Catalog

Academics > Catalog > 2019–2020 > Courses of Instruction > GSS

Gender and Sexuality Studies

The Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies analyzes local and global entanglements of knowledge, power, pleasure, and resistance. Drawing on histories of anti-racist, decolonial, feminist, queer, and trans work, courses examine shifting dynamics of privilege, exclusion, and marginalization. The program also cultivates action, practice, and reciprocal engagement with the many communities of which we are part. To study gender and sexuality in these ways is to refute simple assertions about identity in favor of richly detailed accounts of the specific conditions through which particular social positions are maintained and transgressed. Students may choose to either major or minor in gender and sexuality studies.

The Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies was formerly the Program in Women and Gender Studies. Students who entered the college before fall 2017 and who major or minor in this program are women and gender studies majors or minors. Students entering the college in fall 2017 and thereafter are gender and sexuality studies majors or minors. The program codes that accompany course numbers have changed from WGS to GSS and from WS to GS. More information on the gender and sexuality studies program is available on the website (bates.edu/gender).

Major Requirements

Students must complete ten courses, including:

1) All of the following:
GSS 100. Introduction to Gender and Sexuality Studies.
AF/GS 201. Race, Ethnicity, and Feminist Thought.
INDS 250. Interdisciplinary Studies: Methods and Modes of Inquiry.
GSS 400. Junior-Senior Seminar.

Majors should try to take GSS 100 and INDS 250 before the end of the sophomore year.

2) Additional Courses. Five additional gender and sexuality studies courses or program-approved courses offered by other departments and programs. At least two of these five courses must be at the 300- or 400-level. No more than one Short Term course may be counted toward the major. The list below includes committee-approved first-year seminars and courses from other departments and programs that may also be used to fulfill major or minor requirements:

ENG 238. Jane Austen: Then and Now.
FRE 376. Writing Gender in French.
FYS 135. Women in Art.
FYS 177. Sex and Sexualities.
FYS 305. Corporal Culture: Body and Health in America.
FYS 346. Desire, Devotion, Suffering.
FYS 483. The Death of Democracy?
PLTC 297. The Household and Political Theory.
RHET 260. Lesbian and Gay Images in Film.
RHET 265. The Rhetoric of Women's Rights.

3) GSS 457, 458. Senior Thesis.

Students should consult the program chair about transfer credits or other courses that may be used toward fulfillment of major or minor requirments.

The gender and sexuality studies course list represents only those courses which are currently part of the Bates curriculum. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the program, many courses in gender and sexuality studies have prerequisites in other departments. Majors should plan their schedules carefully and are urged to consult regularly with the chair to ensure that their program has both breadth and depth.

Senior Thesis

Planning for the senior thesis should begin in the junior year. In consultation with the chair of the program, each student chooses a thesis advisor according to the subject matter of the thesis. With the assistance of the thesis advisor, each major submits a thesis proposal to the faculty Committee on Gender and Sexuality Studies according to a schedule determined by the program. Students should consult the program website for thesis guidelines and a schedule of deadlines.

Pass/Fail Grading Option

Aside from the thesis, which must be taken for a grade, there are no restrictions on the use of the pass/fail option within the major.

Minor

A minor in gender and sexuality consists of GSS 100, AA/GS 201, INDS 250, GSS 400, at least one other 300- or 400-level gender and sexuality studies course, and two other committee-approved courses. No more than one Short Term course may be counted toward the minor.

Pass/Fail Grading Option

There are no restrictions on the use of the pass/fail option within the minor.

Courses

GSS 100. Introduction to Gender and Sexuality Studies.

Interdisciplinary, intersectional study of gender and sexuality in cross-cultural and historical perspective. Emphasis is given to the dynamic relations of race, class, ethnicity, age, (dis)ability, sexuality, nationality, and religion. Not open to students who have received credit for WGST 100. Enrollment limited to 39. (Africana: Gender.) Normally offered every year. Staff.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Queer Studies (C009)

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

GSS 102. Introduction to Transgender Studies.

This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of transgender studies. Students in this course will engage with questions that challenge the simplistic gender binary of “woman” and “man.” What are the distinctions between sex and gender? What does it mean to be transgender? Students trace the history of the Western conceptualization of “transgender” and the development of transgender studies as an academic field. How is transgender studies different from queer studies? What impact have pivotal political and legal changes and social movements had on the lives of transgender and gender-expansive people, in particular those who are multiply marginalized by such factors as race, socio-economic class, citizenship, and ability? New course beginning fall 2020. Enrollment limited to 29. Normally offered every year. I. Ellasante.

EN/GS 121G. Asian American Women Writers.

This course introduces students to some major themes and concerns addressed in the literature of Asian American and Pacific Islander women writers. The course spans the twentieth century into the twenty-first, covering canonical and noncanonical texts, including novels, poetry, short stories, memoirs, and experimental and visual texts by Sui Sin Far, Maxine Hong Kingston, Hisaye Yamamoto, Lisa Linn Kanae, Caroline Sinavaiana, Jessica Hagedorn, Nora Okja Keller, and Miné Okubo. This course combines literary analysis with empire studies, cultural studies, women of color feminisms, and queer theory. Students explore the social, political, economic, and historical realities that shape the literature Asian American and Pacific Islander women produce, particularly the authors’ resistances to U.S. military histories and legal policies. They examine writers’ decolonial practices in spaces of U.S. imperialism and their responses to American immigration policies, war, and adoption practices. Not open to students who have received credit for EN/WS 121G. Enrollment limited to 25. (English: Post-1800.) (English: Race, Ethnicity, or Diasporic Literature.) [AC] [HS] T. Salter.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

INDC 130. Food in Ancient Greece and Rome.

Participants in this course study the history of the food supply for agrarian and urban populations in ancient Greece and Rome; malnutrition, its probable impact on ancient economies, and its uneven impact on populations; famine; the symbolism of the heroic banquet—a division of the sacrificial animal among ranked members of society, and between men and gods; cuisine and delicacies of the rich; forbidden food; the respective roles of men and women in food production, and their unequal access to food supply; dietary transgression; and sacred food. Cross-listed in classical and medieval studies, gender and sexuality studies, and history. Not open to students who have received credit for CMS s28. Enrollment limited to 49. (History: European.) (History: Premodern.) D. O'Higgins.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

FR/GS 151. Gender, Race, and Social Class in French and Francophone Film.

