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An interdepartmental program in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Last updated: August 14, 2014 at 4:31 p.m.
Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies draws on the humanities, arts, and social and biological sciences to explore the broad range of intellectual questions concerning both the social positions of women, men, and gender non-conforming people and the gendered constructions of knowledge, identity, and culture. Students in the program have the opportunity to study theories of feminism, gender, and sexuality; the diversity of women's experiences and representations past and present; and women's movements in the United States and around the globe. This curriculum brings students into contact with the extensive research on women, gender, and feminism that has burgeoned during the past thirty years, as well as with historical and cross-cultural knowledge that recognizes the intersections of gender with race, class, religion, sexuality, ethnicity, age, ability, and nationality.
Graduate Programs in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
The Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program (WGS) offers a stand-alone MA program as well as a number of joint Master’s programs outlined below. WGS provides a strong grounding in discipline-specific studies along with an interdisciplinary education in the theories, methods, and scholarship of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. By introducing students to current research in a variety of fields, Master’s degree programs generate cross-disciplinary dialogue and prepare students for positions and professions in women's, gender, and sexuality studies. Students enrolled in PhD programs in eight different fields are eligible to undertake the joint MA. Seven fields—five in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (anthropology, English, music, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, sociology) and two in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management (public policy, and sustainable international development)—offer a terminal Master’s with Women's, Gender, and Sexuality.
Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies draws upon the full range of the human arts and sciences to examine the diversity of gender and sexuality within and across cultures; women's past and present experiences; representations of women and people with varying sexualities in diverse cultures; and concepts, structures, and practices that underwrite gender and sexuality as social categories. Students in our program have the opportunity to study the global and historical range of the lives, works, and circumstances of women, men and gender non-conforming people; to scrutinize different theoretical frameworks that seek to describe, explain, and remedy sexual inequalities and gender inequities; and to encounter current findings and debates within the field. As it engages students with the extensive research on women, gender, and sexuality that has burgeoned during the past thirty years, as well as with creative work focusing on gender and sexuality, our curriculum is particularly committed to addressing the intersections of gender with race, class, nation, religion, age, sexuality, and ethnicity, among other critical vectors of identity.
Knowledge
Students completing the major in women's, gender, and sexuality studies will be able to:
Analyze the lives, roles and experiences of women, men and gender non-conforming people in contemporary and historical global contexts
Understand gender and sexuality as dynamic components of human existence across cultures and academic disciplines
Understand how gender and sexuality intersect with other complex categories, including race, class, ethnicity, disability, religion and age
Understand and rethink gender’s and sexuality’s impacts on other disciplines
Use gender and sexuality as categories of analysis in diverse fields of the academy and in the wider world
Articulate an understanding of feminism in a national and global context
Learn and apply feminist and other gender-based methodologies addressing distinct cultures and historical periods
Core Skills
(Goals for the major): Read and interpret texts and/or data from a variety of disciplines, historical periods, and cultures
Conceptualize, develop, and engage in complex research both orally and in writing
Create scholarly research that questions assumptions about women, gender, and sexuality
Analyze the situation of real individuals in daily life in the world and the understandings of gender and sexuality within a range of global societies and historical periods
Social Justice
Women's, gender, and sexuality studies as a field is explicitly committed to fostering justice for all women, men, and gender non-conforming individuals world-wide. It is thus necessarily concerned with the structural inequalities wrought not only by sexism but by racism, economic exploitation, imperialism, global traffic, religious oppression, homophobia, and transphobia, among other instruments or expressions of inequality. Our Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program has pledged as a primary commitment to prepare students to analyze systems of power and privilege, to examine the causes, manifestations, and consequences of institutional discrimination of every kind, and to understand and respect a range of cultural perspectives. This commitment necessarily means learning about the different experiences and struggles of women, men and gender non-conforming people both around the world and within the United States. Not only the topics in our curriculum but the writings, theories, and empirical research we assign are deliberately diverse in the ethnicity, race, sexuality, gender identity, and nationality of their authors. As a program we are committed to what has been recently identified as intersectionality: a theory that recognizes the interconnected nature of experience, discrimination, and privilege, and that explores the interactive ways in which identities intersect or converge to form patterns of dominance, subordination, exclusion and possibility.
Experiential Learning
Because women’s, gender, and sexuality studies developed in conjunction with a wider movement for social justice and because studying the lives of women, men and gender non-confirming people in the past and present necessarily means confronting social, political, economic and cultural inequalities, women’s studies tends to encourage students toward experiential and activist learning. (Sometimes the movement lies in the other direction: students already concerned about injustice are motivated to gain the intellectual background to act effectively.) Our program provides particular opportunities for service learning and is developing new ones. In the 1990s the Program established an annual internship course, When Violence Hits Home: Internship in Domestic Violence (WMGS 89a). This course provides students with a rigorous intellectual study of gender and violence as well as guidance through a semester-long internship. Many students have extended their internships into the full year, have drawn their senior projects from this field, and have gone on to related careers.
Upon Graduation
The women's, gender, and sexuality studies curriculum prepares students for a wide range of careers. Graduates of our program are applying their skills and knowledge to academic and professional pursuits in medicine, law, education, government, social service, public policy, religion, counseling, international relations, journalism, publishing, business, and the arts.
As early as possible in their academic careers, students interested in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies should take WMGS 5a (Women's, Genders, and Sexualities), the required introduction to the field. In order to declare a major or minor, each student should meet with the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies undergraduate advising head, who will help him or her select an adviser a faculty member well suited to the student's academic interests. The adviser will help to plan a course of study tailored to the student's intellectual and professional interests, while meeting the core and elective requirements for the degree.
The first option is a terminal Master's degree in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The MA program is a full-time, two semester program (8 courses) that offers students grounding in feminist and gender theory, knowledge, and methodologies.
Prospective students apply to the WGS program through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The general requirements for admission to the Graduate School apply to candidates for admission to graduate study in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Admission decisions are based primarily on the candidate's undergraduate academic record, letters of recommendation, Graduate Record Examination scores, writing sample, and the personal statement that is part of the application form.
The second option is a joint terminal Master's degree in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in conjunction with one of the following seven fields: anthropology, English, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, public policy, sociology, or sustainable international development. This degree option may require one or two calendar years, depending on requirements in the affiliated program.
Prospective students apply to one of the seven home departments through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences or the Heller School. For specific admission requirements, see the Bulletin section of the home department in which there is interest in pursuing a joint degree.
The third option is a joint Master's degree while in pursuit of a PhD in one of the following eight fields: anthropology, English, history, music, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, psychology, social policy (Heller School), or sociology. This degree option replaces a Master's degree in the student's program.
Current Brandeis PhD students may pursue the joint MA at any time during their graduate career with the approval of their adviser and the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program. Prospective PhD students interested in pursuing a joint MA must apply directly to the PhD program through the home department, but should note their interest in the joint program in their statement of purpose.
Students pursuing the joint MA are encouraged to enroll in courses offered by the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies at MIT.
Wendy Cadge, Chair
(Sociology)
Joyce Antler
(American Studies)
Sarita Bhalotra
(Heller School)
Elizabeth Brainerd (on leave spring 2015)
(Economics)
Bernadette Brooten (on leave academic year 2014-2015)
(Near Eastern and Judaic Studies)
Dian Fox, Undergraduate Advising Head
(Romance Studies)
ChaeRan Freeze, Joint MA Adviser, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (on leave spring 2015)
(Near Eastern and Judaic Studies)
Karen Hansen, Joint MA Adviser, Sociology
(Sociology)
Anita Hill
(Heller School)
Jane Kamensky, Joint MA Adviser, History
(History)
Thomas King, Undergraduate Advising Head, Sexuality and Queer Studies
(English)
Ann Koloski-Ostrow
(Classical Studies)
Sarah Lamb, Director of Graduate Studies
(Anthropology)
Susan Lanser
(English; Comparative Literature)
Ellen Schattschneider, Joint MA Adviser, Anthropology
(Anthropology)
Harleen Singh
(German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literature)
Marion Smiley
(Philosophy)
Faith Smith, Joint MA Adviser, English
(African and Afro-American Studies; English)
Sabine von Mering
(German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literature)
Aliyyah Abdur-Rahman (on leave academic year 2014-2015)
(English)
Marc Brettler
(Near Eastern and Judaic Studies)
Olga Broumas
(English)
Mary Campbell
(English)
Susan Dibble
(Theater Arts)
Cristina Espinosa
(Heller School)
Gordon Fellman
(Sociology)
Elizabeth Ferry
(Anthropology)
Sylvia Fishman (on leave academic year 2014-2015)
(Near Eastern and Judaic Studies)
Matthew Fraleigh
(German, Russian, and East Asian Languages and Literature)
Laura Goldin
(American Studies)
Jill Greenlee
(Politics)
Deirdre Hunter
(Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies)
Caren Irr
(English)
Alice Kelikian (on leave fall 2014)
(History)
Jytte Klausen
(Politics)
Adrianne Krstansky
(Theater Arts)
Nidhiya Menon
(Economics)
Robin Feuer Miller
(German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literature)
Paul Morrison
(English)
Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson
(Heller School)
Kelley Ready
(Heller School)
Nancy Scott (on leave fall 2014)
(Fine Arts)
Mitra Shavarini
(Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies)
Sara Shostak (on leave spring 2015)
(Sociology)
Dawn Skorczewski
(English)
Ilana Szobel
(Near Eastern and Judaic Studies)
Judith Tsipis
(Biology)
Ana Villalobos
(Sociology)
Lawrence Wangh
(Biology)
(Psychology)
