Courses - Fall 2026
WGSS
Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
WGSS200
Introduction to WGSS: Gender, Power, and Society
Credit only granted for: WMST200 or WGSS200.
Formerly: WMST200.
Examines constructions of race, class, sexuality, ability, and gender relations from a social science multi-disciplinary perspective. The course interrogates the ways that systems of hierarchy and privilege are created, enforced, and intersect through the language of race, class, sexuality, and national belonging. The course will provide students with the skills to examine how systems of power manifest in areas such as poverty, division of labor, health disparities, policing, violence. In addition to examining the impact of systems of power, students will reflect on their own location within the exercise of racialized, and gendered power relations. This course encourages students to understand and critique these systems both personally and politically.
WGSS205
Developed by feminists of color, reproductive justice frameworks offer a roadmap for economic, social, and medical justice advocacy attentive to the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability. This course reviews the historical, legal, and social bases of reproductive rights in the U.S.; discusses the history of feminist organizing for reproductive freedom; surveys critical theories of reproductive justice that go beyond abortion law to advocate for broader social transformation; and evaluates the possible futures of intersectional feminist activism after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Cross-listed with AMST298J Credit granted only for WGSS20J or AMST298J.
WGSS211
Cross-listed with: HIST211.
Credit only granted for: HIST211, WMST211 or WGSS211.
Formerly: WMST211.
An examination of women's changing roles in working class and middle class families, the effects of industrialization on women's economic activities and status, and women's involvement in political and social struggles, including those for women's rights, birth control, and civil rights.
Cross-listed with HIST211. Credit only granted for WGSS211 or HIST211.
WGSS250
Credit only granted for: WMST250 or WGSS250.
Formerly: WMST250.
Provides students with a critical introduction to the ways that art and art activism have served as a conduit to understanding and challenging systems of inequity and practices of normativity. Interrogating the categories of gender, sexuality, race, class, ability, the course will provide students with an examination of how artists have responded to pressing social justice issues of their eras. While the course centers visual art, students will also engage genres such as music, plays, literature, digital and performance art as arenas of social change.
WGSS255
Cross-listed with: ENGL250.
Credit only granted for: ENGL250, WMST255 or WGSS255.
Formerly: WMST255.
Explores literary and cultural expressions by women and their receptions within a range of historical periods and genres. Topics such as what does a woman need in order to write, what role does gender play in the production, consumption, and interpretation of texts, and to what extent do women comprise a distinct literary subculture. Interpretation of texts will be guided by feminist and gender theory, ways of reading that have emerged as important to literary studies over the last four decades.
WGSS263
Introduction to Black Women's Studies
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with: AAAS263.
Credit only granted for: WMST263, AASP298I, WGSS263, AAAS263 or AASP263.
Formerly: WMST263.
Interdisciplinary exploration of Black women, culture and society in the United States. Drawn primarily from the social sciences and history with complementary material from literature and the arts.
WGSS271
Monsters and Racism: Black Horror and Speculative Fiction
Cross-listed with: AAAS271, ENGL289J.
Credit only granted for: AAAS271, ENGL289J, HONR299Y, HNUH238W, WGSS271 or WGSS298W.
Formerly: HNUH238W.
The previous decade has been considered a renaissance for Black Horror. From Get Out to Lovecraft Country, the genre has enjoyed unprecedented mainstream media buzz and accolades. This course looks at contemporary Black horror and speculative fiction as cultural texts which put into question our notions of human(e) and inhuman(e) through critiques of white supremacy and accompanying oppressions. Students will learn a host of critical skills through close reading and analysis of literature and film by Black creators such as Jordan Peele, Misha Green, Toni Morrison, Jewelle Gomez, and Octavia Butler. With the ability to interpret cultural texts using literary criticism, film analysis, history, cultural studies, ethnic studies, feminist theory, and the social sciences, students will connect these texts to continuing historical and contemporary issues of racial and cultural oppression such as medical discrimination, policing and criminalization, misogynoir, and racialized capitalism.
Cross-listed with ENGL289J. Credit only granted for ENGL289J or WGSS271.
