| Class Schedules Index | Course Catalogs Index | Class Search Page |
| African-American and African Studies | |
| AAS 3000 | Women and Religion in Africa (3.00) |
| This course examines women¿s religious activities, traditions and spirituality in a number of different African contexts. Drawing on ethnographic, historical, literary, and religious studies scholarship, we will explore a variety of themes and debates that have emerged in the study of gender and religion in Africa. Topics will include gendered images of sacred power; the construction of gender through ritual; sexuality and fertility; and women¿ | |
| Anthropology | |
| ANTH 3129 | Marriage, Mortality, Fertility (3.00) |
| Explores the ways that culturally formed systems of values and family organization affect population processes in a variety of cultures. | |
| ANTH 3157 | Caribbean Perspectives (3.00) |
| Explores the histories and politics that have shaped the nations and dependencies that are geographically and politically defined as Caribbean, including French, English, and Spanish. Takes a regional and a national perspective on the patterns of family and kinship; community and household structures; political economy, ethnicity and ethnic relations; religious and social institutions; and relations between Caribbeans abroad and at home. Prerequisite: ANTH 1010 or instructor permission. | |
| ANTH 3370 | Power and the Body (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | Studying the cultural representations and interpretations of the body in society. Prerequisite: ANTH 1010 or permission of the instructor. |
| Arabic in Translation | |
| ARTR 3290 | Modern Arabic Literature in Translation (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | Introduction to the development and themes of modern Arabic literature (poetry, short stories, novels and plays). Taught in English. |
| Drama | |
| DRAM 2080 | Circus in America (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | Introduces the circus as a form of American entertainment. Focuses on its development, growth, decline, and cultural influences. |
| DRAM 4310 | Costume Design (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | Studies the development of costume design as a revelation of character and relationship to the special world. Proceeds from script analysis through research to the completed rendering. Lab required. Prerequisite: DRAM 2010, or instructor permission. |
| Education-Human Services | |
| EDHS 2892 | Issues Facing Adolescent Girls II (1.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | A continuation of EDHS 2891 Issues Facing Adolescent Girls I, this one-credit academic, service-learning class focuses on developing leadership skills through the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP). Students attend a weekly one-hour class and two-hour mentoring group, and spend four hours a month one-on-one with their mentee. For those not able to mentor, they can meet the class requirements by being involved in the YWLP research team. Prerequisites: EDHS 2891 Issues Facing Adolescent Girls I. |
| English-Nineteenth-Century British Literature | |
| ENNC 3620 | The Lives of the Victorians (3.00) |
| Introduces the literature and culture of the Victorian period, focusing on life-narrative in a variety of genres, including poetry, fiction, biography, and autobiography. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.engl.virginia.edu/courses. | |
| English-Renaissance Literature | |
| ENRN 3220 | Shakespeare II (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | First semester emphasizes histories and comedies; second semester tragedies and romances. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.engl.virginia.edu/courses. |
| History-South Asian History | |
| HISA 3121 | History of Women in South Asia (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | Surveys the evolving definitions and roles of women in the major social and cultural traditions of South Asia, i.e., India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. |
| History-United States History | |
| HIUS 3612 | History of Women in America, 1865 to Present (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | Studies the evolution of women's roles in American society with particular attention to the experiences of women of different races, classes, and ethnic groups. |
| HIUS 3671 | History of the Civil Rights Movement (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | Examines the history of the southern Civil Rights movement. Studies the civil rights movement's philosophies, tactics, events, personalities, and consequences, beginning in 1900, but concentrating heavily on the activist years between 1955 and 1968. |
| Music | |
| MUSI 4510 | Cultural and Historical Studies of Music (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | Selected topics, announced in advance, exploring the study of music within cultural and historical frameworks. Prerequisite: Instructor permission. |
| Persian in Translation | |
| PETR 3320 | Life Narratives & Iranian Women Writers (3.00) |
