Women's and Gender Studies (WGST)
Director: Associate Professor: Clara Hardy
Adjunct Senior Lecturer: Jane T. McDonnell
Committee Members: Barbara Allen, Chiara Briganti, Carol Donelan, Pamela Feldman-Savelsberg, Clara Hardy, Anna Igra, Jennifer C. Manion, Diane M. Nemec Ignashev, Annette Nierobisz, Éva Pósfay, Matt Rand, Kathleen Ryor, Parna Sengupta, Kathryn Sparling, Dana J. Strand
The Women's and Gender Studies Program provides an interdisciplinary meeting ground for exploring questions about women and gender that are transforming knowledge across disciplinary lines in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Its goal is to include gender, along with class, sexual orientation and race, as a central category of social and cultural analysis. Courses focusing on women are offered by the departments of Asian Languages and Literatures, Classics, English, German and Russian, Romance Languages and Literatures, History, Media Studies, Music, Religion, Philosophy, Political Science, Art, Sociology and Anthropology, as well as Women's and Gender Studies itself. Carleton offers both a Major and a Concentration in Women's and Gender Studies that allows students to complement their major field with an interdisciplinary focus on women and gender. All courses are open to all students, if they have fulfilled the prerequisites.
Women's and Gender Studies 110, an entry point to the major, is a topical introduction to the field. Women's and Gender Studies 235 provides the theoretical and methodological tools for advanced work on women and gender. The capstone course, Women's and Gender Studies 396, offers students the opportunity to study a topic in depth and to produce a substantial research paper. The major culminates in a senior comprehensive project, directed by advisors from two disciplines, that builds on the skills and interests developed in previous coursework in Women's and Gender Studies. Each student devises an appropriate program of courses in consultation with the major advisor.
Requirements for a Major: (Total of 66 credits)
One introductory course, Women's and Gender Studies 110
One methodology course, Women's and Gender Studies 235
One Capstone Seminar, Women's and Gender Studies 396
Comprehensive Exercise, Women's and Gender Studies 400
In addition to these 24 credits, students must complete an additional 42 credits from the Women's and Gender Studies offerings listed below. Of these 42, no more than 12 credits should be at the 100-level and at least 12 credits should be at the 300-level. Ordinarily, no more than 18 credits may be applied to the major from outside of Carleton.
Students will plan these courses in consultation with the Program Director or a designated Faculty Advisor when they declare their major, and review their plan each term. The major they design should provide both breadth of exposure to Women's and Gender Studies across fields and depth of study in one discipline (normally at least two courses in one area or from one department).
Women's and Gender Studies Courses
WGST 110. Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies This course is an introduction to the ways in which gender structures our world, to theories of women's oppression and liberation, and to the ways feminist thought challenges established intellectual frameworks. However, because gender is not a homogeneous category but is differentiated by class, race, ethnicity, and culture, we also consider both the differences among women and the difficulties of inter-cultural dialogue. 6 credits cr., HU,RAD, Winter,Spring—A. Igra, Jn. McDonnell, P. Sengupta
WGST 114. Gender and Sexuality in Classical Antiquity Refer to CLAS 114 for description. 6 credits cr., HU,RAD, Not offered in 2002-2003.
WGST 200. Methodologies of Women's and Gender Studies This course will offer a grounding in feminist theory and methodology across the academic disciplines. We will approach one topic, broadly defined (such as citizenship, sexuality, or landscape and environment), from the varying perspectives of feminist thinking within the social sciences, arts and literature, humanities, and the social sciences. 6 credits cr., ND, Not offered in 2002-2003.
