IWGS Course Offerings
INSTITUTE FOR WOMEN’S AND GENDER STUDIES
UM-ST. LOUIS FALL SEMESTER – 2009
August 24, 2009 – December 19, 2009
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS & SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
For further information, contact us in 212 Clark Hall
Telephone: (314) 516-5581
Email: iwgs@umsl.edu
http://www.umsl.edu/~iwgs/
UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
WGS 2102 Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies
(Same as Sociology 2102/Hist 2102/Soc Wk 2102)
(Also satisfies requirements for Trauma Studies Certificate.)
Nigro, Kathleen (413 Clark), (001) MW 9:30am – 10:45am, Ref # 13691
Nigro, Kathleen (317 Clark), (002) TR 12:30-1:45pm, Ref # 13692
Jalalzai, Farida (306 Clark), (003), W 3:00pm – 5:30pm, Ref # 14609
This core class is required for all Women’s and Gender Studies Certificate earners. This class introduces students to cultural, political and historical issues that shape gender. Through a variety of disciplinary perspectives in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, the course familiarizes students with diverse female and male experiences and gendered power relationships. This course fulfills the general education requirement.
WGS 2150 Special Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies
Sex and Gender Across Cultures (same as Anthro 1041)
Koziol, Catherine (100 Lucas Hall) (001) MW 9:30am – 10:45am, Ref 13697
This course considers womanhood, manhood, third genders, and sexuality in a broad cross-cultural perspective. The focus of the course is on the diverse cultural logics that separate females, males and sometimes third genders into different groups in different societies, with the male group usually being the more prestigious one. Focusing on indigenous non-Western cultures, this course examines gender roles and sexuality within the broader cultural contexts of ritual and symbolism, family, marriage and kinship, economy, politics, and public life. This course will help students understand what it is like to be male or female in non-Western cultures. This course fulfills the cultural diversity requirement.
WGS 2150 Special Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies
Women’s Life Stories: Cross Cultural (same as Anthro_4452)
Clarke-Ekong, Sheila (TBA) (002), Ref # 14652 - ON-LINE COURSE
As women and men become increasingly conscious of woman’s literary accomplishments, this course allows for and encourages reading and critiquing international authors who write in English, or have been translated; using the conceptual framework of social and cultural anthropology. We will use the ethnographic lens of cultural anthropology to gain an in-depth appreciation and understanding for the value of ethno-biography and theoretical concepts brought to life through non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and other creative narratives including film
WGS 2230 Psychology of Women (Same as Psych 2230)
Staff, (001), MW 12:30pm – 1:45pm, Research Bldg OR120 Ref # 13699
Prerequisite: Psych 1003
This course will develop an understanding of the many dimensions of women’s psychological identity. It will examine female development across the lifespan, explore a wide variety of psychological issues that concern women and form a common language for the critical analysis of issues facing women today. We will also explore, identify, and try to understand the differences and similarities between women.
WGS 3033 Sexuality and Gender Theory (same as Hist 3033/5033/5143)
Cohen, Deborah (305 Clark), (001), MW 12:30pm – 1:45pm, Ref # 13771
Prerequisite: Junior Standing or consent of instructor.
This course examines the ways in which contemporary sexuality and gender theory has challenged and changed the study of culture and history.
The course introduces students to sexuality and gender theory in late twentieth and early twenty-first century context(s). It then explores dynamic links between theory and the formal structures of political economy as well as the informal structures of everyday life.
WGS 3224 Marriage and the Family (same as Soc 3224 and Nursing 3224)
Benson, Linda (101 Benton) (001), Ref # 13700, MW 9:30am – 10:45am
Prerequisite: Soc 1010 or consent of instructor
The study of patterns of close relationships, and how these relationships are influenced by larger social forces. Topics include: love, dating, mate selection, cohabitation, alternative lifestyles, working families, parenting, single mothers, families in crises, domestic violence, and divorce. Universal and variable aspects of family organization, family role systems, and changes in family social structure.
WGS 3350 Special Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies
Women in Int’l Entrepreneurship (same as BA 3728)
Murray, Janet (207 SSB) (001) MW 11:00 – 12:15pm, Ref # 13702
This course is an integration of international business and entrepreneurship, with a focus on women entrepreneurs. It is designed to help students learn how entrepreneurs create and grow their ventures internationally. We will examine how entrepreneurs search, evaluate, and exploit opportunities across national boundaries to market goods and services effectively. We will explore the unique circumstances faced by women entrepreneurs and the appropriate strategies developed in order to sustain international growth.
