Courses

This course examines the histories of race, early modern capitalism, colonialism, slavery, gender, and the archive through the lens of women’s and Atlantic World history, ca. 1400-1850. 

Why is it that we consume media in the ways we do? Are you a passive consumer, or an active one? Why do media use the techniques they do to draw in audiences? Even as media literate as intelligent individuals we are controlled by our media? These are just some of the questions we will consider as we explore the topic of media theory/history. Although I lead this course from a critical perspective, I will introduce you to more social science/behavior theories throughout the semester. However, as you peruse the syllabus, you will see that we will concentrate on a few key critical theories (as they apply to media): feminist theory, critical race theory, queer theory, and governmentality.

This course presents a critical analysis of the meaning and function of the mass media and culture in our world. The specific focus of this course will analyze the format of television and how it impacts individuals, society, and the media themselves. In doing so, the ways in which a variety of cultural topics manifest through television such as gender, race/class, crime, and family structure will be analyzed. 

There are many oversimplified categorizations by which societies make distinctions among their members, including race, class, gender, and age. Such distinctions often lead to an inequitable distribution of political power, social well-being, and the resources available to individual members of society. In this course we seek to increase our awareness and understanding of such inequities and the power of the mass media in creating and potentially destroying them.

This course explores the images, ideologies, representations, historical context and filmic techniques associated in films made primarily by and about women. 

This course provides an introduction to topics and issues of victimology. Students will learn the relevance and consequences of various forms of victimization. Focus will be placed on theories and consequences of victimization, temporally relevant topics, and societal and criminal justice responses to victims and services.

This course will focus on the four major roles of women in the criminal justice system – women as criminal offenders, women as inmates, women as victims, and women as criminal justice professionals/practitioners. Each of these roles will be examined against the backdrop of the socialization of gender within our culture.

This course considers the interrelationships among race, gender and class in the criminal justice system.  Examined are the patterns and variations in crime across these variables.  The assumptions, biases and relative strengths and weaknesses of theories of crime as applied across race, gender and class will be addressed.  Attention will be given to women and minorities as offenders, victims and professionals in criminal justice with particular emphasis given to the disproportionate criminal justice sanctioning of crimes by and against women and minorities. An historical perspective will contextualize and guide the course.

Seminar examines an issue affecting society and its relationship to the criminal justice system. Topics might include a discussion of ethics and the criminal justice system, computerized information systems and the criminal justice system, intimate and stranger crimes, or the criminal justice system in the future. (Concentration: criminology, law enforcement, law adjudication or penology).

Introduction to English literature by and about women, from the Middle Ages to 1700. Works of poetry, prose, and drama will be studied in generic and historical contexts as symptoms of cultural change. Interdisciplinary approach to gender, discrimination, social justice make this course an elective in the Women’s Studies Minor.

This course develops skills students need to write successfully in college, in the workplace, and in their everyday lives. It prepares students for the various types of writing they would do as professional editors or writers, including synthesizing information from various sources, providing feedback to other writers to guide their revision, managing multi-authored documents, and co-authoring. (Advanced Composition; part of Writing Studies minor)

Themes in American literature, such as Captivity Narratives through the 19th Century; Imagining Native Americans; The American Dream and Immigrant Writers; Poverty in the 20th Century American Literature; Freedom and Determinism in American Literature. May be taken up to three times, with different authors or topics. (Advanced American)

The lives and works of modern women artists will be studied both critically and in historical context. Gallery visits, lectures by women artists working today and drawing in the manner of those studied will supplement the course.

A survey of various themes and social questions regarding the position that women have held in French society from the 12th century to the present, as these are treated in poetry, prose fiction, cinema and drama by and about female authors. Conducted in English, with all texts read in translation, this course is open to all students, regardless of their background in French.
This course cannot be used to satisfy a foreign-language requirement for nonmajors. It may count as a culture course required for the minor.

This course introduces students to the history of American women from colonial times to the present. It is designed to expose students to what women did and what they were told to do, and to the tension between them. Students will be reading about both “famous” and ordinary women, and will have the opportunity to read what women had to say about themselves and their situation. We will pay particular attention to the ways in which race, class, and ethnicity shaped women’s experiences.

The contributions of African American women have been long overlooked in American history. This course will address the lives of black women from the 1600s through the twenty-first century. Specifically, students will learn about African American women’s experiences in freedom, slavery, domesticity, commerce, politics, religion, and social movements. 

In 2020, the U.S. celebrates the 100-year ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, giving women the right to vote. This course explores important themes in U.S. history by studying the push for women’s right to vote in the U.S. Students will examine firsthand documents related to gender, race, citizenship and political rights, political parties and campaigns, progressivism and conservatism, and organizational efforts. The course ties suffrage events into the wider history. 

A historical and legal overview of women in the American justice system. Emphasis on the equal protection arguments, remedies for discrimination, evolving concepts in the law of rape, consumer rights and employment practices. (Concentration: American political system.)

This course is designed to provide an introduction to the growing  field of women and politics, specifically women and politics in the United States. Specific topics include the origins and goals of the women's movements, political participation by women in citizen level activities, women elected and appointed officials in government, and public policy goals and accomplishments of the women's movements. (Concentration: American political system.)

This course examines the evidence for the existence of sex differences in behavior and the biological and social theories which attempt to account for gender differences in our society as well as cross-culturally. An attempt is made to understand the dynamic and perplexing changes facing men and women today.

A survey of issues pertinent to the life and role of women in the church and society, with special focus on equality, development and peace.

• CD, SS

Review of the status of women in American society: socialization, role, self-conception, and participation.

In this course, students will explore the impact of gender, race and ethnicity, and social class on women’s mental, physical, and economic well-being. Through investigation of their own experiences as women and men, and through readings and classroom activities, students will become familiar with a variety of contradictions confronting women social workers and women clients. Gender inequality within the social work profession and strategies for change will be highlighted.

This course examines various social, cultural, and political issues in contemporary society. We will analyze how women's lives and experiences are shaped by the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, socioeconomic class, and the like. A range of topics are discussed including gender socialization, education, body image, sports, media and popular culture, health and the environment, relationships, work/family life, gendered violence, and activism and social change.  

Special topics courses may be taken multiple times provided the title and course content are different. No prerequisite. Humanities/Cultural Diversity electives.

This course examines the writings of black women working in, and drawing on, the vibrant activist, literary, and scholarly traditions of social justice movements like abolition, suffrage, civil rights, feminism, womanism, and #blacklivesmatter. 

Special topics courses may be taken multiple times provided the title and course content are different. No prerequisite. Humanities/Cultural Diversity electives.

­­­This course explores various representations of “the girl” in popular culture, with a specific emphasis on fairytales, fantasy, and dystopian societies. 

Special topics courses may be taken multiple times provided the title and course content are different. No prerequisite. Humanities/Cultural Diversity electives.

­­­This course explores various forms of pop culture in America, such as consumer culture, advertising, television, film, music, and social media. We will study and analyze pop culture through perspectives and theories grounded in feminist theory, cultural studies, and the discipline of women’s and gender studies.

An independent or special topics course on a gender-related issue, or an internship or co-op with a gender-related focus may be substituted for one of the five required courses. Permission of the coordinator of the women's studies minor is required for either substitution. Please note that WMS 350 courses do not require a prerequisite. 

This course explores the images, ideologies, representations, historical context and filmic techniques associated in films made primarily by and about women.