WGST 220. The Politics of Reproduction This course deals with new reproductive technologies and their impact on the lives of women. Topics studied include surrogacy, abortion, infertility treatments, sterilization abuse, contraception, "fetal rights," fetal imaging, and disability rights. The course deals with the intersection of medical ethics, contract law, and feminist thinking, and will address issues of interest to pre-med and pre-law students, as well as to students in the Women's and Gender Studies program. 6 credits cr., SS, Winter—Jn. McDonnell
WGST 221. Women in Art Refer to ARTH 223 for description 4 or 6 credits cr., AL,RAD, Fall—A. Kettering
WGST 222. U.S. Women's History to 1877 Refer to HIST 222 for description. 6 credits cr., HU,RAD, Winter—A. Igra
WGST 223. U.S. Women's History Since 1877 Refer to HIST 223 for description. 6 credits cr., HU,RAD, Spring—A. Igra
WGST 224. Women and Christianity Refer to RELG 224 for description. 6 credits cr., HU, Spring—A. Patrick
WGST 226. Anthropology of Gender Refer to SOAN 226 for description. 6 credits cr., SS, Fall—P. Feldman-Savelsberg
WGST 227. Race and Gender in the American South Cross-listed with HIST 226. This course will examine the prominent and dramatic role that race and gender have played in shaping the life experiences of Southern women and men. Issues to be covered include slavery, Civil War and Reconstruction, industrialization and the New South, the KKK, and the Civil Rights movement. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2002-2003.
WGST 228. Gender and Genre in the Floating World: Japanese Prints Cross-listed with ARTH 220. Pictures of the floating world, or ukiyo-e, were an integral part of popular culture in Japan and functioned as illustrations, advertisements, and souvenirs. This course will examine the development of both style and subject matter in Japanese prints within the socio-economic context of the seventeenth-twentieth centuries. Emphasis will be placed on the prominent position of women and the nature of gendered activity in these prints. Prerequisite: Any one term of art history. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2002-2003.
WGST 229. Gender and Work in U.S. History Cross-listed with HIST 229. Historically work has been a central location for the constitution of gender identities for both men and women; at the same time, cultural notions of gender have shaped the labor market. We will investigate the roles of race, class, and ethnicity in shaping multiple sexual divisions of labor and the ways in which terms such as skill, bread-winning and work itself were gendered. Topics will include domestic labor, slavery, industrialization, labor market segmentation, protective legislation, and the labor movement. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2002-2003.
WGST 231. Intercultural Texts—Indian and Japanese Women Writing Abroad Refer to ASLN 231 for description. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2002-2003.
WGST 232. Women and Islamic Constructions of Gender Cross-listed with RELG 235. A survey of issues significant for women's lives in various parts of the Muslim world. We will briefly examine women's status and image in classical Islamic thought, and the bulk of the course will focus on contemporary Muslim women in a number of different cultural contexts. Issues to be discussed include: veiling, kinship structures, war and violence, health, feminist activism, and literary and artistic expression. The course aims to provide both a broad understanding of the factors affecting women's lives, and an appreciation of the diversity of social and material conditions that exist within the Muslim world. 6 credits cr., HU,RAD, Not offered in 2002-2003.
WGST 233. Topics in Medieval History: Papacy, Church and Empire Cross-listed with RELG 238,FRST 238,HIST 238. In the late eleventh century, the foundations of medieval society began to shake. Monks and clerics, kings and princes, lay men and women, challenged the traditional order of European society, demanding purity, freedom, and justice for their church and the reform of institutions grown corrupt. Yet the traditional order had its defenders, too. In this course we will examine their struggles—verbal and physical—as they debate such issues as clerical marriage and purity, institutional corruption, the relationship of Church and King, the meaning of canon law, the concept of just war, and the power of the pope within the Church. 3 credits cr., HU, Winter—W. North
WGST 233. The World of Bede Cross-listed with RELG 238,FRST 238,HIST 238. This course will examine the works and world of the Venerable Bede (c. 673-731), one of the great Christian thinkers and historians of the Middle Ages and a key witness to the history of early medieval Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England. Through close study of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People and other contemporary sources, we shall address such issues as Christian vs. Germanic rulership; the nature of religious conversion in early medieval societies; monasticism and conceptions of sanctity; Ireland and England as outposts of classical and Christian culture; and the problems of historical thought and writing in the early Middle Ages. 3 Winter—W. North
WGST 233. Topics in Medieval History: Gender and Ethics in Medieval France Cross-listed with RELG 238,FRST 238,HIST 238. Acknowledged by contemporaries as one of the leading intellects of her time, Christine de Pizan (ca. 1364-ca. 1431) was an author of unusual literary range and perceptiveness. In addition to romances, poetry, and a quasi-autobiographical Vision, she composed works on political theory, arms and chivalry, and her famous defenses of women—The City of Ladies and the Treasure of the City of Ladies. Using Christine's writings as a foundation, we will explore problems and perceptions of gender, love, the ethics of personal relations, and the exercise of power in domestic and public spheres in late medieval France. 3 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2002-2003.