| This seminar examines life narratives and other forms of literary output by Iranian women writers. We will examine the ways these writers have desegregated a predominantly all-male literary tradition, as well as their arrival at the forefront of a bloodless social movement. Some of the genres to be investigated include novels, short stories, poetry, autobiographies, memoirs, and films. | |
| PETR 5320 | Life Narratives & Iranian Women Writers (3.00) |
| This seminar examines life narratives and other forms of literary output by Iranian women writers. We will examine the ways these writers have desegregated a predominantly all-male literary tradition, as well as their arrival at the forefront of a bloodless social movement. Some of the genres to be investigated include novels, short stories, poetry, autobiographies, memoirs, and films. | |
| Politics-Comparative Politics | |
| PLCP 2700 | Indian Politics and Society (3.00) |
| The course provides an overview of key issues in the study of contemporary Indian politics. Particular attention is paid to the successes and challenges of Indian democracy. The course examines the historical background to the establishment of democracy; the evolution of political institutions and processes, and foreign and economic policy; and contemporary identity politics (including gender, religion and caste). Cross-listed with SAST 2700. | |
| Politics-Political Theory | |
| PLPT 4200 | Feminist Political Theory (3.00) |
| Studies modern and contemporary feminist theories of political life. Prerequisite: One previous course in political theory or instructor permission. | |
| Religion-African Religions | |
| RELA 3000 | Women and Religion in Africa (3.00) |
| This course examines women¿s religious activities, traditions and spirituality in a number of different African contexts. Drawing on ethnographic, historical, literary, and religious studies scholarship, we will explore a variety of themes and debates that have emerged in the study of gender and religion in Africa. Topics will include gendered images of sacred power; the construction of gender through ritual; sexuality and fertility; and women¿ | |
| South Asian Studies | |
| SAST 2700 | Indian Politics and Society (3.00) |
| The course provides an overview of key issues in the study of contemporary Indian politics. Particular attention is paid to the successes and challenges of Indian democracy. The course examines the historical background to the establishment of democracy; the evolution of political institutions and processes, and foreign and economic policy; and contemporary identity politics (including gender, religion and caste). Cross-listed with PLCP 2700. | |
| South Asian Literature in Translation | |
| SATR 3000 | South Asian Literature Across Borders (3.00) |
| e will read and critique the fiction and poetry of culturally specific regions while reflecting on the assumption that experiences and identities are fundamentally gendered. We will explore issues associated with women writing in regional languages to writing in mainstream languages like Hindi, Urdu and English. We will also examine how the publication and dissemination of women's texts are related to the women movements in India and Pakistan. Prerequisite: Completion of First Writing Requirement | |
| Sociology | |
| SOC 2000 | Gender, Technology, & Education (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | |
| SOC 2052 | Sociology of the Family (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | Comparison of family organizations in relation to other social institutions in various societies; an introduction to the theory of kinship and marriage systems. |
| SOC 2320 | Gender and Society (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | |
| SOC 3290 | Sociology of Childhood (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | The class introduces the ¿new social studies of childhood¿ and the idea that the experience of childhood is a social construction, not a string of biological facts. Topics include: how caring for children varies across time & space, and considering childhood in the context of Western cultural trends - increasing inequality, unequal distribution of overwork, poverty, war, liberty, decreasing privacy, consumerism, sexualization, networked society. |
| SOC 3410 | Race and Ethnic Relations (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | Introduces the study of race and ethnic relations, including the social and economic conditions promoting prejudice, racism, discrimination, and segregation. Examines contemporary American conditions, and historical and international materials. |
| SOC 3450 | Women, Islam and Modernity (3.00) |
| The global Islamic revival is often considered an obstacle to gender equality. So how are we to understand women's involvement in Islamic movements? And what can these phenomena tell us about gender and modernity? This class will read ethnographic accounts of Muslim women in various parts of the world. We will discuss these ethnographies with an eye for how they speak to and challenge sociological theories of gender, identity, and globalization. Prerequisites: Student must have taken at least one course on gender, or instructor permission. | |
| Studies in Women and Gender | |
| SWAG 1010 | Gender and the American University (3.00) |