A. Successful completion of WMGS 5a.
B. Four additional semester courses that carry the WMGS designation or are approved as Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies electives. No more than two of these courses may come from a single department or program.
C. No course with a final grade below C- can count toward fulfilling the requirements for the minor in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
D. No course counting for the minor may be taken on a pass/fail basis.
All minors are encouraged to submit a senior paper on women's, gender, and sexuality studies to be considered for the Giller-Sagan Prize.
A. Two core courses are required: WMGS 5a (Women, Gender, and Sexualities) and WMGS 105b (Feminisms: History, Theory and Practice). Ordinarily, WMGS 5a will be offered each fall and WMGS 105b each spring. With permission of the Undergraduate Advising Head, students may be allowed to substitute another feminist theory course for WMGS 105b.
B. Seven additional courses that either carry the WMGS designation or are approved as Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies electives. These seven courses must meet the following additional requirements:
1. At least one course must have a historical focus encompassing a period before 1945. Courses that fulfill this requirement include but are not limited to: AMST 40a, AMST 124b, AMST/SOC 125a, ANTH 179b, CLAS 140a, ENG 46a, ENG 64b, ENG 120a, ENG 138a, ENG 144b, ENG 145b, ENG 153a, FA 69b, FA 157a, HISP 125b, HIST 142b, HIST 157a, HIST 179a, NEJS 115b, NEJS 148b, NEJS 175a.
2. At least one course must engage in a systematic and comprehensive exploration of cultural differences, including racial, class and/or ethnic difference within or across cultures. These courses include but are not limited to: AAAS 125b, AAAS 133b, AAAS 165a, AAAS/WGS 136a, ANTH 144a, ANTH 145a, ENG 87a, ENG 107a, SAS 101a, SAS 110b, SOC 130a, SOC 138a, WMGS 140a, WMGS 141a.
3. At least one course must focus on sexuality. These courses include but are not limited to: AAAS 125b, ANTH 144a, ANTH 166b, CLAS 140a, ENG 64b, ENG 87a, ENG 107a, ENG 120a, ENG 150a, ENG 151a, ENG 153a, ENG 181a, HIST 142b, NEJS 29a, NEJS 148b, NEJS 166a, NEJS 178a, SQS 6b.
Students are not allowed to double count between elective categories listed in numbers 1, 2, and 3, above.
4. No more than three courses may be taken from any one department or program outside Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
5. Students are strongly encouraged to undertake an internship in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies as one of their electives.
6. Courses that fulfill the requirements for another major may also count toward the major in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
C. To be considered for honors in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, students are required to complete and defend a senior essay or thesis. Program honors are awarded on the basis of excellence in all courses applied to the major, as well as all courses taken in the program, including the senior essay or thesis, as determined by the program faculty.
Completion of a senior essay:
Students interested in writing a senior essay must complete either WMGS 99a (fall) or WMGS 99b (spring). Students who complete the essay option cannot count either WMGS 99a or b toward the nine courses required for the major.
Completion of a senior thesis:
Students interested in writing a senior thesis must complete WMGS 99a in the fall and WMGS 99b in the spring. Students who complete the thesis option (WMGS 99a and b) may receive one course credit towards the nine courses required for the major.
Students are encouraged to revise the essay or thesis based on the comments of their core faculty readers and submit the revised copy to be considered for the Giller-Sagan Prize at the end of the spring term. Both essays and theses require a defense. Two WMGS core faculty, or one core and one affiliate, must sign off on the completed essay or thesis. Students must receive a “C” or higher on their senior thesis for credit towards the major.
D. No course with a final grade below C- can count toward fulfilling the requirements for the major in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
E. No course counting for the major may be taken on a pass/fail basis. However, students who maintain a grade average of 3.3 or higher in their Women's and Gender studies courses will be permitted to count toward the major one credit-bearing peer assistantship (PEER 94a) in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Brandeis undergraduates who are NEJS or IMES majors with either a second major in WMGS or a minor in WMGS are invited in their senior year to apply for admission to the BA/MA joint degree in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Students must complete all requirements and earn the BA, including the successful completion of the major in NEJS or IMES prior to the start of the one-year Master's program.
Program of Study
Fourteen courses are required:
A. Internal transfer credit: seven Brandeis undergraduate courses (NEJS, IMES, WMGS, and/or approved cross-listed courses) numbered 100 or above for which grades of B- or higher have been earned.
B. Seven courses taken in the fifth year: four approved NEJS electives and three WMGS courses approved by the program adviser. Between the BA and the MA the following WMGS courses must be completed: a course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 198a or the feminist inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women’s Studies, or an alternate), WMGS 205a and two elective courses in WMGS, one inside and one outside the NEJS department.
C. Successful completion of one of the following: a comprehensive examination, a culminating project or a Master’s thesis. If a Master’s thesis encompasses both a NEJS and a WMGS component it will satisfy requirement D below.
D. Joint MA paper requirement: Completion of a Master’s research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, one of whom is a member of the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department, and one of whom is a member of the Women's and Gender Studies core or affiliate faculty. NEJS 299b Master’s Thesis may be taken for credit one semester only.
Resident Requirement
One year of full-time residence (the fifth year) is required subsequent to completing the BA.
Language Requirement
All candidates are required to demonstrate proficiency in Biblical or Modern Hebrew or in Arabic.
Program of Study
Candidates for the degree of Masters of Arts in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies must fulfill the residence requirement of one full year of coursework (eight semester courses), and successfully complete the following course requirements:
A. WMGS 205a, the graduate foundational course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (usually offered in the fall semester).
B. A course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 208b, usually offered in the spring semester) or the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies).
C. Six elective graduate courses, four of which must be cross listed with WMGS. Students must complete a coherent course of study that is approved by a faculty advisor. Normally, only one of these courses may be a Directed Reading course (WMGS 310a,b).
D. MA Paper Requirement: Completion of a Master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally 25-40 pages) on a topic related to the course of study. The paper will be read by two faculty members, one of whom must be a member of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies core or affiliate faculty. In consultation with the primary advisor, a student may register for WMGS 299a, "Master's Project." However, this course may not count toward the eight required courses.
E. The program may take an additional one or two semesters to complete as an Extended Master's student.
Requirements for the Joint Degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Program of Study
Candidates for the joint degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies fulfill the residence requirement of one full year of course work (eight semester courses), and complete the following course requirements:
A. ANTH 201a History of Anthropological Thought (or ANTH 203b Contemporary Anthropological Theory, by petition).
B. ANTH 244a Gender and Sexuality Seminar, new spring 2014 (or ANTH 144a Anthropology of Gender, by petition).
C. WMGS 205a or another course designated as a graduate foundational course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
D. A course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 208b or the feminist inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies).
E. Four elective graduate courses, including one in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, from a field other than anthropology, selected with the approval of the student's faculty adviser. Normally, only one of these courses may be a Directed Reading course (WMGS 310a,b).
F. Completion of a Master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, one of whom is a member of the anthropology department and one of whom is a member of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies core or affiliate faculty. In consultation with the primary advisor, a student may register for WMGS 299a,b, "Master’s Project." However, this course may not count toward the eight required courses.
G. The program may take an additional one or two semesters to complete as an Extended Master's student.
Language Requirement
There is no foreign language requirement for the joint Master's degree.
Requirements for the Joint Degree of Master of Arts in English & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Program of Study
A. WMGS 205a, the foundational course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
B. One course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 208b or the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies).
