"WGSS 140A Introduction to Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Wiet F" by Victoria Wiet
 

Document Type

Syllabus

Publication Date

Fall 9-1-2024

Course Description

This course introduces some key issues in contemporary women's, gender, and sexuality studies (WGSS) and provides a starting vocabulary and background in the field. Because WGSS is an interdisciplinary field, readings come from a number of different areas, including literature, history, philosophy, psychology and sociology. The course will focus specifically on the key areas of social life which the work of feminist theorists and activists have brought into public consciousness and created new language for discussing: the categories of sex and gender; reproduction; labor; sexuality; violence; and the state. Each of these issues will illuminate how gender roles are socially constructed and how those who occupy the feminine role are made to occupy a subordinate role in American society and across the globe, but our exploration of women’s social position will also open up into broader discussions of gender and sexuality. In addition to giving due consideration to foundational feminist texts, we will explore how intersectional analysis and the fields of queer theory and trans studies have expanded and revised thinking about each of the issues listed above. Students will not simply read but also practice feminist and queer analysis through a combination of short exercises and longer writing assignments. Monday and Wednesday classes will focus on concepts from assigned readings, while Friday classes will apply those concepts to contemporary social issues or popular culture. You can expect to complete about 50pp of reading each week; occasionally, a film (and, one week, a short novel) will be assigned.

Student Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to… develop a beginner’s level understanding of feminist approaches and “core concepts” in theory and activism, and an understanding of key terms and debates within women’s, gender, and sexuality studies; Through self-reflexive thought, examine their own experiences within a larger socio-historic frame and become adept at recognizing how privilege and oppression impact their own lives; apply intersectionality and/or queer theoretical approaches as a lens through analyze contemporary and historical and phenomena and artifacts (e.g., literary texts, legislation, media representations, historical records, and protest actions); which to vocabulary and premises of scholarship in WGSS through intersectional analysis of the issues facing women, sexual minorities and trans and gender nonconforming people today. And practice feminist and queer analysis through critical thinking, writing, and completion of exams.

Download

Share

COinS