of male experience along lines of social class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and age, and the "emerging masculinities" of today and the future. Special emphasis placed upon building and understanding the "costs" of rigid definitions of masculinity to men, as well as the power and privileges that men may enjoy over women due to traditional and contemporary gender arrangements. The course will be organized around a variety of interdisciplinary readings. (SS)
Cross-listed with History 0228

0261. Women and Politics (3 s.h.) S

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. (SS)
Cross-listed with History 0301

0271. Women in Religion and Society (3 s.h.) S SS

Study of both the roles and the understanding of women in primitive and major modern religious traditions, particularly of the West, including an investigation of the authoritative writings and practices of the various traditions. (H)
Cross-listed with History 0301

0273. Women and Criminal Justice (3 s.h.) FS

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. (SS)
Cross-listed with History 0340

0275. Women and Work (3 s.h.) S

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. (SS)
Cross-listed with History 0258

0276. Women in the Third World (3 s.h.) S

Explores the experiences and perspectives of women in the less- privileged areas of the world. The goals of this course are to increase our understanding of the key determinants of women's subordination and agency in different socio-economic situations and to develop comparative perspectives that establish the connections between the condition of women in third world countries and that of European and North American women. We will examine themes such as the nature of women's position in the global economy; migration and industrialization; control over women's labor, fertility, and sexuality at the level of the household, the community, and the state; and feminist and gender-based political movements. Readings will include case studies on women in major regions of the developing world. (SS)

0277. Women in the Economy (3 s.h.) SS

Explores four 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 the fifth - 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. No previous knowledge is required - we shall discuss these theories and apply them to the economic situation of women here and in other societies. (SS)
Cross-listed with History 0272

0281. Gender, Race, and Ethnicity in America United States (3 s.h.)

Women's history has come of age during the last two decades. There is now a recognition that there is no universal women's experience, rather American women come from diverse racial and ethnic, as well as cultural backgrounds. Therefore women's experiences must be examined within the larger context in which they have functioned. Utilizing the full context of American history from the colonial period to 1980, this course will explore the various ways in which gender, race, and ethnicity, along with other aspects of identity, have shaped the lives and experiences of women in the United States. It will examine the complex relationships between the construction of personal identities, the material realities of women's lived experiences, and cultural and ideological systems and social institutions. Of necessity we must look at the bonds and conflicts among women and between women and men. Issues of race, gender, and ethnicity must be addressed within the context of American Women's history.
Cross-listed with History 0281

0287. Women in U.S. History (3 s.h.)

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.
Cross-listed with History 0287

0290. Independent Study (3 s.h.) FS

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

0294. Independent Study (2 s.h.) FS

0295. Women and Work - Honors (3 s.h.) FS

Honors section of 0275. Additional work arranged by instructor. (SS)

0299. Field Work in Women's Studies (3 s.h.) FS

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 Arts and Sciences. Requires a designated supervisor at the field placement (minimum of 7 1/2 hours per week) and a faculty adviser within the College. A paper or project related to the area of the field study is also required. Placement and faculty advisers arranged prior to registration. (Call 215 204 6953.)

0301. Seminar in Women's Studies (3 s.h.) F

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.

W363. Feminist Theory (3 s.h.) S Core: WI

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.
Cross-listed with English W275.
Note: Writing Capstone Course.

0375. Italian Women Writers From the Middle Ages to Present (3 s.h.) F

More than a survey, this course encompasses a socio-cultural and literary history and literary critiques to Italian women's writings from its earliest stages (the medieval period when few women were literate), through the Renaissance (when numerous courtesans emerged as poets), to the 19th and 20th centuries (during which female voices have emerged in emancipated forms). As the bibliography suggests, our approach is informed by new evaluations and valorizations of Italian women writers vis-à-vis the re-visioning of scholarship and cultural canons in Italy and abroad. Course will be offered in English.
Cross- listed with Italian 0375.

0397, 0398. Honors Thesis in Women's Studies
(2, 2, s.h. respectively) FS

Individually supervised research and writing, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduating with Honors in Women's Studies.
Note: Students must register in consecutive semesters for 0397 and 0398 to fulfill requirements.

NOTE: (H) = Humanities (SS) = Social Sciences