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| African-American and African Studies | |
| AAS 3000 | Women and Religion in Africa (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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 |
| AAS 4500 | Advanced Seminar in African-American and African Studies (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | Reading, class discussion, and research on a special topic in African-American and African Studies culminatiing in the composition of a research paper. Topics change from term to term, and vary with the instructor. Primarily for fourth-year students but open to others. |
| Anthropology | |
| ANTH 2420 | Language and Gender (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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 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 3600 | Sex, Gender, and Culture (3.00) |
| Examines the manner in which ideas about sexuality and gender are constructed differently cross-culturally and how these ideas give shape to other social phenomena, relationships, and practices. | |
| History of Art | |
| ARTH 4591 | Undergraduate Seminar in the History of Art (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | Subject varies with the instructor, who may decide to focus attention either on a particular period, artist, or theme, or on the broader question of the aims and methods of art history. Subject is announced prior to each registration period. Representative subjects include the life and art of Pompeii, Roman painting and mosaics, history and connoisseurship of baroque prints, art and politics in revolutionary Europe, Picasso and painting, and problems in American art and culture. Prerequisite: Instructor permission. Course was offered Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| Arabic in Translation | |
| ARTR 3350 | Introduction to Arab Women's Literature (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | A comprehensive overview of contemporary Arab women's literature, this course examines all Arab women's literary genres starting from personal letters, memoirs, speeches, poetry, fiction, drama, to journalistic articles and interviews. Selected texts cover various geographic locales and theoretical perspectives. Special emphasis will be given to the issues of Arab female authorship, subjectivity theory, and to the question of Arab Feminism. |
| Chinese in Translation | |
| CHTR 3840 | Writing Women in Modern China (3.00) |
| 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. Course was offered Fall 2012 | |
| CHTR 5840 | Writing Women in Modern China (3.00) |
| 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. Students enrolled in the 5000 level course will be required to use some Chinese language materials. Course was offered Fall 2012 | |
| Classics | |
| CLAS 3040 | Women and Gender in Ancient Greece and Rome (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | This course focuses on women's roles and lives in Ancient Greece and Rome. Students are introduced to the primary material (textual and material) on women in antiquity and to current debates about it. Subjects addressed will include sexual stereotypes and ideals, power-relations of gender, familial roles, social and economic status, social and political history, visual art, medical theory, and religion. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/classics/. Course was offered Spring 2013, Spring 2010 |
| 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. | |
| Education-Human Services | |
| EDHS 2891 | Issues Facing Adolescent Girls (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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 3500 | Special Topics In Human Services (1.00 - 6.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | Topical offerings in the subject of human services. Course was offered Spring 2013, January 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| EDHS 5891 | Issues Facing Adolescent Girls (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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-Criticism | |
| ENCR 4500 | Advanced Studies in Literary Criticism (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | Limited enrollment. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.engl.virginia.edu/courses. Course was offered Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| English-Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Lit | |
| ENEC 3200 | Eighteenth-Century Women Writers (3.00) |
| For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.engl.virginia.edu/courses. | |
| English-Modern & Contemporary Literature | |
| ENMC 4500 | Advanced Studies in Modern and Contemporary Literature (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | Limited enrollment. Topics vary from year to year. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.engl.virginia.edu/courses. Course was offered Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| German in Translation | |
| GETR 3750 | Women, Childhood, Autobiography (3.00) |
| Cross-cultural readings in women's childhood narratives. Emphasis on formal as well as thematic aspects. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at: http://www.virginia.edu/german/Undergraduate/Courses. | |
| 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 3150 | Salem Witch Trials: History and Literature (3.00) |
| The seminar will examine the historical scholarship, literary fiction, and primary source materials relating to the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692 and enable students to work with all the original sources. Prerequisites: Restricted to Religious Studies, American Studies, English, SWAG, and History Majors. Course was offered Spring 2013 | |
| HIUS 3611 | Gender & Sexuality in AM, 1600-1865 (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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 3612 | Gender & Sexuality 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. | |
| Japanese in Translation | |
| JPTR 3020 | Survey of Modern Japanese Literature (3.00) |
| Introduction to the modern Japanese cannon (1890's to the present) in translation. | |
| JPTR 3290 | Feminine Fictions in Japanese Court Literature (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | This seminar will take up the world's earliest instance of literature written extensively by, for, and about women, including such famous works as the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon and Sarashina Diary, among others. The focus will be on reading gender as a fictional enactment of desire and identity that is performed through acts of writing and reading. No prior knowledge of Japanese language or literature is required. |
| JPTR 5020 | Survey of Modern Japanese Literature (3.00) |
| Introduction to the modern Japanese canon (1890's to the present). Writers studied include Natsume Sôseki, the first modern writer to delve into the human psyche; Mori Ôgai, the surgeon-turned writer; Rynôsuke Akutagawa, the consummate writer of short stories; Shiga Naoya, the "god" of "I-Novel" Japanese fiction; Yukio Mishima, whose seppuku suicide caused a sensation world-wide; Endô Shôsaku, the Christian writer; two Nobel laureates, Yasunari Kawabata, the pure aesthetician, and Kenzaburo Ôe, the political gadfly. | |
