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revised 9/2019
1000-Level Courses
WGSST 1110(H) - Gender, Sex and Power (3 credit hours/GE) This course is designed to introduce students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to the interdisciplinary field of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. This course draws on a variety of literatures to analyze gender, race, sexuality, and other dimensions of identity; explores critical issues of gender, sex and power; and places the study of U.S. women and gender roles in broader transnational context. Required course for the WGSS major and minor. Honors version requires honors standing or permission of the instructor. Not open to students with credit for 110, 110H, 101, 101H. GE: Cultures and Ideas; GE Social Diversity in the U.S.; GE Social Science: Individuals and Groups
2000-Level Courses
WGSST 2194 - Group Studies (3 credit hours) Special studies not otherwise offered; the topic for this course varies and a full description is available from the Department. Repeatable to a maximum of 6 credit hours.
WGSST 2215 - Reading Women Writers (3 credit hours/GE) This introduction to women's literature will focus on writings by women writers across different cultures. How do women writers construct their own identities through literature? How do they situate their experiences within historical, social, and cultural contexts of race, gender, class, and sexuality? How do these literatures function as catalysts for social change? Not open to students with credit for 215. GE: Literature
WGSST 2230 - Gender, Sexuality and Race in Popular Culture (3 credit hours/GE) Explores how popular culture generates and articulates our understandings of gender and sexuality and their intersections with race and class. Using major theories and concepts of gender and pop culture studies, students will analyze popular texts (e.g. movies, graphic novels, television shows, among others) for their treatment of issues of gender, sexuality and race. Not open to students with credit for 230. GE: Visual and Performing Arts
WGSST 2282 - Introduction to Queer Studies (3 credit hours/ GE) Introduces and problematizes foundational concepts of the interdisciplinary field of queer studies, highlighting the intersections of sexuality with race, class, and nationality. Students will learn the historical and theoretical emergence of “queer” and “queer of color” critique and will use queer theory as a lens for the analysis of identity, politics and social norms. Cross-listed in English. Not open to students with credit for 282 or English 2282 (282). GE: Cultures and Ideas; GE Diversity: Social Diversity in the U.S.
WGSST 2296H - Topics in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies (3 credit hours) This course is a more in-depth study in WGSST, focusing on current issues in feminist analysis.
WGSST 2300 - Approaches to Feminist Inquiry (3 credit hours) This course is an introduction to principles of feminist analysis as it applies to a range of contemporary issues and institutions. Required for the WGSS major. This course should be taken as early as possible after declaring a major in WGSS. Not open to students with credit for 300.
WGSST 2305 - Gender and Sexuality in Global Perspective (3 credit hours) This course investigates gender and sexuality in a transnational and cross-cultural perspective. Students will examine a variety of global processes and approaches, including colonialism, nationalism, decolonization, postcolonialism, globalization and neocolonialism. Not open to students with credit for 305.
WGSST 2306 - Girlhood (3 credit hours) This course examines the contemporary contexts and social differences of female adolescence, including race, ethnicity, location, sexuality and class.
WGSST 2317 - Introduction to Gender and Cinema (3 credit hours/GE) This course is a critical survey of the representation of women in Hollywood cinema with examples drawn from different historical periods (from the 1930’s to the present). The goals of the course are to understand how film has functioned, historically and aesthetically, in its representations of gender, sexuality, race, class, ethnicity, disability and to understand how and why women have created alternative visions of women in film. Not open to students with credit for 317. GE: Visual and Performing Arts.
WGSST 2325 - Health and Inequality (3 credit hours) This interdisciplinary course explores the relationships between health and gender under political, biological, economic, spiritual, cultural and/or socially constructed influences. Topics include the social construction of gender/sex, feminist critiques of biomedicine, gender inequities and difference in health epidemiology and the practice of medicine in the United States, ‘alternative’ approaches and practices in healing, and others. The course examines specific groups of women and their access to health care and also looks at specific women’s health trends including birth control, violence against women, menstruation, STD’s and other diseases, and eating disorders. Not open to students with credit for 325.
