Women's Studies Department

Women's Studies Courses 2012

Women in society today face many challenges. The interaction between personal and professional identities, at home and at work, presents all of us with new responsibilities and opportunities. Complex family arrangements are required in order to pursue career paths, and handling these arrangements has traditionally been the responsibility of women in our culture.

Moreover, there are many possibilities for women in the public sector in today's society. Women's Studies prepares students for a world in which gender operates as a significant factor in all that we do. Women's Studies has emerged out of the women's movement. The notion of equality was and still is the primary impetus behind this new area of inquiry.

The role of women in history and in society has not been adequately represented in traditional disciplines. For instance, what role have women played in developing our concepts of the social sciences or of the humanities? Initial attempts in Women's Studies scholarship were aimed at recovering the role of women in traditional disciplines. Subsequently, Women's Studies scholarship focused on distinctions at the root of the women's movement the distinction between gender and sexuality, and the distinction between power and oppression.

Gender is a social term; sexuality is a biological one. How is gender related to sexuality? Oppression is the misuse of power to the detriment of others. How and why is power sometimes transformed into oppression? In an attempt to answer these questions, Women's Studies scholarship has turned its attention to the concept of difference. The study of difference has further produced an emphasis on the analysis of diversity, ethnicity and multiculturalism.

Today, Women's Studies offers a unique perspective in the liberal arts. It explores the influence of gender in the study of all disciplines, making Women's Studies an interdisciplinary field of study.

Women's Studies Courses for J-term and Spring 2012

J-Term

Shading denotes electives

Spring

Counts as historical component on the major/minor:
HIST 381 Lives of Wives
RELS 274 Women and Christianity

Shading denotes electives