An introduction to gender studies, including the fields of women's studies, feminist studies, LGBT studies, & masculinity studies. Students will examine historical movements, theoretical issues, & contemporary debates, especially as they pertain to issues of inequality & to the intersection of gender with race, class, sexuality, & nationalism. Topics will vary according to the interdisciplinary expertise & research focus of the instructor.

This course explores the significance of gender and sexuality in the territory of the present-day U.S. during the period from the first European settlements to the Civil War.

This course provides an overview of the historical bases and contemporary developments in feminist theorizing and analyzes a range of theories on gender, including liberal, Marxist, radical, difference, and postmodernist ideas. We explore how feminist theories apply to contemporary debates on the body, sexuality, colonialism, globalization, transnationalism incorporating analyses of race, class, national difference and cross-cultural perspectives.

This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject of studies of women and gender.

This course will allow students to explore the new scholarship on black girlhood. Scholars working on the history of black girls in the US, Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa have created a vibrant new field of black girl studies. Combining insights from black feminism and the history of childhood, these scholars have centered black girls' experience as a means of reframing our understanding of citizenship, labor, and creativity.

Majors in Women, Gender and Sexuality (WGS) are encouraged to become Distinguished Majors. Students complete a two-semester written thesis (approximately 40-60 pages in length) in their fourth year under the supervision of a WGS faculty member. The thesis allows students to pursue their own interests in depth and have the intellectual satisfaction of defining and completing a sustained project. Please see your WGS advisor for more information. Prerequisites: WGS Major, WGS 2nd Major

To offer graduate level topics courses.

This course is a graduate-only advanced introduction (inevitably partial and selective) to key concepts, thinkers, and texts in the fields of feminist and queer theory. The goal is to develop a foundation for your own research and teaching on gender and sexuality. Together, we will explore books and articles that have traveled across disciplines to shape debate in a variety of fields.