Fall 2011
Courses (in parenthesis is the GSS requirement each course fulfills)
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GSS 201: Introduction to the Study of Gender (GSS 201 requirement)
Professor Gayle M. Salamon
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.
GSS 302 / LAS 314 / REL 300: Topics in the Study of Gender - Gender, Sexuality, and Religion in Colonial Latin America (GSS 302 Requirement)
Professor: Jessica Delgado
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.
HIS 519 / GSS 519 / HOS 519: Topics in the History of Sex and Gender - History of Sexuality (Social Science & Humanities Requirement)
Professor Margot Canaday
A survey of important work in the history of sexuality, seeking to understand sexuality not only as a topic of historical inquiry but as a category of analysis. Seminar focuses on U.S. history (from colonial period to the present), but some of the readings address contexts outside of the United States, as well as interdisciplinary and/or theoretical approaches to questions of gender/sexuality.
ENG 396 / GSS 396: Queer Theory (Social Science & Humanities Requirement)
Professor Gayle M. Salamon
In this course, we will read extensively in the interdisciplinary field of queer theory, from its emergence two decades ago to its present-day articulations. We will explore what is meant by "queer," what relation it may or may not have to "homosexuality" and "gay" and lesbian," and what challenges it poses to a politics of identity. We will also interrogate the category of "theory" itself--what it is, what it does, and what kinds of literary or historical interventions it can perform. Particular attention will be paid to the queering and de-queering of public space.
AAS 358 / REL 379 / GSS 359: Sexuality and Religion in America (Social Science & Humanities Requirement)
Professor Wallace D. Best
Sexuality has long been a contested and contentious issue within American religions, yet only recently have scholars and practitioners begun to forthrightly address it. This course will explore the emerging literature on sexuality and religion as a way to understand how approaches to sex and sexuality within "sacred spaces" have shaped private behavior and public opinion. We will give particular attention to American Catholic and African American religious expressions for the way they have been especially influential in framing (and inhibiting) sexual discourse and practices in the US and throughout the world.
ENG 327 / GSS 332: The English Drama to 1700 (Social Science & Humanities Requirement)
Professor Russell J. Leo
A study of English drama from its medieval origins to Restoration comedy, with special attention to the astonishingly vital commercial theater of the Renaissance. The course will consider the aesthetic and cultural power of dramatic texts and the theater's characteristic production of social anxiety.
REL 389 / GSS 388: Women, Religion, and Human Rights (Social Science & Humanities Requirement)
Professor Alison L. Boden
This course will examine the intersection of women's rights and religious practices. We shall study the theological perspectives of Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity in regard to the human being, freedom, equality, and women. We shall then consider three questions that complicate the enjoyment of particular rights norms by religious women, namely relativism, privacy, and agency.
CLA 212 / HUM 212 / GSS 212: Classical Mythology (Social Science & Humanities Requirement)
Professor Janet D. Downie
An introduction to the classical myths in their cultural context and in their wider application to human concerns (such as creation, sex and gender, identity, transformation, and death). The course will offer a who's who of the ancient imaginative world, study the main ancient sources of well known stories, and introduce approaches to analyzing modern myths.
PSY 329 / GSS 329: Psychology of Gender (Social Science & Humanities Requirement)
Professor Keiko T. Brynildsen
Gender is a topic with which everybody feels intimately familiar. Indeed, people hold strong beliefs about how women and men are similar to and different from each other and about why gender differences exist. This course holds those beliefs up to scientific scrutiny, examining major theories and empirical findings in psychological research on gender. Topics include empirical comparisons of men and women, gender stereotypes and their perpetuation, and the role of gender and gendered beliefs in interpersonal relationships and physical and psychological well-being.
SOC 225 / GSS 225: Sex, Sexuality, and Gender (Social Science & Humanities Requirement)
Staff
Male/Female, Man/Woman, Masculine/Feminine, Straight/Gay. These "dueling dualisms" structure our lives, identities and social institutions. Most of us believe that we have a concrete biological sex, social gender and sexual orientation; yet, sociologists increasingly debate the very meanings of these categories and their relationships to one another. We will examine theoretical and empirical approaches to understanding sex, gender and sexuality, paying particular attention to the historical construction of categories, theories about human difference and efforts within sociology to make sex, gender and sexuality into proper objects of study.
UPDATED 09/01/2011
