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97-98Undergrad Online Catalog Header

Women's Studies

Director: Michele Wilson (Sociology)

Faculty: Doss (History), Baker (English), Barnett (English), Borst (History), Elias (English), Frost (English), Goldman (Special Education), Graves (English), Gunther-Canada (Government and Public Service), Guy (Government and Public Service), S. Johnson (English), Kemp (English), King (Center for Labor Education and Research), Kurata (English), LaMonte (Counseling, Human Services, and Foundations), Leffel (English), Lichtenstein (Sociology), Long (English), Martin-Ogunsola (Foreign Languages), Mullins (Curriculum and Instruction), Murray (History), Sloan (Justice Sciences), Taylor (Human Studies), Trigg (Sociology), Volker (Biology), Whatley-Smith (English), Whitaker (English)

Women’s studies coursework investigates the subject of women within specific disciplines and across disciplinary boundaries. Courses explore women’s history, culture, work and family life, and the structure of society and its impact on men and women. Women’s studies examine the issue of gender difference, analyzing its psychological, social, and cultural manifestations.

Because coursework in women’s studies provides insight into the human condition, it serves the traditional liberal arts objective of broadening and enriching one’s understanding of the world. Students pursuing careers that will require them to deal with women’s issues in the fields of government, social service, and health will also benefit from coursework in women’s studies.

Minor

Requirements: 18 hours, including WS 100, WS 400, and 12 hours of women’s studies electives; grade of C or better for all 18 hours.

An individually designed major in women’s studies is also available with the permission of the Dean of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Course Descriptions

The following is not a comprehensive list of courses; other courses can be considered for credit in the Women’s Studies Program.

Note: Special-topics courses (courses with the same numerical designation) may be repeated for credit.

Women’s Studies (WS)

100. Introduction to Women’s Studies.—Interdisciplinary study of role of women in society through social, political, economic, philosophical, historical, and biological perspectives. Required for women’s studies minor. 3 hours.

280/480. Special Topics in Women’s Studies.—Includes subjects of special interest, such as women and religion, women in civil rights movement, and theories of women’s studies. 1 to 3 hours.

400. Theory and Practice of Women’s Studies: Senior Seminar.—Everyday applications of theory studied in various women’s studies courses. Required for women’s studies minor. 3 hours.

490. Directed Readings in Women’s Studies.—Independent study of selected gender-related issues, with faculty guidance, on topic of student’s choice. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. 1 to 3 hours.

491. Directed Research in Women’s Studies.—Independent research on selected gender-related issues, with faculty guidance, on topic of student’s choice. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. 1 to 3 hours.

495. Internship in Women’s Studies.—Students gain experience in community agency working with women or gender issues. Course requirements dependent upon number of credits student wishes to take. Prerequisite: Permission of program director. 1 to 3 hours.

Arts and Humanities

English (EH)

214. Introduction to Literature: In a Different Voice—Women Writers in American Fiction.—Examination of selected women writers in American literature from mid-19th century to present. 3 hours.

444. Modern Women Writers.—Focuses on variety and abundance of voices, ideas, ideologies, forms, feelings, and critical approaches of modern women writers, including Maya Angelou, Virginia Woolf, Joyce Carol Oates, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Simone de Beauvoir, and others. 3 hours.

487. British Novel: The 19th Century (Women’s Studies Emphasis).—Study of 19th-century novels focusing on women and/or reflecting limited possibilities open to women during period. Emphasizes literature as history of contemporary feminist situation. 3 hours.

492. Special Topics: Seduction, Marriage, and Patriarchy in the Plays of William Shakespeare.—Selected plays from Shakespeare critiqued from feminist perspective. Issues include Shakespeare’s depiction of power relations between sexes, women’s use of seduction and marriage to combat patriarchy, and women’s use of sexual politics. 3 hours.

492. Special Topics: Brontes and George Eliot.—Study of major works of Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, and George Eliot as reflections of growing dominance of women as prose writers in 19th century. 3 hours.

492. Special Topics: Southern Women Writers: Struggles with Cultural Expectations.—Examines stereotype of southern woman as represented and rejected by selected southern women writers. Cultural definitions of women and their effect on heroine’s behavior. 3 hours.

492. Special Topics: The "New Woman" in Literature, 1890–1920.—Examines 1890s emergence of new type of female character, antithesis of Victorian feminine ideal. Works of Gissing, Shaw, Schreiner, and Egerton, among others, considered in assessment of impact of this character. 3 hours.

492. Special Topics: Contemporary Women Poets of North America.—Poetry and pertinent critical essays on poetics and feminism by predominant voices of women writing poetry, as well as lesser known poets. Included are: Levertov, Rich, Brooks, Wakoski, Giovanni, Piercy, Shange, Kizer, Lourde, Clampitt, and others. 3 hours.

