FALL 2012
Gateway Courses
GSFS courses designated as “gateway” are also “electives.”
- AAST 240 - How to Win a Beauty Pageant: Race, Gender, Culture, and U.S. National Identity
This course examines US beauty pageants from the 1920s to the present. Our aim will be to analyze pageantry as a unique site for the interplay of race, gender, class, sexuality, and nation. We will learn about cultural studies methodology, including close reading, cultural history, critical discourse analysis, and ethnography, and use those methods to understand the changing identity of the US over time. This course includes a field visit to a pageant in Ohio. Instructor: A. Ofori-Mensa - CAST 100 - Introduction to Comparative American Studies
The course will introduce students to the complexity of American social and cultural formations, with particular emphases on sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, and gender, and to various methodologies of comparative analysis. Instructor: M. Raimondo - CLAS 219 - Sexuality in Ancient Greece and Rome
Study of the construction of gender and sexual identities in ancient Greece and Rome. Emphasis will be on primary texts that demonstrate notions of sexual practice and/or identity, such as Aristophanes’ Thesmophoriazousae, Plato’s Symposium, Aeschines’ Against Timarchos, and poetry of Sappho, Catullus, Ovid, Martial, Juvenal. We will also read modern critical theorists of sexuality, and will interrogate the usefulness of their arguments for understanding ancient Greece and Rome. Instructor: K. Ormand - FYSP 110 - Black Women and Liberation
Black liberation struggles in the U. S. and South Africa owe much to the brilliance of Black women’s political activism. Fighting racism, patriarchy and capitalist exploitation, women such as Angela Davis and Mamphela Ramphele employed methods of feminist leadership in community-based and national movements that ultimately claimed success. Students will evaluate their forms of activism, examine the nature of political autobiography, build library research skills and explore the bridge between community activism and intellectual life. Instructor: P. Brooks - HIST 265 – American Sexualities
This course will examine the creation, maintenance, and reproduction of sexual differrences and identities over a broad time span in North American history, beginning with Native American sexusal practices and social formations, and stretching through the modernization of sex. Major topics will include: marriage, changing gender roles, the intersection of sexuality with race and ethnicity, commercialized sex, reproduction, same sex sexual practices, contraception, sexual violence, heterosexism, danger, desire and pleasure. Instructor: Pablo Michell - RELG 261 - Gender Theory and the Study of Religion
This course will examine the various ways in which feminist scholars bring gender issues to the academic study of religion. Topics to be addressed will include: feminist critiques of androcentrism in ‘classic’ theories of religion; methods for the historical retrieval of suppressed women’s voices in historical texts; sociological and ethnographical approaches to investigating women’s marginalized ritual practices; feminist approaches to philosophy of religion and theology. Instructor: Margaret Kamitsuka
Feminist Research Methodologies
Feminist Research Methodologies also counts as an elective course.
- GSFS 305. Feminist Research Methodologies
This course traces the historical and dialectical impact of feminist epistemologies on disciplines of the social sciences and humanities. We will explore feminist approaches to research practices including oral history, case studies, archival research, visual and literary criticism, survey/content analysis, and fieldwork. Throughout the semester, each student works on an individual research proposal that incorporates interdisciplinary methods and includes a literature review. Instructor: A. Needham
Capstone Courses
GSFS courses designated as “capstone” are also “electives.”