This course explores representations of gender, race, and class including the intersectionality and historical evolution of these categories of difference. Students acquire analytical tools to better appreciate and contextualize French and Francophone films and look critically at their various aesthetic frameworks. How do classic French cinema, surrealism, avant-garde cinema, the New Wave, and postcolonial cinema question social norms and values? How do French and Francophone films represent personal memory, national history, gender relations, and colonial and postcolonial gazes? How do filmmakers address social change and capture shifting identities within French and Francophone history and cultures? Course and reading materials are in English; films are in the original with English subtitles. Enrollment limited to 39. Normally offered every year. M. Rice-DeFosse.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

GS/PT 155. Gender, Power, and Politics.

This course scrutinizes several sites where power is produced—constitutions, international politics, political theory, voting, social movements, and globalization— in order to assess the impact of gender on the status, behavior, and authority of different political actors. Recognizing how race, class, sexuality, and citizen status matter, students consider why women are under-represented in nearly all governments and how women make more of a difference in national and global politics than the images of "men in suits" imply. Students examine questions, concepts, and theories which acknowledge women's political agency and help assess their influence across a range of political systems. Not open to students who have received credit for PT/WS 155. Enrollment limited to 39. (Politics: Identities and Interests.) (Politics: Philosophical, Literary, and Legal Studies.) J. Longaker.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Class, Inequity, Poverty, and Justice (C008)

INDC 200. Women's Movements and Religion across East Asia.

What are the key challenges faced by women’s movements across East Asia? What roles do religious ethics and cultural norms play in creating either obstacles or opportunities for women activists who seek to counter gender disparity in the pursuit of economic development? Do religious traditions offer challenges or resources for socio-economic reform? From Islam among Malay and Hui Chinese communities to Confucian-influenced Christianity among South Korean communities, this course provides an opportunity to explore how women’s movements in East Asia engage with religious and cultural traditions in their struggles for human rights and civil liberties, as well as equal access to education, labor markets, affordable childcare, and other development opportunities. Recommended background: one introductory course in anthropology, economics, history, sociology, or politics. New course beginning winter 2020. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 39. Normally offered every year. A. Akhtar.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

AF/GS 201. Race, Ethnicity, and Feminist Thought.

While all courses in the gender and sexuality studies program examine gender in relation to other critical categories of social identity and experience, this course focuses on race, ethnicity, and national power at their intersections with gender. Using perspectives from the social sciences, the humanities, and critical-race, womanist, feminist, and queer theories, students examine feminist efforts at self-definition and self-sufficiency as well as feminist contributions to knowledge, social and political activism, and theorizing. Not open to students who have received credit for AA/GS 201 or AA/WS 201. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. (Africana: Gender.) Normally offered every year. Staff.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

GSS 202. Queer and Trans Sports Studies.

This course brings queer studies and trans studies perspectives to sport, looking at practice, representation, discourse, and relations among them. Topics include the reach into the lives of all athletes of gender binarism and gender segregation; the regulation of transgender, gender nonconforming, and intersex athletes, including through the delineation of those categories, in the context of other discourses around human variation in sport; the roles of raced masculinities, femininities, heteronormativities, and homonormativities in the valuation of athleticism, athletes, and sports; and issues from pleasure to pink-washing. Recommended background: one course on the study of gender, sexuality, queer studies, trans studies, and/or sports studies. Not open to students who have received credit for WGST 202. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. (Africana: Gender.) [W2] E. Rand.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

CM/GS 204. Classics and the History of Sexuality.

This course investigates how the language and culture of ancient Greece and Rome has shaped many of our contemporary ideas on sexuality in the US. Students explore the role of Greco-Roman material in discourses of sexual identity, freedom, and oppression from the first scientific studies of sexual behavior in the late nineteenth-century to notions of sex, gender, and sexuality in the modern day. Throughout the course students analyze texts from both ancient and modern contexts to see how classical culture has acted as an explanatory force in the fields of medicine, psychology, law, and politics. Students also explore how marginalized groups, especially LGBTQI peoples, have used Greco-Roman antiquity as a means both for forming community and for arguing their equal rights. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 35. [AC] [HS] D. O'Higgins.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

GSS 205. Queer Indigenous Studies.

This course examines the complex intersections of indigenousness and queerness within the prevailing context of colonialism. Students investigate experiences at the nexus of LGBTQ+ and indigenous cultural identities and expressions. How have the relationships between queer Indigenous peoples—like the muxe (Zapotec), Two-Spirit (pan-Indigenous), or fa’afatama (Samoa)—and their respective communities changed? How are queer indigenous social movements distinct from general LGBTQ+ social movements? Via theoretical essays, personal narratives, fiction, and poetry, students consider a range of cultures to comprehend the global impact of colonization on indigenous genders and sexualities and to recognize ongoing decolonial movements for reclamation. Recommended background: at least one course in American studies or gender and sexuality studies. New course beginning winter 2020. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 39. Normally offered every other year. I. Ellasante.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

GSS 206. Gender Traditions and Transformations in the Americas.

Beginning with a survey of traditional Indigenous gender systems across the Americas, this transdisciplinary course examines changes over time in the concepts and contexts of gender normativity and nonconformity from precolonial eras through the present. Students investigate the impact of pivotal political and legal changes and cross-cultural movements of resistance and liberation on the lives of people embodying marginalized genders throughout North and South America, in particular those who are multiply marginalized by such factors as race, socioeconomic class, citizenship, and ability. Enrollment limited to 29. Normally offered every year. I. Ellasante.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Latin American Studies (C072)

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

GS/RE 207. Eve, Adam, and the Serpent.

