The women’s and gender studies program provides students the opportunity to examine the ways in which gender structures our ideas, social institutions, and cultural practices, and how it shapes out understanding of ourselves and our place, as individuals, in society. As an interdisciplinary program, the women's and gender studies program draws on insights and analytic tools from the arts and media, history, literature, and the social sciences.
Students may enroll in women's and gender studies courses either for elective credit or as a minor. There is no major available in women's and gender studies.
Choose one from the following list:
4.00
This interdisciplinary course explores the roles and images of women in Western culture. Through class discussion and a close reading of texts from literature, film, history, art, psychology, and recent feminist scholarship, we will examine the realities of womens everyday lives and analyze gender inequalities and the influence of gender on social structure, human behavior, and artistic expression. Topics will include the social construction of gender and identity; domestic prescriptions for women; women and work; intersections of gender, class, and race in American society; sexualities and identity; the politics of motherhood and reproductive rights; educating girls; negotiating male privilege and structural inequalities; representations of women in Western art and film; and women as artists and gendered models of creativity in art, film, fiction, and science. Cultural Diversity A
Offered Both Fall and Spring
Cultural Diversity Opt A,Cultural Diversity BFA,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requireme
4.00
An exploration of womens lives from the perspective of the social and natural sciences. This interdisciplinary course examines recent biological, psychological, and sociological theories about gender and gender roles, as well as the influence of feminist scholarship on these areas. Topics will include the social construction of gender; the psychology and biology of sex and gender; women and work; media representations of women; the female body and eating disorders; womens health and lifecycle; women and sexuality; reproduction, abortion, and motherhood; and sexual violence against women. Cultural Diversity A
Offered Both Fall and Spring
Cultural Diversity Opt A,Social Science
4.00
This interdisciplinary course provides an introduction to the key topics and debates that have shaped the field of gender studies, including queer studies, masculinity studies, and womens studies. Through lecture and class discussion of texts from literature, film, history, psychology, and sociology, we will examine the pervasive influence of gender on the structure of society and our everyday experiences. What role does gender play in our understanding of love, friendship, sexuality, and even violence? Topics will include biological arguments about gender and sexuality; the social construction of gender and identity; intersections of gender, race, class, and sexuality; masculinity and femininity; and theories of sexual difference and the construction of sexuality.
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt A
Four courses must be chosen from the following list. No more than two from any single department except women's and gender studies (WGS). Students who have taken WGS 111 or WGS 113 may take WGS 115 (Introduction to Gender Studies) as one of their four elective courses for the WGS minor.
Take ALS-264 or ALS-360; or instructors permission
4.00
An opportunity to learn the history of domestic violence including battering, child abuse and child neglect, and the legal response to it. Focus will be on Massachusetts Law and its response, especially the Abuse Prevention Act, its application and enforcement, and on laws protecting children from abuse and neglect. Filings, law office issues and special issues in dealing with battered women and abused and neglected children will be included with the psychological issues, cultural issues, and advocacy possibilities. Normally offered yearly. Sophomore status required. Cultural Diversity A
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
This course covers women artists from the sixteenth century to the present as well as the new direction of art-historical scholarship developed by feminist art historians during recent decades.
Offered Spring Term
Cultural Diversity Opt A,Cultural Diversity Opt B,BFA Humanities Requirement,Cultural Diversity BFA,
4.00
Examines the portrayal of homosexuality in political, social and cultural discourse. Analyzes the role of media and symbolic construction in the shaping of public values, opinions and social movements. Cultural Diversity A
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
Problems of women at work and at war, in love, marriage and pregnancy, as seen in Hollywood films, both old and new, and in documentaries. The roles of women are examined historically, psychologically, sociologically, and cinematically. Normally offered yearly.
Offered Fall Term
Humanities & History
ENG 213, ENG 214, ENG 215, ENG 216, ENG 217, or ENG 218
4.00
A course that fits Group 5 of the English major requirements with varying subject matter.