WGS 3376 Women and the Visual Arts (same as Art HS 3376)
Schenkenberg, Tamara (209 Clark) (001) Ref # 13773, MW 2:00pm-3:15pm
Prerequisite: AH 1100 or enrollment in the Women’s Studies Certificate
Program recommended.
Selected topics concerning women as creators, users, and subject matter of art. Great women artists in the Western world will be studied, as well as women weavers, potters, and sculptors in non-western society.
WGS 3700 Diversity and Social Justice (same as SW 3700)
Wells-Glover, Linda, (00B12 Bellerive Hall) (001) M, 12:30-3:15pm, Ref #13703
Curtis, Lori, (00101 Bellerive Hall), (002) W, 4:00-6:45pm, Ref # 13704
Prerequisite: Sociology 1010 or equivalent.
Analyzes the structure, dynamics, and consequences of social and economic injustice, and the impact on diverse groups in American society. Examines theoretical models and practice principles for work with diverse groups.
WGS 4325 Gender, Crime and Justice (same as CCJ 4325 and Soc 4325)
Gendon, Amanda (314 Clark) (001) Ref # 14610, TuTh 11:00am – 12:15pm
Prerequisite: CCJ 1110, 1120, 1130, 2210, 2220 or consent of instructor
Analysis of the role of gender in crime and in the justice system. Emphasis on gender differences in crime commission, criminal processing, and the employment of women in criminal justice agencies. Fulfills CCJ diversity requirement.
WGS 4352 Independent Study in Women’s and Gender Studies
Gentile, Kathy (Arranged), (001) Ref # 13706, (Consent Form Required)
WGS 4353 Internship in Women’s and Gender Studies
Gentile, Kathy (Arranged), (001) Ref # 13707 (Consent Form Required)
WGS 4360 Sociology of Minority Groups (same as Soc 4360)
Guess, Teresa J. (001) (208 Clark) Tu 2:00-4:40pm, Ref # 14744
The study of dominant-subordinate group relations. Religion, ethnicity, race, and gender as factors in the unequal distribution of power.
WGS 4452 Feminism and Science (same as Phil 4452)
Alexandrova, Anna, (001, Ref # 14611) (328 SSB)
In what ways have scientific theories and findings been influenced by gender identities and politics? Is scientific method itself sexist, as some have claimed? Does sexism in science undermine its universal validity? Does science need to be gender-blind and if so how can we best achieve it? This course examines these questions. No previous knowledge of feminism or philosophy of science is presupposed. But students should prepare to work hard on reading, writing essays and class participation.
WGS 4930 Studies in Gender and Literature (same as Eng 4930 and Hon 3010)
Topic: Ghost Stories & Spiritualism
Nigro, Kathleen MW 12:30pm – 1:45pm Honors College (001) Ref # 14733
What sets the “ghost fiction” apart from the usual brand of supernatural fiction? What were the elements in Victorian society that made “ghost fiction” such a popular form – and a revealing one to readers from later eras? The dawning of the twentieth century was also the dawning of the age of Freud, and we will consider how writers incorporated elements of psychology into their works. In addition, we will consider how this specifically Victorian genre revealed and reinforced the gender divide, as spiritualism became the domain of women. Women were considered particularly gifted in serving as mediums to the spiritual world; however, this strength should only be seen against the context of women’s political and social powerlessness. We also will investigate other Victorian ghost stories, as well as British and American social and literary theory and history, for a well-rounded view of this cultural phenomenon. There will be a final research paper requirement for this class.
WGS 4934 Austen and the Brontes (same as Eng 4934)
Gentile, Kathy MW 2:00pm – 3:15pm (208 Clark) (001) Ref # 14734
This course covers the novels of the major 19th century British writers Jane Austen and the three Bronte sisters, Anne, Emily, and Charlotte. The course will be devoted to Austen’s romantic comedies and the historical/cultural contexts that inform the novels, as well as the darker romanticism of the Brontes, along with the biographical, cultural, philosophical, and religious contexts of their work.
GRADUATE COURSES
WGS 5033 Sexuality and Gender Theory (same as Hist 3033/5033/5143)
Cohen, Deborah, MW 12:30pm – 1:45pm, Clark 305, G01, Ref # 13778
Prerequisite: Junior standing or consent of instructor.
