Course level:
100
| 200
| 300
| 400
WGS-120 Intro to Women's Studies
Introduction to the conceptual tools for studying women and sexual minorities. Course introduces issues in feminist and LGBTQ theory, examines the diversity of women’s experiences, structural positions in society, and collective efforts for change. Taught by an interdisciplinary team of instructors.
WGS-214 Native American Women
Study of traditional roles of primarily Eastern Woodlands indigenous women from pre-colonization to contemporary times. Indigenous women?s centrality in their nation?s sociopolitical structures, cosmology, and distribution of wealth is discussed. Additional emphasis is on ceremonial rites for women and girls, and traditional customs relating to sexuality, childbearing, and marriage. Ways in which indigenous women and men balance the responsibilities of their nation are a key topic.
WGS-218 A Critical Approach to Pornography and the Feminist Movement
This course investigates the controversial issues of pornographic discourse within a feminist context by examining the arguments that continue to divide feminists to this day. Feminists such as Andrea Dworkin and Catherine MacKinnon have implicated pornography in women's oppression by arguing that the genre exploits, commodifies and degrades female sexuality which in turn reinforces gender inequality and promotes sexual violence. On the other hand, feminists such as Nadine Strossen, longtime president of the American Civil Liberties Union have defended the distribution and consumption of pornography by invoking the problematic legal and ethical consequences of censorship. Although the war between pornography and feminist politics predominantly marked the 1980s and early 1990s, critics have noted a recent shift in feminist discourses of female sexuality, thus inviting a reexamination of the relationship. This course tracks the debate from a historical, theoretical and critical perspective. Particular focus is given to topics such as power structures and sexual oppression, the effects of pornography, the problems of a common definition, the implications of censorship, gender and representation, homosexual production and consumption of pornography, female subjectivity and agency, and the difference between pornography and erotica.
WGS-220 The Pleasure of Looking: Women in Film
Course explores various images of women as constructed for the male and female spectator in both dominant and independent film. Traditional ways in which women have been represented in film are examined critically through the use of feminist theories. Course aims to examine how various feminist filmmakers challenge the traditional uses of the female voice in their own films. Films from other cultures than the U.S. are included.
WGS-221 Bridging the Borders: Latina and Latin American Women's Literature
Study of selected works in English by Latin American women and Latina women from the U.S. Course explores both connective links and dividing lines of women's lives in the context of a common cultural heritage that has evolved into multiple variants as a result of geographical, historical, economic, ethnic, and racial factors.
WGS-226 Feminism in Global Perspective
Study of women's activism to improve their lives around the world. Course analyzes similarities and differences in the issues women activists address in different parts of the world, the theories they develop to analyze those issues, and the forms their activism takes. Course also considers the possibilities for a global women's movement and provides theoretical tools for analyzing modern feminisms in their global context.
WGS-230 Women & Development
An analysis of the impact of changing development strategies on the lives of women in the Third World, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as a review of how women have responded to these strategies. One major aim of the course is to examine how colonialism and later development policies have affected the status of women, and to examine critically the goal of the "integration of women in development." Differences of ethnicity/race, orientation, age, and class are taken into consideration.
WGS-231 Gender and Change in Africa and Afro-Latin America
An exploration of the diversity of women's familial, political, economic and social realities and experiences in West Africa and the African Diaspora in South America and the Caribbean. Particular attention is given to the processes by which indigenous West African gender and cultural patterns and their inherent power relations have shifted since pre-colonial times and across the Atlantic into the New World. Finally, the course examines the concept of Diaspora and theories relative to processes of cultural change, resistance and retentions, as well as the role gender plays in these processes.
WGS-253 Images of Women in Literature
Survey of literature and film from the second half of the 20th century. Drawing on novels, short stories, popular movies, and social and political history, this course takes an interdisciplinary look at women's and men's differences and commonalities, examines the various ways women and men have been imagined, how these images affect us, and how they have transformed as a result of the feminist revolution.