WGST 235. Feminist Philosophy Refer to PHIL 235 for description. 6 credits cr., HU, Spring—J. Manion
WGST 236. Women's Lives in Pre-Modern Europe Cross-listed with FRST 232,HIST 236. Did women have a Renaissance? Were women increasingly relegated to a separate sphere from men: "domesticated into the household? Or, on the contrary, is the history of European women characterized by fundamental continuities? This course seeks to answer these questions through an exploration of women's place in the family and economy, laws and cultural assumptions about women, and women's role in religion. Throughout the term, we will be focusing not only on writings about women, but primarily on sources written by women themselves, as we seek a fuller understanding of the nature of European women's lives before the modern era. 6 credits cr., HU, Winter—V. Morse, S. Ottaway
WGST 238. Contemporary Women Writers in the German Speaking Countries Cross-listed with GERM 237. In this course, we will read and discuss works by Austrian, German and Swiss writers from the 1960s to the present, including Ingeborg Bachmann, Sigrid Damm, Barbara Frischmuth, Marlen Haushofer, Monika Maron, Christa Reinig, Gabriele Wohmann and Christa Wolf. We will also view some films by women and analyze them in the context of the women's movement. Topics include (self) concepts of women, the use of myth, the relationship with the Nazi past and the concern for the environment. We will interpret these works using various theoretical approaches, with the construction of gender as a focal point throughout the course. There is an option to read the works in the original, and to set up a weekly discussion in German. In translation. 6 credits cr., AL, Winter—S. Leonhard
WGST 242. Women and World Cinema Cross-listed with MEDA 242,CHIN 242. . We will screen, read, and analyze cinematic representations of women and society in Western and non-Western conditions and contexts. The course will serve as a multicultural investigation of the varied relationship between women and cinema, using films produced in North America, Europe, and Asia. This course is a comparative study of the aesthetic modes, filmic techniques, cultural realities, and ideological underpinnings related to women's body, mind, and power as illustrated on the screenscape. All the course materials are in English translation. No prerequisites. 6 credits cr., AL,RAD, Fall—P. Fu
WGST 247. Julie's Cross-listed with FRST 246,HIST 246. The eighteenth century witnessed the rise of the sentimental novel as a popular genre in both France and England. This course will examine the historical context of novels that depicted women as creatures that were often defined by their "sensibility." We will look at debates about the "nature of women" as well as at the social and economic roles actually played by women in this period. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2002-2003.
WGST 250. Bad Girls/Good Art: Gender and Culture in a Postmodern World Cross-listed with LCST 250. This course presents an overview of self-proclaimed or otherwise claimed "lesbian" texts and contexts since World War II, drawn from diverse communities (in and outside the US), and discussed in light of post-modernist and (post)-feminist theories of the construction of gender and of culture. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2002-2003.