This course examines the ways in which contemporary sexuality and gender theory has challenged and changed the study of culture and history. The course introduces students to sexuality and gender theory in late twentieth and early twenty-first century context(s). It then explores dynamic links between theory and the formal structures of political economy as well as the informal structures of everyday life.
WGS 5450 Special Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies:
Natural Bridge: Gender and Politics
Sweet, Nan, W 6:55pm – 9:35pm, Lucas 450, G01, Ref # 13775
Prerequisite: Open to students in the MFA program with two graduate writing workshops and with consent of instructor (sweet@umsl.edu) to others, including graduate students in English and WGS.
Students serve as the first readers of all submissions (poems, short stories, and essays) to Issue #23 of the University’s respected literary journal, Natural Bridge, and as section heads for the magazine’s contents. The issue will include both a general section and, in this era of literate politics, a special Section entitled Writing/Politics, Status/Gender. The Section seeks to recognize the political and personal in writing and to salute the beauty of written forms that accommodate both: witness, satire, fable, blues, epistle, and more.
WGS 5450 Special Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies:
Women and Rhetoric in the Public Sphere (same as Eng 5850)
Turley, Eric, W 6:55pm – 9:25pm, Lucas 493, G02, Ref # 13776
In this course, Women’s Rhetoric and the Public Sphere, we will examine how women – as individuals and groups – utilize their “available means” to engage, resist, subvert, and alter the rhetorical practices of the public sphere. We will begin the course mapping out the intersections of rhetorical and feminist theories prior to focusing on American women’s writing and organizing in the twentieth century. Course assignments include short rhetorical analysis papers, student declamations, and a research/recovery paper. Possible texts: Joy Ritchie and Kate Ronald (eds), Available Means: An Anthology of Women’s Rhetoric; Nan Johnson, Gender and Rhetorical Space in American Life 1866-1910; Wendy Sharer, Vote and Voice: Women’s Organizations and Political Literacy, 1915-1930; and Gwendolyn Pough, Check It While I Wreck It: Black Womanhood, Hip-hop Culture, and the Public Sphere.
WGS 5450 Special Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies: Women in the Middle East
Cochran, Judith, Tu 5:30pm – 8:10pm, Nursing Admin Bldg 00CR2, G03,
Ref # 13777
This course examines the history of women in the Middle East in the context of their societies, religion, and education. In addition, the boundaries and cultures of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Iran and Turkey will be explored. The course will cover Arab women and feminism, colonialism, nationalism, war, patriarchy, education and religion.
WGS 5700 Diversity, Social Justice and Social Practice
Glover, Linda-Wells, M 4:00pm – 6:30pm, Bellerive Hall 00101, G01,
Ref # 13708
Analyzes the structure, dynamics, and consequences of social and economic injustice, and the impact on diverse groups in American society. Examines theoretical models and practice principles for work with diverse groups.
WGS 6350 Gender, Language and Identity (same as Tech Ed 6350)
Navarro, Virginia, Th 4:00pm – 6:30pm, Clark 200), G01, Ref # 14612
Prerequisites: Graduate level standing.
An interdisciplinary look at the ways gendered and racial identities are developed and shaped through language and culture. Readings will address the complex, yet sometimes invisible, ways that identity, language and gender intersect, creating and assigning roles, responsibilities, and possible selves to individuals and groups in a global world.
WGS 6353 Graduate Internship in Women’s and Gender Studies
Gentile, Kathy, ARR G01, Ref # 13709
(special consent required)
WGS 6410 Women and Mental Health (same as Psych 7410)
Peterson, Zoe, W 2:00pm – 4:45pm, Benton 242, G01, Ref # 14653
Prerequisite: Admission to the doctoral program in Clinical Psychology
or consent of instructor.
This course will focus on contemporary research on the psychology of women pertaining to mental health issues. Etiology and treatment of disorders disproportionately affecting women will be emphasized.
WGS 6446 Sex Crime (same as CCJ 6446)
Miller, Jody, W 5:30pm – 8:10pm, Lucas 205, G01, Ref # 14613
Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.
Examination of consensual and non-consensual sexual offending. Topics include historical development of laws regulating sexual conduct, controversies surrounding the application of these laws, and the nature and distribution of sexual offences.
WGS 6452 Special Readings in Women’s and Gender Studies
Gentile, Kathy, TBA
Prerequisite: Admission to Graduate Certificate Program
and consent of instructor.
For further information, contact us in 212 Clark Hall,
Phone: (314) 516-5581
iwgs@umsl.edu