This course examines the historical formation of Genesis 1–3 against the background of its literary, cultural, and historical context and its subsequent interpretation and use in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. Special attention is given to the ways in which the biblical texts have been interpreted and used to imagine, promote, and justify social orders — both hierarchical and egalitarian — as well as how the construction of gender relations links to the ways in which other social institutions are articulated and justified. Topics include the creation of the cosmos, characterizations of the Creator, the origins and perfection of humanity, the origins of evil, and the nature of the garden. Not open to students who have received credit for RE/WS 207. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 39. C. Baker.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Religious Studies (C001)

INDC 210. Technology in U.S. History.

Surveys the development, distribution, and use of technology in the United States from colonial roadways to digital media, using primary and secondary source material. Subjects treated include gendered and racialized divisions of labor, theories of invention and innovation, and the ecological consequences of technological change. Cross-listed in American studies, gender and sexuality studies, and history. Enrollment limited to 29. (History: United States.) R. Herzig.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Material Culture (C083)

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

CM/GS 217. Sex and Gender in Ancient Rome.

This course investigates Roman categories of gender and sex through ancient and modern theories of gender and sexuality, especially Michel Foucault's controversial thesis on ancient sexuality. Students examine ancient philosophy, rhetoric, poetry, graffiti, novels, and visual culture to discuss the lived experiences of Roman people, whether gladiators, senators, sex workers, or matrons. Special attention is paid to the diversity of experiences recorded outside of canonical texts, and the influence of foreign cultures on Roman thought and practices. Recommended background: CM/HI 101, 108, or 109. New course beginning winter 2020. Enrollment limited to 29. One-time offering. G. Gillies.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

GS/PT 219. Social Movements in Latin America.

Social movements have often played key roles in Latin American politics. In the 1980s, grassroots movements against dictatorships raised hopes that poor and marginalized groups might spur processes of democratization and development. In the new democratic regimes, however, significant social and economic inequalities persist, marking political and social space in acute ways. This course explores the struggle by poor and marginalized groups for space, both theoretically and literally, through examination of rural landless movements, urban squatter movements, LGBT movements, and women's movements in the region. Not open to students who have received credit for PLTC 219. Enrollment limited to 29. (Politics: Identities and Interests.) (Politics: Security, Conflict, and Cooperation.) J. Longaker.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

INDC 238. Queer Power: Political Sociology of U.S. Sexuality Movements.

This course introduces students to social movement theory and interest group politics in the United States via the case study of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) politics from the immediate post-World War II period to the present, and examines the relationship of sexuality to the racial and gender dynamics of American identity-based social movements. The course traces the development of research methodologies to study collective action from early rational choice models to resource mobilization theory to new social movement models and political opportunity and process models. How the LGBTQ movements drew upon, expanded, and challenged foundations established by both African American civil rights and feminism is also explored. A range of source materials includes political science, sociology, and history monographs and articles, primary source documents, literature, and film. Cross-listed in gender and sexuality studies, politics, and sociology. Prerequisite(s): any 100-level course in gender and sexuality studies, politics, or sociology. Enrollment limited to 29. (Politics: Identities and Interests.) (Politics: Institutional Politics.) S. Engel.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

AM/GS 248. Queer Studies.

This course considers the production and regulation of gender and sexuality in relation to norms of identity, social organization, and embodiment, and the interconnections of queer sexualities and queer genders with each other and with race, economic status, citizenship, and other axes of difference. While the course engages the body of scholarship understood in the 1990s and beyond to form a field called "Queer Theory," it also focuses on activist and scholarly work generated before, outside, and against its boundaries, especially in queer of color critique and trans studies, with central attention to lives and thinking of people embodying or associates with marginalized genders and sexualities. Recommended background: one course on the study of gender, sexuality, queer studies, and/or trans studies. Not open to students who have received credit for EN/WS 248 or GSS 248. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. (Community-Engaged Learning.) [W2] Normally offered every year. S. Engel, E. Osucha, E. Rand.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

INDC 250. Interdisciplinary Studies: Methods and Modes of Inquiry.

Interdisciplinarity involves more than a meeting of disciplines. Practitioners stretch methodological norms and reach across disciplinary boundaries. Through examination of a single topic, this course introduces students to interdisciplinary methods of analysis. Students examine what practitioners actually do and work to become practitioners themselves. Cross-listed in Africana, American studies, and gender and sexuality studies. Prerequisite(s): AFR 100, AMST 200, or GSS 100, and one other course in Africana, American studies, or gender and sexuality studies. Enrollment limited to 39. Staff.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

INDC 257. African American Women's History and Social Transformation.

This course examines the political, social, and cultural traditions African American women have created from slavery to the current moment, notably the influence of African American women on the major social movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries including abolition, woman's suffrage, the club movement, women's liberation, the black arts movement, the civil rights movement, and Black Power. Through novels, plays, autobiography, music, and nonfiction produced by and about African American women, students explore a range of intellectual and cultural traditions. Cross-listed in Africana, gender and sexuality studies, history, and politics. Recommended background: one course in gender and sexuality studies and/or one course in Africana. Enrollment limited to 30. (Africana: Gender.) (Africana: Historical Perspective.) (Politics: Identities and Interests.) (Politics: Institutional Politics.) M. Plastas.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

GS/PL 262. Feminist Philosophy.

What is gender? What is race? What is oppression? What does it mean to experience discrimination or oppression? Feminist philosophy uses philosophical methods to think carefully about gender, the way gender intersects with other identities, the lives of historically marginalized voices, and the concepts employed in feminist political movement and similar social movements such as those centered around race, class, sexual identity and orientation, and disability. Additional areas of study may include science and society; gender and science; sex and sexuality; reproduction; family; gender in popular culture; and the body and appearance, including the fashion and beauty industries. Not open to students who have received credit for PL/WS 262. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. Normally offered every year. S. Stark, L. Ashwell.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

INDC 267. Blood, Genes, and American Culture.

Places recent popular and scientific discussions of human heredity and genetics in broader social, political, and historical context, focusing on shifting definitions of personhood. Topics include the ownership and exchange of human bodies and body parts, the development of assisted reproductive technologies, and the emergence of new forms of biological citizenship. Cross-listed in Africana, American studies, and gender and sexuality studies. Recommended background: course work in biology and/or gender and sexuality studies. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. R. Herzig.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

GS/SO 270. Sociology of Gender.