C. Five additional courses in the English department selected from 100-level courses and graduate seminars (200-level courses). At least three of these courses must be at the 200 level. One of these courses must be listed as an elective with the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program. ENG 200a (Approaches to Literary and Cultural Studies) is optional but recommended. (ENG 352a/b cannot be counted towards the 200-level requirement.) Normally, only one of these courses may be a Directed Reading course (WMGS 310a,b).
D. One Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies course in a department other than the English department.
E. Language requirement: A reading knowledge of a language other than English with evident relevance to intended field of study or to professional commitments must be demonstrated by passing a written translation examination. The completion of the language requirement at another university does not exempt the student from the Brandeis requirement. Terminal joint MA candidates who are native speakers of a language other than English are exempt from the requirement.
F. Joint MA paper requirement: Completion of a Master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, at least one of whom is a member of the English department, and at least one of whom is a member of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies core or affiliate faculty. In consultation with the primary advisor, a student may register for WMGS 299a,b, "Master's Project." However, this course may not count toward the eight required courses.
G. The program may take an additional one or two semesters to complete as an Extended Master's student.
Requirements for the Joint Degree of Master of Arts in History & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Program of Study
During the course of their work toward the PhD, students in history may earn a joint MA with Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies by completing the following requirements in conjunction with program requirements for the MA.
A. WMGS 205a, the foundational course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
B. One course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 208b or the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies).
C. Two elective courses in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, one inside and one outside the history department. Normally, only one of these courses may be a Directed Reading course (WMGS 310a,b).
D. Completion of a master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, one of whom is a member of the history department and one of whom is a member of the Women's and Gender Studies core or affiliate faculty. In consultation with the primary advisor, a student may register for WMGS 299a,b, "Master's Project." However, this course may not count toward the eight required courses.
E. The program may take an additional one or two semesters to complete as an Extended Master's student.
The Music department offers the opportunity for Ph.D. students to earn a joint M.A. with Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Topics include feminist theory, gender studies, cultural history and the investigation of work by and about women.
Program of StudyA. WMGS 205a, the foundational course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
B. One course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 208b, or the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies).
C. Two courses at the graduate level from another department listed as electives in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Normally, only one of these courses may be a Directed Reading course (WMGS 310a,b).
D. Four courses at the graduate level in the Music department. One graduate course from the consortium that is related to music & women’s, gender and sexualities studies may be substituted. One of the four courses must include a seminar paper that focuses on a topic related to women's and gender studies. In cases where this is not possible, an independent study leading to a paper addressing an issue specifically related to music & women’s and gender studies may be substituted. MUS 171a is also required.
E. Attendance at all departmental musicology colloquia.
F. Completion of a Master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, one of whom is a member of the music department and one of whom is a member of the Women's and Gender Studies core or affiliate faculty. In consultation with the primary advisor, a student may register for WMGS 299a,b, "Master's Project." However, this course may not count toward the eight required courses.
G. Additional requirements as listed in the accompanying Ph.D. program.
Language Requirement
There is no foreign language requirement for the joint Master's degree.
Residence Requirement
One year. The program may take an additional one or two semesters to complete as an Extended Master's student.
Requirements for the Joint Degree of Master of Arts in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Program of Study
Courses must include:
A. WMGS 205a, the foundational course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
B. A course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 208b or the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies).
C. Two elective courses in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, one inside and one outside the NEJS department. Normally, only one of these courses may be a Directed Reading course (WMGS 310a,b).
D. The remaining courses must be jointly approved by each student's NEJS adviser and by the NEJS Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies adviser.
E. Successful completion of one of the following: a comprehensive examination, a culminating project or a Master’s thesis. If a Master’s thesis encompasses both a NEJS and a WGS component it will satisfy requirement G below.
F. Completion of a Master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, one of whom is a member of the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department and one of whom is a member of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies core or affiliate faculty. NEJS 299b Master's Thesis may be taken for credit one semester only.
G. All candidates are required to demonstrate language proficiency, normally in biblical or modern Hebrew or Arabic. The language requirement for Hebrew or Arabic may be fulfilled in one of two ways:
1. By enrolling in and receiving a grade of B- or higher in a 40-level or higher Hebrew or Arabic course, or by passing a classical Hebrew text course, or modern Hebrew literature course taught in Hebrew;
2. By passing the language examination offered by the advisor or by the Hebrew faculty or Arabic faculty.
H. All candidates for the Master of Arts degree are required to pass a comprehensive examination.
Residence Requirement
Ordinarily, two years of full-time residence are required at the normal course rate of seven courses each academic year. Students who enter with graduate credit from other recognized institutions may apply for transfer credit for up to four courses, or, with prior approval of the MA adviser, candidates may receive transfer credit for up to four courses at a university abroad. The program may take an additional one or two semesters to complete as an Extended Master's student.
Requirements for the Joint Degree of Master of Arts in Psychology & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Interested students must first be admitted to the PhD program.
A. PSYC 210a and b (Advanced Psychological Statistics I and II).
B. PSYC 211a (Graduate Research Methods in Psychology).
C. PSYC 300a and 302a (Proseminar in Brain, Body and Behavior I and II).
D. A PSYC course numbered PSYC 220 through PSYC 240 with successful completion of first-year research project in psychology, reported in APA manuscript format. This project must be on an issue relevant to women's, gender, and sexualities studies, and will be read, and must be accepted by two faculty members from the psychology department, one of whom should be a member of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies core or affiliate faculty. If neither faculty member is associated with Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, then a third faculty member from the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program must be included on the review committee. This paper will serve as the Master's research paper.
E. A course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 208b or the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies.
F. One additional course from 100-level courses in psychology.
G. WMGS 205a, the foundational course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Normally, only one of these courses may be a Directed Reading course (WMGS 310a,b).
H. Two elective courses in Women's and Gender Studies.
I. Completion of a Master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, one of whom is a member of the psychology department and one of whom is a member of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies core or affiliate faculty. In consultation with the primary advisor, a student may register for WMGS 299a,b, "Master's Project." However, this course may not count toward the eight required courses.
J. The program may take an additional one or two semesters to complete as an Extended Master's student.
Requirements for the Joint Degree of Master of Public Policy & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Students must fulfill all core requirements for the MPP as described in the Heller School section found elsewhere in this Bulletin as well as the following:
A. WMGS 205a, the foundational course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
B. One course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 208b or the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies).
C. Two elective graduate courses in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (one inside the Heller School and one outside the Heller School). Normally, only one of these courses may be a Directed Reading course.
D. Completion of a Master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The MPP Capstone policy paper can fulfill this requirement as long as it is on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, at least one of whom is a member of the Heller School faculty, and at least one of whom is a member of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies core or affiliate faculty.
E. Courses in both programs will be reviewed to determine which would satisfy the requirements for both programs.
Please refer to the Heller School section found elsewhere in this Bulletin for complete information on MPP policies and procedures.
Requirements for the Joint Degree of Master of Arts in Social Policy & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Program of Study
Interested students must first be admitted to the PhD program.
A. WMGS 205a, the foundational course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
B. A course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 208b or the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies).
C. Two courses cross-listed with Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (one inside the Heller School and one in any department other than the Heller School). Normally, only one of these courses may be a Directed Reading course (WMGS 310a,b).
D. Completion of a Master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, one of whom is a member of the Heller School faculty and one of whom is a member of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies core or affiliate faculty.
Please refer to the Heller School section found elsewhere in this Bulletin for complete information on PhD policies and procedures as this MA is open only to PhD students in social policy.
Requirements for the Joint Degree of Master of Arts in Sociology & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
A. WMGS 205a, the foundational course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
B. One course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 208b, or the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies).
C. Two elective graduate courses in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, one inside and one outside the sociology department. Normally, only one of these courses may be a Directed Reading course (WMGS 310a,b).
D. Three graduate sociology courses (one theory, one outside the area of gender, and one elective, which could be a directed reading).
E. Completion of a Master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members one of whom is a member of the Sociology department, and one of whom is a member of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies core or affiliate faculty. In consultation with the primary advisor, a student may register for WMGS 299a,b, "Master's Project." However, this course may not count toward the eight required courses.
Language Requirement
There is no foreign language requirement for the joint Master's degree.
Residence Requirement
One year. The program may take an additional one or two semesters to complete as an Extended Master's student.