WGSS275
Cross-listed with: CMLT275.
Credit only granted for: WMST275, CMLT275 or WGSS275.
Formerly: WMST275.
Comparative study of selected works by women writers of several countries, exploring points of intersection and divergence in women's literary representations.
WGSS290
Credit only granted for: WMST298D or WGSS290.
Formerly: WMST298D.
Explores the contributions of feminist scholarship in framing and resolving contemporary controversies concerning gendered bodies. It includes the ways in which knowledge about the human body has been shaped by cultural ideas of gender, race, sexuality and ability.
WGSS291
Racialized Gender and Rebel Media
Credit only granted for: WGSS291 or WMST298N.
Formerly: WMST298N.
An introduction to the interdisciplinary field of women's studies and an exploration of the ways in which media has been used as a platform for racial justice, feminist activism, and cultural transformation, with a principal focus on the expressions of women of color. The goals of the course are to explore how different forms of media shape the stories which circulate about race, femininities, masculinities, ethnicities, sexualities, religiosity, power and difference, and to examine how various media formats been used to disrupt dominant stories, to tell new stories, and to create differing understandings of citizenship.
WGSS298Q
Special Topics in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Stonewall and Beyond
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Explore queer & trans politics, identity, and culture though an interdisciplinary study of the historical and social context of personal, cultural and political aspects of sexuality, gender, and identity. Sources from a variety of fields, such as anthropology, history, psychology, sociology, and women's studies, focusing on writings by and about LGBT people.
WGSS301
Feminist Knowledge Production
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: 3 credits from the WGSS Intro requirement course list: LGBT200, WGSS201, WGSS105, WGSS200, WGSS205, WGSS250, or WGSS263.
Restriction: Must be in an undergraduate program in the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Credit only granted for: WMST301 or WGSS301.
Formerly: WMST301.
An introductory research skill-building course rooted in the ethical and political questions we ask when we work in communities struggling for a more just future. We will consider the fundamentals of scholarly research -- library skills, conceptualizing a research question, evaluating sources, understanding citation -- before we move on to consider broader ethical concerns about research and issues that arise in collaborative learning and community based projects. Anti-colonial, critical race, feminist, and queer theories, and ethics of research will be foundational to this class.
WGSS305
Credit only granted for: WGSS319D or WGSS305.
Formerly: WGSS319D.
Disability Justice examines disability as a category of analysis within intersecting systems of race, gender, sexuality, and class. Tracing the emergence of disability justice from feminist, queer, and critical race theory, the course engages humanistic methods to analyze historical and contemporary movements, social theory, and cultural production. Students will conduct independent and collaborative research projects, apply textual and archival analysis to activist and theoretical materials, and complete case studies on education, policy, or technology. Through critical writing, peer workshops, and community-based projects, students will develop the interpretive and practical skills necessary to connect humanistic inquiry with the principles of access, interdependence, and collective liberation.
WGSS319E
Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies; Race, Gender, and Reality TV
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
You want to be on top! Why do we love, and love to hate the representations we see on reality TV? What does the intersection of reality TV with race, gender, class, and sexuality, help us to understand about broad US culture? This course examines the representation and production of race and gender in reality TV and considers how our production practices reflect and resist racialized notions of the world around us. Drawing on work from a variety of fields, this class will consider the production, consumption, and distribution of ideas about race and gender in reality television. IN doing so we will critically engage how our media and consumption and production practices reflect racialized notions of the world around us.
This course is scaffolded in a way to help students develop skills in critical analysis and various media production. Students explore the course material in a hands-on way while also working towards the development and completion of a final media project.
This course is scaffolded in a way to help students develop skills in critical analysis and various media production. Students explore the course material in a hands-on way while also working towards the development and completion of a final media project.
WGSS336
Psychology of Women
Prerequisite: PSYC100.
Cross-listed with: PSYC336.
Credit only granted for: PSYC336, WMST336 or WGSS 336.
Formerly: WMST336.
A study of the biology, life span development, socialization, personality, mental health, and special issues of women.