| An exploration of the roles of gender and women in the formation of the American university through readings, writings, and discussions. In order to focus on the role of gender and women as a central issue, we will learn how the American university was formed, how it developed over time, and how it functions today. | |
| SWAG 1340 | Women's Photography and Aesthetics (3.00) |
| An introduction to feminist theory as refracted through film theory, engaging questions of the representation of women from the particular angle of the representation of women by women. How does the strategy of self representation effect our interpretation of the images? How does woman's entry into the fine arts through photography in the 19th century echo in the practice and work of 20th century woman photographers? | |
| SWAG 1440 | Gender & Race in Popular Music (3.00) |
| This course explores the relationship between popular music, gender & race. To help us unravel these relationships, we consider different theoretical frameworks, including feminist theory, queer theory, critical race theory, & postcolonial theory, to determine how (well) they explain aspects of race and gender in popular music. We'll read critical interpretations, historical & ethnographic narratives, & analyze related musical & social materials. | |
| SWAG 1770 | Gender and Sexuality in Popular Media (3.00) |
| Introduction to feminist analyses of popular media in American society. An overview of feminist perspectives on presentations of gender and sexuality in contemporary culture with a focus on the application of feminist theory to particular forms of media. Students will examine how gender and sexuality are portrayed in advertising, print, television and film. Exploration of the role of popular media in the construction, perpetuation and potential transformation of gender and sexual stereotypes in our society. | |
| SWAG 2000 | Gender Technology & Education (3.00) |
| Defines gender and technology and gives reasons why they are important in modern western society. Describes and gives examples of how our system of education reflects and reinforces gender roles and how this process affects technology. Discusses the implications of technology used in education and of educational practice on the development of technology. | |
| SWAG 2100 | Introduction to Gender Studies (3.00) |
| An introduction to gender studies, including the fields of women's studies, feminist studies, LGBT studies, & masculinity studies. Students will examine historical movements, theoretical issues, & contemporary debates, especially as they pertain to issues of inequality & to the intersection of gender with race, class, sexuality, & nationalism. Topics will vary according to the interdisciplinary expertise & research focus of the instructor. | |
| SWAG 2200 | Multiculturalism and Women's Rights: A Global Perspective (3.00) |
| What happens when cultural practices seem to deny women basic individual rights? Do women have to choose between their culture and their rights? What is the role of the state in such dilemmas? Is deliberative democracy a solution? This course examines the theoretical literature on these issues as well as specific cases in several countries, including polygamy, veiling, FGM, and tribal and religious laws in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. | |
| SWAG 2224 | Black Femininities and Masculinities in Media (3.00) |
| Addresses the role the media has played in creating images and understandings of "Blackness" in the United States, particularly where it converges with popular ideologies about gender. | |
| SWAG 2300 | Women and Gender in the Deaf World (3.00) |
| Examines the roles of deaf women inside and outside of the signing Deaf community. Using an interdisciplinary approach, considers such topics as language and cultural barriers, violence against women, sexuality, race, class, education, and work. Investigates disparities between deaf and hearing women and the choices available to d/Deaf women, individually and collectively, in contemporary culture. | |
| SWAG 2340 | Russian Women's Literature (3.00) |
| Russia¿s literary tradition includes a rich vein of poetry, prose, and memoir written by women. In this course, we will read and analyze a broad sampling of Russian women¿s literature. We will examine works composed from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries; the emphasis of the course will be on literature of the twentieth century and the contemporary period. Cross-listed with RUTR 2340. | |
| SWAG 2370 | Feminism in America, 1910-Present (3.00) |
| This course will explore the history of feminism in America from the 1910s to the present day. We will examine the various philosophies and strategies of people who have allied themselves with the feminist movement as well as those who have opposed it. We will ask how activists imagined sexual equality and what reforms-political, legal, economic, cultural, or psychological-they proposed. | |
| SWAG 2400 | Gender Death & Dying (3.00) |
| This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to exploring ways that gender and sexuality impact death and dying. Aries' The Hour of Our Death and Seremetakis' The Last Word will be brought into conversation with Malson and Ussher's work on anorexia and Crimp's and Owen's theorizing representations of AIDS. We will explore photography's role in "capturing" the image of death, from 19th c. spirit photographs to 20th c. documentaries. | |
