VanWylen Library Research Guides on Human Trafficking

Cross-Listed Course Descriptions

All Women's Studies majors and minors must take at least one course from both Block A and Block B.

Block A

Art 242 Contemporary Art and Architecture
Four Credits
Kraus
Offered Fall Semester

This course is a chronological survey of post-modernist art, architecture, and urban design from approximately 1960 to the present day. Emphasis is placed on the theoretical underpinnings of contemporary art and architecture (including feminist and gendered methodologies), the diversity of artistic and architectural production, as well as to the new media of the post-digital age. Writings by artists and critics play a central role in this course. The purpose for this is two-fold: (1) these primary documents provide a sense of how artists have translated their practices into words and, (2) engage the student with critical methodologies used by art historians, writers, and other non-artists to discuss a work of art or architecture. Although this course is primarily lecture-driven, several classes over the course of the semester are designated as “active learning” classes – that is, an opportunity for you to “actively” engage the material in a meaningful way outside of a traditional lecture format. These classes, indicated on the Schedule of Classes by the letters “AL”, require your participation through small group work, one-on-one discussion, in-class writing, and other teaching vehicles deemed necessary to initiate an active learning environment.

Art 360 Special Topics: Women, Art and Society in 18th and 19th Century France
Four Credits
Kraus
Offered Spring 2014

Description Coming Soon

DAN 320:01: 20th Century Dance History
Perspectives on dance in the 20th century including its relation to society, the other arts, criticism and its future directions. Focus will be on ballet, modern, post-modern and social dance trends. Prerequisite: Dance History Survey or permission of the instructor.
Four Credits
Farmer
Offered Spring Semester

ENG 373/WS 373. Literary Forms and Reformulations
An examination of how literature interrogates and revises received traditions. By focusing on sequences of works, juxtaposed works, or the works of a single author, it examines imitations, critiques, and transformations within formal literary categories and within canons.

The Liar in Literature - Burton
In 1904 an American educational survey found that girls were much more prone to telling lies than boys. Ever wonder why Americans think of George Washington as honesty incarnate, and the Biblical Eve as The Mother of Lies? This course traces the significance of lying as a gendered construct in American and British literature. We’ll examine not only why the trope of dishonesty is attached to so many female literary figures, but we’ll also explore the cultural context that frames deception, the reasons why women in literature lie, and the consequences of the literary lie. Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Rowson’s Charlotte Temple, Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret, Thackeray’s Vanity Fair, Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, James’s The Portrait of a Lady, Wharton’s The Custom of the Country, Cather’s A Lost Lady, and Toni Morrison’s Beloved are some of the titles we will read.
American Biography - Dykstra
This course explores American lives, our American lives, by focusing on several key themes: religious belief, the American Dream, and the many meanings of citizenship. We say that one of our founding values is separation of church and state. But what does this mean? How do we understand religious belief in relation to politics, education, and our responsibilities as citizens? What is the American Dream, how did it develop over time, and who is included in it and why? Who is a citizen and what does citizenship require of us? To engage these questions and more, we will be drawing from history, literature, film, and art. The main task of this course is to learn to write clearly, persuasively, and with authority in preparation for your future courses. Class time is devoted to lively discussion and writing workshops.

ENG 375/WS 375. Language, Literature, and
Social/Cultural Difference
An examination of literary works as cultural artifacts, examining how they not only record and reflect the dynamics of social and cultural difference but also influence or resist change. Under investigation will be conflicts and modifications in cultural identification, how literature draws upon the lives and times of its authors, and how race, class, gender, and other forms of difference generate social and cultural tensions and express and embody them in literature.
19th and 20th Century British Women Writers - Kipp
Latina Novels - Montano
Four Credits
Each class offered once every two years

ENG 480/WS 480. Introduction to Literary Criticism:
Feminist Theories
A chronological survey of major 20th-century theoretical approaches to literature.
Four Credits
Kipp
Offered once every two years

FREN 443/WS 495-01. Early Modern French Literature
and Culture
A course on the literary, historical, sociopolitical, economic, and artistic developments in French society from the Renaissance period to the French Revolution.
Four Credits
Larsen
Offered Spring 2015

