Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies

Catalog description

This introductory survey course fulfills requirements for General Education in Social Sciences, the Bachelor of Arts degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences, and US and International Cultures competence. It is also a prerequisite for upper-level courses in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. This class focuses on women's shared and unshared experiences, issues of gender roles and stereotyping, questions related to sex/gender systems, and the different disciplinary approaches to the study of women and gender. The course asks how women's behavior, activities, accomplishments, roles, sexuality and status have been shaped by biological, psychological, sociological, cultural, historical and political determinants, as well as by women's experiences based on their racial, class and sexual identities. Topics include the history of women's liberation movements, women's experiences in home, work and educational settings, gender roles and stereotyping as influenced by media, culture, education, and other social institutions, health and body image issues, and multiple forms of oppression. The course will focus equally on feminist issues in both the US and on a global scale and is both interdisciplinary (drawing information and readings from history, psychology, political science, and sociology) and broadly inclusive (addressing at all times the relationship between gender, race, class, ethnicity and sexual orientation).