| SWAG 2500 | Topics in History and Gender (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | In what ways did buying and selling affect the private and public lives of men and women in the 20th-century U.S.? How did assumption of gender and consumption change throughout the century? From Coney Island to Madonna, this course examines entertainment, advertising, consumer activism, and fashion through readings, films, magazines, music, and more. Please visit http://www.virginia.edu/womenstudies/courses.html for more information. |
| SWAG 2559 | New Course in Studies in Women and Gender (1.00 - 4.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | The course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of studies in women and gender |
| SWAG 2848 | Technology and Reproduction: Global Perspectives (3.00) |
| This course will focus on issues in technology and reproduction from historical and cross-cultural perspectives. We will examine critical perspectives on science, power, gender, and inequality as they influence cultural constructions of reproductive processes such as pregnancy, childbirth, infertility, and debates about the enhancement and limitation of human fertility. Emphasis will be ethnographic examples from North America and South Asia. Prerequisites: Previous course in SWAG, ANTH, or Bioethics preferred. | |
| SWAG 2858 | Anthropology of Reproduction: Fertility and the Future (3.00) |
| In this course, we will study human reproduction as a cultural process. Questions include how gender, class, race, and religion shape reproductive ideals and practices around the world. Ethnographic examples will come from around the world, but will emphasize South Asia and the United States. This course examines the perspectives of both men and women and situates local examples within national and global struggles to (re)produce the future. | |
| SWAG 2891 | Issues Facing Adolescent Girls I (3.00) |
| Students will explore the psychological, social, and cultural issues affecting adolescent girls and apply this understanding through service with the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP). As we delve into theory and research on adolescent development, effective mentoring practices, and leadership development, students will test their theoretical knowledge and its application by serving as a Big Sister to an area middle school girl. Prerequiste: Permission of Instructor | |
| SWAG 2892 | Issues Facing Adolescent Girls II (1.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | This one-credit course is a continuation of the fall class and provides an opportunity for students to continue to develop their leadership skills through involvement in YWLP and academic service learning. In addition to the weekly one-hour class time (Big Sister meeting) students are required to continue as active participants in their two-hour-a-week mentoring group and four-hour-a-month one-on-one time with their mentee. Prerequisites: SWAG/EDHS 2891 |
| SWAG 3020 | Gender in Muslim Lives (3.00) |
| This course will focus on expressions of gender by Muslims in a variety of cultural contexts, primarily in the Middle East and South Asia. How do men and women joined by a common religious tradition, Islam, experience life and gender in diverse ways through interpretations of religious law and practice, cultural and historical particularities, and access to wealth and social status? | |
| SWAG 3100 | Women and Freedom of Movement: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (3.00) |
| The course focuses on the complex interconnectedness between the allocation of space and power. It studies how in the last few decades women in motion desegregated predominantly masculine spaces, reconfigured the boundaries and hierarchies between the sexes, modified definitions of beauty, and altered gender relations. It examines the rhetoric and poetics of sex segregation, voice, visibility, and mobility in a spectrum of genres. Prerequisites: 2000 level course in the humanities. | |
| SWAG 3120 | Women and Islam (3.00) |
| This course is an introduction to Islam through issues related to women and gender. Beginning with the portrayal of women in the Qur'an and the active role they played in the early years of Islam, it examines the growing body of literature on women and Islam. Through a variety of sources religious texts and commentaries, literary pieces and movies it explores a variety of questions. How does Islam treat women? What is 'Islamic' with respect to ideas about women? How are Muslim women represented in the Western media, literature and the arts? In what ways do they participate in cultural production of themselves? Why for centuries have they been the object of such intense curiosity and misunderstanding? | |
| SWAG 3130 | Geographies of Desire: Race, Gender, Place, Identity (3.00) |
| This course asks that we consider the role of place refracted through the lenses of gender and race in the construction of identity. Using the work of feminist geographers, we will explore both imaginary and physical landscapes from those of novels and visual art to those of work, home, and the physical body as we map contemporary geographies of desire. | |
