Women's Studies

The material on this page is from the 1996-97 catalog and may be out of date. Please check the current year's catalog for current information.

Professors Taylor (English) and Hunter (Music) (on leave, fall semester); Associate Professors Nigro (Psychology), Brinkley (Sociology and Women's Studies), Rice-DeFosse (French), MacLeod (Political Science), Costlow (Russian), Malcolmson (English), Eames (Anthropology), Chair, Strong (Japanese), and Nayder (English); Assistant Professors Read (French), Low (Psychology), Shulman (Mathematics), Hughes (Economics), López (Spanish), and Hill (Political Science) (on leave, 1996-1997)

The goal of this program is to enable students to recognize and use gender as an effective analytical tool. This method of analysis can help us to understand the realities and meanings of women's lives in many cultures and historical periods. Women's studies not only increases what we know about women, it enriches our understanding of men, and allows us to understand gender relations--how the roles assigned to men and women structure our societies and shape our personal interactions and public policies. The courses offered provide a cross-cultural comparison and encourage students to view women's experience from the perspective of a variety of fields.

Major requirements: Any student considering a major in women's studies should try to take Women's Studies 100 and Women's Studies 250 before the end of the sophomore year. Students who declared their women's studies major prior to September 1995 may choose to fulfill the major requirements either as published in the 1994-1995 catalog or as published here. Students declaring a women's studies major after September 1, 1995, must complete the following set of requirements: a total of ten courses, including Women's Studies 100, 201, 250, 400, and 458 (senior thesis). In addition, one of the ten courses must be a 300-level (or 400-level) core course. The remainder must be chosen from the list of core and component courses that follows. No more than one Short Term unit may be counted toward the major.

Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the program, many courses in women's studies have prerequisites in other departments. Many majors will also develop a focus in one division or group of departments, and will need to supplement their women's studies courses with other courses in that area of focus. Majors should plan their schedules carefully and are urged to consult regularly with the Chair in order to ensure that their programs have both breadth and depth. Majors should consider taking Women's Studies 400 in the junior year, because this course includes theoretical thinking, which can help prepare them for the senior thesis.

Thesis advisors should be chosen by each student, in consultation with the Chair, according to the subject matter of the thesis. Planning for the senior thesis and choosing a thesis advisor should begin in the junior year. Majors normally write their theses in the second semester of the senior year and, with the assistance of their advisor, must submit a thesis proposal to the Committee on Women's Studies by Thanksgiving break to enroll in 458 (or, for those beginning to write their theses in the fall semester, by April 1), that is, during the semester before thesis writing begins.

Core Courses
100. Introduction to Women's Studies. An interdisciplinary study of women's experience in cross-cultural perspective. The course investigates women's personal lives (for example, in the family and with friends) and their public lives (for example, in the work place and in politics). The course seeks to identify and understand the particularly "female" aspects of these experiences. Open to first-year students. S. Strong, Staff.

200. Women's Journey: Still Waters Run Deep. Women in Biblical literature, post-Biblical literature, and in the oral literature of the Middle East are not silent bystanders. They actively define the world around them and pursue their own relationship with the divine, their environment, and the search for perfection. This course is the same as Religion 200. M. Caspi.

201. African American Women and Feminist Thought. African American history, like white American history, omits the struggles and contributions of its women. Focusing on the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, the individual and collective experiences of African American women are examined. Particular attention is given to knowledge and understanding concerning 1) the experiences of enslaved African American women, 2) efforts aimed at self-definition and self-sufficiency, 3) African American women as initiators and participants in women's and civil-rights movements, and 4) Afra-American/womanist feminist thought. Open to first-year students. C. Brinkley.

250. Interdisciplinary Studies: Methods and Modes of Inquiry. Interdisciplinarity involves more than a meeting of disciplines. Practitioners stretch methodological norms and reach across disciplinary boundaries. Through examination of a single topic, this course introduces students to interdisciplinary methods of analysis. Students examine what practitioners actually do and work to become practitioners themselves. This course is the same as African American Studies 250 and American Cultural Studies 250. Prerequisites: any two courses in women's studies, African American studies, or American cultural studies. E. Eames.

310. The Demography of U.S. Women. This course examines quantitatively women's age structure and longevity in relation to life-cycle events, circumstances, outsider gender expectations, and the potential for self-definition. Numerically, who are women? Who are women in terms of education, color, income, geography, occupation, health, household structure, voting patterns, sexuality, retirement, and related issues? And, how are women treated in quantitative analysis? The importance of time (historical period) and age is stressed as well as the relation of qualitative issues and quantitative data. C. Brinkley.

360. Independent Study. Independent study of selected topics by individual students. Registration is granted only after the student has submitted a written proposal for a research project and has secured the sponsorship of a faculty member to direct the study and evaluate the results. Students must meet periodically with faculty and complete papers or projects. Students are limited to one independent study per semester. Written permission of the instructor is required. Staff.

