Institute for Women's & Gender Studies Home Pag

Faculty

Kathy Gentile, Associate Professor of English,* Director
Ph.D., University of Oregon
Nanora Sweet, Associate Professor of English,*
Ph.D., University of Michigan
Deborah Cohen, Assistant Professor of History*
Ph.D., University of Chicago
Terri Conley, Assistant Professor of Psychology*
Ph.D., University of California-Los Angeles
Farida Jalazai, Assistant Professor of Political Science*
Ph.D. University of Buffalo - Suny
Kathleen Nigro, Lecturer in Women’s and Gender Studies
Ph.D., St. Louis University

"*Joint appointees” and “Affiliate Faculty”

Sally Barr Ebest, Professor of English
Ph.D., Indiana University
Barbara Harbach, Professor of Music
Ph.D., Eastman School of Music
Barbara Kachur, Professor of English
Ph.D., Ohio State University
Carol Peck, Professor of Optometry
Ph.D., University of California-Los Angeles
Margaret Sherraden, Professor of Social Work
Ph.D., Washington University
Jayne Stake, Professor of Psychology
Ph.D., Arizona State University
Anne Winkler, Professor of Economics
Ph.D., University of Illinois-Urbana
Jeanne Morgan Zarucchi, Professor of French and
Art History
Ph.D., Harvard University
Ruth Bohan, Associate Professor of Art History
Ph.D., University of Maryland
Susan Brownell, Associate Professor of Anthropology
Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara
Sheilah Clarke-Ekong, Associate Professor of Anthropology
Ph.D., University of California-Los Angeles
Jody Miller, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Ph.D., University of Southern California
Rodney Brunson, Assistant Professor in
Criminology and Criminal Justice
Ph.D., University of Illinois-Chicago
Matthew Davis, Assistant Professor in Educational
Leadership and Policy Studies
Ph.D., University of Texas
Virginia Navarro, Assistant Professor in Educational Psychology
Ph.D., Washington University
Laura Westhoff, Assistant Professor of History and Education
Ph.D., Washington University
Vivian Eveloff, Director of the Sue Shear Institute
For Women in Public Life
Malaika Horne, Director of the Executive Leadership
Institute
Ph.D., St. Louis University
Lori Curtis, Lecturer in Social Work
M.S.W., Washington University
Margaret Phillips, Lecturer in Foreign Languages
Ph.D., St. Louis University
Lynn Staley, Lecturer in English
Ph.D., St. Louis University
Petzall, Jill, Adjunct Lecturer in Film Studies                `
M.A., Washington University

General Information

The Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies has three central missions: to provide a comprehensive undergraduate and graduate gender studies curriculum, to support research on gender and women’s issues, and to sponsor events and provide community outreach. Institute faculty engage in disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarship to enhance our understanding of the ways in which gender, sex, and sexuality have structured human society and experience across time and cultures. Faculty and students draw upon the rich body of interdisciplinary feminist scholarship to investigate emerging theories and research on women, men, and gender. Our courses encourage a reassessment of female and male roles in society and facilitate career goals that focus on gender issues.  WGS classes promote the exchange of knowledge among people of different genders, classes, ethnicities, sexualities and cultural conditions. WGS courses enable students to broaden their educational experiences and develop new insights into their own lives and aspirations.

The Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies has three central missions: to provide a comprehensive undergraduate and graduate gender studies curriculum, to support research on gender and women’s issues, and to sponsor events and provide community outreach. Institute faculty engage in disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarship to enhance our understanding of the ways in which gender, sex, and sexuality have structured human society and experience across time and cultures. Faculty and students draw upon the rich body of interdisciplinary feminist scholarship to investigate emerging theories and research on women, men, and gender. Our courses encourage a reassessment of female and male roles in society and facilitate career goals that focus on gender issues.  WGS classes promote the exchange of knowledge among people of different genders, classes, ethnicities, sexualities and cultural conditions. WGS courses enable students to broaden their educational experiences and develop new insights into their own lives and aspirations.

Requirements

For Admission:

Undergraduate certificate candidates must meet the University’s general education requirements. Applicants must have a cumulative G.P.A. of at least 2.5 and must maintain a minimum 2.5 G.P.A. in WGS courses.  Candidates for undergraduate certificates are asked to register with IWGS after taking one or two courses.  Students will then be enrolled in the program and will be placed on our mailing list for class information and announcements of upcoming events.