This course focuses on the social construction of gender through a consideration of a series of interrelated social institutions and practices central to gender inequality. Emphasis is placed on the intersections between gender inequality and inequalities of race/ethnicity, class, sexuality orientation, and nation. Recommended background: one previous course in gender and sexuality studies or sociology. Not open to students who have received credit for SO/WS 270. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. (Community-Engaged Learning.) E. Kane.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

AN/GS 275. Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Gender and Sexuality.

Comparative analysis of the social construction of gender in a wide range of contemporary societies, focusing on the contrast among African, South American, and North Atlantic notions of gender identity and gender relations. Students work toward a deeper understanding of gender diversity, confronting their own cultural assumptions. Not open to students who have received credit for AN/WS 275. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. (Community-Engaged Learning.) Normally offered every year. E. Eames.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

GS/PT 282. Constitutional Law II: Rights and Identities.

This course introduces students to constitutional interpretation and development in civil rights and race equality jurisprudence, gender equality jurisprudence, sexual orientation law, and matters related to privacy and autonomy (particularly sexual autonomy involving contraception and abortion access). Expanding, contracting, or otherwise altering the meaning of a right involves a range of actors in a variety of venues, not only courts. Therefore, students consider rights from a "law and society" perspective, which focuses on analyzing judicial rulings as well as evaluating the social conceptualization, representation, and grassroots mobilization around these rights. Prerequisite(s): PLTC 216. Not open to students who have received credit for PT/WS 282. Enrollment limited to 29. (Politics: Identities and Interests.) (Politics: Philosophical, Literary, and Legal Studies.) S. Engel.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

AV/GS 287. Gender and Visual Culture.

This course concerns gender in the making and viewing of visual culture, with emphasis on the later twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and the roles of visual culture in the construction of gendered identities. Topics include the use of the visual in artistic, political, and historical representations of gendered people; queer and trans genderings; the visualization of gender in relation to race, ethnicity, nationality, class, age, sex, and sexuality; and matters of censorship, circulation, and resources that affect the cultural production of people oppressed and/or marginalized by sex and/or gender. Not open to students who have received credit for AV/WS 287. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. (Africana: Gender.) (Art and Visual Culture: Race, Sexuality, Gender.) [W2] E. Rand.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Queer Studies (C009)

GS/PT 292. Political Freedom.

Is freedom a concept, a principle, or a practice? Is capitalism the scene of human domination, human freedom, or both? What is the relationship between one’s social identity and freedom—is it liberating or imprisoning? What is the relationship of political freedom to power, equality, and community? In this course, students consider these kinds of questions by reading classics in Western political theory, including Dostoevsky, Rousseau, and Marx, and by analyzing contemporary writings on feminist and queer politics, Black Lives Matter, contemporary capitalism, and more. Recommended background: PLTC 191. Not open to students who have received credit for PT/WS 292. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. (Politics: Identities and Interests.) (Politics: Philosophical, Literary, and Legal Studies.) [AC] [HS] Staff.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Law and Society (C013)

AV/GS 299. Gender in African Art.

This course examines the complex role of gender in African art and visual culture. Focused topics include gender divisions in artistic production, women in royal traditions, gender restrictions in viewing sacred arts, arts and visual culture celebrating women’s power, performative cross-dressing, gender identities in cultural performance, the personification of spirit spouses, and cis- and transgender expressions in contemporary art. Enrollment limited to 29. (Art and Visual Culture: Non-Western Canon.) (Art and Visual Culture: Race, Sexuality, Gender.) Staff.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

INDC 301A. Sex and the Modern City: European Cultures at the Fin-de-Siècle.

Economic and political change during the 1800s revolutionized the daily lives of Europeans more profoundly than any previous century. By the last third of the century, the modern city became the stage for exploring and enacting new roles, new gender identities in particular. This course examines the cultural reverberations of these cataclysmic changes by focusing on sex, gender, and new urban spaces the decades around the turn of the twentieth century. Students consider the writings of Zola and Freud, investigate middle-class flirtations with the occult, and read about sensational crimes like those of Jack the Ripper. Cross-listed in European studies, gender and sexuality studies, and history. Enrollment limited to 15. (History: European.) (History: Modern.) [W2] C. Shaw.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

INDC 301D. US Immigration in the 20th Century: A Gender Perspective.

Both women and men have fled their countries to escape political, ethnic, or religious persecution, wars, dire economic conditions, or the consequences of natural disasters. Historical processes such as the global Cold War have resulted in various population movements. How did gender expectations, relations, and rights impact migrants? This seminar examines the role of gender in the migration experience and migration settlement practices. By looking at case studies, it explores how migrants have negotiated gendered and racialized structures in the U.S. Students read a range of texts highlighting several aspects of the migrant experience such as shifting gender roles. New course beginning winter 2020. Enrollment limited to 15. (History: Modern.) (History: United States.) [W2] Normally offered every year. J. Essame.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

INDC 301Z. Race and U.S. Women's Movements.

This course focuses on how racial formations develop in women's movements and how gender ideologies take shape through racialization. Some of the movements examined include the woman's suffrage movement, the anti-lynching movement, the civil rights movement, moral reform movements, the welfare rights movement, the women's liberation movement, and the peace movement. Students analyze how the intertwined categories of race and gender shape various women's responses to debates about issues including citizenship, U.S. foreign policy, reproductive rights, and immigration. Students consider current theoretical and methodological debates and examine the topic through the perspectives of women in various ethnic and racial groups. Cross-listed in gender and sexuality studies, history, and politics. Enrollment limited to 15. (Africana: Gender.) (Africana: Historical Perspective.) (History: Modern.) (History: United States.) (Politics: Identities and Interests.) [W2] M. Plastas.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Racisms (C041)

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

INDC 302. Black Feminist Activist and Intellectual Traditions.