- HIST 398 – Archiving Sex: Researching America’s Sexual Past
The main goal of this course is to produce a 20-25 page research paper on some aspect of the history of American sexualities. Students will identify a paper topic, survey relevant secondary materials and conduct basic primary research. The course will emphasize research methods, effective writing strategies for long papers, peer critique and suppor, and oral presentation skills. Instructor: Pablo Mitchell
Elective Courses
- ENGL 309 - The Poetry of Love and Seduction in the Renaissance
From love sonnets to pornographic narratives, from carpe diem seductions to marriage odes, early modern poets employed a dazzling array of literary resources for writing about love, sex, gender, and desire – often disguising darker explorations of skepticism, political transgression, religious defiance, and death. This course will trace the development of erotic poetry in Renaissance England, with reference to these poems’ rich cultural, intellectual, and history. Instructor: W. Hyman - HIST 270 – Latina/o History
What historical forces have brought together diverse groups including Chicanos from Los Angeles, Cubans from Miami, and Dominicans and Puerto Ricans from New York City? From the 16th century to the present, we map the varied terrains of Latina/o history. Major themes include: conquest and resistance, immigration, work and the creation of racial and sexual differences within and between Latino-a communities. We survey Latina/o writers from Cabeza de Vaca to Jose Marti to Gloria Anzaldua. Instructor: Pablo Mitchell - JWST 272 Love and Power in Jewish Literature and Film
This course examines the way in which love and power intersect and conflict in Jewish literature and film. Topics include the relations between Woman and Man, Jew and Non-Jew, Parent and Child, Nation and Individual. We will also discuss the representation of homosexual and homosocial relations. Instructor: Ari Ofengenden - JWST/CMPL 375 Violence in Twentieth-Century World Literature
Covers violence in 20th century literature alongside key theoretical formulations of the subject. Starting with early 20th century Modernism, we will compare creative developments in East Europe, Middle East and South America. Violence’s relations to body, trauma, sovereignty and the other will be examined both in literature and theory. Among others we will read: Kafka, Doblin, Aeurbach, Freud, Arendt, Bataille, Primo Levi, Fanon, Agamben, Habibi and Castel-Bloom. Instructor: Ari Ofengenden - POLT 206 - The Politics of Sexual Minority Communities
This course examines the history and politics of LGBT communities in the United States during the twentieth century. No background in the subject is required, though a general knowledge of American history and politics during this period is helpful. Topics include the relative freedom of urban LGBT communities before and during World War II, the repression of the 1950’s, the Stonewall Rebellion and its aftermath, the politics of AIDS, and the place of LGBT issues in the African-American community. Class participation is essential and is a component of each student’s grade. Instructor: H. Hirsch - RELG 108 - Introduction to Religion: Women and the Western Traditions
An introduction to Judaism, Christianity and Islam that focuses on women's experiences and gender roles. This course will examine representations of women in sacred texts; primary sources by and about women from various historical periods, and contemporary feminist voices within each religious tradition. Topics to be investigated include: rabbinic teachings on biblical women, the role of women in early Christian heretical movements, discourses of the veil in Islam. Instructor: Margaret Kamitsuka - SOCI 203 - Desire to be Modern: Sociology of Sexuality
Sociologists study the social origins of sexuality; how shared beliefs shape what we desire, what is taboo or what shames us. Historical and cross-cultural research illuminates the emergence of modern sexuality and the ways it transformed systems of dating, marriage, homosexuality, government and racial classification. Learn why sociologists are skeptical of essentialist explanations that rely on biology and favor theories that recognize sexuality as a diverse, ever-changing function of cultural institutions. Instructor: G. Mattson
SPRING 2013
Gateway Courses
GSFS courses designated as “gateway” are also “electives.”
- CAST 211 - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Identities
This course examines the production of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer identities in the United States as they intersect with important social markers such as race, class, gender, and nation. Situating specific case studies in historical, social, and comparative context, we explore issues such as the intersection of racial and sexual sciences, processes of community formation, the politics of embodiment, social justice movements and queer cultural productions. Instructor: M. Raimondo - HIST 213 – First Wave American Feminism
This course explores the quest for gender equality from the end of the American Revolution through the enfranchisement of women in 1920, including issues of race, class, sexuality, health and citizenship. Readings include narratives, novels, classic texts advocating social, political, and economic advancement and the biographies and autobiographies of activists. Instructor: Carol Lasser
Capstone Courses
GSFS courses designated as “capstone” are also “electives.”
