Course Listing Gender Studies

This course surveys the history of women in the British North American colonies and United States with a special focus on social and economic change. It examines women as a distinct group but also attends to divisions among them, particularly those based on class, ethnicity/race, and regional diversity. Course themes include concepts of womanhood, the development and transgression of gender roles, unpaid work and wage labor, social reform and women's rights activism, as well as changing ideas and practices with respect to the female body.

Studies the critical family law issues facing society today. Subject matter examined includes the law of marriage, custody, adoption, divorce, child support, juveniles, right to die, fetal tissue transfer to prolong the life of another, reproduction control, and surrogate parenting. This course is taught from a legal and human values perspective.

Presents issues that particularly affect women. Topics include: sex discrimination, sexual harassment, marriage, divorce, reproductive control, surrogate motherhood, and custody.

A survey of literary attitudes toward women from the Judaic and Hellenic periods through the present.

Surveys the image of women in commercial film from its beginnings to the present, with emphasis on the films of the 1930's-40's and the 1970's-80's. Several commercial viewings will be scheduled.

Contemporary Women Writers introduces students to American women writers of the last fifty years. We examine the historical,socio-cultural, political, and personal influences on these writers' work by studying trends and events in recent American history and themes reflected in the works. By studying contemporary women's writing in this contextualized fashion, students can appreciate larger trends in our society, the role writing plays in examining such trends, and the value of literature as an exploration of human growth and struggle. Through discussion, group collaboration, critical analysis, and by designing their own graphic organizers, students gain a breadth of knowledge in the following areas: the themes and stylistic concerns of contemporary American women writers; the key historical events that influence contemporary American women's writing; the critical reading of literary texts.

A study of major literary and historical women of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Attention to impact on their times and their place in society.

A study of literary selections dealing with traditions of family life, the individual, and social change.

Writing About Women

A study of selected novels by American women. Focus on the female voice within the American tradition. Treatment of such issues as domesticity, education, and authorship.

Women Writers and the Past

Selected novels by writers such as Austen, the Brontes, Eliot, Woolf, Bowen, and Drabble.

From Confucian texts to current conditions, the course examines the evolution of Chinese women's status throughout the centuries. The course will ask questions such as whether Confucianism dictated oppression against women, what factors influenced the changes of status for women, how Western feminism is connected with Chinese women, what roles women played in transforming China, and how ordinary women lived and are still living in China.

This course examines the history of women in late medieval, early modern, and modern Western Europe (ca. 1300-1900). From medieval saints and Renaissance queens to Enlightenment Salonieres and ordinary wives and mothers, women have played an astonishing variety of roles. We will utilize primary and secondary sources, historical films, and works of art to understand the contributions and challenges of women in the past.

This course surveys the history of women in the British North American colonies and United States with a special focus on social and economic change. It examines women as a distinct group but also attends to divisions among them, particularly those based on class, ethnicity/race, and regional diversity. Course themes include concepts of womanhood, the development and transgression of gender roles, unpaid work and wage labor, social reform and women's rights activism, as well as changing ideas and practices with respect to the female body.

This course will examine the emergence and historical impact of consumer cultures in the modern West, from the eighteenth century through the present. Topics to be covered will include the emergence of spaces of consumption (the home, the commercial/spectacular metropolis, the department store, the shopping mall, the tourist site), changing attitudes toward shopping and spending, the construction of modern social identities of class, gender, generation and race through consumption, and political struggles over consumption.

Provides a survey of labor history from the colonial period to the present focusing on the interrelationship between culture and work in American society and on the dynamics of technical and economic changes on the organization of work processes.

This course examines gender and racial implications of criminal laws, criminal justice practices and programs will be examined. The position of women and racial/ethnic minorities will be assessed from the different perspectives of victims, offenders, and criminal justice practitioners.

This course examines the patterns of victimization, the characteristics and lifestyles of crime victims, and the impact of their victimizations. The treatment of victims by the criminal justice system will be examined along with possible reforms in these approaches.

This course examines the causes and consequences of domestic violence and the latest research regarding the responses of the criminal justice system.