Occasional
ENG 213, ENG 214, ENG 215, ENG 216, ENG 217, or ENG 218
4.00
An investigation of the lives and works of two of nineteenth-century Americas greatest and most original poets. Topics will include types of poetic language and formal structure, the work of the poetic imagination in transforming observations of the world into art, and the ways in which poets process the idea of death and the reality of war. Finally, this course examines Whitman and Dickinsons impact on American popular culture as well as on the writings of modern poets and literary critics.
Occasional
ENG 213, ENG 214, ENG 215, ENG 216, ENG 217, or ENG 218
4.00
This course studies 19th and 20th century women writers and questions the type of women who write, what they write about, and why they write. Themes we examine include domesticity, assimilation, and madness. Authors studied in the past have included Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, Anzia Yezierska, Nella Larsen, and Sylvia Plath. Normally offered alternate years. Cultural Diversity A
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
Marie-Antoinette refused to wear the clothing given to her by Robespierre for her beheading. Instead she donned a muslin chemise and a bonnet that she had kept hidden in her bedding for the occasion. Was she making a final fashion statement, or is this a final act of defiance by refusing to give up control? In this class we address questions like these and examine the discourse of fashion, visual culture and image in pre-revolutionary France. We will also analyze the relationship of dressing to image and the body politic of eighteenth-century France. The class is taught in English, and is cross-listed with the Gender and Womens Studies Program. This class can be counted toward the French or French Studies major or minor.
Occasional
Take FR-205 or Instructors consent
4.00
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the basic trends of French literature in the context of a general thematic. While giving critical attention to the theme of love and its manifestations in representative works, this exploration also provides a base from which the student can access the evolution of French Literature. We will situate each work we study in its proper historical context while paying close attention to the evolution of literary genres and parallel trends in the formal study of literary discourse. In this class we will address various thematics that accompany a traditional survey of literature course such as, critical discourse, aesthetic representation, literary movements, genre, constructions of sexual identities, sexual politics and representations of ethnicity, class and culture.
Occasional
BA FOREIGN
4.00
The relationship of women to their political culture and structures. The role of women seen in theory (e.g., Marxism, American feminism, existentialism) and in global comparative analysis. Cultural Diversity B
Cultural Diversity Opt B,Social Science,BSJ SOCIAL SCIENCE
4.00
This course examines womens issues and roles in the public policy process. Topics will include policies that affect women, such as child care and reproductive issues. Emphasis will also be placed on womens roles in the policy process, as citizens, voters, and public officials. Prerequisite: Open to non-majors; not open to freshmen. Normally offered alternate years. Cultural Diversity A
Social Science,Cultural Diversity Opt A,BSJ SOCIAL SCIENCE
4.00
An exploration of the condition of European women from 1800 to 1914. Readings focus primarily on womens experiences in France and Great Britain. Topics include: the effects of industrialization on the lives of working-class women; working and middle-class womens negotiation of marriage, work, and family life; the rise of feminism, womens greater participation in the public sphere, and conservative reaction to these changes in womens place in society; women and crime; Victorian ideas about female sexuality; the politics of class and gender in nineteenth-century European society. Cultural Diversity B
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt B,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement
4.00
An examination of the changing place of women in European society since 1900. Topics include: womens suffrage and the political advances of the 1920s and 1930s; the revolution in sexual mores, birth control, and the rise of companionate marriage; women and the consumer economy; the anti-woman policies of Fascist Italy and Germany under National Socialism; liberation of women and retrenchment in the Soviet Union; World War II; feminism, sexual liberation, and womens political engagement since the 1960s; and, throughout the twentieth century, womens continuing negotiation of work and family responsibilities. Cultural Diversity B
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt B,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement
4.00
How have ordinary American working people shaped and been shaped by the experience of work in a capitalist economic order? This course surveys the world of work and workers, free and unfree, from 1800 to the present. Topics include changing conceptions of work, formation of workers consciousness and communities, working-class cultures, movements for labor reform, and the impact of race, ethnicity, and gender on labor markets, workplace dynamics, and working-class families and communities. The course also explores workers experiences of industrialization and technological innovation, immigration and migration, consumerism and globalization. Cultural Diversity A
