GS 20101 A Global Introduction to Gender Studies

GE-Human Culture: Foreign Culture/Human Diversity This interdisciplinary course provides an introduction to the key topics and debates that have shaped the field of gender studies, including masculinity studies and the study of sexuality, history of women's movements and women's studies in America, cross cultural constructions of gender, and a thematic emphasis on the diversity of women's experience across class, race, and cultural lines. Through lecture and class discussion of texts from history, literature, film, psychology, and sociology, we will examine the pervasive influence of gender on the structure of society and our everyday experiences. What role does gender play in our understanding of love, friendship, sexuality, and even violence? Topics will include biological arguments about gender and sexuality; the social construction of gender and identity; intersections of gender, race, class, and sexuality; masculinity and femininity; and theories of sexual difference and the construction of sexuality.

Credits

3

Prerequisite

ENGL 17000 with a C or better.