WGSS358
Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F
Restriction: Permission of ARHU-Women's Studies department. Repeatable to 9 credits.
Students work under the supervision of a faculty mentor to assist with an undergraduate LGBT or WMST course while also becoming conversant in feminist, critical race, and queer pedagogical debates and approaches.
Students work under the supervision of a faculty mentor to assist with an undergraduate LGBT or WMST course while also becoming conversant in feminist, critical race, and queer pedagogical debates and approaches.
WGSS360
Caribbean Women
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with: AAAS361.
Credit only granted for: WGSS360, WMST360, AAAS361 or AASP361.
Formerly: WMST360.
An interdisciplinary analysis of the lives and experiences of women across the Caribbean region, through an examination of their roles in individual, national, social and cultural formations. Special emphasis on contemporary women's issues and organizations.
Additionally for Fall 2024: Cross-listed with AASP361 and LACS348P. Credit only granted for WGSS360, AASP361, or LACS348P.
WGSS368
Undergraduate WGSS Internship
Credits:
3 - 6
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F
Restriction: Permission of the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
WGSS378
Undergraduate Research and Creative Works Assistantship
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Restriction: Permission of the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Formerly: WMST378.
WGSS379I
Topics in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Indigenous Feminisms
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
WGSS422
Asian American Women and Gender
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with: AAST422.
Credit only granted for: AAST498G, AAST422, or WGSS 422.
Formerly: AAST498G.
Examines Asian/American cultural production along with theories of gender and sexuality in the field of Asian American Studies. We consider how Asian American femininities/masculinities are conceived and circulated, drawing from a diverse selection of twentieth-century and contemporary texts, films and images that connect Asian American bodies to ideas of absence, danger, inscrutability, hyper- or hypo-sexuality, and virulence. Beginning with early to mid-twentieth century representations, the course attends to theories that clarify the contested relationship between the East/West and Asia/U.S. Also examined are the methods through which bodies differentiated by sex, gender, and race are managed, surveilled, and rehabilitated, with close attention to the enduring legacies of American expansionism and conquest, anti-immigration policies in the U.S., and twentieth-century wars and occupations in Asia. The course engages Women of Color feminisms, queer theory, and disability studies.
WGSS428J
Topics in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Health Inequality
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Restriction: Junior status or permission of department.
WGSS488G
Senior Seminar; Transnational Feminisms
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
WGSS 488G Senior Seminar; Transnational Feminisms
The transnational turn in studies of gender and sexuality has decenter ed Euro-America as the center of feminist knowledge production. This course assembles texts and media from different regions in Asia, Africa and Latin America. However, it does not seek to reproduce a series of case studies from elsewhere because transnational and international are not interchangeable terms. Instead, the class addresses how gender and sexuality are central to any study of geopolitics and the international division of labor. They are also central to how borders of nation statesdrawn, policed and how empires keep perpetuating themselves in newer forms. In doing so, the course will attend to the encounters between studies of settler colonialism, women of color feminisms, Black feministthought with transnational feminisms. The readings will be a mixof foundational texts in transnational feminisms as well as contemporaryliterature, films and new media in this expanding body of scholarship.
The transnational turn in studies of gender and sexuality has decenter ed Euro-America as the center of feminist knowledge production. This course assembles texts and media from different regions in Asia, Africa and Latin America. However, it does not seek to reproduce a series of case studies from elsewhere because transnational and international are not interchangeable terms. Instead, the class addresses how gender and sexuality are central to any study of geopolitics and the international division of labor. They are also central to how borders of nation statesdrawn, policed and how empires keep perpetuating themselves in newer forms. In doing so, the course will attend to the encounters between studies of settler colonialism, women of color feminisms, Black feministthought with transnational feminisms. The readings will be a mixof foundational texts in transnational feminisms as well as contemporaryliterature, films and new media in this expanding body of scholarship.