Requirements for the Joint Degree of Master of Arts in Sustainable International Development & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Program of Study
Students must fulfill all first-year requirements for the MA in Sustainable International Development as described in the Heller School section found elsewhere in this Bulletin as well as the following:
A. WMGS 205a, the foundational course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
B. A course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 208b, or the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies).
C. Two elective graduate courses in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (one inside the Heller School and one outside the Heller School).
D. Completion of a Master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, one of whom is a member of the Heller core or adjunct faculty and one of whom is a member of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies core or affiliate faculty.
E. Participation in the SID/MA Capstone Week
F. Courses in both programs will be reviewed to determine which would satisfy the requirements for both programs.
Please refer to the Heller School section found elsewhere in this Bulletin for complete information on MA policies and procedures.
Courses of Instruction
(1-99) Primarily for Undergraduate Students
WMGS
5a
Women, Genders, and Sexualities
[
ss
]
This interdisciplinary course introduces central concepts and topics in the field of women's, gender, and sexuality studies. Explores the position of women in diverse settings and the impact of gender as a social, cultural, and intellectual category in the United States and around the globe. Asks how gendered institutions, behaviors, and representations have been configured in the past and function in the present, and also examines the ways in which gender and sexuality intersect with many other vectors of identity and circumstance in forming human affairs. Usually offered every fall and spring.
Ms. Fox, Ms. Freeze, Ms. Lanser, or Ms. Singh
WMGS
89a
When Violence Hits Home: Internship in Domestic Violence
Combines fieldwork in domestic and sexual violence prevention programs with a fortnightly seminar exploring cultural and interpersonal facets of violence from a feminist perspective. Topics include theories, causes and prevention of rape, battering, child abuse, and animal abuse. Internships provide practical experience in local organizations such as rape crisis, battered women's violence prevention, and child abuse prevention programs. Usually offered every fall.
Ms. Hunter
WMGS
92a
Internship and Analysis
Usually offered every semester.
Staff
WMGS
98a
Independent Study
Independent readings, research, and writing on a subject of the student's interest under the direction of a faculty adviser. Usually offered every year.
Staff
WMGS
98b
Independent Study
See WMGS 98a for special notes and course description. Usually offered every year.
Staff
WMGS
99a
Senior Research Project
Independent research and writing under faculty direction, for the purpose of completion of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies senior honors thesis. Usually offered every year.
Staff
WMGS
99b
Senior Research
See WMGS 99a for special notes and course description. Usually offered every year.
Staff
(100-199) For Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students
AAAS/WGS
136a
Black Feminist Thought
[
ss
]
Formerly offered as AAAS 136a.
Critical examination of the historical, political, economic, and ideological factors that have shaped the lives of African-American women in the United States. Analyzing foundation theoretical texts, fiction, and film over two centuries, this class seeks to understand black women's writing and political activism in the U.S. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Abdur-Rahman
WMGS
105b
Feminisms: History, Theory, and Practice
[
oc
ss
]
Prerequisite: Students are encouraged, though not required, to take WMGS 5a prior to enrolling in this course.
Examines diverse theories of sex and gender within a multicultural framework, considering historical changes in feminist thought, the theoretical underpinnings of various feminist practices, and the implications of diverse and often conflicting theories for both academic inquiry and social change. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Smith
WMGS
106b
Women in the Health Care System
[
ss
]
Explores the scientific, social, and policy issues surrounding the role of women in health care throughout the human life span. We will examine the challenges faced, and successes achieved, by women in the healthcare system as providers, teachers, researchers, managers, policy-makers, care-givers, and recipients of health care. Usually offered every spring.
Ms. Klerman or Ms. Bhalotra
WMGS
140a
Diversity of Muslim Women's Experience
[
nw
ss
]
A broad introduction to the multidimensional nature of women's experiences in the Muslim world. As both a cultural and religious element in this vast region, understanding Islam in relation to lives of women has become increasingly imperative. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Shavarini
WMGS
141a
Gender in Iranian Cinema
[
hum
nw
]
With a primary focus on gender, this class explores post-Revolutionary Iranian cinema. Topics include politics; family relationships; women's social, economic, and political roles; and Iran's religious structure. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Shavarini
WMGS
152a
Women as Leaders in the Business Realm
[
ss
]
Considers why women and men start their professions with the same level of intelligence, education and commitment but relatively few women reach the top echelons of the business world. We will examine which women do reach the top, and why. Usually taught every second year.
Ms. Shavarini
(200 and above) Primarily for Graduate Students
WMGS
205a
Graduate Foundational Course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
An advanced interdisciplinary inquiry into the history, theories, concepts, and practices that have formed women's, gender, and sexuality studies as a scholarly field, with particular attention to current intellectual trends and critical controversies. Usually offered every year in the fall.
Ms. Singh or Ms. Smiley
WMGS
208b
Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Research Seminar
Formerly offered as WMGS 198a.
Examines theories and practices of feminist scholarship and introduces interdisciplinary methodologies in order to guide students in designing and completing an independent research project. Usually offered every year in the spring.
Ms. Brainerd and Ms. Brooten
WMGS
213b
Gender in American Politics
Examines how gender shapes the political attitudes and actions of individuals in the U.S. We consider the ways in which women - as ordinary citizens and political elites - have contributed to political trends and outcomes in politics and policy. Usually offered every fourth year.
Ms. Greenlee
WMGS
292a
Graduate Internship
Staff
WMGS
298a
Independent Study
Staff
WMGS
299a
Master's Project in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Usually offered every year.
Staff
WMGS
299b
Master's Project in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Usually offered every year.
Staff
Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Elective Courses
The following courses are approved for the program. Not all are given in any one year. Please consult the Schedule of Classes each semester.
AMST
102aj
Environment, Social Justice, and Empowerment
[
oc
ss
wi
]
Yields six semester-hour credits towards rate of work and graduation.
This community-engaged course involves students first-hand in the legal, policy, science, history and social impacts of current environmental health issues challenging individuals and families and communities today, with a particular focus on low-income, immigrant communities and the profound and unique roles played by women. Students will engage directly in the topics through field trips, visiting speakers and discussions with stakeholders themselves. They also will address the issues by assisting low income residents in Waltham at the Tenant Advocacy Clinic, and collaborating in projects with EPA, DEP and local organizations such as Healthy Waltham, the Waltham Family School, Waltham Family YMCA, Jewish Family and Children's Service, Joseph Smith Community Health Center and others. Offered as part of JBS program.
Ms. Goldin
AMST
127b
Women and American Popular Culture
[
ss
]
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. Usually offered every second year.
Staff
AMST
139b
Race and Gender in the News
[
ss
]
Examines the ways in which news coverage of women and minorities has both shaped our understanding of gender and race in the United States and influenced the tone and content of public discourse on such policy matters as gay marriage, pay equity, and racial profiling. We will consider the implications of the historical under-representation of women and minorities in the nation's newsrooms for efforts to combat cultural stereotyping of blacks, women, ethnic minorities and the GLBT community. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. McNamara
ANTH
127a
Medicine, Body, and Culture
[
nw
ss
]
Examines main areas of inquiry in medical anthropology, including medicine as a sociocultural construct, political and economic dimensions of suffering and health, patients and healers in comparative medical systems, and the medical construction of men's and women's bodies. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Lamb or Ms. Hannig
ANTH
160b
Dirt, Disgust, and Contagion: The Anthropology of Pollution
[
nw
ss
]
Explores the anthropological concepts of dirt and pollution. What makes things repulsive to us and why? We examine the culturally-specific significance of bodily boundaries, fluids, and smells with particular emphasis on the intersections between gender, race, hygiene, and morality. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Hannig
ANTH
166b
Queer Anthropology: Sexualities and Genders in Cross-Cultural Perspective
[
ss
]
Explores ethnographic approaches to the study of sexuality and gender in diverse cultural contexts, such as the US, Brazil, India, Indonesia and Mexico. Examines how sexuality intersects with other cultural forms, including gender, race, ethnicity, labor, religion, colonialism and globalization. Explores also how the discipline of anthropology has been shaped by engagements with questions of sexuality and the field of queer studies. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Lamb and Ms. Schattschneider
ANTH
244a
Gender and Sexuality Seminar
Examines gender constructs, sexuality, and cultural systems from a comparative perspective, and major theoretical trends in feminist and queer anthropology. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Lamb
BIOL
160b
Human Reproductive and Developmental Biology
[
sn
]
Prerequisites: BIOL 14a or BIOL 22a and BIOL 15b or BIOL 22b.
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. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Jackson
ECON
69a
The Economics of Race and Gender
[
ss
]
Prerequisite: ECON 2a or 10a.