French 495/WS 495 – (Re)Imagining the Stage: French and Francophone Dramatists (La Scène Théâtrale: Dramaturges français et francophones)
Notre but principal sera d'étudier trois épisodes fondamentaux dans l’évolution culturelle, historique, politique, ,et dramaturgique du théâtre français et francophone au vingtième siècle.
- l’existentialisme: les années de la seconde guerre mondiale de 1940 à 1945 avec Jean Paul Sartre (Les Mouches et Huis Clos) et Simone de Beauvoir (Les Bouches inutiles)
- le mouvement de l’absurde: l’après-guerre de 1950 à environ 1955 avec
Eugene Ionesco (La Lecon et La Cantatrice chauve)
- le post-colonialisme: les années d’indépendance de la France coloniale à partir des années 1960 avec Aime Césaire (Une Saison au Congo), Ina Césaire (Memoires d'Isles) et Marguerite Duras (Savannah Bay)
Nous lirons également "Art" de Yasmina Réza. Nous visionnerons deux ou trois de ces pieces en classe et nous irons ensemble voir une piece a Hope cet automne.
Four Credits
Larsen
Offered Fall 2013

HIST 200/WS 295-01A. Women in Early Modern Europe
This course is designed to allow the exploration of some narrow moment in time (such as the 1960s or even the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s) or some particular historical issue or problem (such as the status of women in the Middle Ages). The content and emphasis of each section is determined by the instructor. Students may repeat the course for credit as topics change. No more than two 2-credit HIST 200 courses may be counted toward the major, and no more than one toward the minor.
Two Credits
Gibbs
Offered: Every Fall Semester (2013)

HIST 285/WS 285. Women in Antiquity
This course surveys the status and accomplishments of women in the ancient Mediterranean world, from Egypt to the fall of the Roman
Empire. It examines questions of matriarchy, marriage patterns, and attitudes toward women displayed in literature and art. Attention is given to problems of methodology and modern interpretations of ancient sources on this subject.
Four Credits
Bell
Offered Spring Semester, Odd Years

HIST 352/WS 352. U.S. Women and Social Change
What role have women had in making social change happen in the United States? In this course, we will answer this question by examining how women sought to shape their society during periods of transformation in United States history. Topics include women in Revolutionary America; women and anti-slavery campaigns; Progressive women; women during times of war; and the rise of feminism during the 20th century. We will also explore how issues such as race, class, region, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation affected women’s historical experience.
Four Credits
Petit
Offered Fall Semester, Even Years

HIST 357/WS 395-01. U.S. Intellectual History: Ideas of Race, Gender, and Class
In this course, we will explore the meaning of race, gender and class through the lens of intellectual history-a history that examines how ideas change over time. We will read about ordinary people as well as elite intellectuals in order to understand how Americans debated the meanings of these concepts and how these ideas affected the lived experiences of men and women in the past.
Four Credits
Petit
Offered Fall Semester, Odd Years

PHIL 195/WS 195. Sexual Ethics
What is sex and why does it matter? What does it mean to objectify, or use, someone? What is consent and how does it function? What moral position should we take on issues of homosexuality and same-sex marriage? In this class, we'll ask these questions and more in an effort to develop a philosophical vision of sexuality. Our goal will be to develop our views on these matters into coherent and consistent theories (and there are several ways one might do that). All perspectives are invited to join the conversation and will be taken seriously and charitably.
Two Credits
Mulder
Offered once every two years

REL 260/WS 236. Introduction to Theology: Christian Feminism
A study of basic Christian beliefs about God, creation, humanity, evil, Jesus Christ, salvation, the church, and the future, based on a careful reading and an informed discussion of classical texts.
Four Credits
Japinga
Offered Based on Student Demand

REL 349/WS 395. Women in American Religious History
A course designed to enable current staff or visiting faculty to teach a course in the area of their current research, and to facilitate cross-listing courses.
Four Credits
Japinga
Offered Based on Student Demand

REL 366/WS 366. Feminist Theology
An exploration of theological questions (who is God?, what does it mean to be human?, how do we read the Bible?, etc.) from the perspective of feminist theologians.
Four Credits
Japinga
Offered Based on Student Demand

