Introduces students to a broad range of concepts and issues in the discipline of Gender Studies. It also serves as a practical and theoretical foundation for further courses in Gender Studies. It uses gender as an analytical method and explores how race, class, ethnicity, and sexual orientation influence the construction of gender identity. Although containing these common elements, this course’s main focus will vary according to the particular instructor’s design.

This course will explore the intersectional relationship between gender and culture with specific attention to gender and culture as experienced in Japan

This class is designed to teach students the ways in which gender and culture mutually inform one another and is based on South Korea’s society and economy. The course is designed to understand the social construction of gender in South Korea, analyze the implications of that construction for the South Korean society and evaluate those constructions and implications in the context of the United States. The course is housed within the Gender Studies department and counts as part of the Gender Studies major and minor requirements. The course involves pre departure classes held during Spring and onsite visit and learning in South Korea.

This course introduces novels, short stories, manga, and films written by Japanese and Japanese-American woman writers and filmmakers since the 1970s. We read texts that explore questions of identity related to gender, race, and ethnicity in a comparative context, from the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II to the rethinking of female icons of Japanese mythology and folklore, as well as what it means to be alienated in what is supposed to one’s “homeland” and being insufficiently fluent in one’s “mother tongue.” With texts set in the United States, Japan, and Europe, this course aims to demonstrate the relevance of great literature and film by Japanese women to questions at the heart of an intersectional analysis of gender, race, and ethnicity.

Supervised reading or research at the lower-division level. Permission of program director required.

This course will survey the various social movements of gender and sexual rights and equality in the United States. Students will learn about the social conditions that spawned the movements, the reaction that these movements have produced, and the different strategies that were used both within and between these movements.

The course will explore the issues of gender in work and professional roles. The path of choosing and progressing through a career as influenced by gender will give students an opportunity to understand their own gendered experience of learning and making decisions about their future work life. Gendered-patterns of communication in the workplace including the challenges of class, workplace violence and the influence of media portrayals will be included. Special attention will be paid to traditional and non-traditional career choices, as well as examining and challenging the status quo.

This course will offer an exploration of current topics in the field of men’s studies. What is masculinity? How is it formed? Who does it benefit? What are its hazards? Readings from a variety of disciplines will challenge students to analyze the way masculinity functions across cultures and in their own cultural context.

This course introduces entertainment novels, comics, and films created by Japanese female writers and directors since the 1970's. Postwar economic development made it possible for young talented women to go into a variety of cultural fields and become successful. We examine how these contemporary female creators have come to terms with issues of gender, sexuality, race, class, and nation as well as how their products have intersected the changing phases of economic conditions. Their works have created new businesses, not only in Japan but also in the broader Asian market, by being combined with thriving local entertainment industries. We also consider what these phenomena signify, especially when the images of the West, Asia, the US and Japan are diversely reflected in these works. Prerequisite Sophomore standing. Will count as an elective for both GEND major/minor and ASIA minor. Cross-listed with JAPN 321A.

A survey of sociological knowledge about sex and gender as fundamental organizing principles of our social world. Examines the interplay of sex, gender, and sexual orientation as they change over time and across cultures. Critical analysis of what it means to live as a gendered, sexual being in today's society.

This course explores the links between gender, women, and environments, with an emphasis on the interconnections between environments and the workings of power that shape gender-based inequality, resistance, and strategies for social change. Through reading, discussion, documentary films, and research projects, we will explore how gender inequalities and norms of femininity and masculinity shape and are shaped by environments. The course will focus on local (U.S.) and global climate change; women’s leadership in the environmental movement and community resilience; development; gendered perceptions of environmental risk; queer perspectives on environmental issues; how gendered divisions of labor (particularly care of children and elderly) affect environmental experiences; sustainable agriculture and redistribution of global resources; the effects of globalization and militarism on women and the environment; social constructions of gender and science; and the relationship between gender and environmental policy-making, inequalities, and health.

This course examines the ways in which fatness has come to be socially constructed as a means for discrimination and oppression in American culture. We will explore fat stigma within a variety of contexts including employment, education, interpersonal relationships, fashion, and health, as well as how that stigma intersects with gender, race, class, age, ability, and sexual orientation. We will also study fat activism enacted to counter systemic weight bias. Prerequisite JN or SR standing

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. Gender Studies majors or minors count up to four credits from this course with permission from the Chair. S-U grading only.

Supervised reading and/or research at the upper-division level. Permission of Chair required. Not open to first-year students.

Ableism is a system of discrimination and oppression targeting those who identify as being disabled, or those who society has labeled disabled. Globally over 1 billion people live with some form of disability (WHO, 2014). This course will focus on the human experience of disability using a “Disability Justice Framework.” This framework was created by disability activists in the mid-2000’s who were queer, poor, and people of color trying to make sense of their experiences and create a movement that did not exclude others with multiple experiences of marginalization and oppression. This framework challenges our ideas of “independence” as being central to those who identify as being disabled, to that of “inter-dependent” with the whole community being involved. This framework also challenges our norms of what constitute “whole” bodies versus “broken” bodies and that “brokenness” must be fixed for people to live “whole” lives. In this course we deconstruct false and limited narratives on what it means to be disabled, and at the same time, act in solidarity for the liberation of every “body.”

What roles do Two-Spirit and other Indigenous gender identities play in Native American communities? How did colonialism impact these identities and what steps are being taken to reclaim them? As we explore the similarities and distinctions between Indigenous and Western gender constructions, students in this course will understand the roots of Indigenous and LGBTQ+ allyships and the tools necessary for develop successful coalitions.

Builds on and further develops the understanding of gender studies introduced in GEND 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 used in Gender Studies. This course may include aspects of feminist, gender, GLBTQ, and men’s studies theories.

A seminar in which students develop and complete an independent research project. The project should provide in-depth analysis of gender dynamics in areas such as contemporary social issues, history, the arts, theory or the biological-physical world and should integrate a variety of resources and learning from across the disciplines that compromise Gender Studies. This project will include not only a written component, but an oral presentation of research to faculty and students. Offered only in the spring.

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 GEND Chair. Prerequisites include GEND 101 and at least two other GEND courses. See Chair for further information.