What is sexist oppression? Is our culture still sexist, or is the need for feminism over? How should we respond to sexism in other cultures? Do men and women have different natures? Are our culture's sexual representations of women necessarily degrading, and if so, why? We'll consider these questions, and others, by examining the arguments and methodology of analytic feminism. We'll start by tracing the historical development of feminism in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, and then turn to several contemporary feminist analyses of sexist oppression. We'll then use these feminist frameworks to examine more specific issues. Possible topics include: feminist analyses of sexual objectification in pornography, feminist arguments in ethics and social theory, feminist analyses of science,and feminist criticisms of gendered labour.

The aim of this course is to introduce students to both historical and contemporary discussions surrounding the topics of sex and love.

Explores some of the many intersections among gender, politics, and culture in American society. Topics include the role of gender in the formation of political ideology; various takes on masculinity and femininity in television, movies, and the popular press; the impact of the women's movement on mainstream political culture, popular perspectives on sexual orientation, and the way ideas about gender shape the shifting boundaries between public and private life.

Explores legal constructions of gender by examining Supreme Court cases, federal legislation, historical documents, news stories, and scholarly essays on sexual inequality in the United States. Topics include the evolution of the family as a legal (and illegal) reality; political regulation of reproduction and sexual activity; feminist critiques of economic inequality; the rise and fall of affirmative action; the changing role of gender in class consolidation; and ongoing debates about the relationships between public and private life.

Starting with the constructionist approach of analyzing the sexual dynamics of ancient civilizations, we will expose how sex has been used as a political tool to further the cause of unrelated agendas, how attitudes about sex have changed from Greco-Roman times to the 1960's sexual revolution, culminating in the current political debate about Vermont's civil union laws. Join us in this academic endeavor to understand our roles as sexual beings both in history and in politics, as well as an exploration of our own attitudes towards differing sexualities.

Examines the historical development of the public/private dichotomy in present-day American politics and society. By studying landmark Supreme Court decisions, we explore the ways that claims to rights to privacy have affected women, gays and lesbians, racial minorities, children, and other historically disadvantaged groups. In addition, by focusing on the ways that technological developments have both inspired and undermined efforts to preserve personal privacy, we question whether individual claims to privacy can be met within the context of present-day political, economic, and social reality.

Focusing upon one of the most important topics in Islam, this course will go beyond conventional stereotypes and explore woman's many and varied roles within Islamic cultures and societies.

This course surveys theories of power, authority, participation, and politics. Building on these theories, students will examine changing social, political, and economic patterns of inequality based on class, race (and related divisions of ethnicity, religion, caste, nationality), and gender. Reviews various approaches to altering these dynamics (business strategy, public policy, community and social movements). Cuts across units of firm, community, region, and nation, along with corresponding governmental institutions, and links theoretical analysis with study of practical problem solving. Instructor-initiated cases drawn from a variety of national experiences. Students will learn techniques of power analysis and prepare a power analysis project.

Considers such topics as: the psychology of sex differences; biological bases of psychological sex differences; the nature of female sexuality; clinical theory and practice concerning women; women as mental patients and mental health consumers; implications for psychology and for women's status.

Addresses the biological, psychosocial, and attitudinal aspects of human sexuality through lectures, discussions, films from a variety of perspectives.

This course is organized around several key questions that are used to study the concepts of disability and ability from a variety of sociological and interdisciplinary perspectives. Specifically, the course explores representations of disability in popular culture and medical discourses to discuss disability and ability as social constructs. By looking at various literary and cultural representations, this course investigates constructions of the disabled and abled body, how this becomes politicized, and the implications of these constructions.

Studies the nature of the family in contemporary society, with particular emphasis on the family in America. What functions does the family perform in modern society? How is it changing? How do these changes affect our lives?

This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the field of gender studies. A variety of topics are presented, such as gender stratification, work and family, sexual identities, media representations of women and men, women's movement, and violence against women. Feminist theories and methods are also introduced.