The role of race and gender in economic decision making. Mainstream and alternative economic explanations for discrimination, and analysis of the economic status of women and minorities. Discussion of specific public policies related to race, class, and gender. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Brainerd
ENG
16a
Slavery and Self-Making in African American Literature
[
hum
]
Critical investigation of African American writing as it engages slavery, freedom, and literary self-fashioning. We will read autobiographies, uplift novels, protest fiction and neo-slave narratives. Particular attention will be paid to issues of identity, sexuality, and social status; textual modes of representation and liberatory politics; the literary culture of sentiment; and African American constructions and contestations of race, gender, nation, and expressive culture since the antebellum period. Authors may include Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Gayl Jones, Harriet Wilson, William Wells Brown, Frances E. W. Harper, Pauline Hopkins, and Toni Morrison. Contemporary films may include Sankofa, Amistad, and Daughters of the Dust. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Abdur-Rahman or Ms. Smith
ENG
58b
Women and Madness
[
hum
]
Addresses literary representation of women and madness, from psychoanalytic and socio-cultural perspectives, from Medusa to the Bell Jar and beyond. Texts capture women's struggles with mental illness as well as the cultural institutions that define and regulate it. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Skorczewski
ENG
78a
Virginia Woolf
[
hum
]
An immersion in Woolf's astonishing body of writing. How did her fiction and non-fiction re-imagine the self in the changing social worlds of the early twentieth century? How did her experiments with narrative open new understandings of gender, sexuality, war, the knowing subject, the dimensions of space and time> A chronological survey of her diverse forms of writing that energized, all at once, modernist aesthetics, feminist politics, and philosophical speculation. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Sherman
ENG
87b
Queer Readings: Beyond Stonewall
[
hum
]
How have LGBTQ writers explored the consolidation, diaspora, and contestation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer personhoods since the 1960s? Texts include fiction, poetry, drama, memoirs, and film. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. King
ENG
127b
Migrating Bodies, Migrating Texts
[
hum
]
Beginning with the region's representation as a tabula rasa, examines the textual and visual constructions of the Caribbean as colony, homeland, backyard, paradise, and Babylon, and how the region's migrations have prompted ideas about evolution, hedonism, imperialism, nationalism, and diaspora. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Smith
ENG
128a
Alternative Worlds: Modern Utopian Texts
[
hum
]
Prerequisite: ENG 1a or ENG 11a.
British, European, and American works depicting alternate, often "better" worlds, including More's Utopia, Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World, Voltaire's Candide, Casanova's Icosameron, selections from Charles Fourier, Alexander Bogdanov's Red Star, Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis: Dawn, Wolfgang Becker's Goodbye Lenin! Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Campbell
ENG
151a
Queer Studies
[
hum
]
Recommended preparation: An introductory course in gender/sexuality and/or a course in critical theory.
Historical, literary, and theoretical perspectives on the construction and performance of queer subjectivities. How do queer bodies and queer representations challenge heteronormativity? How might we imagine public spaces and queer citizenship? Usually offered every second year.
Mr. King
ENG
157b
American Women Poets
[
hum
]
Prerequisite: ENG 1a, ENG 10a, HUM 10a or ENG 11a.
Students imagine meanings for terms like "American" and "women" in relation to poetry. After introductory study of Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley, and Emily Dickinson, readings of (and about) women whose work was circulated widely, especially among other women poets, will be selected from mainly twentieth-century writers. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Campbell or Ms. Skorczewski
ENG
181a
Making Sex, Performing Gender
[
hum
]
Recommended preparation: An introductory course in gender/sexuality and/or a course in critical theory.
Gender and sexuality studied as sets of performed traits and cues for interactions among social actors. Readings explore the possibility that differently organized gender and sexual practices are possible for men and women. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. King
ENG
201a
Gender and Sexuality Studies
Investigates sex assignment, genders, and sexualities as categories of social knowledge and modes of social production. Reading recent critical discussions and crossing disciplinary boundaries, this course explores gender, desire, and pleasure in everyday and formal performance, literary and other written texts, and visual representations. Usually offered every fourth year.
Mr. King
ENG
240a
Sexualities
Studies in the cultural construction and representation of the self and its sexuality; focuses primarily on the various technologies of self-knowledge and self-fashioning (literary and otherwise) in the modern West. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Morrison
ENG
254a
Gender and the Genealogy of the Novel: 1680-1800
Explores the form, functions, and focal interests of the eighteenth-century novel with particular attention to the significance of gender to this "rising" genre that was shaped by, and in turn shaped, the social, political, and cultural changes that characterize the period. Usually offered every fourth year.
Ms. Lanser
FA
178a
Frida Kahlo: Art, Life and Legacy
[
ca
nw
]
Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) has become an international cultural icon. Her innovative paintings brilliantly re-envision identity, gender and the female body, inspiring celebrities from Madonna to Salma Hayek. This course explores the art and life of Frida Kahlo, as well as her immense influence on contemporary art, film and popular culture. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Ankori
FREN
139a
Bad Girls / Les Mauvaises Filles
[
fl
hum
]
Prerequisite: FREN 106b or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
Through a selection of literary texts, images and films, students will explore how artistic works from the Middle Ages to present day depict female figures in the French and Francophone world who have failed to conform to expectations of their gender. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Harder
GECS
130b
The Princess and the Golem: Fairy Tales
[
hum
wi
]
Open to all students. Conducted in English.
An introduction to the genre of fairy tale in German literature, focusing especially on the narratives collected by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, but also exploring the Kunstmärchen and calendar stories composed by German writers from Romanticism into the twentieth century. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. von Mering
GECS
167a
German Cinema: Vamps and Angels
[
hum
wi
]
Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in English translation.
From silent film to Leni Riefenstahl and Nazi cinema, from postwar cinema in the East and West to new German film after unification, this course traces aesthetic strategies, reflections on history, memory, subjectivity, and political, cultural, and film-historical contexts with an emphasis on gender issues. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. von Mering
HIST
149b
Russian Women in Politics, Society and Culture
[
hum
ss
wi
]
Examines how the status, identity, and aspirations of women from medieval Russia to the post-Soviet era. It relies primarily on documents produced by women themselves (memoirs, autobiographies, diaries and novels), complemented by laws, archival files, and films. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Freeze
HS
223f
Gender and Development in the Context of Neoliberalism and Globalization
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Reviews connections between gender and macroeconomics and explores changes brought by globalization and neoliberal policies as they affect livelihoods, families, and gender hegemonies. The course provides a critical analytical framework to understand the role of gender within development in light of globalization, which has transformed relations between the state, markets, and civil society and the context of gender practice. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Espinosa
HS
224f
Gender and the Environment
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May not be repeated by students who have taken HS 259f with this topic in previous years.
Introduces students to the field of gender and the environment, examining the relevance of gender for environmental conservation that includes social sustainability, and the different ways gender has been conceptualized and integrated within environmental conservation and within sustainable development interventions. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Espinosa
HS
283f
Gender and Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Examines politics and policies of international development from a gender-sensitive perspective. Concepts of "development" and “gender” are framed within historical and political contexts. Students examine how development affects women and men differently according to class, ethnicity, geography, age, and seniority. Ways in which gender asymmetries have been addressed in development and approaches to mainstreaming gender are explored. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Espinosa or Ms. Ready
HS
284f
Gender Analysis
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Examines recent concepts and methods of gender analysis as an integral factor in program planning across cultures. Students are introduced to gender analysis frameworks, examine tools like gender budgeting and auditing, and analyze case studies that take an integrated approach to gender analysis. Students also learn how to use these tools in different settings and to address various issues. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Ready or Ms. Espinosa
HS
515a
Race/Ethnicity and Gender in Health and Human Services Research
Explores theoretical and empirical approaches to race/ethnicity and gender as factors in health and human services practices, programs, and policies in the United States. Begins by examining current data on racial/ethnic and gender differences in health, mental health, functional status, and lifestyle. Attention then turns to alternative accounts of the causes of these differences. Although primary focus is on patterns of race/ethnicity and gender differences in health outcomes and services that have received the most comprehensive attention, the course offers perspectives on research methods and analytic frameworks that can be applied to other issues. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Nsiah-Jefferson
HS
527a
Race, Ethnicity and Gender in Public Policy
Students will examine framing in public policy in general, and its relationship to challenges faced by communities of color. Further, we will address the topics of race and gender in health and health care; education, welfare policy, immigration, housing, and other issues. Students will hone their skills in policy analysis, political advocacy, communication, coalition building and networking as they relate to the policy process. Class discussion, essays/case studies, and in-class assignments are used. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Nsiah-Jefferson
LGLS
120a
Sex Discrimination and the Law
[
ss
]
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. Usually offered every third year.
