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Gender and Women’s Studies
Interdisciplinary Program Director: Lisa Ohm
The study of gender is an important element in the humanities, fine arts, social sciences and natural sciences. The Gender and Women’s Studies program allows students and faculty to link the examination of gender across all academic disciplines.
The purpose of this program is to provide an inter- and multi-disciplinary framework within which to explore the social and biological construction of gender and sexuality. The program incorporates a variety of methodologies and theoretical approaches.
Students who complete the Gender and Women’s Studies minor will have worked with materials and methodologies from several academic disciplines in order to gain an understanding of how gender functions across cultures and in their own lives as it intersects with race, class, age, ethnicity, and sexuality.
Major
(An individualized major is possible through Liberal Studies. Contact the program director for further information.)
Minor (24 Credits)
A total of at least 24 credits from gender and women’s studies courses, including:
- GWST 101, Introduction to Gender Studies (required);
- At least 12 of the 24 credits must be from 300-level courses that have been approved for the minor(designated in each semester’s course list);
- GWST 380, Approaches to Gender Theory (required).
In order to ensure the multidisciplinarity of the minor, no more than 8 credits should be taken from the same department.
Notes: The title and focus of GWST 101 change each semester. See course schedule for current listing.
Courses currently approved for the Gender and Women’s Studies minor include the following:
COMM 351 Gender and Communication
ECON 325 Political Economy of Race and Gender
ENGL 355 Olsen and Fitzgerald
ENGL 381 Literature by Women: Traditions in English
ENGL 381 Literature by Women: African, Caribbean, Asian
ENGL 382 Multicultural Literature of the United States
ENGL 385 Studies in Literature: Men’s Lives in Literature and Film
ENGL 385 Ethnic American Novels
COMM/ENGL 386 Studies in Film: Performance Anxiety: Sexuality and Gender in Film
ENGL 388 Studies in Popular Culture: Lavender Lives: Representations of Lesbians and Gay Men in Contemporary American Culture
GWST 101 Introduction to Gender Studies
GWST 290 Women’s Lives in a Global Perspective
GWST 380 Approaches to Gender Theory
HIST 200 Witchcraft and Magic in Early Modern Europe
HIST 333 Gender and Society in Western Europe
HIST 361 American Women to 1920
HIST 362 American Women since 1920
HIST 364/CORE 365 American Religious Cultures
MCLT 223 Gender, Narrative Structure, and the Fairy Tale
MCLT 368 Biblical Women
NUTR 300 Social and Cultural Aspects of Food
PCST 351 Women and Peace
PHIL 153 Philosophy and Gender
PHIL 361 Feminist Ethics
POLS 314 Feminist Political Theory
POLS 339 Gender and Public Policy
POLS 352 Global Gender Issues
PSYC 308 Psychology of Gender
PSYC 345 Human Sexuality
SWRK 347 American Social Policy
SWRK 380 Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
SOCI 229 Intimate Relationships
SOCI 319 Sex and Gender
SOCI 329 Family and Gender
THEO 309 Bible, Church and Gender
THEO 311 Christian Lives: Biography and Autobiography in the History of Christianity
THEO 339 Spirituality of Marriage and Family
THEO 359 Themes in Scripture: Community, Ministry and Women
Please consult the program’s website (http://www.csbsju.edu/genderstudies/) for up-to-date course and program information.
Courses (GWST)
101 Introduction to Gender Studies. (4)
This course introduces students to a broad range of concepts and issues in the discipline of gender studies. It serves as a practical and theoretical foundation for further courses in the Gender and Women’s Studies program. The concept of gender is used as a method for critically analyzing the economic, political, cultural, psychological, social, and sexual world around us. Broadly, the course explores the social construction of gender, the biology of sex, and how race, class, ethnicity, and sexual orientation influence men’s and women’s experiences and identities, not only in individual, personal terms but also in terms of social structures and institutions. This class includes materials from women’s studies, men’s studies, gay and lesbian studies, and postcolonial studies. Please note that although each version of this course will contain the elements just mentioned, the course’s main focus will vary from semester to semester according to the particular instructor’s design. Please refer to each semester’s course title and description for more specific information about which version is being offered during any given semester.
270/370 Readings in Gender Studies. (0-1)
Readings and discussions in specific areas of gender studies. Topics may be tied to on-campus lectures/presentations given by invited speakers. Approval of the director and/or faculty moderator required. This course can be repeated once for credit with the permission of the director. S-U grading only.
271 Individualized Learning Project. (1-4)
Supervised reading or research at the lower-division level. Permission of program director required.
290 Special Topics. (4)
A sustained interdisciplinary analysis of selected topics in Gender and Women’s Studies at the intermediate level. Topics will vary each year.
360 Topics in Gender and Women’s Studies. (4)
A sustained interdisciplinary analysis of selected topics in Gender and Women’s Studies at the upper division level. Topics will vary each year.
371 Individualized Learning Project. (1-4)
Supervised reading or research at the upper-division level. Permission of program director required. Not available to first-year students.
380 Approaches to Gender Theory. (4)
This course is offered once per year in cooperation with, for example, the English, Philosophy, or Political Science departments. It builds on and further develops the understanding of gender studies introduced in GWST 101 by critically examining theoretical approaches to gender studies and analyzing key issues and disputes within the field. This course develops a framework that allows students to identify and examine the relations among the diverse theoretical approaches to gender studies encountered in GWST courses and within the discipline of gender studies. As the theory course for the Gender and Women’s Studies Program at CSB/SJU, this course includes aspects of feminist theory, gender theory, GLBT/queer theory, and men’s studies.
397 Internship. (1-4)
Practical on- or off-campus experience in gender-related work with a strong academic component. Individually arranged by the student with the approval of the college’s director of internships, a faculty moderator, and the GWST program director. Prerequisites: fourth semester standing in GWST Program; GWST 101 and at least one other 200- or 300-level GWST course. See program director for further information.