This junior-senior seminar examines the intersections of gender with Black racial and ethnic identities as they have been and are constructed, expressed, and lived throughout the African/Black diaspora. Special attention is given to the United States but substantial consideration is given to Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Canada, Europe, and Australia. The course combines approaches and methodologies employed in the humanities, social sciences, and arts to structure interdisciplinary analyses. Using Black feminist (womanist), critical-race, and queer theories, students examine African-descended women’s histories, activism, resistance, and contributions to culture, knowledge, and theorizing. Cross-listed in Africana, American studies, and gender and sexuality studies. Prerequisite(s): one course in Africana, American studies, or gender and sexuality studies. Enrollment limited to 15. (Africana: Diaspora.) (Africana: Gender.) (Africana: Historical Perspective.) [AC] S. Houchins.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

AF/GS 303. Birthing while Black.

This course explores the complex and intense history of Black reproduction in the United States and abroad. Students examine the social value of Black life both during and after enslavement. They mine contentious topics such as welfare caps, compulsory sterilization, abortion access, and the disparate experiences of Black mothers in the U.S. healthcare system that have led to maternal death rates twice the national average. The course considers both the ordinary experiences of Black women birthing as well as the sensationalized experiences of mothers such as activist Erica Garner, athlete Serena Williams, and pop icon Beyoncé. New course beginning winter 2020. Enrollment limited to 18. One-time offering. C. Shepard.

GS/PT 304. Intersectional Political Theory: Lesbian, Black, and Indigenous Feminisms.

In the era of the Women’s March, #MeToo, and #SayHerName, "intersectionality" has become a watchword in feminist and queer politics. But what does it mean to think, act, or organize intersectionally? What conflicts and inequalities do intersectional frameworks identify? Can—or should—intersectional approaches attempt to solve these challenges once and for all? This course examines how lesbian, black, and indigenous feminists have differently encountered these challenges from the 1960s to the present. Students reconstruct the various visions of redress and responsibility that these writers offer, asking how intersectional politics raise difficult questions about acting politically across differences. Prerequisite(s): PLTC 191. Enrollment limited to 15. (Politics: Identities and Interests.) (Politics: Philosophical, Literary, and Legal Studies.) [W2] One-time offering. E. Gambino.

GSS 305. College for Coming Times.

Why attend class in the era of instantaneously streaming information? What purposes might educational institutions such as Bates, created as nineteenth-century Protestant seminaries, hold for lives framed by the pressing global challenges of the twenty-first century? This advanced discussion seminar, grounded in the emerging field of Critical University Studies, addresses these and related questions. Drawing insight from feminist, queer, disability, and critical race approaches, students consider the role of small residential colleges in confronting issues such as student debt, workplace automation, and climate justice. Prerequisite(s): GSS 100. New course beginning fall 2020. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] Normally offered every year. R. Herzig.

INDC 306. Queer Africana: History, Theories, and Representations.

This course examines the debates among authors, politicians, religious leaders, social scientists, and artists in Africa, the African Americas, and Afro-Europe about the very existence of same-sex desire and relationships—any non-normative sexualities, in general—throughout the African world. While the course analyzes histories of sexualities, legal documents, manifestos by dissident organizations, and anthropological and sociological treatises, it focuses primarily on textual and cinematic representations, and proposes methods of reading cultural productions at the intersection of sexualities, race, ethnicities, and gender. Cross-listed in Africana, English, and gender and sexuality studies. Recommended background: at least one course in Africana, gender and sexuality studies, or literary analysis. Enrollment limited to 15. (Africana: Diaspora.) (Africana: Gender.) (Africana: Historical Perspective.) (English: Post-1800.) (English: Race, Ethnicity, or Diasporic Literature.) S. Houchins.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

GS/PY 309. The Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity.

This course examines the experiences of LGBTQ people from a psychological perspective. Topics include identity development, coming out, LGBTQ relationships and communities, prejudice toward LGBTQ people, mental health outcomes and disparities, and resilience and thriving in LGBTQ people. Emphasis is placed on psychological experiences at intersections of sexual orientation/gender identity and other social identities, including ethnicity, religion, age, and ability status. Prerequisite(s): one 200-level psychology course. Only open to juniors and seniors. Enrollment limited to 19. Normally offered every year. [HS] Staff.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Queer Studies (C009)

GS/RE 310. Gender and Judaism.

In this course, students explore aspects of Jewish culture and images of Jews and Judaism through the lenses of gender and sexuality. They examine ideologies, images, and practices from Jewish traditions with an eye to the ways in which gender and sexuality are constructed, maintained, contested, and/or transformed through them. Feminist Jews and Judaism serve as sources for insight and critique as well as constructive resources for religious reflection, ritual, and visions of Judaism's future. Not open to students who have received credit for RE/WS 310. Enrollment limited to 15. C. Baker.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

GS/RE 311. Buddhism and Gender.

This course examines the role of gender in Buddhist communities from the inception of the religious tradition to the modern day. How has gender identity influenced the development of this tradition? Where do we see gender in Buddhist literature, doctrine, and art? How do modern ideas of what "Buddhism" is affect change in the North American context, and how is this different from the Buddhist past? The course draws on a variety of sources, including literary, cinematic, and visual materials, to answer these questions. Special attention is given to how gender is presented in doctrinal texts, and the (dis)connection between these documents and the lived experiences of Buddhist people, as presented in interviews and autobiographies by Buddhist practitioners from a variety of moments and communities. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] A. Melnick Dyer.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

GSS 312. Trans Narratives of Self.

Many transgender and gender-expansive authors have written about navigating the experiences of childhood, coming out, transition, passing or not passing, and living within a cis-normative society. What is compelling or relatable about these narratives? Are there similar patterns or arcs among them? How do these differ from the depiction of the trans experience as told by cisgender authors? This course will consider the telling of one’s own story and the impetus to do so for people embodying marginalized genders, especially those who are multiply marginalized by such factors as race, socio-economic class, ability, citizenship, and place. Prerequisite(s): GSS 100. New course beginning winter 2020. Enrollment limited to 15. (Community-Engaged Learning.) Normally offered every other year. I. Ellasante.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

GSS 313. Gender in American Indian Literature.

