College of Letters & Sciences
  1. UW-Whitewater College of Letters and Sciences
  2. Departments
  3. Women's & Gender Studies
  4. WS Courses
  5. Women's Studies Course Descriptions

Women's Studies Course Descriptions

  • INTRODUCTION TO WOMEN'S AND GENDER STUDIES
    Women's and Gender Studies 100, Credits: 3

    An investigation of women's experience from the perspective of various disciplines. The course examines the ways gender interacts with ethnicity, race, class and sexuality and explores contemporary and historical issues related to women's lives. Included are such subjects as health and body image, violence against women, and women's achievements.

  • INTRODUCTION TO LGBTQ STUDIES
    Women's and Gender Studies 120, Credits: 3

    An investigation of LGBTQ Studies from the perspective of various disciplines. The course examines the ways gender and sexuality interact with ethnicity, race, class, and ability and explores contemporary and historical issues related to LGBTQ lives. Included are such subjects as gender and sexuality as social constructions, violence and oppression, representation, history of LGBTQ movements and activism, and intersectional alliances.

  • SEX, GENDER, AND HEALTH
    Women's and Gender Studies 180, Credits: 3

    This course explores the reproductive and sexual functions of human bodies, as well as the scientific and social influences on those bodies. By examining sex, reproduction, and aging, this course uses intersectional lenses to explore uneven access to sexual health resources and reproductive justice across cultures, ultimately demonstrating the achievements and limitations of women's health movements in the recent past.

  • GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND WORK
    Women's and Gender Studies 240, Credits: 3

    This course explores the social construction of paid and unpaid work, using the lenses of gender, sexuality, race, class and more. With this intersectional lens, this course provides an overview of the changing nature of work in the United States, gender and sexuality based problems in the workplace, and strategies to overcome institutional and interpersonal workplace challenges.

  • YOUTH CULTURE FORMATION: RACE, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY
    Women's and Gender Studies 241, Credits: 3

    This course explores how various U.S. institutions construct "youth" as a social category, how those constructions are primarily interlocked with race and ethnicity, and how those constructions subsequently shape youth cultures in multi-faceted, intersectional cultural contexts such as music, gaming, sports, and media.

  • GENDER AND GEOGRAPHY
    Women's and Gender Studies 245, Credits: 3

    Human geographies will be studied through the lens of gender along with gender relations at home and abroad. Content is organized according to a variety of spatial scales including the body, home, city, and world. Cases investigated at the global scale include gendered livelihoods and migration, nationalism and war, and environmental issues.

  • WOMEN IN AMERICAN CULTURE
    Women's and Gender Studies 250, Credits: 3

    This course is a study of women's contributions and their representation in such areas of American culture as literature, art, crafts, music, film, letters and diaries--from the mid-Nineteenth Century to contemporary times. Students will also explore how the dominant ideas and images of American culture interact with the real lives of diverse groups of women.

  • GENDER AND FILM
    Women's and Gender Studies 266, Credits: 3

    Students will learn to critically view, consider, and describe films, with special attention to representations of sexuality and gender. The course will include instruction in gender theory and methods for deploying gender analysis in the context of film studies.

  • WOMEN'S VOICES/WOMEN'S LIVES
    Women's and Gender Studies 303, Credits: 3

    A study of the lives of women in different ages and cultures. Women's roles in society as revealed in diaries, autobiography and biography are explored.

  • LESBIAN STUDIES
    Women's and Gender Studies 320, Credits: 3

    This course will introduce students to an array of interdisciplinary texts that present issues relevant to perceiving lesbian lives. Readings will include legal, scientific, and philosophic theory, studies by social scientists and historians, multicultural perspectives and literary works. There will be four units; 1) Defining our Terms, 2) Idea(l)s of Community, 3) Life-Cycle Choices, 4) Research on Current Issues.

  • QUEER POPULAR CULTURE
    Women's and Gender Studies 325, Credits: 3

    Queer Popular Culture analyzes mainstream popular culture through a queer perspective, and investigates queer subcultures and their role in creating belonging for the LGBTQ community. Key topics include queer theory, intersectional feminism, heteronormativity, cultural representations, and subversive cultural creation.

