SP.401 / WGS.401 Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies, Spring 2005

Abstract

An interdisciplinary subject that draws on literature, history, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, and feminist theory to examine our cultural assumptions about gender, trace the effects of new scholarship on traditional disciplines, and increase awareness of the history and experience of women as half the world's population. From the course home page: Course Description This course is designed as an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Women's and Gender Studies, an academic area of study focused on the ways that sex and gender manifest themselves in social, cultural, and political contexts. The primary goal of this course is to familiarize students with key issues, questions, and debates in Women's Studies scholarship, both historical and contemporary. This semester you will become acquainted with many of the critical questions and concepts feminist scholars have developed as tools for thinking about gendered experience. In addition, we will study the interconnections among systems of oppression (such as sexism, racism, classism, ethnocentrism, homophobia/heterosexism, transphobia, ableism and others). In this course you will learn to "read" and analyze gender, exploring how it impacts our understanding of the world.