| Class Schedules Index | Course Catalogs Index | Class Search Page |
| African-American and African Studies | |
| AAS 2559 | New Course in African and African American Studies (1.00 - 4.00) |
| New course in the subject of African and African American Studies Course was offered Summer 2012, Fall 2011 | |
| 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¿ Course was offered Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| American Studies | |
| AMST 2001 | Formations of American Cultural Studies (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of cultural studies. We will engage critical-theoretical debates on important keywords of society (including nation, race, gender and class) and map the social formations of the US and beyond. In lectures and discussions, this class will explore culture in its many forms, including everyday life, historical memory, and literary and political imaginaries. |
| Anthropology | |
| ANTH 2420 | Language and Gender (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Studies how differences in pronunciation, vocabulary choice, non-verbal communication, and/or communicative style serve as social markers of gender identity and differentiation in Western and non-Western cultures. Includes critical analysis of theory and methodology of social science research on gender and language. |
| ANTH 2590 | Social and Cultural Anthropology (3.00) |
| Topics to be announced prior to each semester, dealing with social and cultural 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. Course was offered Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| 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) |
| Studying the cultural representations and interpretations of the body in society. Prerequisite: ANTH 1010 or permission of the instructor. Course was offered Spring 2012, Spring 2010 | |
| ANTH 3630 | Chinese Family and Religion (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Analyzes various features of traditional Chinese social organization as it existed in the late imperial period. Includes the late imperial state; Chinese family and marriage; lineages; ancestor worship; popular religion; village social structure; regional systems; and rebellion. |
| ANTH 3700 | Globalizing India: Society, Bazaars and Cultural Politics (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | A study of selected interrelated major cultural, religious and political changes for comprehending India after independence. The course will focus on major urban centers for explicating changing family, marriage and caste relationships; middle class Indians; status of women and Dalits; and rising religious/ethnic violence, including Hindu religious politics and religious nationalism. Prerequisite: One course in Anthropology or permission of instructor. |
| Arabic in Translation | |
| ARTR 3290 | Modern Arabic Literature in Translation (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Introduction to the development and themes of modern Arabic literature (poetry, short stories, novels and plays). Taught in English. Course was offered Spring 2012, Spring 2011 |
| American Sign Language | |
| ASL 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. No prior knowledge of ASL is required. Course was offered Fall 2009 | |
| Biology | |
| BIOL 4150 | Evolution of Sex (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Despite the many benefits of asexual reproduction, the vast majority of eukaryotic organisms reproduce sexually. How sex evolved, and how it persists despite its many associated costs, are major unanswered questions in biology. We will explore the diversity of sexual reproduction and associated evolutionary phenomena with a focus on critically evaluating current research and theory in this field. |
| Chinese in Translation | |
| CHTR 3840 | Writing Women in Modern China (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | This seminar focuses on works of fiction from modern China that articulate womanhood from a variety of perspectives. In addition to women writers (Qiu Jin, Ding Ling, Eileen Chang, Xi Xi, Chen Ran, Zhu Tianxin), male writers such as Xu Dishan, Mao Dun, and Lao She who devote unusual attention to feminine subjectivity are also included. Familiarity with Chinese culture and society and literary analysis are preferred, but not required. |
| Drama | |
| DRAM 2080 | Circus in America (3.00) |
| Introduces the circus as a form of American entertainment. Focuses on its development, growth, decline, and cultural influences. | |
| DRAM 3300 | History of Dress (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Studies the history of dress, from ancient to modern times, as a reflection of the individual's self expression and the relationship to one's culture. Lab required. Prerequisite: Instructor permission |
| DRAM 3440 | Movement for Theatre (3.00) |
| Examines the fundamental skills necessary to effective and descriptive physical expression for the stage. Focuses on developing an individual awaresness of one's physical self and establishing a sold foundation upon which to build a character physically, through practical exericises in balance, rhythm, endurance , freedom of movement, flexibility, shape and expression. Course was offered Spring 2011, Fall 2009 | |
| DRAM 4310 | Costume Design (3.00) |
| 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 2891 | Issues Facing Adolescent Girls (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | This course provides an opportunity for students to develop their leadership skills through involvement in academic service learning. 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), a mentoring program that pairs middle school girls with college women for a year. Offered on the Undergraduate and Graduate levels. Graduate level requires additional readings and assignments. |
| EDHS 2892 | Issues Facing Adolescent Girls II (1.00) |
| 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. | |
| EDHS 3500 | Special Topics In Human Services (1.00 - 6.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Topical offerings in the subject of human services. |
| EDHS 5891 | Issues Facing Adolescent Girls (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | This course provides an opportunity for students to develop their leadership skills through involvement in academic service learning. 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), a mentoring program that pairs middle school girls with college women for a year. Offered on the Undergraduate and Graduate levels. Graduate level requires additional readings and assignments. |