  • RELIGION, SEXUALITY AND GENDER
    Women's and Gender Studies 330, Credits: 3

    This course will trace changing conceptions of gender roles and the functions of women in various religious traditions. Feminine and masculine images of divinity will be compared and recent scholarship in feminist theology on questions such as the nature of divinity, immortality, and religious devotion will be examined.

  • GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN CROSS CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
    Women's and Gender Studies 334, Credits: 3

    Anthropological approaches to the cross-cultural study of gender relations and sexuality with emphasis on societies of the non-Western world. Topics vary.

  • AFRICAN WOMEN'S HISTORY FROM 1800 TO THE 1970S
    Women's and Gender Studies 341, Credits: 3

    The course addresses the experiences of African women from 1800 to independent Africa with a focus on women's experiences and their contributions to African societies. The course cover changing ideas about gender and evaluates women's positions in African societies including rulers, warriors, politicians, activists, and average farmers.

  • WOMEN IN MUSIC
    Women's and Gender Studies 345, Credits: 3

    This course explores a variety of issues concerning women musicians in Western art music, non-Western musics, and popular music. These may include: the contributions of women as performers, composers, conductors, patrons, and teachers; the portrayal of women in opera, musical theater, and music videos; the objectification of women in the marketing and consumption of music; expressions of gender and sexuality in music; and feminist perspectives in musical criticism.

  • GENDER AND FAMILY IN JAPAN
    Women's and Gender Studies 347, Credits: 3

    This course will examine forms of masculinity, femininity, sexuality, and family in contemporary Japan, and their historical development. Students will learn how gender, sexuality, and family are historically and socially constructed, how they are recreated through social interaction, how power inequalities are embedded in gender and family relations, how these inequalities impact individuals (and vice versa).

  • GENDER AND VIOLENCE
    Women's and Gender Studies 351, Credits: 3

    This course examines gender-based violence, focusing specifically on domestic violence, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, stalking, sexual harassment, and human trafficking. Readings and course activities explore the gendered dimensions of violence and inequality within diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds and across sexual identities and national and immigrant statuses. A community based learning project is required.

  • WOMEN, SCIENCE & SOCIETY
    Women's and Gender Studies 365, Credits: 3

    Survey of women's contributions to science; case studies of modern women scientists; feminism and scientific knowledge.

  • ORIGINS OF GENDER
    Women's and Gender Studies 367, Credits: 3

    This course presents theory, methods and case studies examining the role of women in human societies from our earliest origins through the beginning of the modern period. The dominant discipline in this inquiry is archaeological anthropology, but relevant material from sociology, biology, history and other fields will also be covered. No previous knowledge of any one field is expected, but exposure to the social sciences is desirable. My goal for this course is that you will leave with a better understanding of the role of women in past human societies, envision some of the trajectories that have led to contemporary social formations and be able to envision how the past, present and future are connected.

  • WOMEN: RACE AND ETHNICITY
    Women's and Gender Studies 370, Credits: 3

    This course will provide an examination of Native American, African American, Hispanic, and Asian American women in the broad areas of work, family/community relationships, creativity, and social action.

  • QUEER CINEMA
    Women's and Gender Studies 374, Credits: 3

    In Queer Cinema, students will deploy analyses of gender and sexuality that respond to the possibilities and limitations of the medium. Queer Cinema is appropriate for any student who wishes to learn how to apply complex theories of gender representation and sexual identity to the analysis of visual narratives.

  • GENDER LAW AND POLICY
    Women's and Gender Studies 380, Credits: 3

    A study of legal, social, and moral issues related to gender, such as the definition of sexual difference, inequality in the workplace, lesbian and gay rights. How those issues have been handled historically and normatively within the legal system will be investigated.

  • FEMINIST AND QUEER THEORIES
    Women's and Gender Studies 390, Credits: 3

    This course covers the historical and contemporary development of feminist and queer theoretical thought. We will explore the rifts, debates, and coalitions that emerge from the variety of perspectives in feminist and queer theories. The range of course material and ideas allow students to develop their own feminist and queer lexicon and their own approach to feminist and queer thought, research, and activism.