365. Special Topics. A course or seminar offered from time to time and reserved for a special topic selected by the Committee on Women's Studies. Staff.

400. Junior-Senior Seminar. This seminar is an advanced inquiry into feminist theories and methods. Drawing on work in several disciplinary fields, students ask how using gender as a category of analysis illuminates and/or changes the questions of other disciplines. Students also investigate the development of core theories and methods within women's studies. Prerequisites: five courses in women's studies. Required of all majors.

400A. Women's Activism, Research Methodologies, and Theory. This Junior-Senior Seminar focuses on 1) the study of feminist thought as reflected in the writings of U.S. women of color and white women; 2) learning and reflecting upon social science and humanist methodologies in women's studies research and praxis; 3) the identification and consideration of epistemological issues; and, 4) feminist theory, praxis, and activism. Students are expected to visit and study service-delivery systems in such areas as women's health services, shelters for abused women and children, women in prison, fund raising, and other student-designated areas of women's activism. C. Brinkley.

457, 458. Senior Thesis. The research and writing of an extended essay or report, or the completion of a creative project, under the supervision of a faculty member. Majors normally register for 458 in the winter semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both Women's Studies 457 in the fall semester and 458 in the winter semester. Staff.

Short Term Units
s30. Gender and Geography. "The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are."--Samuel Johnson. This unit examines women's equality in relation to selected topics, as we travel across the United States. Possible topical areas include women's equality in the work place, protective labor laws, child-care availability, and accessibility and education (e.g., the implementation of Title IX and women's athletics). Two additional gender-related objectives are: 1) to learn firsthand region-specific history, geography, culture, and linguistic patterns; and 2) to examine cross-cultural differences and sameness within the United States. Prerequisite: Women's Studies 100 or 400 or s50, or relevant courses in other disciplines. Not open to first-year students. Written permission of the instructor is required. Enrollment is limited to 12. C. Brinkley.

s50. Individual Research. Registration in this unit is granted only after the student has submitted a written proposal for a full-time research project to be completed during the Short Term and has secured the sponsorship of a faculty member to direct the study and evaluate the results. Students are limited to one individual research unit. Written permission of the instructor is required. Staff.

The following courses are cross-listed with other departments.

Core Courses
Anthropology 275. Gender Relations in Comparative Perspective. E. Eames.

Art 287. Women and Modern Art. E. Rand.
Art 375. Issues of Sexuality and the Study of Art. E. Rand.
Art s22. Feminism and the Body in Art and Literature of the 1970s. E. Rand.>

Biology 105. Life, Sex, and Cells. S. Kinsman.

Classics 201. Women in Antiquity. D. O'Higgins.

Economics 230. Economics of Women, Men, and Work. J. Hughes.
Economics s25. Women and Work in Taiwan. M. Maurer-Fazio.

Education 240. Gender Issues and Education. A. Dodd.

English 121. The Brontës. L. Nayder.
English 121B. Twentieth-Century Women Writers. Staff.
English 225. Elizabeth I and Victoria. L. Nayder, C. Malcolmson.

English 395C. The Gothic Tradition. L. Nayder.
English s17. Sexual Harassment and the U.S. Senate's Thomas-Hill Hearings. Same as Sociology s17. C. Brinkley, C. Malcolmson.
English s27. Victorian Womanhood. Same as History s27. M. Creighton, L. Nayder.
English s28. Three African Women Writers. C. Taylor.
English s30. Feminist Literary Criticism. C. Malcolmson.

First-Year Seminar 135. Women in Art. R. Corrie.
First-Year Seminar 177. Doing It, Getting It, Seeing It, Reading It. E. Rand.
First-Year Seminar 193. W.I.S.E. Women: Women in Science and Engineering. B. Shulman.
First-Year Seminar 204. Gender, Work, and Family. E. Kane.
First-Year Seminar 206. Whence Sex? Why Gender? S. Kinsman.

French 365. Femmes Ecrivaines, 1789-Present. M. Rice-DeFosse.

History 390B. Women and Men in American History. M. Creighton.
History 390C. Gender and the American Civil War. M. Creighton.
History s23. The Tale of Genji. D. Grafflin.
History s27. Victorian Womanhood. M. Creighton, L. Nayder.
History s39. Mary Wollstonecraft. J. Cole.

Japanese 250. Modern Japanese Women's Literature. S. Strong.

Music 260. Women and Music. M. Hunter.

Philosophy 262. Philosophy and Feminism. L. Ekstrom.

Political Science 155. Women, Power, and Political Systems: Introduction to Women and Politics. L. Hill.

Political Science 235. Black Women in the Americas. L. Hill.

