coreCoursesFall2009

Core and Cross-listed Elective Course Offerings

Fall 2009 semester
Women's and Gender Studies

Each semester, the Women's and Gender Studies program offers its own core courses and cross-listed courses from other departments at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Descriptions for all of these courses appear below. At the undergraduate level, WGS 210 and WGS 304 are required for the WGS minor. They may also be taken as electives or be used to fulfill a general education requirement. At the graduate level, WGS 402 and WGS 404 are required for both the master's degree and the graduate certificate. Students in both these programs may take multiple sections of WGS 404, Topics in Feminist Theories, as electives. These courses are also available to any graduate student looking for a stimulating elective. Cross-listed courses count as electives for the WGS minor, master's degree, or graduate certificate.

WGS core course offerings

WGS 210 Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies

Ellen O’Brien Chicago campus Tu/Th 11 AM-12:15 PM

Marjorie Jolles Chicago campus M/W 11 AM-12:15 PM

This core course introduces students to feminist thought and gender studies. We will study analytical models for examining gender and survey some of the specific research and writing that these analytical models have fostered. We will include in our reflections a look at the development of feminism(s), the sexual politics of women's rights, and the cultural structures of gender, and we will pay attention to the issues of race, class, sexuality, and ethnicity that influence these matters. Topics will include: gender and consumption, femininity and masculinity, socialization and identity, language and representation, revision and recovery, domesticity and family, oppression and resistance, law and violence, bodies and sexualities, theory and activism. Open to freshmen. Can be used to fulfill either the Humanities or Social Sciences general education requirement.

WGS 304 Queer: Sex, Theory & Activism

Heidi Truax Chicago Campus Tu/Th 4:30-5:45PM

In the past several decades, the term “queer” has evolved from a neutral adjective to a pejorative label, to a reclaimed and empowered sexual identity, to a discursive tool for theory, and into a radical movement for reworking cultural, economic, social, and political institutions. This course will explore the different ways in which “queer” has been defined. We will look at examples of how “queer” developed through Kinsey’s scale of sexuality, the theories of radical lesbian feminists such as Audre Lorde, and even local Chicago activist groups such as the “queer transformative justice movement.” Using evidence from psychology, African-American Studies, literature, pop culture, philosophy, political science, and women’s and gender studies, students will gain critical tools for understanding the contested history of “queer” as it has moved from adjective to noun, from sexual specificity to an umbrella term. With an emphasis on the relationship between theory and activism, students will learn how social change is implemented and theorized. Assignments will emphasize interactive learning, writing in a variety of genres, research, creative projects and peer collaboration.

WGS 402 Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies
Ann Brigham Chicago campus Tu 2-4:30PM
The interdisciplinary field of Women’s and Gender Studies continues to expand and build upon a rich and varied history. In this graduate seminar, we will explore the range of issues and interests that have defined WGS research and feminist theory in the last several decades. Although we will not be able to study every issue, we will examine foundational theories, points of debate, and core methodologies. We will also consider how the interests of WGS practitioners vary in relation to their social/cultural locations and historical moments. Because the goal of this course is to provide students with an introduction to the women’s and gender studies as an academic field and a community-based enterprise, we all also spend time on professional development and the skills and practices essential to academic success. Students will have the opportunity to develop a final project around a topic, academic and/or community-oriented, of their own interest. Open to graduate students in all disciplines.

WGS 404 The Body: Agency, Pain, Desire

Marjorie Jolles Chicago campus W 6-8:30PM

This graduate seminar takes a critical look at the philosophical treatment of the body. Long considered distinct from the mind and therefore inessential to the self, the body has nonetheless been a fundamental marker of identity for most of us. Using a wide array of texts from philosophy, feminist and queer theory, critical race theory, cultural studies, and disability studies, we will inquire into the body as both an inner subject and outer object, as the self’s material home, spatial boundary, and site of engagement with multiple forms of power. In the process, we will gain a deeper understanding of the varied processes by which bodies become gendered, sexed, raced, classed, beautiful and abject, healthy and sick, enabled and constrained, docile and violent, feeling and felt, capable and incapable, legitimate and illegitimate. Anchoring our study of embodiment to three key phenomena—agency, pain, and desire—we will explore in depth the way subjectivity and reality are shaped by, and give shape to, the body and its practices.NOTE: This is a graduate student-only seminar. Open to graduate students in all disciplines.