This course investigates the portrayal of gender in American Indian literature, especially as contrasted with depictions of American Indian gender in U.S.-American culture. This seminar outlines a chronology of American Indian literature, highlights the significance of the oral tradition, and foregrounds the ever relevant role of story to Indigenous peoplehood. Students also consider tribal, Native-national, and regional perspectives and the ongoing, pervasive effects of settler colonialism in defining the historical and contemporary cultural contexts of the literary works. Prerequisite(s): GSS 100. Enrollment limited to 19. Normally offered every other year. I. Ellasante.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

GS/RE 322. Gender and Power in Christianity.

This course explores relationships among constructions of gender, sexuality, and religious power in Christian cultures from antiquity through modernity. Recommended background: at least one course in gender and sexuality studies or religious studies. Enrollment limited to 15. C. Baker.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Religious Studies (C001)

GS/PL 323D. Feminist Epistemology.

In this course, students read feminist accounts and critiques of how we know what we know as well as how and what we value, and why. Students consider questions such as: Is rationality gendered? Are conceptions of philosophy "masculine"? What role do "subjects" play in knowledge production? What epistemic role does ignorance play in knowing and unknowing? What role does epistemic responsibility play in being justified? What is epistemic injustice and how can such injustice be addressed? Recommended background: PHIL 236 and GS/PL 262. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] L. Ashwell.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Philosophy (C042)

INDC 325. Black Feminist Literary Theory and Practice.

This seminar examines literary theories that address the representation and construction of race, gender, and sexuality, particularly, but not exclusively, theories formulated and articulated by Afra-diasporic women such as Spillers, Ogunyemi, Henderson, Carby, Christian, Cobham, Valerie Smith, McDowell, Busia, Lubiano, and Davies. Students not only analyze theoretical essays but also use the theories as lenses through which to explore literary productions of women writers of Africa and the African diaspora in Europe and in the Americas, including Philip, Dangarembga, Morrison, Herron, Gayl Jones, Head, Condé, Brodber, Brand, Merle Collins, and Harriet Wilson. Cross-listed in Africana, and gender and sexuality studies. Strongly recommended: at least one literature course. Enrollment limited to 15. (Africana: Gender.) (English: Race, Ethnicity, or Diasporic Literature.) S. Houchins.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

GS/PT 326. The Politics of Authenticity.

Is there such a thing as an authentic self? If so, can politics help us realize it? In this writing-attentive course, students discuss what the politics of authenticity is or might be, how it has been conceptualized in American politics and Western political theory, and why it has become an object of widespread suspicion and continuing appeal. Students examine how authenticity has been posited and contested in three different domains: in the history of Western political thought; in feminist, queer, and transgender writings; and in discussions of race. Authors include Rousseau, Freud, Butler, Malcolm X, Yoshino, and Coates. Not open to students who have received credit for PT/WS 326. Enrollment limited to 15. (Politics: Identities and Interests.) (Politics: Philosophical, Literary, and Legal Studies.) [W2] Staff.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

GS/SP 327. Gendered Experiences in the Américas Borderlands.

Students become acquainted with film, comics, music, fiction and nonfiction narratives that engage border tensions and issues of immigration in English and Spanish. Concepts such as sense of place, mobility, and permanence; histories of place; place of enunciation; transnational historical memory of migration; and transnational historical networks are utilized as critical lenses to analyze gendered experiences of migration. Taught in Spanish. Recommended background: SPAN 230. Prerequisite(s): one 200-level Spanish course above SPAN 211. Only open to juniors and seniors. Not open to students who have received credit for GS/SP 323 or SP/WS 323. Enrollment limited to 15. C. Aburto Guzmán.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

GSS 335. Tobacco: Gender Matters.

In the opening episode of the television show Mad Men, entitled "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," cigarettes feature as the primary signifier of mid-twentieth-century social norms and cultural divides. As Mad Men suggests, tobacco matters to our ability to understand the formation of cultural values and divides. In this reading- and research-intensive seminar, students use gender and queer theory to examine the global history of tobacco production, consumption, and control. Through historical and comparative study they consider the role of tobacco in shaping ideas about gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and class. Topics include the political economy of tobacco, tobacco control movements, tobacco and human rights, and health equity. Prerequisite(s): GSS 100. Not open to students who have received credit for GS/PT s14, PT/WS s14, or WGST 335. Enrollment limited to 15. (Community-Engaged Learning.) M. Plastas.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

INDC 342. Performance, Narrative, and the Body.

This course examines the politics of the body through the inter/transdisciplinary frames of the narrative and performance, including the specific ways performance and narrative theories of the body and cultural practices operate in everyday life and social formations. Students examine how the "body" is performed and how narrative is constructed in a variety of different contexts such as race, gender, disease, sexuality, and culture. The course places narrative and performance at the center (rather than the margins) of inquiry, asking how far and how deeply performativity reaches into our lives and how performances construct our identities, differences, and our bodies: who we are and who we can become. Cross-listed in Africana, American studies, anthropology, and gender and sexuality studies. Prerequisite(s): GSS 100. Recommended background: course work in Africana, American studies, anthropology, gender and sexuality studies, politics, or sociology. Enrollment limited to 15. (Africana: Historical Perspective.) M. Beasley.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

GS/PY 343. Women, Culture, and Health.

This course examines a variety of perspectives on women's health issues, including reproductive health, body image, sexuality, substance use and abuse, mental health, cancer, AIDS, heart disease, poverty, work, violence, access to health care, and aging. Each topic is examined in sociocultural context, and the complex relationship between individual health and cultural demands or standards is explored. Prerequisite(s): one 200-level psychology course. Not open to students who have received credit for PY/WS 343. Enrollment limited to 19. S. Langdon, K. Low.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Public Health (C065)

GS/SP 344. Gendering Social Awareness in Contemporary Spain.