| SWAG 3140 | Border Crossings: Women, Islam and Literature in the Middle East and North Africa (3.00) |
| A focus on a bloodless, non-violent revolution that is shaking the foundation of the Islamic Middle East and North Africa, a revolution with women writers at the forefront. An examination of the rhetoric and poetics of sex segregation, voice, visibility, and mobility in a spectrum of genres that includes folklore, novel, short story, poetry, biography, autobiography, and essay. | |
| SWAG 3200 | Women, Gender and Sports (3.00) |
| This course traces the history of American female athletes from the late 1800s through the early 21st century. We will use gender as a means of understanding the evolution of the female athlete, and will also trace the manner by which issues of class and race inform sportswomen¿s journeys over time, particularly with regard to issues of femininity and homophobia. | |
| SWAG 3250 | MotherLands: Landscapes of Hunger, Futures of Plenty (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | This course explores the legacy of the "hidden wounds" left upon the landscape by plantation slavery along with the visionary work of ecofeminist scholars and activists daring to imagine an alternative future. Readings, guest lectures, and field trips illumine the ways in which gender, race, and power are encoded in historical, cultural, and physical landscapes associated with planting/extraction regimes such as tobacco, mining, sugar, and corn. |
| SWAG 3300 | Gendering Partition Cultures (3.00) |
| The course explores how partitions impose anti-pluralist forms of abstract citizenship through cultural analysis of gender dynamics of the everyday and its mimetic representations. Territoriality and spatial arrangements will be examined through the problematics of familial and communal subject formation, traumatic memories, ethnic resistance and assimilation, and border-crossing, while also considering gender, sex, race, and religion. Prerequisites: Instructor Permission. | |
| SWAG 3310 | Women and Television (3.00) |
| This course examines how television addresses women, how it represents women, and how women respond to the medium. It also examines the relationship between the female audience and television by focusing on both contemporary and historical issues. Areas for examination include: how women have responded to television as technology; how specific genres have targeted women; how female-focused specialty channels have addressed women; and how specific television series and genres have mediated and negotiated the changing social, cultural, political, and economic status of women from the 1950s to the present. The course is particularly interested in charting how television has dealt with the challenges posed by the women's movement and feminism. Prerequisite: SWAG or Media Studies major. | |
| SWAG 3340 | Transnational Feminisms (3.00) |
| What does feminism look like when it crosses national borders? What is the difference between feminism as conceived in "the West" and gender justice movements in various parts of the world? How do colonial histories, inequalities, complex identities and culturally diverse ways of "doing" gender shape gender politics? This course also examines the gendered character of diasporas, contact zones, and institutions such as NGOs that traverse borders. | |
| SWAG 3350 | Gender Politics in Comparative Perspective (3.00) |
| This course examines how different countries "do" gender, exploring the political, social and economic construction of sexual difference. Our focus will be on how power is gendered and its effects on women and men in the developing world. We begin with a theoretical discussion of patriarchy, gender and feminist methods. Continuing to draw upon these theoretical debates, the course then investigates a series of issues, including gender and state formation in the Middle East, women's political participation in India and South Africa, feminist and women's movements in Latin America and Uganda, and globalization in South East Asia. | |
| SWAG 3400 | American Ghost: Gender and Race in Literature and Photography (3.00) |
| This course considers the figure of the ghost in twentieth-century and contemporary American women¿s literature and visual art by Carrie Mae Weems, Toni Morrison, Francesca Woodman, Carol Maso, Louise Erdrich, and others. Through woman writers¿ and artists¿ figurations of ghosts, we will explore unresolved sites of mourning structured into ideologies of race, ethnicity, and gender in the U.S. Prerequisites: Enrolling students must have completed at least a 2000 level course in the humanities or the social sciences. | |
| SWAG 3492 | Women's Photography and Aesthetics (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | An introduction to feminist theory as refracted through film theory, engaging questions of the representation of women from the particular angle of the representation of women by women. How does the strategy of self representation effect our interpretation of the images? How does woman's entry into the fine arts through photography in the 19th century echo in the practice and work of 20th century woman photographers? |
| SWAG 3500 | YWLP Leadership and Technology I (1.00) |
