Gender Studies

GS 2066 Women and Gender in African History: 3 semester hours

Same as HIST 2066. Using documentaries, popular culture, graphic histories, and more conventional sources, this course explores the history of Africa, highlighting African women's lives, experiences, and agency, and questioning the application of Western concepts of gender to an African setting.

GS 2102 Introduction to Gender Studies (MOTR SOCI 203): 3 semester hours

Same as SOC WK 2102, HIST 2102, POL SCI 2102, and SOC 2102. This core class is required for all Gender Studies Certificate earners. This class introduces students to cultural, political and historical issues that shape gender. Through a variety of disciplinary perspectives in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, the course familiarizes students with diverse female and male experiences and gendered power relationships.

GS 2130 Gender and the Military: 3 semester hours

Same as MVS 2130 and SOC 2802. This course investigates how the military treats gender difference, explores how military culture is defined, and how gender is a socially constructed concept. Topics may include military culture, gender construction, and how gender and sexuality issues affect military readiness and effectiveness.

GS 2150 Special Topics in Gender Studies: 3 semester hours

An introduction to a particular topic area in women's and gender studies (topics will be announced prior to registration) drawing on the theories and methods of such disciplines as sociology, psychology, political science, history, philosophy, art history, and others to examine particular aspects of gender in social and cultural life. Course may satisfy the distribution requirement for humanities or social sciences depending on the topic.

GS 2230 Psychology of Gender: 3 semester hours

Same as PSYCH 2230. Prerequisites: PSYCH 1003. Evaluation of psychological theories and research regarding physiological, cognitive, and personality gender differences and similarities, gender related problems in adjustment, and gender specific clinical interventions.

GS 2253 Philosophy and Feminism: 3 semester hours

Same as PHIL 2253. A critical examination of what various philosophers have said about issues of concern to women. Sample topics include oppression, racism, women's nature, femininity, marriage, motherhood, sexuality, pornography, the ethics of care.

GS 2290 Gender and The Law: 3 semester hours

Same as POL SCI 2290. Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100, or POL SCI 1200, or consent of instructor. This course examines the ways in which law has created, reinforced or transformed gender roles over time. It surveys the legal status of American women from the adoption of the U.S. Constitution to the present through court cases, statutes and other legal materials. The course will also focus on relevant legal issues in areas such as marriage and the family, reproductive freedom, voting rights, employment, education, the criminal justice system, women in the legal profession and the intersection of gender, race and class in the legal system. This course fulfills the University's general education American history and government requirement.

GS 2380 The Politics of Gender in the United States: 3 semester hours

Same as POL SCI 2380. This course examines the role of gender in political institutions, practices and policy in the United States, past for political equality, the relationship between gender and political participation, vote choice, and public opinion, and how legislative, executive, and judicial offices are gendered at the national, state, and local levels.

GS 3232 Psychology of Trauma: 3 semester hours

Same as PSYCH 3232. Prerequisites: PSYCH 1003. This course examines responses to potentially traumatic events (e.g., child abuse and neglect, physical and sexual assault, intimate partner violence, community and gun violence, war, natural disasters). Trauma exposure, posttraumatic growth, the development of trauma-related difficulties including PTSD, assessment and intervention are examined with attention to gender, cultural and lifespan issues.

GS 3243 Marriage, Family, and Kinship: 3 semester hours

Same as ANTHRO 3243 and SOC 3243. Prerequisites: ANTHRO 1019, SOC 1010, or consent of the instructor. This course will examine will examine the construction of kinship systems, marriages, families and other forms of intimate relationships from anthropological and sociological perspectives. The cross-cultural structure of this class will incorporate global case studies, including U.S. and European marriage and family structures. Students will have the opportunity to explore topics including love, dating, cohabitation, kinship calculation, alternative lifestyles, and divorce.