In this course, students use gender as the main category of analysis, paying particular attention to its interconnectedness with power. Carefully examining texts written by women in contemporary Spain, students explore the deliberate use of gender as a lens through which to understand different forms of domination—economic, political, and social. Taught in Spanish. Prerequisite(s): one 200-level Spanish course above SPAN 211. Recommended background: SPAN 231. Only open to juniors and seniors. Not open to students who have received credit for SP/WS 344. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor permission is required. F. López.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

AV/GS 345. Trans Studies in the Politics of Visibility.

Many people have welcomed the increased visibility of trans and/or gender-nonconforming people as a sign of progress. Yet who is visible, what constitutes visibility, and whom do particular visibilities benefit? This course uses a trans studies framework to consider both the products and the politics of visibility. Topics include the representation of queer gender and trans and/or gender-nonconforming people in contemporary visual culture; critiques of visibility in relation to state surveillance and white supremacy; and the interconnected roles of norms regarding race, sexuality, ethnicity, class, and ability in perceptions and practices of gender normativity and transgression. Recommended background: at least one course with substantial work in gender, queer, or trans studies or the study of visual culture. Enrollment limited to 15. (Africana: Gender.) [AC] E. Rand.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Queer Studies (C009)

INDC 352. Preserving the Vibration: Digitizing the Legacy of Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor.

This course introduces public and digital humanities through the life and work of noted journalist, food anthropologist, and public broadcaster Vertamae Grosvenor. Public humanities is concerned with expanding academic discourse beyond academia and facilitating conversations on topics of humanistic inquiry with the community at large. Digital studies provide a plethora of unconventional ways to engage community in public dialogues for the greater good. Drawing from books, operas, NPR audio segments, interviews, cookbooks, and other artifacts of Grosvenor, students create and curate a digital archive. Themes include Gullah culture, African American migration, foodways, memoir, public memory, and monuments. Leading theories and methods of black feminism, material culture, race, food studies, new media and digital humanities are foregrounded. Cross-listed in Africana, American studies, digital and computational studies, and gender and sexuality studies. Prerequisite(s): one of the following: AF/AM 119; AF/HI 243; AFR 100; AMST 200; AM/EN 395B; AV/GS 287; GSS 100; INDS 250 or 267; REL 255 or 270. Enrollment limited to 15. M. Beasley.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

AM/GS 353. Critical Theory/Critical Acts.

Critical theory unravels streams of repressive discourses and hierarchies in our contemporary world, and artists have fostered ruptures and fissures in everyday life. This seminar ponders the concept of "cultural worker" and laments the domain of theory by exploring the intersections between critical theory, art, and cultural politics. Students engage in the ruptures, the fragments of knowledge, and making sense of the residue of "social change" while not forgetting the problematization of the aesthetic. They consider U.S.-based interdisciplinary artists such as Thiong'o, Fusco, Ana Mediata, Tania Bruguera, David Hammon, Jay-Z, Pope.L, and Lady Gaga with critical theorists such as Fanon, Butler, Foucault, Phalen, Muñoz, Moten, Adorno, Barthes, Olkowski, and Benjamin. This seminar is based on close readings of theoretical texts and connecting those texts with contemporary cultural politics. Prerequisite(s): AA/AM 119, AMST 200, AM/EN 395B, AV/GS 287, GSS 100, or INDS 250 or 267. Not open to students who have received credit for AC/WS 353. Enrollment limited to 15. M. Beasley.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

GSS 356. Marriage in America.

Investigates the surprising history of ideas and practices of marriage in the United States and U.S. territories from the colonial era to the present. Paying special attention to the idealization of intimate romantic love in contemporary popular culture, readings and discussions explore the interplay of citizenship, religion, consumption, labor, reproduction, sexuality, and racialized gender in an institution often portrayed as at the center of American life. Prerequisite(s): GSS 100. Not open to students who have received credit for WGST 356. Enrollment limited to 19. R. Herzig.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

GSS 360. Independent Study.

Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study per semester. Normally offered every year. Staff.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

GSS 365. Special Topics.

A course or seminar offered from time to time and reserved for a special topic selected by the Committee on Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

FR/GS 377. Colon/Colonisé: Récits de l'Expérience Nord-Africaine.

This course studies the colonial, postcolonial, and immigrant experience of North Africans as portrayed in Francophone literature. Readings include narratives and journals from the beginning of the colonial period in Algeria (1830), as well as the contemporary novels and discourse of feminists such as Assia Djebar, Malika Mokeddem, and Leïla Sebbar. Gender is often highlighted as a category of analysis. Prerequisite(s): FRE 240, 250, or 251. Course reinstated beginning winter 2020. K. Read.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

ED/GS 384. Education in a Globalized World.

We live in an era characterized by global flows of ideas and information, commodities, and people. In this course students examine the impacts of globalization on education policy and practice. Students explore how these transformative forces influence schools and schooling in different geographical, national, and cultural contexts. Topics address a set of concerns with enduring resonance to the field of educational studies, including social inequity and change; relations of power; and constructions of race, gender, and social class. A thirty-hour field experience is required. Not open to students who have received credit for ED/WS 384. Enrollment limited to 28. (Community-Engaged Learning.) [W2] [AC] [HS] P. Buck.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

GS/SO 395I. Work, Family, and Social Inclusion.

This seminar explores debates in the research and policy literatures on work, family, and social inequality, particularly in the United States. Topics include family policy, poverty, reproduction, partnerships, parenting, and the integration of work and family. All of these topics are addressed with attention to social inclusion and exclusion on the basis of intersecting social inequalities, including race, class, gender, sexuality, and nation, as well as critical analysis of neoliberal approaches to work and family. Prerequisite(s): INDS 250 or SOC 205. Not open to students who have received credit for SO/WS 395I. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] E. Kane.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

GS/SO 395K. Knowledge, Action, and Social Change.

This seminar explores the politics of knowledge and the potential role of research in advancing social justice and social change. Students consider competing perspectives on the public relevance of academic research, including debates within sociology and feminist studies. With those debates as context, students conduct publicly-engaged work through community-based research projects on issues related to social inequality. Prerequisite(s): INDS 250 or SOC 205. Enrollment limited to 15. (Community-Engaged Learning.) [W2] E. Kane.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

GSS 400. Junior-Senior Seminar.