- CAST 447 - Queer Positions
When queer is a verb, what does it mean? This course explores key issues in the field of queer theory, including the relationship of sex, gender, race, class, and ability; critiques of liberalism and multiculturalism; normativity and resistance; representation and cultural production; and the politics of time and space. We will pay particular attention to the relationship between theory and practice in order to explore different approaches to social change. Instructor: M. Raimondo - RELG 367 - Theologies of Abortion
This seminar explores a spectrum of theological approaches on abortion from Roe v. Wade to today. Topics to be studied include: the role of extremist religious groups in abortion clinic violence; how Protestant and Catholic pro-life theologies clash over issues of sex and gendered sexuality; debates about the question of when life begins and "fetal personhood“; how race shapes pro-choice and pro-life positions in relation to the bodies of religious women of color. Prerequisite and Notes: Consent of instructor required. Instructor: Margaret Kamitsuka - SOCI 420 - Social Inequalities: Class, Race, and Gender
This course will explore contemporary sociological approaches in the study of social inequality. The enduring structure and reproduction of inequalities along axes of class, race and gender are core problems of sociology. This seminar will examine these issues by first considering various theoretical issues utilized by scholars in the field. We will then examine how different thinkers have implemented of these theories and concepts in a variety of innovative case studies. Instructor: R. Baldoz
Elective Courses
- AAST 225 - Women in Caribbean History
This course studies the economic, social, cultural and political activities of women in the Caribbean from the era of Pre-conquest to the dawn of political independence in the various colonies. It will therefore begin with an examination of the lives of indigenous Caribbean women and continue with an analysis of the historical setting and factors which affected the behavior of women of African, European, Chinese and Indian descent. Instructor: G. Gill - CAST 202 - Visible Bodies and the Politics of Sexuality
This course considers how visual culture produces and contests concepts of sexuality in American society. We will analyze how mainstream culture universalizes certain experiences of gender and sexuality, as they are inflected by race, ethnicity, class and nationalism, as well as how marginalized groups have used visual representation to contest and subvert these hegemonic ideals. Through case studies, we will explore concepts such as the gaze, spectacle, and agency. Instructor: W. Kozol - CAST 321- Transnational Sexualities
How does the globalization of sexuality shape the study of sex in national contexts? This interdisciplinary course uses the United States as a starting point to consider sexual identities and practices in a transnational perspective, addressing topics such as reproduction, migration, AIDS, sex work, tourism, and militarization. We will examine the production of gendered, raced, and classed bodies and explore the significance of transnational analysis of sexuality to social justice work. Instructor: M. Raimondo - CAST 235 - Debating Citizenship: Identity and Belonging in US Culture
This course examines how Americans have historically negotiated the inclusions and exclusions of citizenship through an interdisciplinary study of political debates, legal developments, and cultural contestations. Theoretical debates on citizenship and nationalism will serve as the basis for a comparative study of how marginalized communities within the United States have contested and reconfigured normative concepts of belonging and identity, with particular attention to changing notions of gender, sexuality, race, ability, and class. Instructor: W. Kozol - CAST 272 - Disease, Democracy, Difference
From yellow fever to H1N1 flu, disease has been central to the construction of the nation, revealing important differences in race, class, gender, and sexuality. This interdisciplinary course investigates the politics of health and illness in the United States through several historical and contemporary case studies. We pay particular attention to the contestations and collaborations between policy makers, health professionals, and community activists seeking to define and promote wellness. Instructor: M. Raimondo - CLAS 219 - Sexuality in Ancient Greece and Rome
Study of the construction of gender and sexual identities in ancient Greece and Rome. Emphasis will be on primary texts that demonstrate notions of sexual practice and/or identity, such as Aristophanes’ Thesmophoriazousae, Plato’s Symposium, Aeschines’ Against Timarchos, and poetry of Sappho, Catullus, Ovid, Martial, Juvenal. We will also read modern critical theorists of sexuality, and will interrogate the usefulness of their arguments for understanding ancient Greece and Rome. Instructor: K. Ormand - ENGL 265 Anglophone Literatures of the Third World
Through theoretical essays and novels, we will examine the problems of definition and evaluation that attend our interpretation of works from the ‘Third World.’ We will consider whether or not: 1) ‘Third World’ or ‘Post-colonial’ are appropriate designations; 2) notions of ‘marginality,’ ‘difference,’ and ‘alterity,? so often deployed to characterize these works, are useful interpretive tools; 3) the perception that these works are always enactments of resistance against dominant ideologies is effective. Instructor: A. Needham - GSFS 205 – Queer Beginnings
1990 was a time of new beginnings for artists, academics and activists who challenged the norms of heterosexuality, and for finding --or inventing-- queer histories. A close reading of Foucault, then Sedgwick, The Epistemology of the Closet (1990), Butler, Gender Trouble (1990), Crimp, "Mourning and Militancy" (1989) and Bersani, "Is the Rectum a Grave?" (1987). Fiction by Hollinghurst, Barnett, Winterson, and Gluck; historical or pseudo-historical films from the New Queer Cinema movement, probably including Poison (1991); Edward II (1991); Orlando (1992); Watermelon Woman (1996); Looking for Langston (1989); My Own Private Idaho (1991); Lilies (1996). Instructor: P. O’Connor