Certificate Requirements

Students must take at least 18 hours in Women’s and Gender Studies courses.9 hours must include 3 core courses:

1) WGS 2102 Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies  

2) WGS 3033 Sexuality and Gender Theory or other 3000-5000 level course in feminist or gender theory

3) Capstone Experience:  Students must complete a final research project or practicum. The Capstone requirement may be satisfied by WGS 4352 Independent Study in Women’s and Gender Studies, WGS 4353 Internship in Women’s and Gender Studies, or by a 4000-level WGS course or other 4000-level seminar where student completes a final research and writing project that focuses on women’s and gender studies.

9 hours may be cross-listed courses with student’s major department or WGS electives from various disciplines.

The graduate certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies is designed for students who wish to receive post-baccalaureate training in gender studies.

Requirements

For Admission:
Baccalaureate degree

2.75 G.P.A.

Official transcripts of all previous undergraduate/graduate work

Two letters of recommendation

If you are not currently enrolled at UM-St. Louis, you must apply through the Graduate School. This certificate is available to students with Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees and students enrolled in graduate degree programs. A student need not be enrolled in a degree program to earn the WGS graduate certificate. Post B.A./B.S. students may enroll in the undergraduate or graduate certificate program.

Certificate Requirements

At least 18 hours of Women’s and Gender Studies courses at the 4000, 5000, and/or 6000 level
1) 3 hours must include a graduate feminist or gender theory course, which may be WGS 5033, Advanced Sexuality and Gender Theory, WGS 5040 Feminist Critical Theory, or other theory course.

2) 3 hours must include either a graduate internship or practicum, or final writing project, which may be an independent study WGS 6452 Special Readings in Women’s and Gender Studies, or a substantial research and writing project for a WGS graduate seminar, which may be WGS 6450 Seminar in Women’s and Gender Studies, or other cross-listed, 5000 or 6000-level seminar

3) 12 hours must be at the 5000 level or above, while up to 6 hours of 4000-level courses may be taken for graduate credit, as long as student completes graduate level work for the course.

4) No more than 6 hours may be taken as Directed or Independent Study credit.

Most WGS courses are cross-listed with other departments and count toward a department’s degree requirements we well as toward the certificate.

1004 The History of Women in the United States (3)
(Same as History 1004) A survey of women’s history from the colonial era to the present.

2102 Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies (3)
(Same as Social Work 2102, History 2102, and Sociology 2102) 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.

2103 Gender Roles in Society (3)
Prerequisites: Soc 1010 or WGS 2102 or consent of instructor. (Same as Soc 2103) The study of social processes through which gender roles are developed and acquired; the impact of gender roles on personal identity and social conduct; the relationship between gender roles and social inequality; and individual and social consequences of changing gender roles in contemporary society.

2140 Female Sexuality (3)
(Same as Psych 2140) Prerequisites: Psych 1003, or Bio 1012, or its equivalent. This course will present a biological-psychological orientation toward the study of female sexuality. Topics include: sexual anatomy, hormonal influences on sexual behavior, psychosexual development, sexual attraction and relationships, sexual response and dysfunction, menstruation, pregnancy, menopause, reproductive health issues, and social issues in sexuality.

2150 Special Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies* (3)
An introduction to a particular topic area in women’s and gender studies (topics will be announced prior to registration), drawing on the theories and methods of such disciplines as sociology, psychology, political science, history, philosophy, art history, and others to examine particular aspects of gender in social  and cultural life.  Course may satisfy the distribution requirement for humanities or social sciences depending on the topic.

2230 Psychology of Women (3)
(Same as Psych 2230) Prerequisites: Psych 1003. Evaluation of psychological theories and research regarding physiological, cognitive, and personality sex differences, female problems in adjustment, and clinical intervention for women.

2232 Psychology of Victims (3)
(Same as Psych 2232) Prerequisites: Psych 1003. A review of the effects of crime, violence, natural disasters, and other traumas on psychological functioning with attention to the relationship between gender and victimization.  Prevention and therapy techniques will also be discussed.

2253 Philosophy and Feminism (3)
(Same as Phil 2253) A critical examination of what various philosophers have said about issues of concern to women. Sample topics include oppression, racism, women’s nature, femininity, marriage, motherhood, sexuality, pornography, and the ethics of care.

2410 Work, Families, and Public Policy (3)
(Same as Econ 2410) This course compares the economic behavior of women and men in both the labor market and the household. Topics include: the family as an economic (production) unit, gender differences in labor force participation, occupations and earnings; the effectiveness of human capital theory and labor market discrimination in explaining the male-female wage gap; remedies for reducing the wage gap, family structure and economic well-being, and alternative policies to alleviate poverty.