This seminar is an advanced inquiry into feminist and queer theories and methods. Drawing on work in several disciplinary fields, students ask how using gender and sexuality as categories of analysis illuminates and/or alters work in other disciplines. Students also investigate the development of core theories and methods within gender and sexuality studies. Required of all majors and minors. Normally, one 400-level seminar is offered each year.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

GSS 400C. Understanding Disease.

Intensive reading seminar examining the nature, causes, and consequences of human disease and illness. Students consider biomedicals model of disease; the professionalization of medical care; and the role of class, nation, gender, sexuality, and race in disease research and treatment. Prerequisite(s): five core courses in gender and sexuality studies. Not open to students who have received credit for WGST 400C. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor permission is required. R. Herzig.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Public Health (C065)

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

GSS 400D. Global Feminisms.

Explores feminist, queer, and trans movements in transnational perspective. Topics include divisions of labor, immigration and migration, decolonization, and cultural imperialism. Students analyze local and international social movements and examine multiple definitions of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and nationhood. Prerequisite(s): five core courses in gender and sexuality studies. Not open to students who have received credit for WGST 400D. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor permission is required. R. Herzig, M. Plastas.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

GSS 457. Senior Thesis.

The research and writing of an extended essay or report, or the completion of a creative project, under the supervision of a faculty member. Majors normally register for GSS 458 in the winter semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both GSS 457 and 458. [W3] Normally offered every year. Staff.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

GSS 458. Senior Thesis.

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

Short Term Courses

INDC s10. Sexuality in the Stacks: How Archives Shape Political Memory.

In this introduction to queer archives and sexual histories, students encounter how the institutions in which we house political memory shape our conception of the actors, stakes, and even the outcomes of political struggles. Throughout the course, students read contemporary research that creatively grapples with questions of power, silence, and political possibility in and through the archive. The course also emphasizes practical challenges of working in the archival research on marginalized sexualities, and will feature hands-on research in digital archives and a speaker series by scholars, archivists, and other researchers to share how their understanding of sex and sexuality are created and contested by the limits and possibilties of archives.New course beginning short term 2020. Enrollment limited to 30. (Politics: Identities and Interests.) (Politics: Philosophical, Literary, and Legal Studies.) One-time offering. E. Gambino.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

ES/GS s13. Infrastructures.

Popular representations of digital technologies often present them as somehow independent of material constraints—as inherently clean, "green," and ethereal as a cloud. Those images belie the realities of the information economy's myriad environmental impacts, from resource depletion to water pollution to massive energy consumption. This course, an introduction to the history and politics of infrastructure, directs attention to relationships between human and nonhuman nature, using everyday personal computing as a point of departure. Throughout, students engage with activists, regulators, and maintainers working toward justice and sustainability in the digital age. Not open to seniors. Enrollment limited to 18. R. Herzig.

GS/PT s14. Gender and Tobacco.

This course explores the sociohistorical complexities of tobacco and the political economies of tobacco production, consumption, and regulation. The course focuses on how gender, race, and class influence tobacco industry policies, tobacco control procedures, the health and economic impact of tobacco on communities, and the strategies of grassroots and transnational activists in tobacco regulation movements. Recommended background: course work in gender and sexuality studies. Not open to students who have received credit for GSS 335, PT/WS s14, or WGST 335. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. (Politics: Political Economy.) M. Plastas.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

INDC s18. Wilde Times: Scandal, Celebrity, and the Law.

Oscar Wilde, an icon today, was popular in his own time as well. His relationship with Alfred Douglas was an open secret despite the fact that homosexuality was at the time a criminal offense. Indeed, Wilde’s sexuality was tolerated until he sued Douglas' irascible father for libel. This course begins with the 1895 trials, seeking to understand cultures of sexuality in a period notorious for sexual repression, and contextualizing issues they raise of scandal and the law, celebrity, gender, and sexuality. Designed to encourage independent research, the course guides students through the research process, drawing to the fore histories often hidden from view. Cross-listed in European studies, gender and sexuality studies, and history. Not open to students who have received credit for INDS 107. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. (History: European.) (History: Modern.) C. Shaw.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

INDC s23. Creativity and Conscience: Modern Russian Women's Writing and Film.

Women writers, artists and film makers have made significant, often controversial contributions to Russian culture for at least two centuries. This course provides an introduction to this diverse body of work by focusing on how women’s cultural productions have manifested resistance – political, emotional and aesthetic. In a political context dominated by patriarchal and masculinist ideals, women have found ways to articulate alternative visions, whether responding to oppressive cultural models, political terror or the liaisons of church and state. The course begins with the present day and the remarkable efforts of Russian women journalists and performers to expose human rights abuse and environmental degradation (Anna Politkovskaya, Masha Gessen, Pussy Riot), and then considers work by late Imperial and Soviet writers and film makers. Crosslisted in European studies, gender and sexuality studies, and Russian. New course beginning short term 2020. Enrollment limited to 30. One-time offering. J. Costlow.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

INDC s27. Feminisms of the 1970s and 1980s.

This course explores the rise of multiple feminist theories and forms of activism during the 1970s and 1980s. Students critically examine the genealogy of the conceptualization of "second-wave feminism," and explore the role of gay, Chicano, and black liberation, civil rights, and labor struggles on the development of feminist thinking and action. The course pays particular attention to how feminists of this period addressed questions of U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam, Central America, and South Africa; the nuclear arms race; and U.S. domestic race relations. Students read from primary source material and study the literature produced by Marxist feminisms, black feminisms, lesbian feminisms, liberal feminisms, and radical feminisms. Cross-listed in gender and sexuality studies, history, and politics. Recommended background: GSS 100. Not open to students who have received credit for PT/WS s27. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 25. (Politics: Identities and Interests.) M. Plastas.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Queer Studies (C009)

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies

GSS s50. Independent Study.

Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study during a Short Term. Normally offered every year. Staff.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Gender and Sexuality Studies