| English-American Literature to 1900 | |
| ENAM 3140 | African-American Literature II (3.00) |
| Continuation of ENAM 3130, this course begins with the career of Richard Wright and brings the Afro-American literary and performing tradition up to the present day. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.engl.virginia.edu/courses. | |
| ENAM 4814 | African-American Women Authors (3.00) |
| For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.engl.virginia.edu/courses. | |
| English-Criticism | |
| ENCR 4500 | Advanced Studies in Literary Criticism (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Limited enrollment. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.engl.virginia.edu/courses. |
| English-Introductory Seminar in Literature | |
| ENLT 2552 | Women in Literature (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Analyzes the representations of women in literature as well as literary texts by women writers. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.engl.virginia.edu/courses. |
| English-Modern & Contemporary Literature | |
| ENMC 3559 | New Course in Modern and Contemporary Literature. (1.00 - 4.00) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Modern and Contemporary Literature. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.engl.virginia.edu/courses. Course was offered Summer 2012, Fall 2009 | |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2011 | |
| English-Renaissance Literature | |
| ENRN 3220 | Shakespeare II (3.00) |
| 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. | |
| French | |
| FREN 4743 | Africa in Cinema (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Study of the representation of Africa in American, Western European and African films. Ideological Constructions of the African as 'other'. Exoticism in cinema. History of African cinema. Economic issues in African cinema: production, distribution, and the role of African film festivals. The socio-political context. Women in African cinema. Aesthetic problems: themes and narrative styles. Prerequisite: FREN 3032 and FREN 3584 or another 3000-level literature course in French. |
| History-African History | |
| HIAF 2001 | Early African History (4.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Studies the history of African civilizations from the iron age through the era of the slave trade, ca. 1800. Emphasizes the search for the themes of social, political, economic, and intellectual history which present African civilizations on their own terms. |
| HIAF 3021 | History of Southern Africa (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Studies the history of Africa generally south of the Zambezi River. Emphasizes African institutions, creation of ethnic and racial identities, industrialization, and rural poverty, from the early formation of historical communities to recent times. |
| History-East Asian History | |
| HIEA 4501 | Seminar in East Asian History (4.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | A small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies. |
| History-South Asian History | |
| HISA 3121 | History of Women in South Asia (3.00) |
| 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 3171 | United States Society and Politics, 1945-1990 (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Surveys post World War II U.S. politics uncovering the links between long range social and economic phenomenon (suburbanization, decline of agricultural employment, the rise and fall of the labor movement, black urbanization and proletarianization, economic society and insecurity within the middle class, the changing structure of multinational business) and the more obvious political movements, election results, and state policies of the last half century. |
| HIUS 3559 | New Course in United States History (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of United States history. Course was offered Spring 2012, Fall 2009 |
| HIUS 3612 | History of Women in America, 1865 to Present (3.00) |
| 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 Fall 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. |
| Media Studies | |
| MDST 3306 | Sexuality, Gender, Class and Race in the Teen Film (3.00) |
| The focus of this class will be on viewings and analyses of films featuring images of teens produced between 1930 and the present, focusing on the following questions: what is adolescence (and how has it been defined in American film)? What is the range of experience that characterizes American adolescence across gender, race, and class lines? How does it make sense to think about the social influence of films on individuals and society? Course was offered Summer 2012 | |
| Music | |
| MUSI 2570 | Music Cultures (3.00) |
| Studies of various musical topics, with emphasis on relatons between music and cultural context. Taught at the non-major level. | |
| MUSI 4509 | Cultural and Historical Studies of Music (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Selected topics, announced in advance, exploring the study of music within cultural and historical frameworks. Prerequisite: Instructor permission. |
| MUSI 4510 | Cultural and Historical Studies of Music (3.00) |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2010 | |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2010 | |
| Politics-American Politics | |
| PLAP 4140 | Gender and American Political Behavior (3.00) |
| A survey of the way gender ideas shape political behavior in the American political system, historically and today. Prerequisite: one course in SWAG or American political behavior (PLAP 2270, 3140, 3150, 4120, 4150, 4360). | |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| PLCP 3350 | Gender Politics in Comparative Perspective (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Focuses on the state and how power is gendered in the developing world. Topics include feminist methods and concepts, women in the military, nationalism, women's movements, quotas, citizenship and globalization. Cross-listed with SWAG 3350. |
| 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. Course was offered Fall 2010, Spring 2010 | |
| Psychology | |
| PSYC 4001 | Controversies in Human Sexuality (3.00) |
