Courses for 2025-26
Fall 2025
WGST 150. Women in Movies. 3 Hours.
Through viewing popular Hollywood films, we will analyze femininity across the
life span. Critical thinking and cultural analysis will be practiced as we study
heroines, working girls, motherhood, brides, cheerleaders, and old women on screen.
WGST 170. Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies. 3 Hours.
The major contexts in which gender identities have been and are defined and of the relationships between these definitions and the roles and history of women and men in society and culture.
WGST 250. Women in Science. 3 Hours.
History of women in science and methods of gender analysis applied to issues facing women in science in the United States.
WGST 260. Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Studies. 3 Hours.
Overview of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer studies. Examines the construction of gender, biological sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity, expression and performance related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, pansexual, and two-spirit identities. Also examines intersections with race, ethnicity, class, nation, culture, ability, and religion.
WGST 360. Queer Theories. 3 Hours.
Provides a framework for understanding the history and contemporary applications of queer theories and interdisciplinary LGBTQ studies. Explores the relationship of queer theories to feminist theories through examining works by diverse scholars, focusing on questions of identities, bodies, policies, institutions, and popular and visual cultures.
WGST 448. Sexuality in American Culture. 3 Hours.
Explores changes in sexuality in the United States from the seventeenth century to the present, examining social and cultural struggles and debates over the meaning of sexuality and sexual orientation in American society.
WGST 460. Men and Masculinities. 3 Hours.
PR: WGST 170 or WGST 260. An advanced seminar in women's and gender studies that critically examines the concept of masculinity and its impact on men's and women's lives. Analyzes masculinities from cultural, historical, biological, philosophical, sociological, psychological, economic, and political perspectives.
WGST 484. Seminar: Capstone. 3 Hours.
PR: Consent. Required of all women's studies students. Students will broaden their theoretical definitions of feminism and women's studies to include non-western models and solutions, pairing this study with a local service project informed by global activists.