WGSST 2326(S) - Feminist Perspectives on Addiction (3 credit hours) This course offers a multicultural feminist perspective on women and addiction. Using an interdisciplinary approach, students will explore addiction within the contexts of social construction, popular culture, mental health, and public policy. Discussion topics explore the socially constructed meanings of addiction, gender, power, and privilege. Service learning offering combines the study of feminist scholarship on addiction with volunteer work at a local organization that provides services to persons with substance-abuse issues. Students will use the course materials and tools of analysis to think and write crtically about their volunteer experiences. Not open to students with credit for 326, 2326, or 2326S.
WGSST 2340 - Latina Experience in the U.S. (3 credit hours) This course explores how sexuality, gender, race, and class shape the individual and communal identities and struggles of Latinas. Through an engagement with literary and visual texts by and about Latinas, students will explore the shared and divergent experiences of Latinas in the U.S. Not open to students with credit for 340.
WGSST 2350 - Feminist Perspectives on Women and Violence (3 credit hours) This course uses a feminist, interdisciplinary approach to analyze selected issues of interpersonal and institutionalized violence in which women are either victims or perpetrators. Students will examine debates as to what kinds of acts count as violence, feminist theories on gender-based violence and diverse strategies to combat violence against women. Students will learn to analyze how race, sexuality, class, ability and citizenship influences womens’ vulnerabilities to interpersonal and state violence. Not open to students with credit for 350.
WGSST 2367.01 - U.S. Women Writers: Text and Context (3 credit hours/GE) This course will enhance students' critical and analytical reading and writing skills through an interdisciplinary analysis of literature by women in the U.S. The emphasis will be on women writers' strategies for articulating their experiences and on the role of literature as a catalyst for social and political change. Although gender will serve as one category of analysis, students also will analyze race, sexuality, class, ethnicity, social identity, age and the intersections among these categories. Prereq: English 1110 (110) or sophomore standing. Not open to students with credit for 367.01. GE Writing and Communication, Level 2; GE Diversity: Social Diversity in the U.S.; GE Literature.
WGSST 2367.02 - U.S. Latina Writers: Text and Context (3 credit hours/GE) This course will enhance students' critical and analytical reading and writing skills through an interdisciplinary analysis of literature by U.S. Latina women. The course centers on writing and analysis of Latina experiences with an emphasis on interdisciplinary relationships between literature and U.S. Latina socio-political history. Students will explore Latina writers' strategies for articulating Latina experience (through intersections of race, class, sexuality and gender), and on the role of literature as a metaphor for social reality and catalyst for social and political change. Prereq: English 1110 (110) or sophomore standing. Not open to students with credit for 367.02. GE Writing and Communication, Level 2; GE Diversity: Social Diversity in the U.S.; GE Literature.
WGSST 2367.03 - U.S. Lesbian Writers: Text and Context (3 credit hours/GE) This course will enhance students' critical and analytical reading and writing skills through an interdisciplinary analysis of literature by U.S. lesbian women. The course centers on writing and analysis of lesbian experiences in the U.S. with an emphasis on interdisciplinary relationships between literature and U.S. lesbian socio-political history. Students will explore lesbian writers' strategies for articulating their experiences (through intersections of race, class, sexuality and gender), and on the role of literature as a metaphor for social reality and catalyst for social and political change. Prereq: English 1110 (110) or sophomore standing. Not open to students with credit for 367.03. GE Writing and Communication, Level 2; GE Diversity: Social Diversity in the U.S.; GE Literature.
WGSST 2367.04 - Black Women Writers: Text and Context (3 credit hours/GE) This course will enhance students' critical and analytical reading and writing skills through an interdisciplinary analysis of literature written by African American women. The interdisciplinary content of this course – a combination of literary, social, political and cultural readings – will enable the student to read, discuss, and write about how African American female authors have historically depicted and interpreted their own socio-political and cultural status in the USA. Prereq: English 1110 (110) or sophomore standing. Not open to students with credit for 367.04. GE Writing and Communication, Level 2; GE Diversity: Social Diversity in the U.S.; GE Literature.