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt A,Humanities & History
4.00
This course traces the roles, images and experiences of women in America from colonial times to 1865. Topics include the family, work, religion, education, health care, motherhood, sexuality, social and political activism legal status, labor activism and popular culture. With attention to ethnicity, race, class, age, region of residence, disability and sexual orientation, the course focuses primarily on the everyday lives of ordinary women. Cultural Diversity A
Offered Fall Term
Cultural Diversity Opt A,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement
4.00
This course examines the social and cultural history of women in the United States from the close of the Civil War to the present. Using not only gender but also race, ethnicity, class, age, disability, region of residence, and sexual orientation as important categories of analysis, this course focuses on womens private and public lives. Topics include the family, work, religion, education, health care, private lives, motherhood, sexuality, social and political activism, legal status, labor activism, and popular culture. Course materials include novels and films. Cultural Diversity A
Offered Spring Term
Cultural Diversity Opt A,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement
4.00
This course examines American debates over the natures, capacities, and responsibilities of men and women from settlement of the New World through the present. Emphasis is given to three elements of the self: social and civic personhood, the body, and sexuality. We will focus on representations of womanhood and masculinity - across racial, ethnic, and class lines - and their effects on men and women in society, politics, and at law. Course readings will also examine concepts of human nature and the interplay among mind, body, and sexuality.
Occasional
Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement
4.00
Do we all feel the same emotions across cultures and throughout history, or do we learn to feel according to the rules of our own time and place, or does the truth about human emotion lie somewhere in between? This course will first explore ideas about emotional life from the fields of history, anthropology, sociology, and psychology. We will then turn to our own examination of the evolution of emotion rules and prescriptions, focusing on western Europe and the United States since 1700. In the eighteenth century, emotions were seen as a positive influence on politics and public life, especially during the French Revolution. After the fall of Robespierre, the emotions were banished to the private sphere - so we will read both primary sources and recent scholarship on 19th- and 20th- century ideas masculinity and femininity, romantic love and marriage, childrearing, and about what parents and children are supposed feel toward each other. How have ideas about these subjects changed over time - and do our feelings change with them?
Occasional
Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement,Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
The history of music from the Middle Ages to the present presented in the lives and music of women composers, performers, and writers. Assigned readings, critical listening, class discussion and concert attendance.
Alternates Fall & Spring
Cultural Diversity Opt B,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement
4.00
This course is an introduction to the philosophy of feminist thought. Feminist theories of epistemology, metaphysics and morality will be examined as critiques of traditional philosophy,. Feminist perspectives and methodologies include radical, liberal, postmodern, as well as more recent trends in ecofeminism. Special emphasis will be placed on explicit and implicit practices of alienation and exclusion as they have unfolded in the gendering of thought, truth, and reality. 1 term - 4 credits. Normally offered every third year. C b
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt A,Cultural Diversity BFA
4.00
An exploration into the various dimensions and ideologies concerning the role of the feminine in relation to the Divine. Belief systems, myths and archetypes from ancient Goddess worship to 20th century feminist theology will be examined in terms of the philosophical content and psychological consequences. Special emphasis will be placed on feminist metaphysical structures for understanding consciousness and Reality. Classes will be conducted by means of lectures, primary and secondary texts and class discussions. Normally offered alternate years. Cultural Diversity A
Occasional
Cultural Diversity BFA,Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
Womens struggles in arenas from war to labor disputes will be examined through films and writings. Societal, historical and cultural contexts of womens roles in films are discussed drawing on film criticism and sociological analyses.
