Program in the Study of Women and Gender
Director
R. Marie Griffith
Executive Committee
Elizabeth M. Armstrong, Woodrow Wilson School, Sociology
Amy Borovoy, East Asian Studies
Margot Canady, History
Angela N. H. Creager, History
Maria A. DiBattista, English, Comparative Literature
Brigid Doherty, German, Art and Archaeology
R. Marie Griffith, Religion
Wendy Heller, Music
Claudia L. Johnson, English
Nannerl O. Keohane, Woodrow Wilson School, University Center for Human Values
Rena S. Lederman, Anthropology
Gaetana Marrone-Puglia, French and Italian
Elizabeth Anne McCauley, Art and Archaeology
Deborah E. Nord, English
Jeff E. Nunokawa, English
Sara S. Poor, German
Deborah A. Prentice, Psychology
Daniel I. Rubenstein, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Gayle M. Salamon, English
Valerie A. Smith, English, African American Studies
Associated Faculty
April Alliston, Comparative Literature
Michael W. Cadden, Lewis Center for the Arts, Theater and Dance
Ellen B. Chances, Slavic Languages and Literatures
Diana J. Fuss, English
Hendrik A. Hartog, History
Janet M. Martin, Classics
Esther H. Schor, English
Lynn T. White III, Woodrow Wilson School, Politics
Froma I. Zeitlin, Classics, Comparative Literature
The Program in the Study of Women and Gender is an interdisciplinary forum for the study of femininity, masculinity, sex roles, gender, sexuality, and the family in societies, both past and present. The program’s courses, which are open to all students, examine gender from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. The program offers core courses, seminars, and cross-listed courses, and also directs students to courses of interest that are based in other programs and departments. A current list of course offerings is available on the program’s website.
Plan of Study
Students who wish to complete the requirements for the undergraduate certificate in women and gender studies must take six courses: WOM 201, the introductory course; WOM 302, an advanced interdisciplinary seminar; and four additional chosen from among other women and gender courses and gender-related departmental offerings. Among these courses, at least one must be taken in each of three broad disciplinary areas: social science, humanities, and science. Students may take gender-related courses in their major departments for certificate credit. In addition, certificate students are required to incorporate issues related to women, gender, and/or sexuality into one junior paper and the senior thesis.
Core Courses
WOM 201 Introduction to the Study of Gender — Fall SA
The study of gender from a multidisciplinary perspective, examined in terms of social behavior and symbolic representation. Topics selected from historical, economic, political, and artistic realms. Open to all undergraduates. G. Salamon
WOM 225 Sex, Sexuality, and Gender (see SOC 225)
WOM 301 Evolution and the Behavior of the Sexes (see EEB 301)
WOM 302 Topics in the Study of Gender — Fall SA
Advanced seminar; focus changes from year to year. In general the seminar uses contemporary and classic works of feminist theory to examine ideas about gender that have shaped modern culture. Topics have included feminism and liberalism, literature and ideology, and psychoanalysis and feminism. R. Griffith
WOM 306 Women and Film (also VIS 341) — Spring LA
An exploration of the relationships between the idea of “woman’’ and the art of film. Issues addressed will include the role of woman as performer and director, questions of film genre, the identification of the female image as constitutive of the cinematic image, the historical and social dimensions of the female image projected in films of different times and different cultures. Film screenings, one three-hour seminar. G. Marrone-Puglia
WOM 310 The Family in Jewish Tradition (see JDS 315)
WOM 311 Gender, Crime, Media, and Culture (also SOC 311) — Fall SA
The study of culture involves myriad approaches and methods, and attracts researchers in and outside sociology. This course aims to explore scholarship that draws, in different ways, on combined contributions from gender studies, criminology and deviance, media studies, and the growing field of cultural studies. Its goals are to increase your knowledge of issues in each of these sociological subfields; to explore theories and methods used by scholars in these areas; and to assist students in developing their own research projects. One three-hour seminar. Staff
WOM 313 An Introduction to Black Women’s Studies (see AAS 311)
WOM 315 Russian Women Writers (see SLA 315)
WOM 326 Women in Modern Art (also ART 326) — Not offered this year LA
The history of women artists in the modern age, especially female painters, sculptors, and photographers in relation to their male contemporaries, the art institutions that determined their place in the canon, the images of women that surrounded them, the gender ideologies of their times, and the politics of feminist critique. The course asks how the history of art looks different when the story of women artists is told. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Staff
WOM 328 Gender, Desire, and the Body: The Islamic Tradition (see REL 328)
WOM 329 Psychology of Gender (see PSY 329)
WOM 337 Women, Gender, and Politics (see POL 335)
WOM 360 Women and American Religion (see REL 360)
WOM 389 Women Writers of the African Diaspora (see ENG 389)
WOM 393 Gender and Science — Not offered this year SA
An exploration of two aspects of the gender and science literature: the historical participation of women (and men) in scientific work and the feminist critique of scientific knowledge. We will explore ways in which women have been systematically excluded from science and assess the problems with that thesis. One three-hour seminar. A. Creager
WOM 400 Contemporary Feminist Theory — Spring
Addresses the question: What is feminism? Going back to the beginnings of contemporary feminist thought, the course will proceed through the variety of feminist approaches that have marked the study of art, literature, cinema and popular culture, history, politics, and society since the 1970s. One three-hour seminar. L. Chancer
WOM 401 Seminar. Types of Ideology and Literary Form (see COM 401)
Gender-Related Departmental Courses
Social Science
Anthropology
341 The Anthropology of Gender
441 Gender: Contested Categories, Shifting Frames
Politics
335 Women, Gender, and Politics (also WOM 337)
Sociology
221 Inequality: Class, Race, and Gender
225 Sex, Sexuality, and Gender (also WOM 225)
240 Family and Kinship
Humanities
African American Studies
311 An Introduction to Black Women’s Studies (also WOM 313)
389 Women Writers of the African Diaspora
Classics
329 Sex and Gender in the Ancient World
East Asian Studies
345 Sexuality and Desire in Modern Japan
English
369 American Women Writers
378, 379 Topics in Literature and Gender
399 The Female Literary Tradition
History
384 Gender in America: Colonial, Revolutionary, and Victorian Society
Slavic Languages and Literatures
315 Russian Women Writers (also WOM 315)
Science
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
301 Evolution and the Behavior of the Sexes (also WOM 301)
In addition, departmental seminars and student-initiated seminars in women and gender, offered from time to time, may be used to satisfy the program’s requirements with the director’s approval.
Certificate of Proficiency
Certificates of proficiency in the study of women and gender are issued upon graduation to students who have completed the program and have met the requirements of their departments.