| Provides students an opportunity to integrate youth mentoring and leadership development with digital storytelling exploration and creation. While serving as a mentor to a middle school girl in the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP), a mentoring program that pairs area girls with college women for a year, students will participate in a weekly group that focuses on developing leadership projects using engaging dynamic media programs. | |
| SWAG 3501 | WLP Leadership and Technology II (1.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | While serving as a mentor to a middle school girl in the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP), a mentoring program that pairs area girls with college women for a year, students will participate in a weekly group that focuses on developing leadership projects using engaging dynamic media programs, such as digital storytelling. In addition, students will reflect upon and evaluate their own leadership styles throughout the course. |
| SWAG 3559 | New Course in Studies in Women and Gender (1.00 - 4.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Studies in Women and Gender |
| SWAG 3611 | History of Women in America, 1600 to 1865 (3.00) |
| A study of the evolution of women's roles in American society with particular attention to the experiences of women of different races, classes, and ethnic groups. | |
| SWAG 3612 | History of Women in America, 1865 to Present (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | A study of the evolution of women's roles in American society with particular attention to the experiences of women of different races, classes, and ethnic groups. |
| SWAG 3650 | East Asian Women: Self Portrayals (3.00) |
| This seminar is a sociological examination of representations of East Asian women in both written (biography, autobiography, and novel) and visual (documentary and film) media. Explored are the changing cultural and social assumptions about women and men in China, Japan and Korea over the course of the 20th century, with emphasis on the post-World War II environment. Recurring themes include the impact of the West on historical developments in each country and the various relationships among the three East Asian countries. | |
| SWAG 3750 | Women, Childhood, Autobiography (3.00) |
| Cross-cultural readings in women's childhood narratives. Emphasis on formal as well as thematic aspects. | |
| SWAG 3800 | Queer Theory (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | Introduces students to some key & controversial theoretical texts that make up the emerging field of queer theory. The approach will be interdisciplinary, w/ an emphasis on literary, social, & aesthetic criticisms that may shift according the instructor's areas of expertise. Active reading & informed discussion will be emphasized for the often unseen, or submerged, aspects of sexuality embedded in cultural texts, contexts, & literatures. Prerequisite: Must have completed at least a 200 level course in the humanities or the social sciences. |
| SWAG 3810 | Feminist Theory (3.00) |
| Introduces current feminist scholarship in a variety of areas literature, history, film, anthropology, and psychoanalysis, among others pairing feminist texts with more traditional ones. Features guest speakers and culminates in an interdisciplinary project. Prerequisites: Completion of SWAG 2100. | |
| SWAG 3820 | Feminist Methodologies (3.00) |
| Interdisciplinary introduction to qualitative research design from a feminist perspective. Topics include memory, objectivity, confidentiality, ethics, power differentials, feminist epistemology, the status of evidence, and the limits of statistics. Appropriate for students interested in learning interview techniques, narrative analysis, fieldwork, archival work, and how to frame research questions. | |
| SWAG 3993 | Independent Study (1.00 - 4.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | |
| SWAG 4050 | Senior Seminar SWAG: Human Rights and Gender (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | Prerequisites: SWAG Undergraduate and SWAG 3810 |
| SWAG 4100 | Readings in Sexuality Studies (3.00) |
| Explores key topics that have shaped the field of sexuality studies, with a focus on queer studies. Such topics include the history of sexuality, scientific racism and critical race theory, cyborgs, biopower, nationalism, colonialism, sexuality and law, the relationship of sexuality to race and class, and bodily aesthetics. Interdisciplinary readings may include fiction, theory, ethnography, law, philosophy, film, music, science, and economics. Prerequisites: 2000 level course in humanities or social sciences. | |
| SWAG 4150 | Feminism and the Public Sphere (3.00) |
| The idea of the public sphere is central to contemporary Western democracies. It is the "space" where citizens exchange ideas and form opinions, and from which these citizens can shap government. What would a more inclusive vision of political participation and communicatoin look like? In attempting to build an answer, we will examine a number of works on communication ethics, politics, media, with an emphasis on feminist and queer scholarship. | |
| SWAG 4200 | Sex and Gender Go To The Movies (3.00) |