Occasional
4.00
This class explores the images of the traditional bad girl in films. The course examines the idea of moving beyond merely the delinquent, many images in film suggest that girls and women who break with the socially condoned role of femininity are somehow bad. Girls and women who have power or challenge authority are often portrayed in films as deviant and therefore bad. Girls and women who are frigid are just as bad as their sexually promiscuous silver-screen opposites. This course further focuses on the impact of these images on real life social roles for girls and women as well as the symbiotic relationship between fact and fiction.
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
An exploration of the nature of masculinity and its connection to interpersonal and collective violence in American society. The course focuses on the emotional, spiritual, social and cultural roots of the crisis of boyhood and masculinity as a context for and consequence of violence.
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
A critical analysis of theory and research related to the socialization, roles and social participation of women in contemporary society.
Occasional
4.00
This course examines the complex relationships between women and crime today. This focus will include women as criminal offenders; women as victims of crime; and women as both offenders and victims. Course materials draw from recent feminist scholarship on these issues in the social sciences. Topics include the causes of womens crime women, drugs, and crime; child abuse and trauma; prostitution and sex trafficking; race, gender and victimization; and feminist social movements against violence. Crimes of violence against women are a central focus in the course.
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
Representations of masculinity in contemporary societies are examined in terms of their social sources and consequences. Images and scripts for doing masculinity are explored through case studies of film, television, sports, advertising, comic books, video games, music and other media that define what it means to be a man.
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
An exploration of topics that relate particularly to women as providers and consumers in the health care system. The course will consider historical and current information on issues of reproduction, technology, health and illness.
Occasional
4.00
An exploration of the diverse experiences of womanhood as shaped by race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, age and physical ability. The course examines the commonalities women share and considers what womens differences suggest about an agenda for change. Issues such as workplace equality, family, policy, violence against women, sexuality are studied. How do diverse women, along with men allies, build alliances and work together for social transformation? Cultural Diversity A
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt A
SPAN-300; Spanish 302 or its equivalent is strongly recommended
4.00
Through fiction, non-fiction, drama, poetry and film, this course will explore the changing roles of women in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America. Special focus will be placed on the impact that changes in social ideology and culture have had on their identity and writings. Texts available in English.
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt B,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement,BA FOREIGN
4.00
What can we learn from the books that teenage girls read? Our fondest memories of reading are often also memories of our earliest encounters with books - particularly those so mesmerizing that we would read them under our desks or by flashlight long after bedtime. This class will introduce students to some of the most interesting and complex Young Adult books targeted to young female readers. In addition to a wide array of novels, students will be exposed to theories of adolescent development, literary criticism, and social theory. We will consider how the dilemmas of girlhood have changed or stay constant. Well also investigate the urge, so common in books for children and teens, to teach kids how to think and behave - what do we want teenage girls to know, and when would we rather keep them childlike and unaware?
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
This course will investigate the complex intersections between feminism and popular culture through several different lenses. We will start by exploring some of the ways that feminists make arguments about popular culture. We will continue by looking at the complexities of public femininity in todays popular culture, including figures such as Lady Gaga and Katy Perry and television shows like The Bachelor and Greys Anatomy. We will also look at a variety of articulations of feminism within mass media, blogs, social media, and popular books such as Ariel Levys Female Chauvinist Pigs, and Caitlin Morans How to Be a Woman, among others. Along the way will be asking questions such as: what makes a work of art feminist? How does modern media contribute to or distract us from a variety of political debates in the realm of female equality? How can we, as individuals, use modern media to create and advance smart, feminist arguments? How can we create media that reflects a broader array of womens experiences and perspectives?
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
What is feminist thought? How have feminists - both today and in history - understood inequality and difference, and what have they seen as the best ways to address these issues and bring about social justice? How do feminist theories help us to understand how gender and other social categories, such as race, class, sexuality, disability, age, and nationality, are constructed within and through each other? Students will read classic critical texts by authors including Mary Wollstonecraft, Anna Julia Cooper, Emma Goldman, Virginia Woolf, Chandra Mohanty, Gloria Anzaldua, and Judith Butler. The course will analyze feminist engagements with liberalism, socialism, psychoanalysis, existentialism, post-colonialism, critical race theory, and queer theory. It will also consider anti-feminist arguments.