This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the field of Gender Studies that examines both commonalties and differences among diverse groups of women. A variety of topics are presented such as past and present stratification in work and family, sexual identities, medial representations of women, and violence against women. Social movements for women's equality and feminist theories and methods are also introduced.

Examines some social issues in family law, the changes therein, and the social climate and consequences accompanying these. By using the sociological method of inquiry to examine family law cases, the relationship between law and society as instruments of order and change are exemplified.

The course examines the development of social welfare policy in the United States as well as alternative strategies for social welfare provision. Particular attention is paid to the role of race/ethnicity, class, and gender in the formation of social welfare policy.

This course seeks an understanding of women's diverse positions in culture, the economy, the family and political life. The course focuses on women's commonalities and differences as well as women's attempts to organize for social change.

Despite the recent growth of feminist methodologies, there is no one way of doing feminist methodologies. The growing body of literature in this area addresses the distinctive challenges and strengths of doing this research. Gender Studies scholars especially seek to question the framing of a study, managing of emotions, and ethical dilemmas. We will explore feminist strategies for creating, implementing, and analyzing a project that is grounded in the everyday lives of people while situating them in a social, political, and economic context. We will explore the interdisciplinary intersections where these challenges push at the boundaries of the disciplines of your major field of study. We will also investigate how to use as variety of qualitative approaches while doing a feminist project and the ways in which feminism can enlighten understandings of "traditional" qualitative methods.

This seminar explores a variety of questions related to sex and gender. This course considers different ways scholars have understood gender difference and gender inequality. Specific topics vary but may include the construction of gendered bodies, the social construction of sexuality, and so forth.

Focuses on the way French film makers (male, and more recently female) have been portraying women in their films. Carefully selected French films with English subtitles are used to show the evolution that has taken place from Carne and Renoir's poetic realism to the present. Selected readings are also used to underscore various themes, such as how women have been represented in these films. Conducted in English.

Studies women writers of Italy by giving attention to the genres of narrative, poetry, theater and autobiography. Authors are selected according to their impact on issues affecting women, gender studies, feminism, avant-garde, modernism, social relations and psychological discourse. Conducted in English.

A continuation of 54.330, Spanish Women Writers. Focus on specific authors and their contribution to Hispanic literature.

This seminar course, "Gender, Work and Public Policy" will explore the relationship between human rights, gender and work issues in the 21st century. We will examine how current and future reality can be shaped by related public policies. Today we live in a period of global transition comparable to the period that followed the Industrial Revolution. It presents us with enormous challenges and opportunities regarding factors we will address in class: economic globalization, government restructuring, work-family balancing, environmental safety at work, gender inequalities and the connection between human rights and dignity at work. We will especially look at public policies that can either impede or advance better overall equality of work-life and family life.

Investigation of the various ways women have been portrayed in the visual arts from antiquity to the present. A chronological examination of selected female artists and their milieu from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century.

The examination of nineteenth century painting in England with a study on the role of representative artists such as Ford Madox Brown, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, Edward Burne-Jones, William Holman Hunt, Elizabeth Siddall, Fredrick Sandys, and William Morris.

This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the field of Gender Studies that examines both commonalties and differences among diverse groups of women. A variety of topics are presented such as past and present stratification in work and family, sexual identities, medial representations of women, and violence against women. Social movements for women's equality and feminist theories and methods are also introduced.

Investigation of the various ways women have been portrayed in the visual arts from antiquity to the present. A chronological examination of selected female artists and their milieu from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century.

The examination of nineteenth century painting in England with a study on the role of representative artists such as Ford Madox Brown, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, Edward Burne-Jones, William Holman Hunt, Elizabeth Siddall, Fredrick Sandys, and William Morris.

Survey of the role of women in music from ancient times to the present, with primary emphasis on composers of art music in the western tradition. Open to music and non-music majors.

This film theory seminar has several main objectives: to study the production of meaning in films; to analyze how moving images are used in social representation; and to introduce students to the visual and critical language of cinema. In this course, we will view a series of films by international authors. These address some of the most pressing issues of today's global world such as identity, subjectivity, difference and otherness, race relations, representations of gender and sexuality, immigration, war, colonialism and post-colonialism, poverty, and social inequalities. The films that we watch will be studied not as isolated cinematic texts but as illustrations and examples of theories of representation. Students will develop their critical analysis skills by being introduced to theoretical concepts such as "the gaze" in art and cinema as well as formal elements such as mise-in-scene, cinematography, editing, and sound.