WGSST 2550 - History of Feminist Thought (3 credit hours) This course introduces fundamental concepts of feminist thought from the eighteenth century to the present. Course readings demonstrate continuities as well as differences in feminist thinking about oppression and possibilities for greater civic and social freedom during this period. To assist students in considering both differences and continuities in feminist thought, readings are organized according to topics that cross the centuries: redefining sex and gender; marriage and family structures; sexuality and reproduction; religious views of women’s status; gender and the state; critiques of feminism; and the intersection of gender with race, class and other categories of identity. Required for the WGSS major. Not open to students with credit for 550.
WGSST 2702(H) - Modern Arabic Literature in Translation (3 credit hours) Reading and analysis of representative works of the 19th and 20th centuries by contemporary women authors. Taught in English and Cross-listed in Arabic. Prereq: English 1110 (110). Honors offerings requires honors standing or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 2702H (372H), 372, Arabic 2702 (372), or 2702H (372H). GE Literature; GE Diversity: Global Studies.
WGSST 2750(H) - Natives and Newcomers: Immigration and Migration in US History (3 credit hours) From the first indigenous peoples who migrated throughout the continent to yesterday's immigrants, people have for centuries been in motion throughout what is today the United States. Whether they moved voluntarily or relocated against their will, men, women, and children confronted wrenching familial separations and adjustments to new lands, lifestyles, languages, and power dynamics. This course serves as a general survery of immigration and migration history in the US from precolonial times to present by critically examining the dynamics of immigration and migration throughout our history and challenging some of the most fundamental ideas on this topic. Cross-listed in History. Prereq: English 1110.XX or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 2750, 2750H, History 2750, 2750H, or 2750E.
3000-Level Courses
WGSST 3100 - Islamic Activisms: Gender, Sexuality & Politics (3 credit hours) This course addresses the complexity of contemporary feminisms in the Middle East by analyzing the political goals, strategies, and activisms of women’s movements in this region. Through case studies in Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, and Iran, we will explore how women’s movements in the Middle East position themselves in relation to Islamist, (neo)liberal, nationalist, and socialist ideologies.
WGSST 3101 - Food & Gender (3 credit hours) If you are what you eat, then food is a means for understanding gender, sexuality, culture, society, race, and socioeconomic class. This class explores feminist studies of food. By thinking through food, we explore such topics as vegetarianism, diets, pleasure, farming, hunger, fat studies, boycotts, eating disorders, waste, and culinary heritage. This class is literally food for thought.
WGSST 3191 - Internship in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies (1-3 credit hours) Supervised practical experience at a departmental approved internship site related to the student's major or minor in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Enrollment requires permission of the instructor.
WGSST 3200 - Breaking the Law: An Introduction to Gender Justice (3 credit hours) Sexual harassment. Revenge porn. Getting married. Becoming a parent. Who we are and how society respond to us in legal contexts can have profound impacts on our lives. This course introduces you to the ways in the law grapples with gender, sexuality and race and the ways that human diversity informs claims to justice.
WGSST 3300.01S - Feminist Perspectives of Incarceration in the US (3 credit hours) This course explains the growth in the US prison system and its punitive shift from feminist, anti-racist, and queer perspectives. Students will learn about the historical and ongoing disproportionate incarceration of the poor, people of color, and gender non-conforming people. This service-learning course is an Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program class to be offered in Spring semesters. Enrollment requires permission of the instructor.
WGSST 3302 - Gender, War & Peacebuilding (3 credit hours) Feminist scholars have demonstrated the multiple and complex ways that gender norms are implicit to the processes of war, militarism, and peace and have examined gender as a system of power that is both instrumental in, and constituted by, militarism and armed conflict. This course explores war and peace as gendered phenomena reliant on socially constructed norms.
WGSST 3306 - Gender, Media and New Technologies (3 credit hours) This course explores how race, gender, class, sexuality and physical ability in the material world are represented and/or excluded in the virtual world.