WGS 404 Gender, Race, and Environmental Justice

Carrie Brecke Th Chicago campus 2-4:30 PM

If we argue that all individuals and communities have the right to a clean and healthy environment, what exactly are we demanding? This course will explore the connections among the domination of nature (including animals), sexism, racism and other social inequalities. Some questions the class will consider: What do environmental issues have to do with gender? How does the connection between patriarchy and ecological degradation work? What is environmental racism? What is environment justice? Are we what we eat? What are the links between global militarism and the destruction of nature? Is the environment queer? Studying both theoretical approaches and grassroots movements, we will examine how feminist responses to environmental issues positively impact individuals’ lives and communities. Though this course will have a significant global vision, we will examine closely the Chicago area’s environmental history, issues, and activism, in order for students to begin to situate themselves as advocates for environmental justice. NOTE: This is a graduate student-only seminar. Open to graduate students in all disciplines.

WGS 407/ART 374 Women and Art

Elyse Koren-Camarra Chicago campus Tu 2-4:30 PM

Women and Art will explore the relationship between the roles of women in society and the production of art, looking at both women as artists and women as subjects of art work. Themes such as the anonymous artists, the

idea of "genius", and the relationship of art and craft will be explored. We will focus on the 20th century and its influence on contemporary 21st century art, including digital and new media art. Open to graduate students in all disciplines.

Cross-listed elective course offerings

HIST 341/441 Women in Russian Revolution
Chris Chulos Chicago campus M/W 12:30-1:45 PM
No description available, please contact instructor for more information.

POS 327/427 Sexuality, Gender, and International Human Rights
Bethany Barratt Chicago campus W 2-4:30 PM
Is it necessary to distinguish between "women's rights" and "men's rights" when we discuss human rights? Do women "innately" have different orientations towards political involvement than do men? If so, how are these orientations different? If not, why do women around the world participate in politics to such different degrees and in such different forms than do men? Are issues like AIDS, prostitution, and reproductive rights private issues or public ones? These are some of the questions we will try to engage and unravel, and ultimately use to generate our own, new questions, over the 14 weeks of this course.

POS 367/467 Social Movements
Jeff Edwards Chicago campus Tu/Th 2-3:15 PM
This course is an exploration into how, why, through what barriers, and to what effects, ordinary people set out with others to change the world largely through “extra-institutional” means (i.e., outside formal political institutions). We will survey the analytical problems and theoretical approaches in this field of study, and engage in case studies of the Southern civil rights movement, the radical feminist movement, and the global justice movement.

PSYC 108 Human Sexuality
STAFF Chicago campus M/W 11 AM-12:15 PM
STAFF Chicago campus Th 2-3:15 PM
Sexuality from youth to old age, including the development of gender identity, sexual orientation, and sex roles. Review of the physiology and psychology of sexual arousal, adult sexual behavior in its many manifestations, and a brief introduction to sexual dysfunction.

SOC 215 The Family
STAFF Chicago campus M/W 12:30-1:45 PM
STAFF Schaumburg campus M/W 11 AM-12:15 PM
This course covers the development of the modern American family; variations in family patterns in various cultures; role relationships within the family; family influences in personality development; mate selection; parent-child relations; family disorganization and reorganization.

SOC 340/440 Gender and Society
STAFF Schaumburg campus TU 6:30-9 PM
This course draws on sociological and feminist theory to explore the ways in which gender, race, ethnicity, class, and sexual orientation intersect to influence the status of women and men. The focus will be on how individuals learn about gender and how social and institutional structures along with culture shape the way we think about gender.

SOC 343/443 Gender Based Violence
Kate Webster Chicago campus Tu/Th 12:30-1:45 PM
This course entitled Gender-Based Violence will examine some of the theoretical and sociological root causes of gender-based violence nationally and internationally. Topics will include feminist perspectives of the gendered nature of violence and how they play out in US social institutions such as education, the economy, and the health care system. Topics will also address gender-based violence in “Third World” contexts including cultural traditions and war. This course will also focus on the social constructions of masculinity and how far from being solely a “women’s issue”, it will examine how violence that targets women and girls threatens the healthy development of all human beings.

SOC 409 Religion, the Body, and Reproductive Justice
Pamela Robert Chicago campus M 2-4:30 PM
This seminar explores theories of the body and embodiment and the impact of religious beliefs and ideologies on reproductive justice. In particular, we examine the relationship between religious fundamentalism and such contemporary debates as state's rights and abortion, the doctrine of medical evangelism and its impact on reproductive health and medical practice. Contemporary debates and their gendered aspects including efforts to preserve choice, efforts to erode Roe v. Wade, the legal status of the embryo, assisted and third party reproduction, biological and intentional parenthood, and the stem-cell research debate will be analyzed. Finally, we evaluate the politics, religious based and feminist, behind efforts to shape state and federal policies related to reproductive justice.