Staff
NEJS
29a
Feminist Sexual Ethics in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
[
hum
]
Analyzes a variety of feminist critiques of religious texts and traditions and proposed innovations in theology and religious law. Examines biblical, rabbinic, and Qur'anic texts. Explores relation to U.S. law and to the social, natural, and medical sciences. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Brooten
NEJS
141a
Russian Jews in the Twentieth Century
[
hum
]
Examines Russian Jewish history from 1917 to the present. Focuses on the tsarist legacy, Russian Revolution, the creation of a new socialist society, development of Yiddish culture, the "Great Turn" under Stalin, Holocaust, post war Judaism, anti-Semitism, emigration, and current events. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Sheppard
NEJS
163b
Half-Jews, Queer-Jews, and Bu-Jews: Mapping Jewish Identities in America
[
hum
]
Examines the various contours of Jewish identity in America from a sociological perspective. It begins with three fundamental assumptions: 1) that identities, including Jewish identity, are fluid, dynamic, and constantly in production 2) that identities are socially constructed and historically contingent and 3) that the discourse on religion, race, ethnicity, and gender shapes the production of Jewish identities. The class is designed to probe the multiple and often contradictory identities of contemporary American Jews, paying particular attention to the margins where Jewish identity is most contested and creatively remade. Central to this course are a series of assignments that ask you to think critically about the everyday experience of Judaism in America. Special one-time offering, fall 2014.
Ms. Sigalow
NEJS
165b
Changing Roles of Women in American Jewish Societies
[
hum
]
Open to all students.
The lives of American Jews, and especially American Jewish women, have been radically transformed by demographic changes and by American Jewish feminism. These dramatic transformations affect secular and Jewish education for women, personal options and the formation of Jewish families, a growing participation of women in public Jewish life, and a new awareness of women's issues. Usually offered every fourth year.
Ms. Fishman
NEJS
166a
Carnal Israel: Exploring Jewish Sexuality from Talmudic Times to the Present
[
hum
]
Explores the construction of Jewish sexuality from Talmudic times to the present. Themes include rabbinic views of sex, niddah, illicit relations, masculinity, medieval erotic poetry, Ashkenazi and Sephardic sexual practices, and sexual symbolism in mystic literature; the discourse on sex, race, and nationalism in Europe; debates about masculinity, sexual orientation, and stereotypes in America and Israel. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Freeze
NEJS
174b
Israeli Women Writers on War and Peace
[
hum
]
Taught in Hebrew.
An exploration of nationalism and gender in Modern Hebrew literature. By discussing various Hebrew texts and Israeli works of art and film, this course explores women's relationship to Zionism, war, peace, the state, politics, and processes of cultural production. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Szobel
NEJS
178a
Love, Sex, and Power in Israeli Culture
[
hum
]
Taught in Hebrew.
Explores questions of romance, gender, marriage, and jealousy in the Israeli context by offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of Hebrew texts, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Szobel
NEJS
178b
Masculinity and Femininity in Israeli Film, Literature, and Culture
[
hum
]
Taught in English.
Focuses on Israeli film, literature, and culture, exploring how film and literature represent and establish masculinity and femininity. Examines the ways in which film and literature reflect the politics, religions, conflicts, and ideologies of Israeli society. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Szobel
PHIL
108a
Philosophy and Gender
[
hum
]
Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or PHIL 17a.
Explores the place of gender in the works of particular Western philosophers (e.g., Kant, Hume, and Rousseau) and uses the tools of contemporary analytic philosophy to address questions about gender equality, sexual objectification, and the nature of masculinity. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Smiley
POL
125a
Women in American Politics
[
ss
]
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. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Greenlee
PSYC
160b
Seminar on Sex Differences
[
ss
wi
]
Prerequisite: PSYC 10a (formerly PSYC 1a), 51a, 52a 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. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Wright
SOC
112b
Social Class and Social Change
[
ss
]
Presents the role of social class in determining life chances, lifestyles, income, occupation, and power; theories of class, inequality, and globalization; selected social psychological aspects of social class and inequality; and connections of class, race, and gender. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Fellman
SOC
115a
Masculinities
[
ss
]
Men's experiences of masculinity have only recently emerged as complex and problematic. This course inquires into concepts, literature, and phenomenology of many framings of masculinity. The analytic schemes are historical, sociological, and social-psychological. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Fellman
SOC
117a
Sociology of Work and Gender
[
ss
]
Many people think gender differences in work are disappearing. Yet gender segregation by job type is pervasive and women predominate in the lower paid, lower status jobs, particularly in the care sector. Women are also still doing disproportional amounts of domestic and parenting labor at home, which exacts a great cost from them in the paid workforce. This course examines gender disparities in both paid an unpaid work, and how that affects women’s and men’s lives, work/family conflicts, and society at large. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Villalobos
SOC
124a
Gender and Human Rights
[
ss
]
Examines the challenges and opportunities posed by framing women's rights within an international human rights discourse. Utilizes global case studies to explore how gender shapes major social structures, including education, work, the economy, the state and religion. Usually offered every second year.
Staff
SOC
131b
Biography, Gender, and Society
[
ss
]
This course counts toward the completion of the joint MA degree in Sociology & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Through reading biographies of intellectuals, political leaders, artists and "ordinary" people and exploring the biographical method, this seminar investigates the relationship between everyday life, history, social patterns of behavior, and the sex/gender system. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Hansen
SOC
132b
Social Perspectives on Parenting
[
ss
]
This course counts toward the completion of the joint MA degree in Sociology & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Explores how parenting, the seemingly most intimate and personal of experiences, is deeply influenced by economic structures and culture. Highlights gender: why childcare falls disproportionately to women, and how this affects the lives and outcomes of women and men, and society more broadly. Also addresses how racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, and class differences correspond to different parenting experiences. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Villalobos
SOC
189a
Sociology of Body and Health
[
ss
]
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. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Shostak
SOC
206b
Advanced Topics in Family Studies
This course counts toward the completion of the joint MA degree in Sociology & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Studies Western European and American families and the historical processes that have shaped them, especially industrial capitalism, slavery, and immigration. Explores various controversies regarding the family: the family as an economic unit vs. a group of individuals with varying experiences; the shift of activity from primarily production to consumption; increased privatization vs. increased public intervention; recent changes in family structure and fertility patterns; and resolution of the double burden associated with the second shift for women. The course will take a different topical focus each time it is taught. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Hansen or Ms. Villalobos
SOC
210b
Gender, Class, and Race
Examines primarily gender, class, and race, but also addresses inequality as structured by citizenship status and sexuality. Examines how U.S. and other societies distribute resources accordingly, shape discourse and ideology, and foster individual and group identities. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Hansen
THA
110a
Moving Women/Women Moving
[
ca
pe-1
]
Counts as one activity course toward the physical education requirement.
Among the influential women leaders in America are choreographers who shaped the history of modern dance in the twentieth century. This course will focus on the work and lives of these women. Students will learn dance techniques and investigate the twists and turns in the lives of these extraordinary artists. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Dibble
THA
142b
Women Playwrights: Writing for the Stage by and about Women
[
ca
wi
]
Introduces the world of female playwrights. This course will engage the texts through common themes: motherhood (and daughterhood), reproduction, sexuality, abuse, family relationships, etc. Usually Offered every second year.
Staff
WMGS
89a
When Violence Hits Home: Internship in Domestic Violence
Combines fieldwork in domestic and sexual violence prevention programs with a fortnightly seminar exploring cultural and interpersonal facets of violence from a feminist perspective. Topics include theories, causes and prevention of rape, battering, child abuse, and animal abuse. Internships provide practical experience in local organizations such as rape crisis, battered women's violence prevention, and child abuse prevention programs. Usually offered every fall.
Ms. Hunter
WMGS
106b
Women in the Health Care System
[
ss
]
Explores the scientific, social, and policy issues surrounding the role of women in health care throughout the human life span. We will examine the challenges faced, and successes achieved, by women in the healthcare system as providers, teachers, researchers, managers, policy-makers, care-givers, and recipients of health care. Usually offered every spring.
Ms. Klerman or Ms. Bhalotra
Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Elective Courses: Historical Focus
AMST
40a
Women in American History
[
ss
]
May not be taken for credit by students who took AMST 123b in prior years.