GS 3300 The Social Construction of Aging and Ageism: 3 semester hours

Same as SOC 3300 and GERON 3300. This course examines perspectives of age, aging, and ageism using several perspectives: the theory of social construction and the frameworks of essentialism and intersectionality. The materials, discussions, and assignments in this course will familiarize and provide students with tools to investigate age and ageism in a complex, multidimensional manner. The overarching focus of this course is located in the tension with the “nature versus nurture” debate, paralleling nature with essentialist ideas and nurture with social constructionism. Ideas, conceptions, attitudes, and understandings of age within the media, family, medical community, and other institutions will be investigated as biological and/or a development of society in effort to perpetuate social control, organization, and power dynamics. Through research, fiction and non-fiction work, creative assignments, and theoretical texts, students will approach the following questions: How do we value lived-experiences? How might situated knowledge affect social constructions of aging and ageism? What evidence is provided toward age and/or ageism as an essential or socially constructed outline within society? How are socially constructed ideas developed and perpetuated? How might one affect change in an essentialist and/or socially constructed society?.

GS 3350 Special Topics in Gender Studies: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: GS 2102, or consent of instructor. This course focuses on special topics in Women's and Gender Studies. Topics will vary by semester.

GS 3352 Independent Studies in Gender Studies: 1-3 semester hours

Prerequisites: GS 2102, junior standing, and consent of the instructor. This course involves directed independent work in selected women's and gender studies topics through readings, research, reports and/or conferences.

GS 3700 Diversity and Social Justice: 3 semester hours

Same as SOC WK 3700. Prerequisites: SOC WK 3100; and PSYCH 2250 or SOC 2160 (prerequisites may be taken concurrently). Analyzes the structure, dynamics, and consequences of social and economic injustice, and the impact on diverse groups in American society. Examines theoretical models and practice principles for work with diverse groups.

GS 4100 Introduction to Feminist and Gender Theory: 3 semester hours

Same as SOC 4100. Prerequisites: GS 2102 or consent of instructor. This course serves as an initial intellectual investigation into gendered ideologies (such as the effects of race, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic class, sexuality, and religion) and functions as a bridge to later advanced gender theory and methods courses. Topics may include interdisciplinary feminist theories (with a focus on gender equality), including masculinity theory, queer theory, muted group theory, and other evolving frameworks.

GS 4325 Gender, Crime, and Justice: 3 semester hours

Same as CRIMIN 4325 and SOC 4325. Prerequisites: ENGL 3100 (may be taken concurrently) or consent of instructor. This course provides an analysis of the role of gender in crime and in the justice system. There is emphasis on gender differences in crime commission, criminal processing, and the employment of women in criminal justice agencies. Fulfills CRIMIN diversity requirement.

GS 4330 Violence Against Women: 3 semester hours

Same as CRIMIN 4330. Prerequisites: Junior Standing, CRIMIN 1110, CRIMIN 1120, CRIMIN 2130, CRIMIN 2210, CRIMIN 2220, and ENGL 3100, or consent of instructor. This course examines the nature, extent, causes and consequences of various types of violence against women, including rape, sexual assault, stalking, and intimate partner violence. Criminal justice policy and practice regarding violence against women are also examined.

GS 4350 Special Topics in Gender Studies: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: GS 2102 or consent of instructor. Special topics examined from a gender perspective in the fields of anthropology, art history, criminology, economics, English, foreign language, history, philosophy, political science, psychology, social work, sociology, business, or others. Topics and departments vary by semester. Course may be repeated by permission of Director of the Center.

GS 4352 Independent Study in Gender Studies: 1-3 semester hours

Prerequisites: GS 2102 or consent of instructor. Independent, directed readings and research in a women's gender related topic, to be determined in consultation with instructor.

GS 4353 Internship in Gender Studies: 3 semester hours

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GS 4360 Sociology of Minority Groups: 3 semester hours

Same as SOC 4360. Prerequisites: SOC 1010 or consent of instructor. This course is the study of dominant-subordinate group relations. Topics of focus may include religion, ethnicity, race, and gender as factors in the unequal distribution and utilization of power.

GS 4520 The Aging Body: 3 semester hours

Same as GERON 4520. Prerequisites: GERON 2170 or SOC 2170 or another introductory course (2000 or higher) in Gerontology, Sociology, Psychology, Social Work, or Nursing; or consent of the instructor. This course focuses on the aging body with respect to health and function. Physiologic and cognitive concerns of older men and women are reviewed. Contextual factors (e.g., relationships, socio-cultural, spiritual, environmental) and issues in service delivery are also addressed.