3031 History of Women in the United States (3)
(Same as Hist 3031) Prerequisites: Junior standing or consent of the instructor. Development of women’s economic, political, and social role in the United States with special emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; women and work; women and the family; women and reform movements; women and education; feminist theorists and activists; images of women.

3032 History of Women in Comparative Cultures (3)
(Same as Hist 3032) Prerequisites: Junior standing or consent of the instructor. An introduction to the historical development of women’s status in a variety of cultures and periods within the areas of Africa, Europe, the Far East, Latin America, and the Middle East. The course analyzes women’s political, economic, familial, and sexual roles and the economic, demographic, ideological, and political forces which promoted change and continuity in these roles.

3033 Sexuality and Gender Theory (3)
(Same as Hist 3033) Prerequisites: 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 contexts. It then explores dynamic links between theory and the formal structures of political economy as well as the informal structures of everyday life.

3034 History of Sexuality (3)
(Same as Hist 3034) Prerequisites: Junior Standing or consent of instructor. This course locates sexuality at the center of history and examines its impact over time on politics, society, culture and economics.  In particular, the course focuses on changing definitions of sexual deviance, the historical evolution of formal and informal regulations of sexual practices and the manner in which sex has been deployed in broader historical struggles involving gender, race, class, migration and state building.

3053 African-American Women’s History (3)
(Same as Hist 3053) Prerequisites: Junior standing or consent of instructor. This course introduces some of the themes of African-American women’s history. By examining the impact of region, gender, and class on African-American women’s experiences across time, the course highlights black women’s applied and theoretical contributions to feminist politics and activism as well as the black struggle for freedom and equality.  Topics covered include: slavery and emancipation, institution and community building, the family and work, electoral politics and direct action protest, civil rights, and contemporary issues.

3224 Marriage and the Family (3)
(Same as Soc 3224) Prerequisites: 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 crisis, domestic violence, and divorce.  Universal and variable aspects of family organization, family role systems, and changes in family social structure

.3250 Sociology of Victimization (3)
(Same as Soc 3250) Prerequisites: Soc 1010. Examines the role of social factors in a wide range of kinds of victimization—crime, violence, natural disasters, accidents, disease, etc.  The topic of social reactions to various kinds of victimization is also covered. Sociological theories of victimization are emphasized.

3325 Violence Against Women (3)
(Same as CCJ 3325) Prerequisites: Junior standing, CCJ 1110, 1120, 1130, 2210, 2220, and Eng 3100, or consent of instructor. This course examines the nature, extent, causes and consequences of various types of violence against women, including rape, sexual assault, stalking, and intimate partner violence.  Criminal justice policy and practice regarding violence against women are also examined.  Fulfills CCJ diversity requirement.

3345 Lesbian Psychology (3)
(Same as Psych 3345) Prerequisites: Junior standing, 9 hours of psychology, or consent of instructor. Explores psychological, social, cultural, and historical aspects of lesbianism. Topics include development of lesbian identity historically and individually, causes of sexual orientation, coming out, relationships and friendship, sexuality, roles, prejudice and discrimination, race and class, legal and economic issues, politics and feminism, health, and community.

3350 Special Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies (3)*
Prerequisites: WGS 2102 or consent of instructor.  Special Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies.  Topics vary by semester.

3352 Independent Studies in Women’s and Gender Studies (1-3)
Prerequisite: Junior standing; two courses in Women’s and Gender Studies, including 2102; and consent of the instructor and the Institute.  Directed independent work in selected women’s and gender studies topics through readings, research, reports and/or conferences.  Course may satisfy the distribution requirement for the humanities, social sciences or math/science depending on topic.

3376 Women & Visual Arts (3)
(Same as Art 3376) Prerequisites: art 1100 or consent of instructor. 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.

3700 Diversity and Social Justice (3)
(Same as Soc Wk 3700) Prerequisites: Soc 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.

4350 Special Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies* (3)
Prerequisites: WGS 2102 or consent of instructor. Special topics examined from a gender perspective in the fields of anthropology, art history, criminology, economics, English, foreign language, history, philosophy, political science, psychology, social work, sociology, business, or others. Topics and departments vary by semester. Course may be repeated by permission of IWGS Director.

4352 Independent Study in Women’s and Gender Studies (1-3)
Prerequisites: WGS 2102 or consent of instructor. Independent, directed readings and research in a women’s and gender related topic, to be determined in consultation with instructor.