  • LATINA/LATIN AMERICAN WOMEN'S WRITING, ACTIVISM & CHANGE
    Women's and Gender Studies 407, Credits: 3

    This course analyses writing by Latinas and Latin American women (XIX century-present), as well as the theories that frame their writing. Exposed to various themes and writing styles, students will engage in textual analysis and critical discussion to reflect on the authors¿ cultural and historical challenges as they engage in social change from their gendered and/or racialized critical identities.

  • DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP CERTIFICATE SEMINAR
    Women's and Gender Studies 410, Credits: 1

    Organized around individual student needs, this course provides students the specialized instruction necessary to complete the co-curricular requirements of the Diversity Leadership Certificate. The course emphasizes the creation of an ePortfolio that will be used to document a student's learning through the submission of a wide range of diversity-related learning artifacts and reflection essays.

  • SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE WITH LGBTQ POPULATION
    Women's and Gender Studies 435, Credits: 3

    This course aims to provide students with a deeper understanding of the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people, and their diverse and intersectional identities as applied to direct social work practice, intervention, and policy. This course will examine a variety of areas of relevance to social work with LGBTQ populations including history, theory, and contemporary issues.

  • ISSUES AND TOPICS IN WOMEN AND GENDER STUDIES
    Women's and Gender Studies 455, Credits: 3

    This course provides intensive study of important issues in Women's Studies, with special emphasis on courses that reflect the most contemporary thought in our discipline and that correspond to faculty research interests. Topics include Women's Human Rights, Gender and AIDS, and Women, Militarism and War.

  • GLOBAL GENDER POLITICS
    Women's and Gender Studies 464, Credits: 3

    This course takes seriously the explanatory power and importance of gender in the study of global politics. It explores the roles of women and men, femininities and masculinities in the shaping, defining, and legitimating of world affairs. Using a critical, interdisciplinary perspective, this course considers how gender helps us better understand security, the global political economy, and global governance.

  • GENDER, ETHNICITY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT
    Women's and Gender Studies 481, Credits: 3

    An examination of the ways that sexism, racism, ethnic/class exploitation and environmental destruction are interrelated. Considers social and cultural forces that lead to limited and/or gendered concepts of nature, and explores alternative theoretical and activist perspectives (deep ecology, bioregionalism, ecofemisim, environmental justice, etc.) and responses to the environmental crisis.

  • ADVANCED SEMINAR IN WOMEN'S AND GENDER STUDIES
    Women's and Gender Studies 489, Credits: 3

    An intensive, integrative study of selected issues in Women's and Gender Studies, emphasizing critical thinking and research techniques. A substantial research paper is required.

  • WORKSHOP IN WOMEN'S, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY STUDIES
    Women's and Gender Studies 490, Credits: 1-6

    Variable topics. Group activity oriented presentations emphasizing `hands on` and participatory instructional techniques. Repeatable.

  • TRAVEL STUDY
    Women's and Gender Studies 491, Credits: 1-3

    Variable topics. Faculty-led courses abroad.

  • INTERNSHIP IN WOMEN'S, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY STUDIES
    Women's and Gender Studies 493, Credits: 3

    Work and study with an agency, nonprofit, or institution related to women's, gender, and/or LGBTQ* advocacy. Students working under faculty supervision will combine academic learning with practical experience.

  • SPECIAL STUDIES
    Women's and Gender Studies 496, Credits: 1-4

    Variable topics. Group activity. Not offered regularly in the curriculum but offered on topics selected on the basis of timeliness, need, and interest, and generally in the format of regularly scheduled Catalog offerings. Repeatable. Instructor Consent required.

  • EXCHANGE STUDY
    Women's and Gender Studies 497, Credits: 1-12

    Variable topics.

  • INDEPENDENT STUDY
    Women's and Gender Studies 498, Credits: 1-3

    Study of a selected topic or topics under the direction of a faculty member.

  • INDEPENDENT STUDY
    Women's and Gender Studies 498R, Credits: 1-3

    Study of a selected topic or topics under the direction of a faculty member.



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