Course Descriptions and Elective Courses

Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Program Overview Flyer (printable)

WGS 1001 (Evolution of Sex and Gender, 3 hours) This is a General Education course. Interdisciplinary course, team-taught by faculty in the physical and social sciences. Covers evolution as differential reproduction; reproduction-related earth history highlights; genetics of sex; animal reproduction strategies; anatomy and physiology of human reproductive systems; evolutionary trajectories in primates; sex and gender in human prehistory and in culture.

WGS 2200 (Popular Culture and Gender, 3 hours): Popular culture forms from a women’s and gender studies perspective. Analyzes the intersections of gender, race, class, sexual orientation and age in media such as popular literature, film, television, advertisements, digital media and the Internet.

WGS 2300 (Gender and Health, 3 hours): Focus is on the variety of Health concerns that are also related to gender, including disparities and differences in health needs and responses, historical and contemporary ideas about health and gender and how gender and health intersect with class, ethnicity, age and place.

WGS 2500 (Introduction to WGSS, 3 hours): This is an Integrative Learning Core (ILC) course that awards general education credit. Credit will not be given for this course and WGS 2501. The interdisciplinary study of how gender and sexuality intersect with other social differences; analysis of how those intersections structure society, impact diverse social groups, and informed lived experience.

WGS 2501 (Honors Introduction to WGSS, 3 hours): This is an Integrative Learning Core (ILC) course that awards general education credit. Same as WGS 2500, with special honors emphasis for qualified students. Credit will not be given for this course and WGS 2500.

WGS 2900 (Gender, Race, and Nation, 3 hours): This is an Integrative Learning Core (ILC) course that awards general education credit. The constructs of gender and sexuality across diverse racial, ethnic, cultural and class boundaries.

WGS 3150 (Survey of Feminist Theory, 3 hours): Interdisciplinary study of a range of feminist theories through which to consider the roles of women, gender and sexuality. This course is required for the concentration.

WGS 3600 (Women and Leadership, 3 hours): Interdisciplinary study of gender and leadership. Emphasis on women as leaders in a range of settings in education and society.

WGS 4028 (Gender & American Politics, 3 hours, Also offered as POLI 4028): The role of gender in the political arena in the United States. Also offered as POLI 4028.

WGS 4087 (Gender, Place & Culture, 3 hours, also offered as GEOG 4087 & ANTH 4087): The geographies of everyday life showing how notions of maleness and femaleness influence how we understand and relate to the world around us, from our built environment, to the places we invest with meaning, and the very ways we live, work, travel and explore.

WGS 4500 (Special Topics in WGSS, 3 hours, may be taken for up to 6 hours, Prereq.: WGS 2500): Issues central to contemporary feminist inquiry. This course is required for both the concentration and the minor.

WGS 4541(Gender and the Law, Prereq. permission of department, 3 hours): Women’s de jure and de facto legal status in U.S. jurisdictions; the history of suffrage and demands for equal rights for men and women, violence against women and violence committed by women, property rights, inheritance rights, reproductive rights, marriage, child custody, the definition of family, Title IX issues, employment discrimination, and gender issues in the legal profession.

WGS 4900 (Independent Reading and Research in WGSS, 3 hours, Prereq.: WGS 2500 and permission of instructor and department): With permission, advanced students may also arrange to complete an independent study with a WGSS faculty member on an interdisciplinary topic. May be taken for a max. of 6 sem. hrs. of credit when topics vary. Reading and research on selected topics that emphasize feminist interdisciplinary approaches.

WGS 7150 (Seminar in Feminist and Gender Theory, 3 hours): Topics in recent and contemporary theory in a range of disciplines including the humanities, social sciences, natural and physical sciences, design and education; students are encouraged to develop research projects relevant to their primary disciplines and to their research interests.

WGS 7500 (Special Topics in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, 3 hours): Prereq.: Permission of department. May be taken for a max. of 6 hrs. of credit when topics vary. Topics in a range of disciplines including the humanities, social sciences, natural and physical sciences, art + design, and education; students are encouraged to develop research projects relevant to their primary disciplines and to their research interests. 

WGS 7900 (Independent Reading and Research in WGSS, 3 hours, Prereq.: permission of instructor and department): May be taken for a max. of 6 sem. hrs. of credit.