WGSST 3310 - Science Fiction: East vs. West (3 credit hours/GE) This course explores Slavic, American, and British sci-fi on page and screen as reflections of major cultural concerns: progress, utopia, human perfectibility, limits of science and knowledge, gender, identity. This course is taught in English and cross-listed in Slavic. Not open to students with credit for Slavic 3310. GE: Visual and Performing Arts; GE Diversity: Global Studies.
WGSST 3320 - Topics in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies: Exploring Activisms in the Americas (3 credit hours, SP19) Provides in-depth analyses of specific topics in the areas of difference and diversity, culture and representation, and political contexts and social change. Repeatable to a maximum of 6 credit hours. SP19 offering: This course will explore current social movements across the Americas (North, Central, and South). By analyzing through decolonial, anti-racist, and queer frameworks, students will explore, discuss, debate, and support activist movements that advocate for racial justice, indigenous rights, environmental justice, gender minorities, economic change, anti-war positions, and other contemporary issues.
WGSST 3370 - Sexualities and Citizenship (3 credit hours/GE) This course is a survey of sexual identity and the cultural, social, and political diversity of straight, lesbian, bisexual, queer, and transgender communities in the 20th and 21st centuries. Students will examine a range of sexual identities and forms of sexual citizenship: hierarchies of status based on sexuality that prevail in social, cultural, legal, economic, and political contexts. Students will analyze how sexual identities and hierarchies have been constructed, documented and represented, and we will also look at how political activism has shaped these identities. Not open to students with credit for 370. GE: Social Diversity in the U.S.
WGSST 3385 - Women in Political Leadership Internship (3 credit hours) This course offers students opportunities to learn leadership and policy making skills by working with Ohio women lawmakers. Students participate in both classroom learning and an internship experience. Not open to students with credit for 385.
WGSST 3505 - Feminist Perspectives on Globalization (3 credit hours) This course examines the diverse ways that women's agency and gender resistance take shape in different social, economic, cultural, and political contexts. Students will examine feminist perspectives on globalization including themes of neocolonialism and neoliberalism, factory labor and women’s organizing, reproductive health and population control, and women’s agency and writing. Not open to students with credit for 505.
WGSST 3530 - Women, Environment and Development (3 credit hours) This course is an interdisciplinary study of women’s roles of women in resource-based development and as environmental stewards in a global context. Attention is given to gender differences in environmental and rural practices. Cross-listed in Rural Sociology.
4000-Level Courses
WGSST 4189.01S - Reproductive Rights and Justice (3 credit hours) Why is reproduction such a controversial issue, both in the US and in many parts of the world? What do we mean by reproductive rights, and what is the relationship between rights and reproductive justice? How do reproductive technologies—such as surrogacy, IVF, new contraceptives—shape reproductive politics? What is the relationship between reproductive rights, justice, and feminism? This course takes an interdisciplinary feminist approach to investigating the history and contemporary politics of reproduction beyond a “pro-life” vs. “pro-choice” dichotomy. It focuses on both US and global contexts and links the academic investigation to service learning in the Columbus community. Students will work with organizations who seek to further the goals of reproductive justice in policy, activist, legal, and healthcare contexts. Throughout, students will probe the connections between academic coursework and feminist practice, and to link theoretical study to their work in local communities. Prereq: WGSST 1110. Due to limited space, enrollment requires instructor permission.
WGSST 4194 - Group Studies (3 credit hours) Special studies not otherwise offered. Interdisciplinary topics vary from semester to semester. Repeatable to a maximum of 6 credit hours.
WGSST 4375 - Women and Visual Culture (3 credit hours) This course explores the relationship between women and visual culture, putting particular emphasis on the fine arts, film, the music industry, mass media, and gaming culture. Students will examine the construction of women as visual objects and how visual representations are implicated in the construction of gendered, racial and colonial hierarchies. Not open to students with credit for 375.
WGSST 4401 - Asian American Women: Race, Sex and Representations (3 credit hours/GE) This course examines the experiences and cultural representations of Asian American women to explore intersections of gender, race, sexuality, class, and nationality in U.S. and Asian societies. Cross-listed in History. GE Historical Study; GE Diversity: Social Diversity in the U.S.