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
This interdisciplinary course explores autobiographies by African American, Hispanic, and Afro-Caribbean writers such as June Jordan, Edwidge Danticat, and Cornelius Eady. Other writers include David Sedaris and Lucy Grealy. Students will analyze these texts in terms of language, writing craft and story line. Students will also write their own autobiographies during the course of the semester by focusing on childhood memories, high school, and family life. Critical attention will be paid to the role race, class, ethnicity, gender and sexuality play in narrative identity. Students will learn creative writing techniques such as linear and nonlinear storytelling, dialogue, fantasy, showing verses telling, and monologue.
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
An exploration of various cultural worldviews in order to reveal and assess the voices of women from around the world as they respond to important global issues such as sexual violence and gendered oppression. Topics include: national citizenship, sexual politics, legal discourse, aesthetic representation, literary movements, genre, constructions of femininity, sexual identities, and representations of gender in relation to race and class and international cultures, and the relationship of self-image to the body politic. A central theme of the course will be the analysis of the notions of female culture and image in an international and interdisciplinary context.
Occasional
Humanities Literature Requirement,Cultural Diversity Opt B
Some CAS courses can be taken to fulfill the WGS minor by registering for the optional WGS track of that course. Students who register for this track and complete the required WGS readings and assignments may count a maximum number of one of these courses toward the minor in women's and gender studies. In order to register for the WGS track of a listed course, students should consult the instructor and the director of the women's and gender studies program no later than the first week of class.
4.00
An introduction to the role of media in contemporary society, focusing on medias influence on cultural, political, and ideological processes. An examination of the historical contexts within which newspapers, radio, television and new media technologies developed and how audiences interact with and influence the use of media.
Offered Both Fall and Spring
Social Science
4.00
Explores the development of global media and telecommunication corporations and technologies and the influence these transnational organizations and technologies bear on regional and nation-state communication policy, global and local culture, and the world economy. Cultural Diversity B ECR
Offered Spring Term
Cultural Diversity Opt B,Expanded Classroom Requirement
ENG 213, ENG 214, ENG 215, ENG 216, ENG 217, or ENG 218
4.00
In-depth exploration of American Realism from the post-Civil War era to the pre-WWI era (roughly 1875 to 1915). Particular emphasis is given to the role of houses and material and consumer culture in the forging of American identity. Authors may include Howells, Twain, James and Wharton among others. Normally offered alternate years. Students will also visit authors houses in the Boston area. This course requires prior approval in order to count towards the Womens and Gender Studies Minor. Students should consult with the instructor and the director of the WGS Minor no later than the first week of classes.
Occasional
ENG 213, ENG 214, ENG 215, ENG 216, ENG 217, or ENG 218
4.00
An extended study of three major novels by Hawthorne, Melville and Stowe as prototypes of the Great American Novel: an elusive achievement that seeks to capture the essence of American experience. This course confronts issues of sin and redemption, ambition and failure, racial and national identity, and aesthetic and cultural value, and it assesses the imaginative influence of these foundational narratives in two contemporary rewritings by Mukherjee and Reed. This course requires prior approval in order to count towards the Womens and Gender Studies Minor. Students should consult with the instructor and the director of the WGS Minor no later than the first week of classes.
Occasional
ENG 213, ENG 214, ENG 215, ENG 216, ENG 217, or ENG 218
4.00
This class will engage with the major novels and selected literary writings of two of the twentieth centurys most important modernist voices, Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster. We will approach their writings within the intellectual framework of British modernism and the cultural context of the Bloomsbury Group out of which they emerged. Special attention will be paid to their theoretical writings on fiction as well as their respective contributions to feminism and queer theory. The class will also view cinematic adaptations of certain novels and discuss how these films have contributed to the enduring appeal and status of these texts as classics of twentieth-century fiction.
