WST 151 A-Z - Special Topics in Women’s Studies

Semester Hours: 1-4

Periodically

Studies in special topics in the field of women’s and gender studies. Topics vary by semester. May be cross-listed with courses in other departments or disciplines.

Current Special Topics

WST 151A - Women in America

An introduction to the history of women in the United States, focusing on four interrelated themes: evolving theories of feminism, patterns of women’s paid and unpaid work, changes in views of sexuality, and movements for political change. It covers the span of American history, emphasizing the period from the Civil War to the present.

WST 151J - (CC,IS) Anime & Manga

This course explores various works of manga, anime, and other forms of popular media with a particular focus on how gender, sexuality, and LGBTQ+ figures are historically situated in Japanese culture and society. We will learn about the social and cultural currents within Japanese modernity that gave rise to specific formations of gender and sexuality and situate these works within a broader historical field.

WST 151M - Gender and Education

Gender identity is a sensitive issue in schools. This class will address research on many intersecting issues of gender that affect schooling overall and the quality of education. Topics include access, environment, equity, justice, policies, curriculum, pedagogy, and achievement in both national and international contexts. Policies, challenges, and obstacles for girls’ education are explored, especially at the transitional middle school level in less developed countries. We will unpack issues of gender identity and sexuality, and the role schools play in the construction or hindrance of identities. How heteronormative cultures in schools affect gender development, identity, and expression, especially for LGBTQ+ students, is of timely importance. We will also review the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal # 5 on gender equality, its connections to education, and examples of how varied countries address gender and gender identities in schooling.

WST 151N - (IS, LT) Queering Ancient Fiction

This course will pair readings in ancient Greek and Latin literature alongside modern fiction to explore the many ways in which writers of the 20th and 21st centuries have used antiquity to think about modern queer identities. Works by Homer, Sappho, Plato, Sophocles, and Ovid (among others) will be brought into dialogue with E. M. Forster’s Maurice, Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, Mark Merlis’ An Arrow’s Flight, Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles, Selby Wynn Schwartz’s After Sappho, and Bernardine Evaristo’s The Emperor’s Babe.

WST 151O - Gender, Environment, Justice

This interdisciplinary course explores the dynamic intersections between gender, environmental issues, and social justice. Drawing on feminist theory, environmental studies, and social justice frameworks, we will examine how gender and other intersecting inequalities shape and are shaped by environmental challenges. Key topics include ecofeminism, feminist critiques of environmental policies, indigenous perspectives on sustainability, and feminist research approaches. Open to students from all disciplines, this course will provide tools to think critically and act justly in the face of global environmental challenges.

WST 151P - The Politics of Reproductive Health

This course interrogates the politics of reproductive health in the United States, from the formation of modern gynecology to the current Reproductive Justice Movement, to explore the historical and contemporary barriers that impede access to healthcare and examine how structures limit women’s ability to exercise freedom over their bodies.

WST 151Q - (LT) ME TOO MOVEMENT

The course, taught in English, explores narratives centered around the idea of consent in French literature, film and media. It explores the ideological climate that led to teh #MeToo movement in France and in the world. No knowledge of French is necessary for this distribution course.

Prerequisite(s)/Course Notes:
May be repeated for credit when topics vary. As individual subjects are selected, each is assigned a letter (A-Z) which is affixed to the course number. Specific titles and course descriptions for special topics courses are available in the online class schedule.

View Course Offering(s):

Search