Women’s Studies Program, College of Liberal Arts

2010 Spring Course Offerings

WS 2300 Introduction to Women’s Studies – Cheryl Baker-Heller, CRN 22712, TR 12:00-13:20 Learn about the intersection of gender in relation to race, ethnicity, and class; learn about the major issues facing women today; and discover what action women are taking to deal with gender-based challenges.  Required for WS Minors, all are welcome!

WS 2315 Special Topics:  Sociology of Marriage and Family – Teri Hibbert, CRN 25242, MWF 12:30-13:20  This course will explore through readings, presentations, and class discussion the areas of family—where we come from, how we negotiate our place in it, its influence throughout our lives and marriage—is it still important, how has it changed, why we study it.  Always a lively class.  Crosslisted with SOCI 2315 CRN 24989.

WS 3301 Special Topics:  La Chicana – Jesse Arrieta, CRN 25244, Sat 9:00-11:50, Examine the socioeconomic, political, and cultural forces that affect the status of Chicanas in American society from an interdisciplinary perspective. Consider the role of Chicanas in the Women's and Chicano Movements, as well as the Mexicana/Chicana confluence in the U.S.-Mexico border region. Fulfills LA Humanities or Social Sciences block electives.  Crosslisted with CHIC 3301 CRN 24222.

WS 3331 Special Topics: Gender and Popular Culture – Lee Ann Westman, CRN 26510, MWF 10:30-11:50  Through an examination of popular culture phenomena such as advertising, daytime and primetime television, children’s animation, music videos, and film, and by studying interesting essays on the same subjects, students will learn how to interpret popular culture specifically through the lenses of gender theory. In the end, successful students will have a deeper understanding of how mass culture serves to reflect and reinforce and occasionally challenge gender norms in American culture. Fulfills the Fine Arts block elective.

WS 3360 Special Topics:  Women in Literature – Shelley Armitage, CRN 25227, TR 12:30-13:20  Read fiction by women writers and learn about the representation of women in literature.  Do women and men write differently?  Fulfills LA Humanities block elective. Crosslisted with ENGL 3360 CRN 21947.

WS 3370 Special Topics:  Gender Roles & Society – Cheryl Howard, CRN 25243, TR 9:00-10:20  Learn about the emergence and institutionalization of gender stratification.  What is the relationship between gender, social status, class and power? Fulfills LA Social Sciences block elective.  Crosslisted with SOCI 3370 CRN 24328.

WS 3372 Special Topics:  Women and Work in the Sex Industry – DeAnna Varela, CRN 26485, TR 13:30-14:50, also offered MWF 9:30-10:20, CRN 26508 This course is designed to explore and critically analyze women’s roles in sex work and the elements of oppression, moral standards, and the legal system surrounding them. We will delve into the controversial and often taboo world of sex industry arenas such as pornography, prostitution, exotic dancing, performing arts, human trafficking, and cybersex. Students will look at women and their lives through a feminist lens to examine the often misunderstood world of the sex worker and contribute to possible solutions to what many consider an unacceptable life “choice”.  Fulfills LA Social Sciences block elective.

WS 3380 Social Justice Values At Work: Social Entrepreneurship, Non-Profits, & Volunteerism – DeAnna Varela, CRN 26486, TR 9:00-10:20 This course will focus on social justice issues and activism through entrepreneurship, non-profits and volunteerism.  We will analyze key social institutions and systems of power and oppression through a feminist lens, with emphasis placed on diverse perspectives related to gender, class, race, sexuality, ability, and culture.  Topics include:  an overview of  activism/social justice movements, an introduction to social entrepreneurship, feminist coalitions and activism, civic responsibility, practical skills for effective non-profit/volunteer work, team building and negotiation skills, and strengthening key reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. A concurrent WS internship is required. Fulfills LA Social Science block elective. 

WS 3390 Special Topics: Introduction to Sexuality Studies – Jess Weinberg, CRN 26970 TR 9:20-11:30  This course is an introduction to the multidisciplinary study of the histories and cultures of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer peoples, and the role of sexuality in sociocultural power relations. Through discussion of media, journalistic, academic, and activist representations of and theories about LGBT people, we will explore the role of race, class, economics, religion, region, and nation in the construction of modern gender and sexual identities and in the lived experiences of dissident genders and sexualities. The course draws on a variety of academic approaches, including feminist studies, cultural studies, history, anthropology, sociology, and biology. Fulfills LA Social Sciences and Humanities block electives.

WS 3390 Special Topics: Global Power, Gender Struggles – Jess Weinberg, CRN 26971, ONLINE COURSE This course deals with some of the major issues in the study of women and transnationalism. Among other topics we will discuss women as migrants, as refugees, as workers in the global economy, and as cross-national organizers and activists. We will discuss women’s varied relationships - for example, as actors and as acted upon - to phenomena such as war, free trade agreements, and transnational conflicts. We will examine these issues in the context of feminist theories about gender, transnationalism, migration, and globalization.  Fulfills the LA Social Science block electives.