| Various controversial topics in human sexuality will be explored. Students will read articles from the popular press, the web, and academic journal articles to critically evaluate an issues involving human sexuality. | |
| Religion-African Religions | |
| RELA 2750 | African Religions (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Introduces the mythology, ritual, philosophy, and religious art of the traditional religions of sub-Saharan Africa, also African versions of Christianity and African-American religions in the New World. Course was offered Fall 2009 |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| Religion-General Religion | |
| RELG 2660 | "Spiritual But Not Religious": Spirituality in America (3.00) |
| This course asks: what does "spiritual but not religious" mean, and why has it become such a pervasive idea in modern America? We'll study everything from AA to yoga to Zen meditation, with stops in Christian rock, Beat poetry, Abstract Expressionist painting and more. In the end, we'll come to see spirituality in America as a complex intermingling of the great world religions, modern psychology, and a crassly commercialized culture industry. Course was offered Spring 2012 | |
| Religion-Judaism | |
| RELJ 2030 | The Judaic Tradition (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Introduces the world view and way of life of classical Rabbinic Judaism. |
| RELJ 3430 | Women in Judaism (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Women in Judaism |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| 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 Course was offered Fall 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| Sociology | |
| SOC 2000 | Gender, Technology, & Education (3.00) |
| Gender, Technology, & Education | |
| SOC 2052 | Sociology of the Family (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 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) |
| Gender and Society | |
| SOC 2380 | Violence & Gender (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to interrogating links between gender and violence. We will focus on representations of violence and theories of subjectivity in response to violence, querying how gender inflects the event and aftermath of violence. Course was offered Fall 2011 |
| SOC 2595 | Special Topics in Sociology (3.00) |
| Topics vary from semester to semester and will be announced. | |
| SOC 3290 | Sociology of Childhood (3.00) |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2012, Spring 2010 | |
| SOC 3400 | Gender and Sexuality (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Focuses on the construction of gender and sexuality, and of the many ways human groups regulate and attach meanings to these categories. Some general themes addressed will be: contemporary and historical definitions of gender, sex, and sexuality; gender socialization; the varieties of sexual identities and relationships; embodiment, childbearing, and families in the contemporary United States. At least 3 credits in Sociology or permission of instructor. |
| SOC 3410 | Race and Ethnic Relations (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 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. Course was offered Summer 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Summer 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Summer 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2011 | |
| SOC 3470 | Sociology of Development (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | This study of the development of human societies explores the five major 'techo-economic bases' that have characterized our species' history (hunting-gathering, horticultural, agrarian, industrial and information/biotech) and examines how contemporary macrolevel trends affect our lives at the microlevel. |
| SOC 4350 | Comparative Gender Stratification (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | 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. Six credits of Sociology or instructor permission. |
| SOC 4870 | Immigration (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Examines contemporary immigration into the United States from the point of view of key theoretical debates and historical circumstances that have shaped current American attitudes toward immigration. Six credits of Sociology or instructor permission. Course was offered Fall 2011, Spring 2010 |
| Spanish | |
| SPAN 4310 | Latin American Women Writers from 1900 to the Present (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Study of major Latin American women writers from 1900 to the present, including poets, essayists, playwrights, and fiction writers. Discussion will focus on the literary representation of issues related to gender and culture. Prerequisite: SPAN 3010, 3300, and 3 credits of 3400-3430, or departmental placement. |
| SPAN 4701 | The Inquisition in Spain and Latin America (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | The Inquisition in Spain and Latin America Course was offered Spring 2010 |
| 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 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. Course was offered Fall 2009 | |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2011, Fall 2010 | |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| 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. Course was offered Fall 2009 | |
| 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. Course was offered Fall 2010 | |
| 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) |
| The course incorporates writings, movies, advertisements, television, and music into active class discussions and lectures. We will learn about the Cold War itself and chart a timeline of major historical events alongside cultural reactions. Of special interest to this course is understanding how gay rights and women's movements responded to or incorporated the rhetoric of Cold War domestic anxieties, from 1949 until 1989. Course was offered Spring 2012, Spring 2011 | |
| SWAG 2559 | New Course in Studies in Women and Gender (1.00 - 4.00) |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2010 | |
| 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. Course was offered Summer 2011 | |
| 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) |
| 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? Course was offered Fall 2009 | |
| 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.