GS 4600 Masculinities: 3 semester hours

Same as SOC 4600. Prerequisites: SOC 2102, GS 2102, or consent of instructor. This course examines men and masculinity through a critical lens, looking at an institutionalized system of gender relations and practices that is assumed to be a natural phenomenon and culturally universal. The course explores various masculine behaviors, myths, ideologies, and experiences so that students can consider the relationship between masculine practice and social power and delineate choices for future directions. The course is interdisciplinary and may use tools and methods from the social sciences and the humanities. It satisfies the Gender Studies (GS) gender theory requirement.

GS 4610 Intimate Partner Violence: 3 semester hours

Same as SOC WK 4610. Prerequisites: SOC WK 3510. This course focuses on theoretical and empirical understanding of domestic violence in US society and social work practice with battered women and their families. It addresses direct services, community organizing, and public policy changes to help end violence against women. Relationships between violence against women and other forms of oppression (e.g., racism, economic exploitation, heterosexism and social class) are explored.

GS 4932 Female Gothic: 3 semester hours

Same as ENGL 4932. Prerequisites: Students must satisfy English prerequisites for 4000-level courses or obtain permission of instructor. The course examines the historical development of the female gothic, a genre which employs narrative strategies for expressing fears and desires associated with female experience. From the late 18th century to the present, we will trace the persistence of the Gothic vision in fiction and film.

GS 4933 Female Novel of Development: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: Students must satisfy English prerequisites for 4000-level courses or obtain permission of instructor. The course covers the development of the female Bildungsroman from the late 18th century to the present. We will consider how temporary and current theories of female development help us read these novels within their particular cultural contexts.

GS 5100 Feminist and Gender Theory: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: Graduate standing. This class serves as an intellectual investigation into gendered ideologies (such as the effects of race, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic class, sexuality, and religion) and functions as a bridge to later advanced gender theory and methods courses. Topics may also include interdisciplinary feminist theories (with a focus on gender equality), including masculinity theory, queer theory, muted group theory, and other evolving frameworks. Students may not receive credit for both GS 4100/SOC 4100 and GS 5100.

GS 5350 Topics in Women's and Gender Studies: 3 semester hours

This course will focus on a particular aspect of gender (to be announced prior to registration) and will draw upon recent theoretical and methodological work from a variety of disciplines.

GS 5450 Special Topics In Gender Studies: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. Special topics at the Graduate level examined from a gender perspective in the field of anthropology, art history, criminology, economics, English, foreign language, history philosophy, political science, psychology, social work, sociology, business, or others. Topics and departments vary by semester.

GS 5500 Human Behavior in the Social Environment: 3 semester hours

Same as SOC WK 5500. Prerequisites: Graduate standing. This course focuses on theoretical and empirical understanding of human behavior in the social environment using a life-span perspective. It introduces biological, behavioral, cognitive, and sociocultural theories of individuals, families, and small groups, and their implications for the professional social worker's understanding of socioeconomic status, gender, disability, ethnicity, race, and sexual orientation.

GS 5635 Social Work Practice with LGBT Populations: Deconstructing the Alphabet Soup: 3 semester hours

Same as SOC WK 5635. Prerequisites: SOC WK 5100 and SOC WK 5500 or consent of instructor. This advanced-practice course focuses on developing the knowledge and skills necessary for effective social work practice with LGBT persons, families, and communities. The goal of this course is to facilitate deeper understanding of LGBT identities, relationships, health and mental health challenges, and issues of race, age, religion, spirituality, and class and how these intersect. The course treats lesbian women, gay men, bisexual, and transgender persons as four distinct communities.

GS 5700 Diversity and Social Justice for Social Work: 3 semester hours

Same as SOC WK 5700. Prerequisites: Graduate standing. This course analyzes the structure, dynamics, and consequences of social and economic injustice and the impact on diverse groups in American society. It examines theoretical models and practice principles for work with diverse groups.

GS 5940 Seminar in Gender and Literature: 3 semester hours

Same as ENGL 5940. Gender studies in literature of different periods, types, and genres; satisfies area requirement (1-6) appropriate to its period, national literature, and genre.

GS 6353 Graduate Internship in Gender Studies: 1-6 semester hours

Prerequisites: Graduate standing and consent of director. Provides an opportunity for the Graduate Gender Studies student to acquire "real world" experience working in a non-profit, political, economic, or social service organization with a gender focus.

GS 6450 Seminar in Gender Studies: 3 semester hours

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GS 6452 Special Readings in Gender Studies: 3 semester hours

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