492. Special Topics: Women and Film.—Transformation of women on screen from fragile and dependent to resilient and independent; impact of contemporary women’s movement on these changes. 3 hours.

Education

Leadership, Special Education and Foundations (EDL)

491. Current Issues in Educational Leadership: Women and Education.—"Schooling" process and how it limits options of women throughout their adult lives. Social stereotypes and systematic barriers to women’s career mobility. 3 hours.

Exceptional Children and Youth Education (ECY)

494/589. Special Topics in Special Education/Advanced Topics in Special Education: Combating Child Sexual Abuse.—Problems of rape, child prostitution, and incest. Factors contributing to problem of female victimization. 3 hours.

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Anthropology (ANTH)

357. Anthropology of Gender.—Cultural construction of gender differences in human societies; shifting definitions of proper male and female roles across cultures and through time. 3 hours.

History (HY)

303. Women in American History.—Analytic survey of changing economic, political, and social roles of women from colonial period to present. 3 hours.

332. Women in Latin America.—Examines condition of Latin American women in historical perspective and with reference to factors such as race, class, religion, and ethnicity; role of Hispanic cultural attitudes in shaping that condition over time. 3 hours.

354. Women in Modern European History.—Changing social, economic, and political roles of European women since 1750. 3 hours.

402. Southern Women: Image and Reality.—Southern women’s lives from colonial period into 20th century. Contrasts myths, particularly myth of belle on pedestal, with realities of women’s lives. Prerequisite: HY 120 or equivalent or permission of instructor. 3 hours.

433. Women and Health in America.—Survey of women’s health issues and women’s responses to them from colonial period to mid-20th century. Role of women as patients and as practitioners. Prerequisite: HY 120 or HY 121 or equivalent; WS 100; or permission of instructor. 3 hours.

Justice Sciences (JS)

400. Special Topics: Women and Criminal Justice.—Roles of women as victims of crime, offenders, and professionals in criminal justice system. Topics include rape, spouse abuse, prostitution, adult and juvenile female crime patterns, and women working in law enforcement, courts, and corrections. 3 hours.

Political Science (PSC)

342. Women in Politics.—Political behavior of women as activists, voters, candidates, and office holders; policy issues affecting women. 3 hours.

Psychology (PSY)

408. Contemporary Issues: Psychobiology of Sex Differences.—Consideration of experimental, theoretical, and ideological literature on gender differences in reproductive and nonreproductive behaviors in humans and infrahumans. 3 hours.

Social Work (SW)

228. Women’s Issues in Social Work Counseling.—Identification of and counseling about issues frequently presented by women, such as dependency, depression, anger, addictive relationships, and self-esteem problems. 3 hours.

Sociology (SOC)

220. Women and Men: Changing Sex Roles.—Presumed biological differences; how females and males are socialized differently; positions in and treatment by major institutions—education, religion, and economy; emphasis on influence of gender labeling on development and lives of both sexes. 3 hours.

240. Family Conflict and Violence.—Origins, manifestations, effects, controls, and rehabilitation aspects of family conflict and violence. 3 hours.

290. Special Topics in Sociology: Women and the Third World.—Role and status of women in third-world nations; potential for change. 3 hours.

290. Special Topics in Sociology: Women and Contemporary Social Issues.—Current issues affecting women, such as feminization of poverty, comparable worth, violence against women, and potential for women to influence such issues. 3 hours.

291. Special Topics in Sociology: African-American Women’s Perspectives on Gender, Race, and Class.—Effects of combination of gender, race, and class on African-American women. Focus on oppression and resistance to oppression by women such as Ida B. Wells, Shirley Chisholm, and Angela Davis. 3 hours.

490. Gender Inequality.—Examines theories of gender inequality using international, national, and interpersonal data for "best fit" test of theories. 3 hours.

490A. Women and the Family.—Analysis of position of women in family, including effect of being family member on women’s self-concept, employed labor, division of household labor, parenting, interpersonal relationships. 1 hour.

490B. Women and Work.—Empirical and theoretical perspectives developed to describe and explain experience of women in labor force. Historical overview, distribution of labor, socialization and aspiration, blue collar and nontraditional jobs, pink collar and managerial experience, health issues, discrimination and harassment, legal issues, remedies to problems, technology, interaction with family, housework. 1 hour.

490C. Women and Power.—Examination of power relationships between women and men; includes micro-level behaviors such as body language and physical violence; macro-level explanations of how power relationships are maintained through control myths; women’s power in institutions such as politics. 1 hour.

Health Related Professions

Occupational Therapy (OT )

120. Women and Illness.—Female health problems throughout life span, women’s diseases and societal response throughout history. Focus on women’s health problems in United States and in South. 3 hours.

121. Women and Health.—Information enabling students to take greater charge of own health care and lives and to better utilize existing health care system. 3 hours.
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