Approved WGSS Undergraduate Concentration Electives

Social Sciences/Humanities

  • ANTH/GEOG/WGS 4087 Gender, Place, and Culture*   
  • CLST 2080 Women in Antiquity    
  • CMST 3115 Communication and Gender    
  • ENGL 2593 Gender and Literature    
  • ENGL 3593 Survey of Women and Literature    
  • ENGL 4493 Women and Folklore    
  • ENGL 4593 Studies in Women and Literature    
  • ELRC 4370: Counseling Girls and Women    
  • FREN 4090 French and Francophone Women Writers  
  • GEOG/ANTH/WGS 4087 Gender, Place, and Culture*     
  • HIST 2014: Goddesses to Witches: Women in Europe, 500BCE-1700CE     
  • HIST 4013: Women in Early Modern Europe    
  • HIST 4079 Women in American History    
  • KIN 2600 Human Sexuality    
  • PHIL 4949 Topics in Philosophy of Gender    
  • POLI/WGS 4028: Gender and American Politics*    
  • PSYC 4040: Research and Theory in Sexuality    
  • REL 3300 Women and Religion    
  • REL 4032 Religion, Gender, and Society    
  • SOCL 4463 Gender and Crime    
  • SOCL 4465: Drugs and Society     
  • SOCL 4521 Sociology of Gender    
  • SPAN 4100 Women Writers in the Hispanic World    
  • SW 2500 Intro to LGBTQ Studies    
  • THTR 4021 Gender and Sexuality in Performance    
  • WGS 1001 Evolution of Sex and Gender   
  • WGS 2200 Gender and Popular Culture    
  • WGS/POLI 4028 Gender and American Politics*    
  • WGS/ANTH/GEOG 4087 Gender, Place, and Culture*    
  • WGS 4541 Gender and Law    
  • WGS 4900 Independent Reading and Research in Women’s & Gender Studies  

Cross-Cultural

  • ANTH 2051 Introduction to World Ethnography
  • ANTH 3401 The Study of Folklore
  • ANTH 4003 Indian Civilization of Middle and South America
  • ANTH 4050 Black Music in America
  • ANTH 4051 Africa
  • ANTH 4053 African-American Cultures
  • ANTH 4470 Folklore of the African Diaspora
  • ANTH 4475 American Folklore
  • EDCI 4800 Teaching in the Multicultural Classroom
  • ENGL 3401 The Study of Folklore
  • ENGL 3674 Survey of African-American Literature
  • ENGL 4674 Studies in African-American Literature
  • HIST 4077 American Popular Culture
  • REL 4800 Buddhism
  • SPAN 3044 Introduction to Latin American Literature II
  • SPAN 3074 Advanced Readings on Hispanic-American Civilization

Approved WGSS Undergrad Minor Electives

  • ANTH/GEOG/WGS 4087 Gender, Place, and Culture*
  • CLST 2080 Women in Antiquity
  • CMST 3115 Communication and Gender
  • ENGL 2593 Gender and Literature
  • ENGL 3593 Survey of Women and Literature
  • ENGL 4493 Women and Folklore
  • ENGL 4593 Studies in Women and Literature
  • ELRC 4370: Counseling Girls and Women
  • FREN 4090 French and Francophone Women Writers
  • GEOG/ANTH/WGS 4087 Gender, Place, and Culture*
  • HIST 2014: Goddesses to Witches: Women in Europe, 500BCE-1700CE
  • HIST 4013: Women in Early Modern Europe
  • HIST 4079 Women in American History
  • KIN 2600 Human Sexuality
  • PHIL 4949 Topics in Philosophy of Gender
  • POLI/WGS 4028: Gender and American Politics*
  • PSYC 4040: Research and Theory in Sexuality
  • REL 3300 Women and Religion
  • REL 4032 Religion, Gender, and Society
  • SOCL 4463 Gender and Crime
  • SOCL 4465: Drugs and Society
  • SOCL 4521 Sociology of Gender
  • SPAN 4100 Women Writers in the Hispanic World
  • SW 2500 Intro to LGBTQ Studies
  • THTR 4021 Gender and Sexuality in Performance
  • WGS 1001 Evolution of Sex and Gender
  • WGS 2200 Gender and Popular Culture
  • WGS/POLI 4028 Gender and American Politics*
  • WGS/ANTH/GEOG 4087 Gender, Place, and Culture*
  • WGS 4541 Gender and Law
  • WGS 4900 Independent Reading and Research in Women’s & Gender Studies

* = this is a cross-listed course with multiple prefixes

 

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