| This course will examine the ways in which different mass media help to define our cultural ideas about gender differences and the ways in which feminist scholars have responded to these definitions by criticizing existing media images and by creating some alternatives of their own. The course will examine the notion that the mass media might influence our development as gendered individuals and consider different forms of feminist theory. | |
| SWAG 4240 | Rights, Identity and Gender (3.00) |
| Investigates the conflict over culture and women's rights and examines a number of proposed solutions. Issues addressed include the claims of minority communities in liberal states, marriage practices in Africa and the U.S., domestic violence in India, and female genital mutilation. Cross-listed with PLCP 412. Prerequisite: One course in PLCP or permission of the instructor. | |
| SWAG 4300 | Risky Business (3.00) |
| This course will bring economic notions of risk to thinking about risk in relation to gender, race, class, nation and globalization. Students will be introduced to notions of risk that have traveled with finance and insurance globally. They will also interrogate concepts associated with risk or mediated through risk and insurance. Material in class will range from financial analyses and ethnographic materials to fiction and film. | |
| SWAG 4340 | Feminist Theory in International Relations (3.00) |
| Examines leading feminist contributions to, and gendered critiques of, theories of international relations including (but not limited to) war, peace and security; international political economy; and international institutions and organizations. | |
| SWAG 4350 | Comparative Gender Stratification (3.00) |
| Examines gender stratification - the relative level of equality of men and women in a given group - in comparative and cross-historical perspective. Several theories are presented to explain the variations, from gender-egalitarian to highly patriarchal groups. (IR) Prerequisites: SWAG or SOC course | |
| SWAG 4360 | Body Politics and the Body Politic (3.00) |
| This course examines feminist and non-feminist discussions of body politics¿beauty standards, color politics, work discipline, transgender movements, cyborgs, racialization, "know your body" materials produced by the women's health movement, etc.¿in the context of political theory and philosophical writings on embodiment. Prerequisites: 2000 level course in humanties or social sciences. | |
| SWAG 4420 | Women and Education (3.00) |
| Course will examine the roles women have played and continue to play as students, scholars, and leaders in American educational institutions. | |
| SWAG 4559 | New Course in Studies in Women and Gender (1.00 - 4.00) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject of studies of women and gender. | |
| SWAG 4600 | Gender and Identity Politics: Beyond the Third Wave (3.00) |
| Are identity politics inherently divisive? Or can unity be built on the basis of difference? Is unity even a feasible or desirable goal? This course explores the debate over identity politics by examining how gender intersects with several forms of collective identity, including racial, national, cultural, and religious identities. Students read and then apply theoretical literature to a set of international cases, both western and non-western. | |
| SWAG 4700 | Men and Masculinities (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | Typically, men are dealt with in a way that casually presents them as representative of humanity. This course addresses the various ways that men are also ¿gendered,¿ and can be the subject of inquiries of gender, sexuality, inequality, and privilege in their own right. |
| SWAG 4840 | Gender Politics in Africa (3.00) |
| Comprehensive introduction to gender politics in Africa, including gender transformations under imperial rule, gender and national struggles, gender and culture claims, women¿s movements and the gendering of the post-colonial state. Prerequisties: One social science course in SWAG or comparative politics course; Instructor's Permission | |
| SWAG 4998 | SWAG Senior Thesis (3.00) |
| Majors in Studies in Women and Gender (SWAG) are encouraged to become Distinguished Majors. Students complete a two-semester written thesis (approximately 40-60 pages in length) in their fourth year under the supervision of a SWAG faculty member. The thesis allows students to pursue their own interests in depth and have the intellectual satisfaction of defining and completing a sustained project. www.virginia.edu/womenstudies/distmajor.html | |
| SWAG 4999 | SWAG Senior Thesis (3.00) |
| Offered Spring 2012 | SWAG senior thesis. Prerequisites: SWAG Major |
| SWAG 5140 | Advanced Border Crossings: Women, Islam, & Lit. in Middle East & N. Africa (3.00) |
| A focus on a bloodless, non-violent revolution that is shaking the foundation of the Islamic Middle East and North Africa, a revolution with women writers at the forefront. An examination of the rhetoric and poetics of sex segregation, voice, visibility, and mobility in a spectrum of genres that includes folklore, novel, short story, poetry, biography, autobiography, and essay. This course section is for graduate students only. | |