WGSS489
Individual Research in Gender, Race and Queer Studies
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg
WGSS489A
Individual Research in Gender, Race and Queer Studies; WGSS Honors Thesis Writing
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F
WGSS498A
Advanced Special Topics in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Community Interventions: Domestic Violence I
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Restricted to Psychology or Women Studies majors only. Cross-listing with WGSS498A. Credit only granted for PSYC318D, WGSS498A, or WMST498A.
Theories and researchrelated to domestic violence and interventions with abused womenwill bestudied, and students will think critically regarding ethical andmulticultural issues related to domestic violence. Community resources and strategies for ending domestic violence in the United States will be discussed.
Theories and researchrelated to domestic violence and interventions with abused womenwill bestudied, and students will think critically regarding ethical andmulticultural issues related to domestic violence. Community resources and strategies for ending domestic violence in the United States will be discussed.
WGSS498I
Advanced Special Topics in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Asian American Women and Gender
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with AAST424. Credit only granted for AAST498G, AAST422, or WGSS498I.
Examines Asian/American cultural production along with theories of gender and sexuality in the field of Asian American Studies. We consider how Asian American femininities/masculinities are conceived and circulated, drawing from a diverse selection of twentieth-century and contemporary texts, films and images that connect Asian American bodies to ideas of absence, danger, inscrutability, hyper- or hypo-sexuality, and virulence. Beginning with early to mid-twentieth century representations, the course attends to theories that clarify the contested relationship between the East/West and Asia/U.S. Also examined are the methods through which bodies differentiated by sex, gender, and race are managed, surveilled, and rehabilitated, with close attention to the enduring legacies of American expansionism and conquest, anti-immigration policies in the U.S., and twentieth-century wars and occupations in Asia. The course engages Women of Color feminisms, queer theory, and disability studies.
Examines Asian/American cultural production along with theories of gender and sexuality in the field of Asian American Studies. We consider how Asian American femininities/masculinities are conceived and circulated, drawing from a diverse selection of twentieth-century and contemporary texts, films and images that connect Asian American bodies to ideas of absence, danger, inscrutability, hyper- or hypo-sexuality, and virulence. Beginning with early to mid-twentieth century representations, the course attends to theories that clarify the contested relationship between the East/West and Asia/U.S. Also examined are the methods through which bodies differentiated by sex, gender, and race are managed, surveilled, and rehabilitated, with close attention to the enduring legacies of American expansionism and conquest, anti-immigration policies in the U.S., and twentieth-century wars and occupations in Asia. The course engages Women of Color feminisms, queer theory, and disability studies.
WGSS499
Independent Study
Credits:
1 - 3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
WGSS601
Theoretical Foundations in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud, S-F
Prerequisite: WMST400 or WGSS302; or students who have taken courses with comparable content may contact the department.
Restriction: Must be in the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies doctoral or graduate certificate program.
Credit only granted for: WMST601 or WGSS601.
Formerly: WMST601.
Examines fundamental concepts in the interdisciplinary field of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Engages intersectionality as a critical analytic and set of responses to structural power and domination. Provides students with a theoretical foundation for understanding gender, race, and sexuality as analytic categories operating in transnational and global contexts and intersecting with other categories of difference.
Restricted to graduate students in WGSS/WMST.
WGSS618
Feminist Pedagogy
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, S-F
WGSS619
Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Teaching Practicum
Credits:
1
Grad Meth:
S-F
WGSS628
Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Colloquium
Credits:
1
Grad Meth:
S-F
WGSS698D
Special Topics in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud, S-F
Cross-listed with PERS498M, PERS689M, CMLT679D, HIST419C, RELS429B, WGSS498D and WGSS698D. Credit only granted for PERS498M, PERS689M, CMLT679D, HIST419C, RELS429B, WGSS498D or WGSS698D.
WGSS698J
Special Topics in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Health Inequality
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
WGSS699
Independent Study
Credits:
1 - 3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
WGSS799
Masters Thesis Research
Credits:
1 - 6
Grad Meth:
S-F
WGSS898
Pre-Candidacy Research
Credits:
1 - 8
Grad Meth:
Reg, S-F
WGSS899
Doctoral Dissertation Research
Credits:
1 - 8
Grad Meth:
S-F
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