Examines the private and public experiences of women-family life, sexuality, work, and activism-as reflected in historical and autobiographical sources, fiction, and many films. The diverse experiences of women of different races, ethnicities, and classes are highlighted. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Antler
AMST
124b
American Love and Marriage
[
ss
]
Ideas and behavior relating to love and marriage are used as lenses to view broader social patterns such as family organization, generational conflict, and the creation of professional and national identity. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Antler
AMST/SOC
125a
History of U.S. Feminisms in a Global Context
[
ss
]
An investigation of the development and politics of women's rights in the United States. Explores the internal and external coalitions and conflicts at the nexus of race, ethnicity, sexuality, and religion. Examines the transnational shift to organizing for human rights. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Antler and Ms. Hansen
ANTH
179b
Women and War
[
ss
]
Examines women in wartime, from small scale and ancient societies to present day debates over gender and combat roles; warfare, sex work, and sexual assault; women on home fronts. Explores feminist and queer theory perspectives on anti-militarism and military formations. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Schattschneider
CLAS
140a
Women, Gender, and Sexuality in Greek and Roman Art and Text
[
ca
hum
]
An exploration of women, gender, and sexuality in ancient Greece and Rome as the ideological bases of Western attitudes toward sex and gender. Includes, in some fashion, Greek and Roman myth, literature, art, architecture, and archaeological artifacts. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Koloski-Ostrow
ENG
46a
Rebelling in Print: Women, Reform, and the 19th-Century Novel
[
hum
]
Nineteenth-century novels by American women writers teach that a woman’s place is in the home; can these novels also be seen as radical? We'll focus on how these novels entered into the political and ideological debates of the time. Usually offered every third year.
Staff
ENG
64b
From Libertinism to Sensibility: Pleasure and the Theater, 1660-1800
[
hum
]
Investigates the exchange between performance texts and contemporaneous discussions of class, nationality, and political party. Emphasizes the emergence of modern gender and sexual roles and the impact of the first professional women actors. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. King
ENG
120a
The Orlando Project
[
hum
]
Explores the uses of pastoral in queer literary history and for a queered understanding of selfhood. Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando: A Biography guides a survey of English pastoral, queer and postcolonial literary criticism, and feminist and queer ecocriticism. Pondering the nature and capacities of poetry, gendered selfhood, erotic desire, and even Nature itself, Orlando canvasses the history of English literature and criticism from the age of Shakespeare to that of Freud. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. King
ENG
138a
Making Modern Subjects: Empire, Citizenship, Intimacy
[
hum
]
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. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Smith
ENG
144b
The Body as Text
[
hum
]
How are our bodies the material for our presentations of self and our interactions with others? Examines contemporary theories and histories of the body against literary, philosophical, political, and performance texts of the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. King
ENG
145b
Just Jane Austen: Gender, Justice, and the Art of Fiction
[
hum
]
Explores the novels of Jane Austen in historical context, with particular attention to the ways in which they engage ethical questions, address the economic and social implications of gender, and negotiate tensions between social justice and narrative form. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Lanser
ENG
153a
Enlightenment of the Flesh: Reading and Writing Sex in the Eighteenth Century
[
hum
]
Reading libertine and erotic writing alongside medical and philosophical treatises and commercially mainstream fiction, we will ask how practices of writing and reading sex contributed to the emergence and surveillance of a private self knowable through its bodily sex and sensations. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. King
FA
69b
Inventing Tradition: Women as Artists, Women as Art
[
ca
]
May not be taken for credit by students who took FA 61b in prior years.
Provides an art-historical overview and a feminist critique of gender and representation followed by select case studies of the art and life of women artists. Examples include non-Western art. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Ankori
FA
157a
American Modernism: Painting & Photography 1900-1950
[
ca
]
May not be taken for credit by students who took FA 173a in prior years.
The focus of this lecture course will be the art of Georgia O'Keeffe, her stylistic evolution, sources, and collaboration with contemporaries, especially Stieglitz, Strand, Dove, Demuth, Marin, and Hartley. Their collective aesthetic aspirations will be set against early twentieth-century modernism and important recent trends from Europe. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Scott
HISP
125b
Literary Women in Early Modern Spain
[
fl
hum
]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b, or HISP 110a, or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
Examines works by and about women in early modern Spain, with particular attention to engagements with and subversions of patriarchal culture in theater, prose, and poetry. Writers include Caro, Zayas, Cervantes, and Tirso de Molina. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Fox
HIST
142b
History of Sexualities in Europe
[
ss
]
Formerly offered as HIST 55b.
Explores a social history of sexualities in Europe from early modern to contemporary times. Topical emphasis on changing patterns in kinship, child rearing, gender differentiation, immodesty, and marriage. Usually offered every 3 years.
Ms. Kelikian
HIST
157a
Labor and Class Conflict in America, 1676-2012
[
ss
]
Despite the persistent ideal of a "classless" society, questions of class and the nature of labor have informed much of America’s history. Beginning in the colonial period, this course explores the idea that a job is never just a job; it is also a social signifier of great value. Topics include slavery and servitude, race and gender in the workplace, household labor and its meanings, working-class political movements, the role of the state in shaping patterns of work, and modern debates over economic inequality. Usually offered every fourth year.
Mr. Bowman
HIST
179a
Labor, Gender, and Exchange in the Atlantic World, 1600-1850
[
ss
]
An examination of the interaction of cultures in the Atlantic World against a backdrop of violence, conquest, and empire-building. Particular attention is paid to the structure and function of power relations, gender orders, labor systems, and exchange networks. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Sreenivasan
NEJS
115b
Gender and the Bible
[
hum
]
Open to all students.
The Hebrew Bible, a complex work, reflects a wide range of attitudes toward gender. This course examines these attitudes as they are reflected in issues such as the legal status of women, women in myths, leadership, prostitution, masculinity, and the gender of ancient Israel's deity. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Brettler
NEJS
148b
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Jews and Christians: Sources and Interpretations
[
hum
]
Introduction to the classical Jewish and Christian sources on same-sex love and on gender ambiguity and to a variety of current interpretations of them, to the evidence for same-sex love and gender fluidity among Jews and Christians through the centuries, and to current religious and public policy debates about same-sex love and gender identity and expression. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Brooten
NEJS
175a
Jews and Gender in Eastern Europe: Tradition and Transformation
[
hum
]
Examines gender roles in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Eastern European Jewish culture, with a focus on transformation in gender relations, education, and religious practices. Readings are drawn from Yiddish and Hebrew prose, poetry, and memoir literature, with secondary sources in cultural history. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Kellman
Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Elective Courses: Cultural Differences
AAAS
125b
Caribbean Women and Globalization: Sexuality, Citizenship, Work
[
ss
wi
]
Utilizing perspectives from sociology, anthropology, fiction, and music to examine the relationship between women's sexuality and conceptions of labor, citizenship, and sovereignty. The course considers these alongside conceptions of masculinity, contending feminisms, and the global perspective. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Smith
AAAS
133b
The Literature of the Caribbean
[
hum
nw
ss
wi
]
An exploration of the narrative strategies and themes of writers of the region who grapple with issues of colonialism, class, race, ethnicity, and gender in a context of often-conflicting allegiances to North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Smith
AAAS
148b
Dancing the African Diaspora: Keyterms, Grammars
[
ca
ss
]
Introduces students to theories, debates, and critical frameworks in African Diaspora Dance Studies. This course asks: How is black movement political? What makes a dance 'black'? How do conceptualizations of gender and sexuality inform our reading of dancing bodies? Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Johnson
AAAS
165a
Performance and the Politics of Black Authenticity
[
ca
ss
]
Introduces students to black performance theory. Foregrounds the micro-politics through which black racialized subjects are shaped in the realm of culture. This course asks what is black authenticity? How is it evoked through performance? How is black performance political? Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Johnson
AAAS/WGS
136a
Black Feminist Thought
[
ss
]
Formerly offered as AAAS 136a.
