Fall 2005 Course Offerings
Undergraduate Minor | Women's and Gender Studies

WGS 210 Intro to Women’s and Gender Studies
E. O’Brien DT T 6-8:30
This undergraduate 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, 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.

WGS 210 Intro to Women’s and Gender Studies
C. Brecke SCH T 6:30-9
This undergraduate course will explore contemporary issues around women and gender. Emphasis will be on how feminism has impacted society and its institutions, and the lives of individuals. Particular attention will be made to the intersections of gender, class, race, nationality, and sexuality, and how such intersections work to privilege some groups while oppressing others. We will also look beyond US borders, gaining a perspective on how gender is lived elsewhere, and how US policies affect the lives of humans and ecosystems all over the planet. Students will be encouraged to enter into the discussion, the activism, and the vision that is contemporary feminism.

WGS 304 Topics in Feminist Theories: Ecofeminism
C. Brecke DT TH 6-8:30
Ecofeminism explores the interconnections between sexism, the domination of nature (including animals), racism and social inequalities. Some questions the class will consider are: What do environmental issues have to do with women? How does the connection between patriarchy and ecological degradation work? What is environmental racism? 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 a feminist response to environmental issues positively impacts women’s lives and communities. A key component of this class will be the creation of an ecofeminist website focused on the Chicago area. Some of the authors we will read are: Karen Warren, Arundhati Roy, Vandana Shiva, Winona La Duke, Wangari Masai, Chris Cuomo, Carol J. Adams and Susan Griffin.

AFS 318 The African American Man
A. Bennett DT T 2-4:30
This course is a psychological, historical, and sociological examination of issues and conflicts concerning the status, identity, and image of the African-American man in contemporary American society.

ENG 315 Contemporary Irish Women’s Writing and the Politics of Gender
E. O’Brien DT T 2-4:30
This course will examine poetry, drama, fiction, and prose written by Irish women between the 1960s and the present. Looking at writing from and about both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, we will pay particular attention to the ways in which these writers represent, thematize, and challenge Irish paradigms of gender in various contexts—including the family, the church, and the nation. Authors will include: Edna O’Brien, Jennifer Johnston, Molly Keane, Medbh McGuckian, Nuala ní Dhomhnaill, Eavan Boland, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, and Marina Carr.

POS 312 The Politics of Gay and Lesbian Communities
J.Edwards DT MW 11-12:15
Historical development and impact of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer movement in the US from WWII to the present; issues, debates, and organizing that constitute the LGBTQ movement today; the place of sexuality and how it intersects with class, gender, and racial dynamics in contemporary US culture and politics.

PSYC 108 Human Sexuality
B.Stone DT MW 9:30-10:45
E. Theodosakis SCH F 9:30-12:45
This course covers sexuality from youth to old age, including the development of gender identity, sexual orientation, and sex roles. Topics include: the physiology and psychology of sexual arousal, adult sexual behavior in its many manifestations, and a brief introduction to sexual dysfunction.

PSYC 345 Psychology of Women
K. Conner DT T 6-8:30
B. Ackles SCH TH 6:30-9
Psychological development of women viewed from social, cultural, and biological perspectives. Providing the fundamentals for study in the field of psychology of women, this course will address issues including, but not limited to, gender, abilities, work, ethnicity, women’s health, sexuality, victimization, and mental health.

SOC 215 The Family
Staff DT TTH 9:30-10:45
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 381 Gender, Power, & the Body
P. Robert DT TH 2-4:30
This seminar will use sociological and feminist theories and methodologies to explore the intersection of gender and the various ways the body becomes a site for the expression of power and resistance. Issues covered will include: becoming gendered; the politics of sexuality, physicality, and appearance; intimate partner violence and sexual proprietariness; playground bullying; reproductive choice and technologies, and the medicalization of the life cycle particularly childbirth, menarche, and menopause.