4353 Internship in Women’s and Gender Studies (3)
Prerequisite: 90 hours.  2.5 GPA, 12 WGS hrs.  Internship would place the student in a profit or nonprofit setting for approximately ten hours a week in an internship structured and supervised by the Institute; consent of Director required; may include biweekly seminar.  Student must present appropriate course background for either option, plus the above pre/co-requisites.

4452 Feminism and Science (3)
(Same as Phil 4452) Prerequisites: Six hours of philosophy, graduate standing, or consent of instructor. This course will explore major themes and issues in feminist science scholarship, a body of research that focuses on the relationship between science and gender. This course emphasizes feminist research in the philosophy and history of science, and in the biological sciences. Issues covered include the nature of objectivity, evidence, and truth; the factors that contribute to the acceptance or rejection of research hypotheses and theories; the nature and consequences of science’s cognitive authority; and the relationship between science and values.

4610 Domestic Violence: Theory, Problems, and Practice (3)
(Same as Soc Wk 4610) Prerequisites: Soc Wk 3150. Focuses on theoretical and empirical understanding of domestic violence in U.S. society and social work practice with battered women and their families.  This course addresses direct services, community organizing, and public policy changes to help end violence against women.  Relationships between violence against women and other forms of oppression (e.g., racism, economic exploitation, heterosexism and social class) are explored.

4630 Women’s Social Issues (3)
(Same as Soc Wk 4630) Prerequisites: Soc Wk 3150 or equivalent. This course will help students become more sensitive to the social and welfare concerns of women. The topics include work, education, family responsibilities, violence against women, and special health and mental health service needs.  Emphasis will be placed on understanding how social action can be used to bring about positive change.

4930 Studies in Gender and Literature (3)
(Same as Eng 4930) Prerequisites: Students must satisfy English prerequisites for 4000-level courses or obtain permission of instructor. The course examines the role of gender in literature, including the transformation of literary genres by women writers, writings by women during a particular historical period, and gender relations in literature.  Specific topics vary from semester to semester. The course may be repeated for credit with departmental approval.

4931 English Women Writers, 1300-1750 (3)
(Same as Eng 4931) Prerequisites: Students must satisfy English prerequisites for 4000-level courses or obtain permission of instructor. Texts covered will range in scope from closet drama and romance to lyrics to personal, political, and religious writing by women such as Margery Kempe, Mary Sidney, and Amelia Lanyer who wrote during a period when reading and writing were not the female norm.

4932 Female Gothic (3)
(Same as Eng 4932) Prerequisites: Students must satisfy English prerequisites for 4000-level courses or obtain permission of instructor. The course examines the historical development of the female gothic, a genre which employs narrative strategies for expressing fears and desires associated with female experience.  From the late 18th century to the present, we will trace the persistence of the Gothic vision in fiction and film.

4933 Female Novel of Development (3)
(Same as Eng 4933) Prerequisites: Students must satisfy English prerequisites for 4000-level courses or obtain permission of instructor.  The course covers the development of the female Bildungsroman from the late 18th century to the present.  We will consider how contemporary and current theories of female development help us read these novels within their particular cultural contexts.

4934 Austen and the Brontes (3)
(Same as Eng 4934) Prerequisites: Students must satisfy English prerequisites for 4000-level courses or obtain permission of instructor. 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.

4935 Women Heroes and Romantic Tales (3)
(Same as Eng 4935) Prerequisites: Students must satisfy English prerequisites for 4000-level courses or obtain permission of instructor. Women as epic and romantic heroes in British and transatlantic writing 1790s-1850s: reformers and rulers in novels by Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley; a runaway slave and an epic poet in works by Mary Prince and Elizabeth Barrett Browning; erotic and political adventures in Robinson, Dacre, Hemans; American icons “Pocahontas” and “Evangeline” in Sigourney and Longfellow.

4936 Tales of the Islamic East (3)
(Same as Eng 4936) Prerequisites: Students must satisfy English prerequisites for 4000-level courses or obtain permission of instructor.  Adventure, gender, and power in British and post-colonial writing: Lady Montague on Turkey, Gibbon on Islam, Byron and Hemans on  harems and heroes, Disraeli on the Jewish Caliph of Baghdad, T.E. Lawrence on Arabia, and el Saadawi and Rushdie on (post) modern gender and the Islamic East.