Occasional
ENG 213, ENG 214, ENG 215, ENG 216, ENG 217, or ENG 218
4.00
A course that fits Group 4 of the English major requirements with varying subject matter. A interdisciplinary offering that features the writing of three of the late 19th centurys greatest minds: Henry, the novelist who wrote The Portrait of a Lady, Daisy Miller, and The Turn of the Screw; William, the philosopher and psychologist who wrote Principles of Psychology (1890) and Varieties of Religious Experience (1902); and Alice, their sister, who became a feminist icon through her remarkable diary. A selection of these works will be explored alongside a James family biography.
Occasional
One previous history Course, Sophomore status
4.00
This course examines the social and political development of European society between the two world wars, primarily through the literature, art, and films of the period. Topics include: the dissolution of pre-1914 middle class society; deviance and sexuality in the 1920s; the role of decadence in art and the Fascist response to deviance in life and art; women, workers, and the new technology; the rise of Fascism; political engagement and polarization throughout European society in the face of economic and social crisis.
Occasional
Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement
4.00
Consideration of the physiological, psychological and social factors associated with the aging process. Contemporary American values toward the elderly are compared and contrasted with historical and cross-cultural studies. Current opportunities and techniques enabling the elderly to enrich and expand their societal roles are explored.
Occasional
Consult the course catalog for prerequisites for the courses.
For the most current list of courses with an option WGS track, or for more information, contact the director of women's and gender studies.
Students may wish to include specialized research and/or an internship as part of their minor program. They may do so by completing one of the following courses under the supervision of the program director or a member of the Women's and Gender Studies Committee:
An Independent Study form must be submitted to the CAS Deans Office.
4.00
Substantive reading/research in an area of special interest in Womens and Gender Studies, directed by a faculty member in the appropriate academic discipline. Open to Juniors and Seniors by special arrangement with the relevant faculty member and the Director of Womens and Gender Studies. Instructors permission required.
Social Science
4.00
This interdisciplinary course explores the roles and images of women in Western culture. Through class discussion and a close reading of texts from literature, film, history, art, psychology, and recent feminist scholarship, we will examine the realities of womens everyday lives and analyze gender inequalities and the influence of gender on social structure, human behavior, and artistic expression. Topics will include the social construction of gender and identity; domestic prescriptions for women; women and work; intersections of gender, class, and race in American society; sexualities and identity; the politics of motherhood and reproductive rights; educating girls; negotiating male privilege and structural inequalities; representations of women in Western art and film; and women as artists and gendered models of creativity in art, film, fiction, and science. Cultural Diversity A
Offered Both Fall and Spring
Cultural Diversity Opt A,Cultural Diversity BFA,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requireme
4.00
An exploration of womens lives from the perspective of the social and natural sciences. This interdisciplinary course examines recent biological, psychological, and sociological theories about gender and gender roles, as well as the influence of feminist scholarship on these areas. Topics will include the social construction of gender; the psychology and biology of sex and gender; women and work; media representations of women; the female body and eating disorders; womens health and lifecycle; women and sexuality; reproduction, abortion, and motherhood; and sexual violence against women. Cultural Diversity A
Offered Both Fall and Spring
Cultural Diversity Opt A,Social Science
4.00
This interdisciplinary course provides an introduction to the key topics and debates that have shaped the field of gender studies, including queer studies, masculinity studies, and womens studies. Through lecture and class discussion of texts from literature, film, history, psychology, and sociology, we will examine the pervasive influence of gender on the structure of society and our everyday experiences. What role does gender play in our understanding of love, friendship, sexuality, and even violence? Topics will include biological arguments about gender and sexuality; the social construction of gender and identity; intersections of gender, race, class, and sexuality; masculinity and femininity; and theories of sexual difference and the construction of sexuality.