Block B

COMM 371/WS 371. Intercultural and Gender Communication
This course addresses the social construction of inequality, specifically focusing on how communication processes are the means by which gender, race, class, nationality, culture and ethnicity are created, and are also the means by which individuals can resist personal participation in perpetuating systems of inequality. Through encountering multicultural experiences, interviewing people in different social positions, and engaging in exercises and simulations, we will learn to broaden our self-identities and our understanding of others by learning about the experiences, feelings, and views of people in social situations different from our own.
Four Credits
Fortner
Offered Fall Semester

Comm 395/WS 395 Special Topics
Fall: Intergroup Dialogue
Spring: Intergroup Dialogue Practicum (fall course is prerequisite for spring course)
A seminar in a special topic of the discipline offered for majors in the department and other interested/qualified students. The course will focus on a particular aspect of the discipline and reflect theory, research and application to the extent expected for the course level and credits assigned. Topics occasionally offered include Film Criticism, New Media, Black Images in Film, Political Communication, or Advanced Research. Honors seminar is offered every fall. Students may enroll in more than one topics course to fulfill major requirements.
Four Credits
Both Semesters

COMM 470/WS 470. Cultural Communication Theory
This seminar examines theories of how power is expressed symbolically and embedded in cultural texts. Students will develop skills in the interpretation and analysis of cultural meaning.
Four Credits
Housel
Offered Spring Semester

POL 110/WS 110. Gender, Islam, and Democracy
This course examines the status of women in predominantly Muslim societies. The course meets for the first half of the semester and will focus on looking at the intersectionality of gender, Islam and politics. We will also discuss the compatibility of Islam and Democracy in the context of religion and politics. The course is a Women’s Studies class that is cross-listed with Political Science.
Two Credits
Dandavati
Offered once a year

POL 110/WS 110. Gender, Conflict and Peace
In this course we will consider gender as a powerful idea that shapes the way we see others and others see us. Social and cultural conceptions of gender—at home and around the world—have led to significant differences and disparities in economic status, education, health, legal rights and other cultural indices of success. It has been used to justify violence ranging from structural to direct violence, including sexual and physical abuse, rape, mutilation, imprisonment, warfare and murder. Given that gender is so foundational to human behavior, it is important for students interested in peace and conflict studies to understand how notions of sexual difference, whether viewed as essential to human nature or constructed according to social and environmental factors, are utilized in the rhetoric and strategy of warfare as well as to further peace efforts.We will consider these many implications of the social construction of gender and how gendered language and beliefs both shapes and reflect gendered attitudes, behaviors, expectations, and norms that translate into societal and individual realities. We will examine our own relationships to gender at the micro, meso and macro levels including an individual, interactional and structural analysis. Themes of power, performance and privilege—and their implications—will be woven throughout the course. Theoretical literature and case studies will be used to explore how the discourse and enactment of war and peace, conflict and reconciliation, and discord and restoration are influenced by societal constructions of gender, both historically and in the present.
Two Credits
Beard
Offered Fall 2013

PSY 380/WS 380. Psychology of Women
This course helps students recognize that women have historically been excluded from defining theory and research in psychology and remedies this bias by: 1) providing a feminist critique of existing theories, research and methods, 2) exploring current scholarship on women, and 3) connecting psychology with women’s lives in their diversity and particularity, and in issues of race, class and sexual orientation. Women’s lives are viewed as valid for serious study and discussion.
Four Credits
Dickie
Offered once a year

PSY 395/WS 395. Human Sexuality

Four Credits
Bade
Offered once a year

SOC 271/WS 271. Sociology of Gender I
In this course we will examine the different roles prescribed to individuals on the basis of sex. The particular focus will be the role of
socialization and social institutions. We will consider the consequences of women’s and men’s assigned roles for their home and family life, work roles and achievements, media portrayals, and religious practices.
Two Credits
Swanson
Offered Spring Semester (First Half)

SOC 272/WS 272. Sociology of Gender II
In this half of the course we will examine the most popular gender theories and discuss their impact on men’s and women’s roles in the
U.S. culture. We will focus more specifically on men’s roles, the history and impact of the women’s movement, and prospective gender roles in the future.
Two Credits
Swanson
Offered Spring Semester (Second Half)