4937 Irish and Irish-American Women Writers (3 )
(Same as Eng 4937) Prerequisites: Students must satisfy English prerequisites for 4000-level courses or obtain permission of instructor. This course traces the parallel arcs of feminism reflected in similarly-themed Irish and Irish-American women’s novels from 1950 to present.  Authors range from Edna O’Brien and Mary McCarthy, the first contemporary feminist novelists in Ireland and America, through Emma Donoghue and Eileen Myles, whose lesbian protagonists bring feminist perspectives into the 21st century.

4938 American Women Poets of the 20th/21st Centuries (3)
(Same as English 4938) Prerequisites: Students must satisfy English prerequisites for 4000-level courses or obtain permission of instructor. Introduction to American women poets since 1900: anarchists, Imagists, Harlem formalists, white lyricists, modernists (Ridge, H.D., Dunbar-Nelson, Millay, Stein); mid-century giants (Rukeyser, Brooks) and Confessionals (Sexton, Plath); feminists and multiculturalists (Rich, Lorde, Giovanni, Hogan), poets of witness and the play of language and the mind (Klepfisz, Olds, Mullen, Perillo).

5031 Advanced History of Women in the United States (3)
(Same as Hist 5031) Prerequisites: Graduate standing.  Development of women’s economic, political, and social roles in the United States with special emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: women and work; women and the family; women and reform movements; women and education; feminist theorists and activists; images of women.

5032 Advanced History of Women in Comparative Cultures (3)
(Same as Hist 5032) Prerequisites: Graduate standing. An introduction to the historical development of women’s status in a variety of cultures and periods within the areas of Africa, Europe, the Far East, Latin America, and the Middle East. The course analyzes women’s political, economic, familial, and sexual roles and the economic, demographic, ideological, and political forces which promoted change and continuity in these roles.

5033 Sexuality and Gender Theory (3)
(Same as Hist 5033) Prerequisites: Graduate standing. This course examines the ways in which contemporary sexuality and gender theory have 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 contexts. It then explores dynamic links between theory and the formal structures of political economy as well as the informal structures of everyday life.

5034 History of Sexuality (3)
(Same as Hist 5034) Prerequisites: Graduate standing.  This course locates sexuality at the center of history and examines its impact over time on politics, society, culture and economics.  In particular, the course focuses on changing definitions of sexual deviance, the historical evolution of formal and informal regulations of sexual practices and on the manner in which sex has been deployed in broader historical struggles involving gender, race, class, migration and state building.

 5040 Feminist Critical Theory (3)
(Same as Eng 5040) Prerequisites: Graduate standing and consent of instructor. A consideration of feminist critical theory as a means of reassessing literary texts and our cultural heritage.  After exploring the roots of feminist criticism, the seminar will examine Anglo-American and continental debates on theories of language, writing and representation. In providing an interdisciplinary context the course will consider studies in psychology, anthropology, history, and philosophy/theology which have influenced and enriched feminist approaches to literature.

5350 Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies (3)
Prerequisite: Graduate standing and at least one Women’s and Gender Studies course.  This course will focus on a particular aspect of gender (to be announced prior to registration) and will draw upon recent theoretical and methodological work from a variety of disciplines.

5450 Special Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies (3)*
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. Special topics at the Graduate level examined from a gender perspective in the field of anthropology, art history, criminology, economics, English, foreign language, history, philosophy, political science, psychology, social work, sociology, business, or others. Topics and departments vary by semester.

5500 Foundations of Human Behavior in the Social Environment (3)
(Same as Soc Wk 5500) Prerequisites: Soc Wk 3150 or equivalent or admission to the MSW program.  Focuses on theoretical and empirical understanding of human behavior in the social environment using a life-span perspective.  Introduces biological, behavioral, cognitive, and sociocultural  theories of individuals, families, and small groups, and their implications for the professional social worker’s understanding of socioeconomic status, gender, disability, ethnicity, race, and sexual orientation.

5700 Diversity, Social Justice and Social Practice (3)
(Same as Soc Wk 5700) Prerequisites: Graduate standing. 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.

6435 Gender, Crime and Criminal Justice (3)
(Same as CCJ 6435) Prerequisites: Graduate standing. This course provides an analysis of theories of crime, crime processing and gender. Topics examined include the role of gender in criminal offending and victimization.  The impact of gender on criminal/juvenile justice system processing and treatment will be addressed.

6446 Sex Crime (3)
(Same as CCJ 6446) Prerequisites: 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 offenses.

 * Each semester the Director of the Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies identifies courses being offered by other departments and they are cross listed with Women’s and Gender Studies courses under the special topic course title. Consult the course schedule each semester for a list of these courses.