Critical examination of the historical, political, economic, and ideological factors that have shaped the lives of African-American women in the United States. Analyzing foundation theoretical texts, fiction, and film over two centuries, this class seeks to understand black women's writing and political activism in the U.S. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Abdur-Rahman
ANTH
144a
The Anthropology of Gender
[
nw
ss
wi
]
Examines 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 systems, and the history of feminist anthropology. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Hannig, Ms. Lamb or Ms. Schattschneider
ANTH
145a
Anthropology of the Body
[
ss
]
Explores a range of theories that use the body to understand society, culture, and gender. Topics include how social values and hierarchies are written in, on, and through the body; the relationship between body and gender identity; and experiences and images of the body cross-culturally. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Lamb or Ms. Schattschneider
ENG
87a
Sex and Race in the American Novel
[
hum
]
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. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Abdur-Rahman
ENG
107a
Women Writing Desire: Caribbean Fiction and Film
[
hum
]
About eight novels of the last two decades (by Cliff, Cruz, Danticat, Garcia, Kempadoo, Kincaid, Mittoo, Nunez, Pineau, Powell, or Rosario), drawn from across the region, and read in dialogue with popular culture, theory, and earlier generations of male and female writers of the region. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Smith
SAS
101a
South Asian Women Writers
[
hum
nw
]
Includes literature by South Asian women writers such as Amrita Pritam, Ismat Chugtai, Jhumpa Lahiri, Kamila Shamsie, Tahmina Anam, and Chandini Lokuge. Some of the works were originally written in English, while others have been translated from the vernacular. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Singh
SAS
110b
South Asian Postcolonial Writers
[
hum
nw
]
Examines the postcolonial novel written in English within the shared history of colonialism, specifically British imperialism, for South Asia. Writers include R.K. Narayan, Salman Rushdie, Anita Desai, Arundhati Roy, Mohsin Hamid, Romesh Gunesekera and Daniyal Mueenudin. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Singh
SOC
130a
Families and Kinship
[
ss
]
Counts toward the completion of the joint MA degree in Sociology & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Investigates changes in the character of American families over the last two centuries. A central concern will be the dynamic interactions among economic, cultural, political, and social forces, and how they shape and are reshaped by families over time. Particular attention is paid to how experiences of men and women vary by class, race, and ethnicity. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Hansen
SOC
138a
Sociology of Gender, Race, and Class
[
ss
]
Examines gender as an individual and institutional factor that organizes societies. Uses a variety of media to analyze how gender and race (re)create forms of domination and subordination in labor markets, family structures, realms of cultural presentation (e.g., media), and social movements. Usually offered every third year.
Staff
WMGS
140a
Diversity of Muslim Women's Experience
[
nw
ss
]
A broad introduction to the multidimensional nature of women's experiences in the Muslim world. As both a cultural and religious element in this vast region, understanding Islam in relation to lives of women has become increasingly imperative. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Shavarini
WMGS
141a
Gender in Iranian Cinema
[
hum
nw
]
With a primary focus on gender, this class explores post-Revolutionary Iranian cinema. Topics include politics; family relationships; women's social, economic, and political roles; and Iran's religious structure. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Shavarini
Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Elective Courses: Sexuality
AAAS
125b
Caribbean Women and Globalization: Sexuality, Citizenship, Work
[
ss
wi
]
Utilizing perspectives from sociology, anthropology, fiction, and music to examine the relationship between women's sexuality and conceptions of labor, citizenship, and sovereignty. The course considers these alongside conceptions of masculinity, contending feminisms, and the global perspective. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Smith
ANTH
144a
The Anthropology of Gender
[
nw
ss
wi
]
Examines 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 systems, and the history of feminist anthropology. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Hannig, Ms. Lamb or Ms. Schattschneider
ANTH
166b
Queer Anthropology: Sexualities and Genders in Cross-Cultural Perspective
[
ss
]
Explores ethnographic approaches to the study of sexuality and gender in diverse cultural contexts, such as the US, Brazil, India, Indonesia and Mexico. Examines how sexuality intersects with other cultural forms, including gender, race, ethnicity, labor, religion, colonialism and globalization. Explores also how the discipline of anthropology has been shaped by engagements with questions of sexuality and the field of queer studies. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Lamb and Ms. Schattschneider
CLAS
140a
Women, Gender, and Sexuality in Greek and Roman Art and Text
[
ca
hum
]
An exploration of women, gender, and sexuality in ancient Greece and Rome as the ideological bases of Western attitudes toward sex and gender. Includes, in some fashion, Greek and Roman myth, literature, art, architecture, and archaeological artifacts. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Koloski-Ostrow
ENG
64b
From Libertinism to Sensibility: Pleasure and the Theater, 1660-1800
[
hum
]
Investigates the exchange between performance texts and contemporaneous discussions of class, nationality, and political party. Emphasizes the emergence of modern gender and sexual roles and the impact of the first professional women actors. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. King
ENG
87a
Sex and Race in the American Novel
[
hum
]
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. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Abdur-Rahman
ENG
107a
Women Writing Desire: Caribbean Fiction and Film
[
hum
]
About eight novels of the last two decades (by Cliff, Cruz, Danticat, Garcia, Kempadoo, Kincaid, Mittoo, Nunez, Pineau, Powell, or Rosario), drawn from across the region, and read in dialogue with popular culture, theory, and earlier generations of male and female writers of the region. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Smith
ENG
120a
The Orlando Project
[
hum
]
Explores the uses of pastoral in queer literary history and for a queered understanding of selfhood. Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando: A Biography guides a survey of English pastoral, queer and postcolonial literary criticism, and feminist and queer ecocriticism. Pondering the nature and capacities of poetry, gendered selfhood, erotic desire, and even Nature itself, Orlando canvasses the history of English literature and criticism from the age of Shakespeare to that of Freud. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. King
ENG
150a
Sex and Cinema
[
hum
]
Studies the construction and representation of sexuality, both normative and deviant, in film from the 1930's to the present day. We will pay particular attention to evolving strategies of censorship and resistance to it. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Morrison
ENG
151a
Queer Studies
[
hum
]
Recommended preparation: An introductory course in gender/sexuality and/or a course in critical theory.
Historical, literary, and theoretical perspectives on the construction and performance of queer subjectivities. How do queer bodies and queer representations challenge heteronormativity? How might we imagine public spaces and queer citizenship? Usually offered every second year.
Mr. King
ENG
153a
Enlightenment of the Flesh: Reading and Writing Sex in the Eighteenth Century
[
hum
]
Reading libertine and erotic writing alongside medical and philosophical treatises and commercially mainstream fiction, we will ask how practices of writing and reading sex contributed to the emergence and surveillance of a private self knowable through its bodily sex and sensations. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. King
ENG
181a
Making Sex, Performing Gender
[
hum
]
Recommended preparation: An introductory course in gender/sexuality and/or a course in critical theory.
Gender and sexuality studied as sets of performed traits and cues for interactions among social actors. Readings explore the possibility that differently organized gender and sexual practices are possible for men and women. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. King
HIST
142b
History of Sexualities in Europe
[
ss
]
Formerly offered as HIST 55b.
Explores a social history of sexualities in Europe from early modern to contemporary times. Topical emphasis on changing patterns in kinship, child rearing, gender differentiation, immodesty, and marriage. Usually offered every 3 years.
Ms. Kelikian
NEJS
29a
Feminist Sexual Ethics in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
[
hum
]
Analyzes a variety of feminist critiques of religious texts and traditions and proposed innovations in theology and religious law. Examines biblical, rabbinic, and Qur'anic texts. Explores relation to U.S. law and to the social, natural, and medical sciences. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Brooten
NEJS
148b
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Jews and Christians: Sources and Interpretations
[
hum
]
Introduction to the classical Jewish and Christian sources on same-sex love and on gender ambiguity and to a variety of current interpretations of them, to the evidence for same-sex love and gender fluidity among Jews and Christians through the centuries, and to current religious and public policy debates about same-sex love and gender identity and expression. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Brooten
NEJS
166a
Carnal Israel: Exploring Jewish Sexuality from Talmudic Times to the Present
[
hum
]
Explores the construction of Jewish sexuality from Talmudic times to the present. Themes include rabbinic views of sex, niddah, illicit relations, masculinity, medieval erotic poetry, Ashkenazi and Sephardic sexual practices, and sexual symbolism in mystic literature; the discourse on sex, race, and nationalism in Europe; debates about masculinity, sexual orientation, and stereotypes in America and Israel. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Freeze
NEJS
178a
Love, Sex, and Power in Israeli Culture
[
hum
]
Taught in Hebrew.
Explores questions of romance, gender, marriage, and jealousy in the Israeli context by offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of Hebrew texts, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Szobel
SQS
6b
Sexuality and Queer Studies
[
hum
ss
]
May not be taken for credit by students who took WMGS 6b in prior years.
Examines cross-cultural and historical perspectives on sexual meanings, experiences, representations, and activist movements within a framework forged by contemporary critical theories of gender and sexuality. Usually offered every year.
Staff