Political Science 329. Law and Gender. M. Kessler.

Political Science 347. Gender and the State. L. Hill.

Political Science 352. Women as Political Subjects. A. MacLeod.

Psychology 315. Body Image and Eating Disorders. C. Lopes.
Psychology 370. Psychology of Women and Gender. G. Nigro.
Psychology 401. Psychology of Rape and Sexual Harassment. R. Moyer.

Religion s22. Religion, Women, and Nature. M. Crunkleton.

Rhetoric 275. African American Public Address. C. Nero.

Russian 240. Women and Writing in Russia. J. Costlow.
Russian 274. Women's Autobiography. J. Costlow.

Sociology s17. Sexual Harassment and the U.S. Senate Thomas-Hill Hearings. Same as English s17. C. Brinkley, C. Malcolmson.
Spanish 343. Fictional Women in Nineteenth-Century Spanish Realism. F. López.
Spanish 344. Women Writers of Post-Franco Spain. F. López.

Component Courses
Anthropology 101. Social Anthropology. L. Danforth, D. Jenkins.
Anthropology 234. Myth, Folklore, and Popular Culture. L. Danforth.
Anthropology 352. Sociology of Colonialism. E. Eames.

Art 225. Iconography. R. Corrie.
Art 265. The Early Renaissance: Interpreting European Art, 1250-1450. R. Corrie.
Art 266. The High Renaissance and Mannerism: Interpreting European Art, 1450-1600. R. Corrie.
Art 283. Contemporary Art. E. Rand.
Art s29. Just View It: Popular Culture, Critical Stances. E. Rand.

Biology 200. The Social Context of Science. E. Minkoff.

Classics 200. Ancient Comedy and Satire. D. O'Higgins.

Economics 336. Population Economics. L. Williams.

English 121B. Reading "Race" and Ethnicity in American Literature. T. Chin.
English 241. American Fiction. C. Taylor.
English 250. The African American Novel. T. Chin.
English 294. Storytelling. C. Taylor.
English 395A. Twentieth-Century Caribbean Narrative. T. Chin.
English 395B. Dissenting Tradition in Twentieth-Century American Literature. C. Taylor.
English 395D. To Light: Five Twentieth-Century American Women Poets. R. Farnsworth.

First-Year Seminar 133. The Story of the Stone. D. Grafflin.
First-Year Seminar 191. Friendship and Love in Ancient Greece and Rome. D. O'Higgins.

French 240. Le Portrait de l'enfance: Littérature et film. R. Williamson.
French 251. Introduction to French Literature II. K. Read, M. Rice-DeFosse.
French 351. Early French Literature. K. Read.
French 352. French Literature of the Seventeenth Century. K. Read.
French 353. French Literature of the Eighteenth Century. M. Rice-DeFosse.
French 354. French Literature of the Nineteenth Century: Visages de la folie. R. Williamson.
French 355. French Literature of the Twentieth Century. R. Williamson.

German 242. German Literature of the Twentieth Century II. G. Neu-Sokol.
German 243. Introduction to German Poetry. G. Neu-Sokol.
German s28. Sexual Politics in Germany, 1800-1992. S. Hochstadt, D. Sweet.

History 141. America in the Nineteenth Century. M. Creighton.
History 224. The Old Regime and the Revolution in France. D. Cole.
History 235. Women in European History. Staff
History 247. Social History of the Civil War. M. Creighton.
History 276. Japan Since 1945 Through Film and Literature. A. Hirai.
History s28. Sexual Politics in Germany, 1800-1992. S. Hochstadt, D. Sweet.

Japanese 240. Japanese Literature: A Survey. S. Strong.

Music 254. Music and Drama. M. Hunter.

Philosophy 211. Philosophy of Science. M. Okrent.
Philosophy 258. Philosophy of Law. D. Cummiskey.
Philosophy 324. Liberty and Equality. D. Cummiskey.

Political Science 191. Western Political Theory. W. Corlett.
Political Science 296. Contract and Community. W. Corlett.
Political Science 297. The Household and Political Theory. W. Corlett.
Political Science 298. Sexuality and the Politics of Difference. W. Corlett.
Political Science 346. Power and Protest. A. MacLeod.

Psychology 202. Human Sexuality. C. McCormick.
Psychology 240. Developmental Psychology. G. Nigro.

Religion 235. Ancient Israel. R. Allison.
Religion 236. Introduction to the New Testament. R. Allison.
Religion 241. History of Christian Thought I. R. Allison.

Rhetoric 255. Moving Pictures: The Rhetoric of Committed Documentary. R. Branham.
Rhetoric 331. Rhetorical Theory and Practice. C. Nero.

Spanish s33. Women, Nation, and Literary Culture in Latin America. S. Rosman.

Theater 250. Twentieth-Century American Dance. M. Plavin.