WGSST 4402 - Black Women: Representations, Politics and Power (3 credit hours) This course examines the ways in which black womanhood is constructed and represented across cultural, social and political contexts in the U.S- and how black women make meaning of their lives.
WGSST 4403 - Gender and Leadership (3 credit hours) This course will focus on how gender matters in the leadership of social, political, and economic organizations and institutions. Groups, organizations, and institutions rely on leaders to exercise influence and responsibility in the execution of common tasks and projects. However, research has demonstrated that there are persistent gendered dimensions to such phenomena as access to positions of leadership, influence as leaders, and the perceptions that others have of leaders.
WGSST 4404 - Regulating Bodies: Global Sexual Economies (3 credit hours) The course explores the regulation of women’s bodies and sexual practices in national and international contexts, including state regulation of reproduction, population control and migration of sexualized labor.
WGSST 4405 - Race and Sexuality (3 credit hours) Placing the concepts of 'race' and 'sexuality' in the historical frameworks of colonialism, slavery, and 19th century science, we will draw on feminist, anti-racist and queer theorists, literature, and film to investigate how race and sexuality intersect in all our lives.
WGSST 4465 - Feminist Political Theory (3 credit hours) Examines concepts in feminist political theory including the articulation of feminism, the subjects of feminist theory, the relation of race, class and sexuality to gender experience, and the use of feminist theory to transform conceptions of justice. Cross-listed in Political Science. Not open to students with credit for PolitSc 4465.
WGSST 4510(H) - American Women's Movement (3 credit hours/ GE) An interdisciplinary analysis of the American women's movements, including historical, literary, sociological, and theoretical perspectives. Not open to students with credit for 510 or 510H. Honors offering requires honors standing or permission of the instructor. GE: Social Diversity in the U.S.
WGSST 4513 - Women, Government and Public Policy (3 credit hours) An examination of policymaking on gender-related issues and the impact of women in government. Cross-listed in Political Science. Not open to students with credit for 513 or PoliSci 513.
WGSST 4520 - Women of Color and Social Activism (3 credit hours/GE) This course focuses on contemporary writing by women of color on citizenship, leadership, political activism, and democratic politics. We will consider the political roles of women of color in local, national and international contexts. Not open to students with credit for 520. GE: Social Diversity in the U.S.
WGSST 4524 - Women and Work (3 credit hours) This course explores the global economic and cultural factors that influence women’s work for wages in the US and the participation of women in a variety of campaigns and social movements to secure economic rights and social justice. Students will examine how labor markets are gendered and racialized and how other categories of difference such as class, sexuality, immigration, and disability intersect with race and gender to shape work and workplace activism. Themes include: the causes and consequences of wage gap, sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, balancing work and family, glass ceiling, sticky floor, poverty, and sweatshop labor. Not open to students with credit for 524.
WGSST 4527 - Studies in Gender and Cinema (3 credit hours) This course uses the tools of feminist film criticism to examine a variety of topics including but not limited to, female spectatorship, women’s film history, stardom, women and genre, representation of sexualities, women’s documentaries, feminist filmmaking, and the feminist avant-garde. Topics vary by semester. Repeatable up to 9 credit hours.
WGSST 4540 - Women of Color: Art Literature and Culture (3 credit hours) This course is an interdisciplinary study of selected historical and cultural movements by women of color. Topics vary by genre and era. Not open to students with credit for 540.
WGSST 4560 - Chicana Feminisms (3 credit hours) This course explores diverse Chicana feminist theory from the early 1970’s as applied in the realms of cultural production (literature, art, film) spirituality, sexuality, among others. Not open to students with credit for 560.
WGSST 4575 - Senior Seminar: Issues in Contemporary Theory (3 credit hours) This course offers a variety of feminist theoretical perspectives on oppression and feminist responses to contemporary social and political ideologies. Students will explore the philosophical differences among the variety of positions within the larger discourse known as "feminism," with particular emphasis on questions raised by multiculturalist and transnational trends within feminism. Topics may include: feminists of color, post-structuralist feminists, French feminists, material feminists and post-colonial feminists, among others. Required for the WGSS major- should be taken Spring of Senior year. Prereq: WGSS 2300 or 300. Not open to students with credit for 575.