WS 3390 Special Topics: Women Writers of the African Diaspora – Marion Rohrleitner, CRN 22716, MWF 11:30-12:20  Fulfills LA Humanities block elective. Crosslisted with ENGL 3301 CRN 26174.In this exciting interdisciplinary course we will explore the manifold cultural productions of contemporary women writers in the African diaspora, including Europe (May Ayim and Olumide Popoola in Germany, Zadie Smith and Andrea Levy in the UK), the anglophone Caribbean (Grace Nichols, Erna Brodber, Marie-Elena John), the US (Chimamanda Adichie, Danzy Senna, Yvette Christianse, Edwidge Danticat) and Canada (Marlene Nourbese-Philips).

Focusing on the theme of migration and the formation of diasporic communities, we will read poetry, short fiction, and essays by female artists, scholars, and activists of African descent to address issues of citizenship, national and ethnic identities, gender roles, and (un)equal access to economic and social opportunities. To illustrate, broaden, and deepen our discussion, we will also watch feature films, documentaries, and shorts by and about women in the African diaspora. Fulfills the Humanities block elective. 

WS 3390 Special Topics: The Politics of Gender in Journalism – Mary Benanti, CRN 22717, MWF 8:30-9:20 Fulfills the LA Humanities block elective. We will study the impact of gender on journalism and of the media on gender issues and women’s rights. We will examine the best stories written by women on gendered issues and dissect and comment on them. And we will examine women’s problematic relationship with the media and their responses as researchers, activists and media professionals. We will examine women’s media activism and its relationship to social change. At the end of this course students will have a working knowledge of women’s contributions to mass media, how the women’s movements impacted the media and how the media impacted those movements, how women worked to overcome issues of gendered stereotyping and diminishment and their efforts in the realm of alternative media. If you are excited and passionate about women and media you will find this class exhilarating and enlightening.

WS 3392 Special Topics: The Three Waves of Feminism – DeAnna Varela CRN 26503, MWF 12:30-13:20  This course will introduce you to the essential history, writings, vocabulary, and ideologies of the three waves of American feminism. You will read and learn about the famous (as well as the not so famous) women who have helped shape the Women’s Movement over the past 150 plus years. We will begin with the roots of women’s organizing which emerged from the abolitionist struggles of the mid-19^th century, work through the many ideologies of the second wave, and finally, catch the controversial third “wave” of contemporary feminism. Fulfills the LA Humanities Block Elective.

WS 3394 Special Topics:  Gender, Health & Medicine – Ann Gabbert, CRN 26487, MW 13:30-14:50 Investigate gendered health issues, and take a historical look at how health treatments have differed based on gender.  What is the relationship between gender, health, and medicine?  What are the issues for women as patients and as healers? Fulfills the LA Social Science or Humanities Block Electives. Crosslisted with HIST 3390 CRN 26653 and SOCI 3341 CRN

WS 3310 Directed Study in Women’s Studies – Brenda Risch, CRN 23469, by permission only.  Arrange an independent study in an area of women’s studies that interests you with Dr. Risch or one of the other WS participating faculty.

WS 3320 Internship in Women’s Studies – Brenda Risch, CRN 22714, by permission only.  Learn about feminist theory in relation to real issues in our community by working in partnership with a local organization.  Speak to Dr. Risch one semester in advance for more details.

WS 4360 Jr./Sr. Seminar/Women’s Studies – Political Protest in Art and Literature – Lee Ann Westman CRN 26507, MWF 9:30-10:20  This course will examine historical and contemporary examples of art, poetry, and music that aimed to explicitly or implicitly criticize governments or cultural norms. We will begin by studying ancient Greek texts that may have functioned as political protest in their own time and are still used today as a form of protest, as well as examine Virgil's Aeneid as a text that seems to question the founding of Rome. We will continue by moving historically through western culture and examining art and music that functioned as protest against political and social norms.

Graduate Courses

WS 5390 Special Topics: Literature of the Americas: Rememory in Contemporary Historical Fiction – Marion Rohrleitner, CRN 25318, MW 16:30-17:50  The 1987 publication of Toni Morrison's Beloved marked a milestone in the revival of historical fiction in the Americas. Since then, African American, Latino/a American, and Caribbean American authors in particular have increasingly been engaging this genre. They create revisionary historiographies 'from below' and focus on the ways women, ethnic minorities, and the working classes have experienced slavery, imperial expansion, and decolonization.  In this class we will study literature from the American Hemisphere in the English original and in translation. In addition to Toni Morrison's Beloved (1987) and A Mercy (2008), we will read Edward P. Jones's Pulitzer Prize winning The Known World (2003), Edwidge Danticat's The Farming of Bones (1998), Julia Alvarez’s In the Name of Salome (2000), Mario Vargas Llosa's La Fiesta del Chivo/The Feat of the Goat (2000), Maryse Condé’s I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem (1986), and Charles R. Johnson's Middle Passage (1990).