WGS-260 Queer Eye on America: Gender and Sexuality in American Popular Culture
Queer Eye on America: Gender and Sexuality in American Popular Culture. This course examines representations of gender and sexuality in American popular culture (primarily film and television shows), with an emphasis upon both representations of queer (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual and questioning) practices and the reception of these various representations by audiences both queer and straight. Students consider how these various representations both structure and reflect contemporary notions of ¿queerness', ¿straightness', femininity and masculinity. In conjunction with weekly screenings, students read both central texts in queer theory and scholarly analyses of the media under consideration.
WGS-300 Feminist Theories
Exploration of various feminist theories about women-about their experiences, their representations, and their relative positions in diverse societies. Contemporary and earlier works are discussed in order to evaluate and synthesize multiple approaches to feminist theories. Prerequisite: Women's Studies 120.
WGS-301 Methods
Introduction to the various research methodologies represented in the interdisciplinary field of Women’s Studies. Course studies feminist and LGBTQ critiques of traditional disciplinary methods. Goal is to familiarize students with the strengths and weaknesses of the techniques of inquiry in their disciplinary perspective of choice through explicit example and a series of lectures. Emphasis is on preparation for senior research project to be completed during the Senior Seminar. Prerequisite: Women’s Studies 120. Recommended: Women’s Studies 300.
WGS-320 Practicum in Feminist Theory and Collective Action
Examination of the relationship between feminist theory and collective action to improve societal conditions for women. Course combines seminar meetings with student internships in community organizations. Readings from feminist theory of organizations, collective action, and social policy are used as a basis for analysis of students' internship experiences. Prerequisites: Women's Studies 120 and one other core or cross-listed women's studies course, or permission of instructor.
WGS-350 Democratic Labors in Athens and America
Survey and role-playing simulations of the Athenian democracy in 403 BCE and the Woman’s Suffrage and labor movements in Greenwich Village in 1913. Students research and play roles based on historical individuals and/or principles, exploring the complexities, challenges, and limits of democratic practice. Students test democratic theories in relation to specific historical events and social forces (e.g., class, gender, and race) in a practical environment of negotiation and compromise.
WGS-400 Senior Seminar
Examination of a topic from a variety of in-depth perspectives. Selected topic is broad enough to allow students to engage in projects of their own devising. Course serves as a bridge between the undergraduate experience and the world beyond Gettysburg College as students learn to put their feminism into action.
WGS-120 Intro to Women's Studies
Introduction to the conceptual tools for studying women and sexual minorities. Course introduces issues in feminist and LGBTQ theory, examines the diversity of women’s experiences, structural positions in society, and collective efforts for change. Taught by an interdisciplinary team of instructors.
WGS-214 Native American Women
Study of traditional roles of primarily Eastern Woodlands indigenous women from pre-colonization to contemporary times. Indigenous women?s centrality in their nation?s sociopolitical structures, cosmology, and distribution of wealth is discussed. Additional emphasis is on ceremonial rites for women and girls, and traditional customs relating to sexuality, childbearing, and marriage. Ways in which indigenous women and men balance the responsibilities of their nation are a key topic.
WGS-218 A Critical Approach to Pornography and the Feminist Movement
This course investigates the controversial issues of pornographic discourse within a feminist context by examining the arguments that continue to divide feminists to this day. Feminists such as Andrea Dworkin and Catherine MacKinnon have implicated pornography in women's oppression by arguing that the genre exploits, commodifies and degrades female sexuality which in turn reinforces gender inequality and promotes sexual violence. On the other hand, feminists such as Nadine Strossen, longtime president of the American Civil Liberties Union have defended the distribution and consumption of pornography by invoking the problematic legal and ethical consequences of censorship. Although the war between pornography and feminist politics predominantly marked the 1980s and early 1990s, critics have noted a recent shift in feminist discourses of female sexuality, thus inviting a reexamination of the relationship. This course tracks the debate from a historical, theoretical and critical perspective. Particular focus is given to topics such as power structures and sexual oppression, the effects of pornography, the problems of a common definition, the implications of censorship, gender and representation, homosexual production and consumption of pornography, female subjectivity and agency, and the difference between pornography and erotica.
WGS-220 The Pleasure of Looking: Women in Film
Course explores various images of women as constructed for the male and female spectator in both dominant and independent film. Traditional ways in which women have been represented in film are examined critically through the use of feminist theories. Course aims to examine how various feminist filmmakers challenge the traditional uses of the female voice in their own films. Films from other cultures than the U.S. are included.