| JPTR 5290 | Feminine Fictions in Japanese Court Literature (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | This seminar will take up the world's earliest instance of literature written extensively by, for, and about women, including such famous works as the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon and Sarashina Diary, among others. The focus will be on reading gender as a fictional enactment of desire and identity that is performed through acts of writing and reading. No prior knowledge of Japanese language or literature is required. |
| 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? | |
| MDST 4107 | Feminism and the Public Sphere (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | This class will examine the normative basis of the public sphere and critiques of its current structure and ask: What would a more inclusive vision of political participation and communication look like? In attempting to build an answer, we will examine a number of works on communication ethics, politics and media, with an emphasis on feminist and queer scholarship. |
| MDST 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. | |
| 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 2013, 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 2013, Spring 2010 | |
| Philosophy | |
| PHIL 3780 | Reproductive Ethics (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | The focus of the course will be the exploration of various moral, legal and policy issues posed by efforts to curtail or enhance fertility through contraception, abortion, and recent advances in reproductive technology. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: One prior course in ethics from any department. Course was offered Spring 2012, 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 3350 | Gender Politics in Comparative Perspective (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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. |
| PLCP 4840 | Gender Politics in Africa (3.00) |
| Investigates the ways social structures and institutions shape gender in sub-Saharan Africa, with an emphasis on the state. Topics include gender in the pre-colonial and colonial era, contemporary African women's movements, women in politics, development, HIV/AIDS and sexuality. | |
| Psychology | |
| PSYC 3460 | Psychological Study of Children, Families, and the Law (4.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | Can psychology research and theory inform the law as it relates to children and families? This course provides an overview of the issues emphasizing psychological knowledge and its present and possible future contributions. Three lecture hours, two laboratory hours. Prerequisite:Six credits in psychology, preferably either PSYC 2700 or 3480 and PSYC 3005 or instructor permission. |
| PSYC 4603 | Psychology of Sexual Orientation (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | Overview of research and theory related to sexual orientation across the lifespan from the standpoint of the social sciences. Topics include conceptualization of sexual identities, origins and development of sexual orientation, sexual identity formation and disclosure. Selected issues such as couple relationships, employment and careers, parenthood, and aging are also explored, since they may be affected by sexual orientation. Prerequisite: Third- or fourth-year psychology major or instructor permission. |
| Religion-African Religions | |
| RELA 3000 | Women and Religion in Africa (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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. |
| Religion-Buddhism | |
| RELB 3150 | Seminar in Buddhism and Gender (3.00) |
| This seminar takes as its point of departure Carolyn Bynum's statements: "No scholar studying religion, no participant in ritual, is ever neuter. Religious experience is the experience of men and women, and in no known society is this experience the same." The unifying theme is gender and Buddhism, exploring historical, textual and social questions relevant to the status of women and men in the Buddhist world from its origins to the present day. Course was offered Spring 2013, Fall 2010 | |
| Religion-Christianity | |
| RELC 3150 | Salem Witch Trials (3.00) |
| Salem Witch Trials Course was offered Spring 2013 | |
| RELC 4610 | Sex and Morality (3.00) |
| A theological overview of Jewish and Christian reflection on proper sexual conduct in the United States, with specific emphasis on pre-marital sex, adoption, abortion, gay marriage, and the teaching of sex education in public schools. | |
| Religion-Islam | |
| RELI 2559 | New Course in Islam (3.00) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Islam Course was offered Spring 2013, Fall 2011 | |
| South Asian Literature in Translation | |
| SATR 3000 | Women Writing in India & Pakistan: 1947-Present (3.00) |
| We 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 | |
| Slavic Folklore & Oral Literature | |
| SLFK 2120 | Ritual and Family Life (3.00) |
| Open to students with no knowledge of Russian. Studies the rituals of birth, marriage, and death as practiced in 19th-century peasant Russia and in Russia today and the oral literature associated with these rituals. Topics include family patterns, child socialization and child rearing practices, gender issues, and problems of the elderly in their 19th century and current manifestations. | |
| Sociology | |
| SOC 2052 | Sociology of the Family (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | Comparison of family organizations in relation to other social institutions in various societies; an introduction to the theory of kinship and marriage systems. Course was offered Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Summer 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Fall 2009 |
| SOC 2320 | Gender and Society (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | Gender and Society |
| SOC 2380 | Violence & Gender (3.00) |
| 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. | |
| SOC 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 Spring 2013 | |
| SOC 3450 | Women, Islam and Modernity (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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 4350 | Comparative Gender Stratification (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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. Prerequisite: Six credits of Sociology or instructor permission. |
| SOC 4559 | New Course in Sociology (1.00 - 4.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of sociology. |
| Spanish | |
| SPAN 4310 | Latin American Women Writers from 1900 to the Present (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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 4620 | Hispanic Women Writers (3.00) |
| Examines writings by women authors of Spain and Latin America, using the texts as a basis for studying the evolving roles and paradigms of women in these societies. Prerequisite: SPAN 3010 and 3300, or departmental placement. Course was offered Spring 2013, Fall 2011 | |
| Women and Gender Studies | |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 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, & post colonial 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. | |
| 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 2013 | 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. Course was offered Spring 2013, Fall 2012 |