"Special Topics in Gender Studies" (200-level) offers students the opportunity to study a topic of special interest in the field of Gender Studies from an interdisciplinary perspective. The content and approach will vary depending upon the research and teaching interests of the faculty member teaching the course.

This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the field of Gender Studies that examines both commonalities and differences among diverse groups of women. A variety of topics are presented such as past and present stratification in work and family, sexual identities, medial representations of women, and violence against women. Social movements for women's equality and feminist theories and methods are also introduced.

"Special Topics in Gender Studies" (300-level) offers students the opportunity to engage in depth with a special topic in the field of Gender Studies from an interdisciplinary perspective. The content and approach will vary depending upon the research and teaching interests of the faculty member teaching the course.

This seminar provides an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of lesbian, gay, bisexual. and transgender (LGBT) studies, incorporating perspectives from the sciences, social sciences and humanities. The general goal of the course is for students to explore the dynamic, interactive forces - biological, psychological, social, cultural, and political - that shape the experience of sexuality. Topics will include: methodological, epistemological and pedagogical issues in the study of sexuality; the biological foundations of gender and sexuality; the social construction of sex and gender; literary, artistic, and mass media representations of LGBT people; development of gender and sexual identities; relationships and families; LGBT communities and political movements; HIV/AIDS; intersecting identities (gender, race, class, disability, etc.), and queer theory.

This course provides a link between the UMASS Lowell campus and the community, offering students a unique learning experience. This Community Service-Learning course provides opportunities for students to learn through thoughtful engagement in community service, applying knowledge of gender issues gained in the classroom to the world outside the classroom. Students and their faculty supervisors together will determine the kind of service work students will engage in during the semester, choosing from a wide range of available placements. They will be using their hard-won knowledge from their years in the classroom and applying it to help meet urgent needs in the he community. Students will have the opportunity to make lasting connections and effect positive change in our community. Ideally, this course will promote good citizenship through reflection on gender issues and testing of personal values, leading students toward a heightened sense of social responsibility and a lifelong commitment to their local, national, and global communities.

This course, taken for 1 or 3 credits, may serve as a capstone experience for advanced gender studies students, helping them to explore a gender-related topic of interest while working closely with a faculty member. Projects that students complete for the Directed Studies will vary in length, scope, and topic, depending on how many credits are taken and which faculty member the student agrees to work with the student. What all projects will have in common is (1) a topic clearly relevant to gender studies, (2) an emphasis on achieving deep learning through advanced study, and (3) the integration of two or more distinct disciplines, integrating these disciplinary insights in order to solve a complex problem or analyze a complicated issue. This course allows for a student and professor to work closely together on a project of mutual interest. It is expected that the faculty member will be supporting and guiding the student�s work, and thus regular meetings will be necessary. In some cases the faculty member may not feel competent to oversee all aspects of a project in which an unfamiliar discipline is employed. In such cases, a second (and even third) faculty member may be asked to participate in the Directed Study as a consultant and final reader.

This course serves as a capstone experience for advanced students, helping them to make connections between the gender studies classes they have taken and their main course of study or some other area of interest. This seminar provides a framework for students to integrate what they have learned, thus moving their experience in the program from a multi--perspectival examination of gender to a more cohesive and integrated approach encapsulated in a final project. This project will draw upon the methods, knowledge theory, end products, etc. of at least two distinct disciplines, integrating these disciplinary insights in order to solve a complex problem or analyze a complicated issue related to gender. Students will benefit from working with peers in small groups and as a whole class, learning how other students synthesize what they have learned about gender issues and how their lived experience influences their perspectives on such things as the intersection of gender with socio-economic position, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, and other factors. The professor who leads this seminar will be both a resource and a catalyst; students will learn about gender and advanced research, and they will be prompted to reach their academic potential.