WGS-221 Bridging the Borders: Latina and Latin American Women's Literature
Study of selected works in English by Latin American women and Latina women from the U.S. Course explores both connective links and dividing lines of women's lives in the context of a common cultural heritage that has evolved into multiple variants as a result of geographical, historical, economic, ethnic, and racial factors.
WGS-226 Feminism in Global Perspective
Study of women's activism to improve their lives around the world. Course analyzes similarities and differences in the issues women activists address in different parts of the world, the theories they develop to analyze those issues, and the forms their activism takes. Course also considers the possibilities for a global women's movement and provides theoretical tools for analyzing modern feminisms in their global context.
WGS-230 Women & Development
An analysis of the impact of changing development strategies on the lives of women in the Third World, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as a review of how women have responded to these strategies. One major aim of the course is to examine how colonialism and later development policies have affected the status of women, and to examine critically the goal of the "integration of women in development." Differences of ethnicity/race, orientation, age, and class are taken into consideration.
WGS-231 Gender and Change in Africa and Afro-Latin America
An exploration of the diversity of women's familial, political, economic and social realities and experiences in West Africa and the African Diaspora in South America and the Caribbean. Particular attention is given to the processes by which indigenous West African gender and cultural patterns and their inherent power relations have shifted since pre-colonial times and across the Atlantic into the New World. Finally, the course examines the concept of Diaspora and theories relative to processes of cultural change, resistance and retentions, as well as the role gender plays in these processes.
WGS-253 Images of Women in Literature
Survey of literature and film from the second half of the 20th century. Drawing on novels, short stories, popular movies, and social and political history, this course takes an interdisciplinary look at women's and men's differences and commonalities, examines the various ways women and men have been imagined, how these images affect us, and how they have transformed as a result of the feminist revolution.
WGS-260 Queer Eye on America: Gender and Sexuality in American Popular Culture
Queer Eye on America: Gender and Sexuality in American Popular Culture. This course examines representations of gender and sexuality in American popular culture (primarily film and television shows), with an emphasis upon both representations of queer (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual and questioning) practices and the reception of these various representations by audiences both queer and straight. Students consider how these various representations both structure and reflect contemporary notions of ¿queerness', ¿straightness', femininity and masculinity. In conjunction with weekly screenings, students read both central texts in queer theory and scholarly analyses of the media under consideration.
WGS-300 Feminist Theories
Exploration of various feminist theories about women-about their experiences, their representations, and their relative positions in diverse societies. Contemporary and earlier works are discussed in order to evaluate and synthesize multiple approaches to feminist theories. Prerequisite: Women's Studies 120.
WGS-301 Methods
Introduction to the various research methodologies represented in the interdisciplinary field of Women’s Studies. Course studies feminist and LGBTQ critiques of traditional disciplinary methods. Goal is to familiarize students with the strengths and weaknesses of the techniques of inquiry in their disciplinary perspective of choice through explicit example and a series of lectures. Emphasis is on preparation for senior research project to be completed during the Senior Seminar. Prerequisite: Women’s Studies 120. Recommended: Women’s Studies 300.
WGS-320 Practicum in Feminist Theory and Collective Action
Examination of the relationship between feminist theory and collective action to improve societal conditions for women. Course combines seminar meetings with student internships in community organizations. Readings from feminist theory of organizations, collective action, and social policy are used as a basis for analysis of students' internship experiences. Prerequisites: Women's Studies 120 and one other core or cross-listed women's studies course, or permission of instructor.
WGS-350 Democratic Labors in Athens and America
Survey and role-playing simulations of the Athenian democracy in 403 BCE and the Woman’s Suffrage and labor movements in Greenwich Village in 1913. Students research and play roles based on historical individuals and/or principles, exploring the complexities, challenges, and limits of democratic practice. Students test democratic theories in relation to specific historical events and social forces (e.g., class, gender, and race) in a practical environment of negotiation and compromise.
WGS-400 Senior Seminar
Examination of a topic from a variety of in-depth perspectives. Selected topic is broad enough to allow students to engage in projects of their own devising. Course serves as a bridge between the undergraduate experience and the world beyond Gettysburg College as students learn to put their feminism into action.
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