Course was offered Summer 2012, Fall 2011 | |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| 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) |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2012 | |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2010 | |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| SWAG 3492 | 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? Course was offered Spring 2012 | |
| 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 | YWLP Women's Leadership and Technology II (1.00) |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2012 | |
| SWAG 3559 | New Course in Studies in Women and Gender (1.00 - 4.00) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Studies in Women and Gender | |
| SWAG 3612 | History of Women in America, 1865 to Present (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. Course was offered Spring 2012 | |
| 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) |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2012, Spring 2011 | |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| SWAG 3993 | Independent Study (1.00 - 4.00) |
| Independent Study Course was offered Summer 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Summer 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Summer 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 | |
| SWAG 4050 | Senior Seminar SWAG: Human Rights and Gender (3.00) |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2010 | |
| 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 4120. 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. Course was offered Fall 2010 | |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2011, Fall 2009 | |
| 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) |
| 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.
Course was offered Spring 2012 | |
| 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 Course was offered Fall 2010 | |
| 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 Prerequisites: SWAG Major; SWAG 2nd Major; SWAG Minor | |
| SWAG 4999 | SWAG Senior Thesis (3.00) |
| 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.
Course was offered Spring 2011 | |
| Women and Gender Studies | |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 2100 | Introduction to Gender Studies (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | 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. |
| WGS 2224 | Black Femininities and Masculinities in Media (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | 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. |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 2500 | Topics in History and Gender (3.00) |
| The course incorporates writings, movies, advertisements, television, and music into active class discussions and lectures. We will learn about the Cold War itself and chart a timeline of major historical events alongside cultural reactions. Of special interest to this course is understanding how gay rights and women's movements responded to or incorporated the rhetoric of Cold War domestic anxieties, from 1949 until 1989. | |
| WGS 2559 | New Course in Studies in Women and Gender (1.00 - 4.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | The course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of studies in women and gender |
| WGS 2848 | Reproductive Technology (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. | |
| WGS 2891 | Issues Facing Adolescent Girls I (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | 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 |
| WGS 2892 | Issues Facing Adolescent Girls II (1.00) |
| 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: WGS/EDHS 2891 | |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 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? | |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 3140 | Border Crossings: Women, Islam and Literature in the Middle East and North Africa (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | 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. |
| WGS 3200 | Women, Gender and Sports (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | 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. |
| WGS 3250 | MotherLands: Landscapes of Hunger, Futures of Plenty (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 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. |
| WGS 3310 | Sexuality, Gender and Media (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: WGS or Media Studies major, 2nd major or minor.. | |
| WGS 3350 | Gender in Comparative Perspective (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | 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. |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 3405 | Gender and Sexuality (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Focuses on the construction of gender and sexuality, and of the many ways human groups regulate and attach meanings to these categories. Some general themes addressed will be: contemporary and historical definitions of gender, sex, and sexuality; gender socialization; the varieties of sexual identities and relationships; embodiment, childbearing, and families in the contemporary United States. |
| WGS 3450 | Presenting & Representing African-American Women 20th C. Visual Arts (3.00) |
| Through the twentieth century, African-American women challenged gender constraints on their political, social and economic rights. This course explores the role of the visual arts in reinforcing and countering images of African American women¿s identity. We will examine women in visual art, architecture, film and popular culture within the context of cultural, political and social change. | |
| WGS 3492 | 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? | |
| WGS 3500 | YWLP Leadership and Technology I (1.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | 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. |
| WGS 3501 | YWLP Women's Leadership and Technology II (1.00) |
| 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. | |
| WGS 3559 | New Course in Women, Gender and Sexuality (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subjects of women, gender and sexualities. |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 3612 | History of Women in America, 1865 to Present (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. | |
| WGS 3750 | Women, Childhood, Autobiography (3.00) |
| Cross-cultural readings in women's childhood narratives. Emphasis on formal as well as thematic aspects. | |
| WGS 3800 | Queer Theory (3.00) |
| 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. | |
| WGS 3810 | Feminist Theory (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | 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. |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 3993 | Independent Study (1.00 - 4.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | Independent Study |
| WGS 4050 | Senior Seminar in Women, Gender and Sexuality: Human Rights and Gender (3.00) |
| This course begins by exploring the modern roots of the culture versus women's rights debate, tracing its historical evolution through the international women¿s movement. We then examine a number of culture-rights controversies in different societies, assess potential solutions to the debate, and conclude with a discussion of how the contemporary transnational women¿s movement is grappling with the problem. | |
| WGS 4100 | Readings in Sexuality Studies (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | 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. |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 4350 | Comparative Gender Stratification (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | 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 |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 4700 | Men and Masculinities (3.00) |
| 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. | |
| WGS 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 | |
| WGS 4998 | SWAG Senior Thesis (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2012 | 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 Prerequisites: SWAG Major; SWAG 2nd Major; SWAG Minor |
| WGS 4999 | SWAG Senior Thesis (3.00) |
| SWAG senior thesis. Prerequisites: SWAG Major | |
| WGS 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. | |