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
What can we learn from the books that teenage girls read? Our fondest memories of reading are often also memories of our earliest encounters with books - particularly those so mesmerizing that we would read them under our desks or by flashlight long after bedtime. This class will introduce students to some of the most interesting and complex Young Adult books targeted to young female readers. In addition to a wide array of novels, students will be exposed to theories of adolescent development, literary criticism, and social theory. We will consider how the dilemmas of girlhood have changed or stay constant. Well also investigate the urge, so common in books for children and teens, to teach kids how to think and behave - what do we want teenage girls to know, and when would we rather keep them childlike and unaware?
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
This course will investigate the complex intersections between feminism and popular culture through several different lenses. We will start by exploring some of the ways that feminists make arguments about popular culture. We will continue by looking at the complexities of public femininity in todays popular culture, including figures such as Lady Gaga and Katy Perry and television shows like The Bachelor and Greys Anatomy. We will also look at a variety of articulations of feminism within mass media, blogs, social media, and popular books such as Ariel Levys Female Chauvinist Pigs, and Caitlin Morans How to Be a Woman, among others. Along the way will be asking questions such as: what makes a work of art feminist? How does modern media contribute to or distract us from a variety of political debates in the realm of female equality? How can we, as individuals, use modern media to create and advance smart, feminist arguments? How can we create media that reflects a broader array of womens experiences and perspectives?
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
What is feminist thought? How have feminists - both today and in history - understood inequality and difference, and what have they seen as the best ways to address these issues and bring about social justice? How do feminist theories help us to understand how gender and other social categories, such as race, class, sexuality, disability, age, and nationality, are constructed within and through each other? Students will read classic critical texts by authors including Mary Wollstonecraft, Anna Julia Cooper, Emma Goldman, Virginia Woolf, Chandra Mohanty, Gloria Anzaldua, and Judith Butler. The course will analyze feminist engagements with liberalism, socialism, psychoanalysis, existentialism, post-colonialism, critical race theory, and queer theory. It will also consider anti-feminist arguments.
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
This interdisciplinary course explores autobiographies by African American, Hispanic, and Afro-Caribbean writers such as June Jordan, Edwidge Danticat, and Cornelius Eady. Other writers include David Sedaris and Lucy Grealy. Students will analyze these texts in terms of language, writing craft and story line. Students will also write their own autobiographies during the course of the semester by focusing on childhood memories, high school, and family life. Critical attention will be paid to the role race, class, ethnicity, gender and sexuality play in narrative identity. Students will learn creative writing techniques such as linear and nonlinear storytelling, dialogue, fantasy, showing verses telling, and monologue.
Occasional
Cultural Diversity Opt A
4.00
An exploration of various cultural worldviews in order to reveal and assess the voices of women from around the world as they respond to important global issues such as sexual violence and gendered oppression. Topics include: national citizenship, sexual politics, legal discourse, aesthetic representation, literary movements, genre, constructions of femininity, sexual identities, and representations of gender in relation to race and class and international cultures, and the relationship of self-image to the body politic. A central theme of the course will be the analysis of the notions of female culture and image in an international and interdisciplinary context.
Occasional
Humanities Literature Requirement,Cultural Diversity Opt B
An Independent Study form must be submitted to the CAS Deans Office.
4.00
Substantive reading/research in an area of special interest in Womens and Gender Studies, directed by a faculty member in the appropriate academic discipline. Open to Juniors and Seniors by special arrangement with the relevant faculty member and the Director of Womens and Gender Studies. Instructors permission required.
Social Science
Michele Plott, PhD
Associate Professor
Phone: 617.573.8118
Fax: 617.723.7255
Email: mplott@suffolk.edu
Office: 73 Tremont St., Rm. 1042
Susan Keefe
Office Manager
Email: skeefe@suffolk.edu
Cynthia Martin
Department Assistant
Email: cmartin@suffolk.edu
Phone: 617.573.8116
Fax: 617.723.7255
Location: 73 Tremont Street, 10th Floor, Boston, MA 02108
