Summer 2012 Cross-Listed Courses

 

WGS 225: Introduction to the Study of Women

(3 credits) 5/14/12 – 6/1/12 with Nikki Berg Burin

An introduction to the study of women as subjects of scholarly inquiry, with emphasis on assessments of women's contributions to Western culture. The course will provide an interdisciplinary focus on the central issues and questions posed by the new scholarship on women, and introduce students to the perspectives and methodologies of a variety of disciplines.

POLS 351: Women and Politics

(3 credits) 5/14/12 - 8/03/12 Online with Kate Scheurer

Role of women in politics, including selection of women for political offices, the political attitudes and behavior of women; and the development of public policy initiatives as they affect or are likely to affect women.

PSYC 361: Social Psychology

(3 credits) 5/14/12 – 6/22/12 Online with Heather Terrell

Research on individual behavior in its social context: how the individual acts upon the social environment, and interacts with other individuals.

 

Fall 2012 Cross-Listed Courses

ANTH 375: Women in Prehistory

(3 credits) M/W 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm with Melinda Leach

This course will explore recent research that explicitly illuminates women’s roles, behaviors, and ideologies in the ancient past, and will examine methodological and theoretical attempts to understand how gender can be retrieved from the archaeological record.

CJ 361: Victimology

(3 credits) M/W/F 11:00 am – 11:50 am with Wendelin Hume

Prerequisite: CJ majors and minors only

This class will provide an overview of the literature and research concerning victimization. Attention will be directed on particular emphasis on measuring victimization, fear of crime, the impact of victimization on the individual, and victim’s rights and compensation initiatives. The basic goal of this course is to help the student develop and understand of the impact of victimization of the victim, those associated with the victim, the criminal justice system, and each of us as individuals.

COUN 250: Dialogue of U.S. Diversity

(3 credits) T/Th 12:00 pm – 1:20 pm

This seminar on diversity issues in the U.S. will cover group communication skills, psychological impact of social/cultural group identities and inequality.

ENGL 228: Diversity in Global Literature

(3 credits) T/Th 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm

This course will explore global literatures with a special emphasis on concepts like culture, difference, and diversity. The course will analyze global literature in cultural and historical contexts, and will emphasize the complex ways that literature is influenced by issues of social power (especially those that affect significant categories through which social inequalities are negotiated—like gender, race, class, and sexual orientation).

ENGL 229: Diversity in U.S. Literature

(3 credits) M/W/F 1:00 pm – 1:50 pm

This course will explore U.S. literatures with a special emphasis on concepts like culture, difference, and diversity. The course will analyze literature in cultureal and historical contexts, and will emphasize the complex ways that literature is influenced by issues of social power (especially those at affect significant categories through which social inequalities are negotiated—like gender, race, class, and sexual orientation).

ENGL 308: The Art of Writing Non-Fiction: Gender and Writing

(3 credits) T/Th 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm with Kathy Dixon

In this specific section of English 308, we will concentrate on two great themes of human existence: history and gender. The first big assignment will be to write a biography of someone two generations older than yourself. The second will be to write a memoir, that is, an autobiographical piece. In both of these instances, an understanding of gender will be instrumental to writing the nonfiction essay. What did manhood mean in 1940, in this part of the U.S.? What does womanhood mean today?

ENGL 357: Women Writers and Readers

(3 credits) M/W/F 10:00 am – 10:50 am with Sheryl O'Donnell

The late essayist and professional leftie Christopher Hitchens repeated a familiar claim about women before he expired in 2011. This claim actually comes from all sides of the political spectrum and from all parts of the globe. Many philosophers, historians, political scientists, playwrights, theologians and ordinary people claim that women aren't funny, except as objects of comic ridicule. Women can and should never be agents, producers, and consumers of comedy. We will explore this claim, beginning with a look at women readers/writers in classical antiquity, making our way through various historical periods, ending the semester with a look at contemporary women writers and performers. We will look at various kinds of comedy: invective, parody, mime, romantic irony, political satire, celebration of the absurd, gallows humor, tongue-in-cheek testimonial, mockery, flattery, and salacious appraisal. Class, race, and gender preferences will be considered as we look at women as writers, performers/subjects/audiences of comedy. We will pay special attention to parody websites such as Pie-in-Ear Woman, which mocks the ever-popular Pioneer Woman website/franchise, classical television shows such as I Love Lucy, contemporary shows such as Veep, 30 Rock, whatever political demonstrations and stand up performances will accompany the 2012 Presidential Campaign. We will also investigate sites for comic performances by women: baby showers, "girls' night out," church dinners, weddings, funerals, and other so-called solemn occasions often marked by women's subversive laughter.

ENGL 370: Gender & Language

(3 credits) M/W/F 10:00 am – 10:50 am with Michelle Sauer

Prerequisite: ENGL 209

The major purpose of this course is to teach you to think analytically about gender, about sexuality, and about language—and about the relations among them—goals that intertwine the intellectual and the political. Further, we will study the complex layers of human identity, including approaches that challenge the binary categorization of gender.

PHIL 360: Feminist Philosophy

(3 credits) M/W/F 9:00 am – 9:50 am with Adrian Rozelle-Stone

Feminist Philosophy: "The Body as Text"

This course will focus on the concepts and experience of the body and embodiment from feminist perspectives and methods. We will first consider an overview of the place and status of "body" in the history of traditional Western philosophy and its legacy, especially for women, followed by an exploration of contemporary issues including: cultural forms and "ideas" of the female body, structures of power and oppression in relation to the feminine body, the ambiguous body, and the "spectacles" and "performances" of the body, eating and marketing of food in relation to the body, and "unruly" feminine bodies. These themes will be introduced to us by philosophers such as Sandra Barky, Susan Bordo, Kathy Davis, Elizabeth Grosz, bell hooks, Elizabeth Spelman, and Judith Butler, and will be analyzed alongside examples drawn from our media and popular culture.

RELS 491: Seminar on Religion: Women in Hinduism

(3credits) T/Th 3:30 pm - 4:45 pm with Dr. Lawrence

What contemporary lessons can be learned from the study of women in Hinduism? This class will first introduce some of the traditional Hindu cultural norms and ideas regarding women, and overview Hindu women's social situations and actions throughout history.  Then we will study in more depth two of the most widely discussed subjects in gender studies of Hinduism--Goddesses and women saints.  With regard to the former, we will read and discuss the most influential scripture of the Goddess, the Devimahatmya, as well as other hymns to the ferocious Goddess Kali.  We will reflect on how Goddess worship might both empower and limit actual women.  We will begin the latter by considering several great women saints of the medieval period, and will look for patterns in how their lives both exemplify and subvert traditional gender roles.  Finally, we will study in detail the life and teachings of Anandamayi Ma, and is also widely considered an incarnation of the Goddess.  Throughout the class, we will reflect on the significance of the subjects studied for contemporary Hindu as well as non-Hindu women and men.

SOC 115: Social Problems

(3 credits) M/W 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm with Curtis Stofferahn

A sociological analysis of major social problems in America.

SOC 250: Diversity in American Society

(3 credits) M/W/F 1:00 pm – 1:50 pm

An introductory survey of the racial, ethnic, and cultural mosaic of American Society. Basic theories of intergroup relations, prejudice and discrimination are covered.

SOC 335: The Family

(3 credits) T/Th 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm

Structure and function of the family, comparative family systems, sociology of family life stages (such as courtship, marriage, parenthood, old age), contemporary trends and problems of the family.