| WGS 2105 | Introduction to LGBTQ Studies (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) Studies. We will study historical events and political, literary, and artistic figures and works; contemporary social and political issues; the meaning and development of sexual and gender identities; and different disciplinary definitions of meaning and knowledge. |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 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. Course was offered Fall 2012 | |
| 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 Women, Gender & Sexuality (1.00 - 4.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | The course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of women, gender & sexuality Course was offered Spring 2013, Fall 2012 |
| 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. Prerequisite: Course in WGS, ANTH, Bioethics preferred | |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 2891 | Issues Facing Adolescent Girls I (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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. Prerequisite: Permission of Instructor Course was offered Fall 2012 |
| 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 Course was offered Spring 2013 | |
| WGS 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? | |
| 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. Prerequisite: Previous 2000 level humanities or social science course required. Course was offered Spring 2013 | |
| WGS 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. Prerequisite: Previous 2000 level course in the humanities or social sciences. Course was offered Fall 2012 | |
| WGS 3200 | Women, Gender and Sports (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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. Course was offered Fall 2012 |
| WGS 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 Fall 2012 | |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 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 Spring 2013 | |
| 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 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. | |
| WGS 3350 | Gender 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. Course was offered Fall 2012 | |
| 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) |
| 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. Prerequisite: SOC or WGS course Course was offered Fall 2012 | |
| WGS 3450 | Gender and Architecture (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | As a visual art, architecture as an object projects a specific image; as a spatial art it affects individual and group interaction/engagement with the built environment. Through the lenses of gender and race we will examine human relationships to architecture - as designers, patrons, and users ¿ in the public and the private realm and across a broad range of temporal and geographic boundaries. |
| 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 2013 | 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. Course was offered Fall 2012 |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2013 | |
| WGS 3559 | New Course in Women, Gender and Sexuality (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subjects of women, gender and sexualities. Course was offered Spring 2013, Fall 2012 |
| WGS 3611 | Gender & Sexuality in AM, 1600-1865 (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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 | Gender & Sexuality 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 2013 | |
| WGS 3621 | Coming of Age in America: A History of Youth (3.00) |
| This course will explore the historical experience of young people and the meaning of youth from the colonial period to the late twentieth century. We will analyze how shifting social relations and cultural understandings changed what it meant to grow up. Topics to be explored include work, family, gender, sexuality, education, political involvement, and popular culture. | |
| WGS 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. | |
| 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) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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, & litterateurs. Prerequisite: Must have completed at least a 200 level course in the humanities or the social sciences. Course was offered Spring 2013 |
| WGS 3810 | Feminist Theory (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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 WGS 2100. Course was offered Spring 2013, Fall 2012 |
| 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 2013 | Independent Study Course was offered Spring 2013, Fall 2012 |
| 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. Prerequisite: WGS 2100; WGS major or minor Course was offered Spring 2013 | |
| WGS 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 Fall 2012 | |
| WGS 4107 | Feminism and the Public Sphere (3.00) |
| The idea of the public sphere is central to contemporary politics. It is the "space" where citizens exchange ideas and form opinions, and from which these citizens can shape government. It is also a space largely dominated by media in contemporary industrialized societies. Concerns about the impact of the media on politics are often concerns about the health of the public sphere. | |
| WGS 4140 | Beyond the Gap: Gender and Political Behavior (3.00) |
| This course will consider the theoretical place of gender in American politics. We will also take up a number of topics, including the unavoidable gender gap, the role of masculinity and femininity in conditioning our perceptions of issues and political candidates, the ways gender, politics, and society have interacted historically, and the ways race and gender (and class) interact in conditioning political behavior. Prerequisite: At least one course either on gender or on political behavior. | |
| 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. Course was offered Spring 2013 | |
| WGS 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. | |
| 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 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. | |
| WGS 4350 | Comparative Gender Stratification (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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: WGS or SOC course Course was offered Fall 2012 |
| 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 Women, Gender & Sexuality (1.00 - 4.00) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject of studies of women and gender. | |
| WGS 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. | |
| WGS 4700 | Men and Masculinities (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | 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. Prerequisite: Students need to have completed a WGS course. |
| 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. Prerequisites: One social science course in WGS or comparative politics course; Instructor's Permission | |
| WGS 4998 | WGS Senior Thesis (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | Majors in Women, Gender & Sexuality (WGS) 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 WGS 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: WGS Major; WGS 2nd Major; WGS Minor Course was offered Fall 2012 |
| WGS 4999 | WGS Senior Thesis (3.00) |
| WGS senior thesis. Prerequisites: WGS Major Course was offered Spring 2013 | |
| 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. Prerequisites: Instructor Consent Required | |
| WGS 5500 | Gender, Sexuality, and Education Course Topic(s) (3.00) |
| Offered Fall 2013 | Education topic courses offered on a semster-to-semester basis. Please see the WGS website for specific approved sections. |