Women's and Gender Studies Program

AMST 127b Women and American Popular Culture
S. Dave, T/F 10:30-12:00 pm
Examines women's diverse representations and participation in the popular culture of the United States. Using historical studies, advertising, film, television, music, and literature, discusses how constructions of race, gender, class, sexuality, ethnicity, and religion have shaped women's encounters with popular and mass culture. Topics include women and modernity, leisure and work, women's roles in the rise of consumer culture and relation to technology, representations of sexuality, and the impact of feminism.

ANTH 144a The Anthropology of Gender
E. Schattschneider, T/F 1:30-3:00 pm
Diversity Elective
An examination of gender constructs, sexuality, and cultural systems from a comparative perspective. Topics include the division of labor, rituals of masculinity and femininity, the vexing question of the universality of women's subordination, cross-cultural perspectives on same-sex sexualities and transsexuality, the impact of globalization on women's lives, and the history of feminist anthropology.

BIOL 160b Human Reproductive and Developmental Biology
J. Jackson, F 1:30-4:30 pm
Course deals with hormonal, cellular, and molecular aspects of gametogenesis, fertilization, pregnancy, and birth. Pathological and abnormal variations that occur and the available medical technologies for intervention, correction, and facilitation of these processes are discussed.

ENG 87a Sex and Race in the American Novel
A. Abdur-Rahman, T/F 1:30-3:00pm
Depictions of racial and sexual others abound in American literature of the twentieth century. Reading texts across racial, geographical, and temporal divides, this course investigates the representation of non-normative sexualities as signaled, haunted, or repaired by an appeal to race.

ENG 138a Making Modern Subjects
F. Smith, M/W/Th 12:00-1:00 pm
Considers inflections of “the modern” across the Americas, allowing us to compare models and strategies at a historical moment when shifts from slavery to “freedom” and from Europe to the U.S.A., frame anxieties about empire, citizenship, technology, vernaculars, and aesthetics.

ENG 213b Alternative Worlds: Utopia, Science and Gender
M. Campbell, M 2:00-5:00 pm
Explores the intersections between tow early modern developments: the new genre of utopia, and the new ideas about the goals and methods of natural inquiry identified with the “Scientific Revolution.”

FA 19b Lives of the Artists
N. Scott, M/W 2:00-3:30 pm
Integrates the study of works of art with the literature of artists' lives, which serves as the foundation to understanding the genesis of human creativity. Diverse historical periods and varying levels of fame will be reflected in the choice of artists to be studied.

LGLS 120a Sex Discrimination and the Law
A. Kramer, M 6:30-9:30 pm
Traces the evolution of women's rights in the family, in employment, and in the reproductive process, as well as constitutional doctrines. Examines gender inequalities and assesses if and how the law should address them. Legal cases studied emphasize how law reflects society.

POL 125a Women in American Politics
J. Greenlee, M 2:00-5:00 pm
Addresses three major dimensions of women's political participation: social reform and women-identified issues; women's organizations and institutions; and women politicians, electoral politics, and party identification. Covers historical context and contemporary developments in women's political activity.

PSYC 160b Seminar on Sex Differences
E. Wright, F 9:00-12:00 pm
Prerequisite: PSYC 1a, 51a, 52a (formerly 152a) or permission of the instructor.
Considers research evidence bearing on sex differences in the cognitive domain and in the social domain, evaluating this evidence in light of biological, cultural, and social-cognitive theories as well as methodological issues.

SOC 105a Feminist Critiques of Sexuality and Work in America
Eva Fodor, M/W/Th 12:00-1:00 pm
Critically evaluates the predominant theoretical approaches to understanding the oppression of women and the dynamics of sexism, racism, and classism within the sex/gender system. Uses these perspectives to explore issues in women's lives--particularly sexuality and work.

SOC 117a Sociology of Work
Eva Fodor, M/W/Th 9:00-10:00 am
Focuses on the transformation of contemporary workplaces in the United States. How gender shapes inequality in the labor force, as well as idioms of skill, worth, care, and service. How women and men combine care for families with paid work. Strategies for empowerment, equity, and flexibility (comparable worth, family leave, flexible working time options, affirmative action, employee participation, new union strategies, grassroots organizing).

SOC 189a Sociology of Body and Health
S. Shostak, M/W/Th 1:00-2:00 pm
Explores theoretical considerations of the body as a cultural phenomenon intersecting with health, healing, illness, disease, and medicine. Focuses on how gender, race, class, religion, and other dimensions of social organization shape individual experiences and opportunities for agency and resistance.

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