WGSST 4576 - Women & Visual Culture in Latin America (3 credit hours) This interdisciplinary course offers students an introduction to Latin American women visual artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Focusing primarily on the mediums of photography, film, painting, and performance, students will examine visual texts produced by specific women artists in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, Panama, and other countries of Latin America for how they depict and analyze the intersections of gender, sexuality, class, disability, race and ethnicity within the contexts of colonialism, nationalism, and globalization. Not open to students with credit for 576.
WGSST 4597 - Gender and Democracy in the Contemporary World (3 credit hours/GE) Highlighting perspectives from various contexts across the globe, this course explores issues of gender and democracy in the contemporary world. Cross-listed in Political Science. Not open to students with credit for WGSS 597. GE: Cross-Disciplinary Seminar.
WGSST 4845 - Gender, Sexuality and Science (3 credit hours) This course explores deployments of scientific knowledge, power, and authority over the gendered body, as well as the gendering of scientific discourses through the exercise of scientific practices. Students will explore the history and role of women in western science; feminist critiques of western scientific philosophy and practice; the effects of science and technology on the human experience of sexuality, gender and the "natural" world. Cross-listed in Comparative Studies. Not open to students with credit for 535 or Comparative Studies 535 or 4845.
WGSST 4921 - Intersections: Approaches to Race, Gender, Class, and Sexuality (3 credit hours) This course examines intersections of race, gender, class, and sexuality in various sites within American culture (e.g., legal system, civil rights discourse, and social justice movements.) Cross-listed in Comparative Studies and African American and African Studies. Not open to students with credit in WGSS 545; Comparative Studies 4921 or 5454; African American and African Studies 4921 or 545.
WGSST 4998 - Capstone Project (1-5 credit hours) Open to students completing a capstone project. Should be scheduled in consultation with advisor. Topics vary. This course is graded S/U.
WGSST 4998H - Honors Project (1-5 credit hours) Open to honors students only. Should be scheduled in consultation with advisor. Topics vary. Repeatable to a maximum of 20 credit hours or 4 completions. This course is graded S/U.
WGSST 4999 - Distinction Thesis (1-5 credit hours) Should be scheduled in consultation with advisor. Topics Vary. This course is graded S/U.
WGSST 4999H - Honors Thesis (1-5 credit hours) Open to honors students only. Should be scheduled in consultation with advisor. Topics Vary. Repeatable to a maximum of 20 credit hours or 4 completions. This course is graded S/U.
5000- Level Courses
WGSST 5193 - Individual Studies (1-9 credit hours) Students may register for individual directed study in subjects not covered in regular course work. Repeatable to a maximum of 24 credit hours or 3 completions. This course is graded S/U. No more than 6 hours of 693 may be applied toward a Women's Studies major. Enrollment is limited to WGSS majors, minors, and graduate students.
WGSST 5450 - Global Human Trafficking: Realities and Representations (3 credit hours) This course will introduce students to the development of human trafficking as it has been understood and represented by governments, policymakers, the media, and popular culture. The objective of this course is to scrutinize common understandings and representations of trafficking and to consider the advantages and disadvantages of such understandings and representations. Prereq: Not open to students with credit for Slavic 5450. Cross-listed in Slavic.
WGSST 5620 - Topics in Feminist Studies (3 credit hours) Interdisciplinary in-depth analysis of selected topics in feminist research and interpretation. Topics vary. Repeatable to a maximum of 9 credit hours.
WGSST 5624 - Women and Social Change in Latin America (3 credit hours) This course explores social change initiatives of women in Latin America and the Caribbean through an analysis of women’s diverse experiences, values, strategies and goals. Not open to students with credit for 624.
WGSST 5998 - Undergraduate Research in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies (1-3 credit hours) Undergraduate research or creative activities in variable topics. This course is graded S/U.