WGST 255. Women Dramatists in Latin America: Staging Conflicts Cross-listed with LTAM 255,SPAN 255. This course will examine contemporary plays written by Latin American and U.S. Latina women from a woman centered perspective. Issues will range from women and political repression to a critique of gender roles. As we read the plays, we will consider both the literary qualities of dramatic texts and the semiotics of staging and its potential for public advocacy. Dramatists that may be included are Luisa Josefina Hernández, Elena Garro, Griselda Gambaro, Sabina Berman, Maruxa Vilalta, Marcela del Río, Albalucía Angel, Aida Bortnik and U.S. Latina playwrights María Irene Fornes and Margarita Tavera Rivera. Prerequisite: Spanish 204 or proficiency. 6 credits cr., AL,RAD, Fall—B. Boling
WGST 259. Women in South Asia: Histories, Narratives, and Representation Cross-listed with HIST 259. The objective of this course is to survey the historical institutions, practices and traditions that defined the position of women in India. We will examine the laws and religious traditions related to women in South Asian including marriage, inheritance, sati and purdah. We will also read a variety of women's writings including the poetry of buddhist nuns and medieval women saints, as well as stories and memoirs from the colonial and post-colonial period. The purpose of the course is to understand women in India as both the object and subject of history. 6 credits cr., HU,RAD, Spring—P. Sengupta
WGST 260. Gender, Sexuality and Schooling Cross-listed with EDUC 260,SOAN 261. . This course explores how gender and sexuality are socially constructed in school settings. Using a variety of feminist cultural texts ranging from empirical studies to popular films, we will focus on how masculinities, femininities and queer identities are formed and performed in the context of school, and how notions of gender and sexuality inform interactions between teachers, students and administrators. In addition, we will address how race, class, age and nation complicate gender and sexuality identities. Specific topics to be covered include sex education, teachers' work, sex/gender segregation, and the experiences of queer students. 6 credits cr., SS,RAD, Winter—— L. McCready
WGST 282. Women in African History: (Re-)Production, Representation, and Resistance Cross-listed with HIST 282. This course will explore several themes that are central to understanding the changes n African women's lives and experiences in the countryside and the city from before colonialism to the present: work, education, labor migration, marriage, sexuality, motherhood, political action and creativity. Readings will include both primary and secondary sources, as well as historiographic articles outlining issues in African women's history and the novels and autobiographies through which African women have begun to make their voices heard. But women in Africa do not speak as one, and thus we will also study the differences of race, gender, class and culture. 6 credits cr., HU, Winter—H. Pohlandt-McCormick
WGST 322. Christian Feminist Theologies Refer to RELG 322 for description. 6 credits cr., HU, Fall—A. Patrick
WGST 340. From Memory to Memoir Cross-listed with ENGL 231. This is a writing class, designed to help students transform personal experience into finished narrative. Classes will feature visits from published writers, practical writing exercises, informal workshops and discussions about this new and important genre. We will deal largely (but not exclusively) with women's writing and experience, as well as with the intersection of personal, family and cross-cultural experience. 6 credits cr., AL, Spring—Jn. McDonnell
WGST 344. Women Writers in Latin America: Challenging Gender and Genre Cross-listed with LTAM 344,SPAN 344. The course will study texts (written by women) that deal critically with issues of gender, challenging implicit and explicit patriarchal values. Emphasis will also be placed on how these women have experimented with narrative and poetic genres to express their personal concerns and to deconstruct orthodox structures. Authors usually included: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Storni, Agustini, Castellanos, Poniatowska, Molloy, Valenzuela, Ferré, Garro, Peri Rossi, Allende. Prerequisite: Spanish 240 or a 300 level literature course is recommended. 6 credits cr., AL,RAD, Winter—B. Boling
WGST 347. Women, Men, Modernism and Modernity Cross-listed with ENGL 347. This course seeks to intervene in the current lively debate over the definitions and meanings of Modernity and Modernism. We will examine a selection of literature, social investigation, and criticism concerning Modernist and Modern experimentation, against the background of historical events such as the General Strike of 1926, World War I, World War II and the role of magazines and of housing policies in the revalidation of domesticity and the construction of gender. 6 credits cr., AL, Spring—C. Briganti
WGST 351. Women Playwrights/Women's Roles Cross-listed with THEA 351,ENGL 351. A study of images of women in plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Strindberg, Tennessee Williams, and a number of women playwrights from Hellman and Clare Booth Luce to Caryl Churchill to Ntozaue Shange. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2002-2003.
WGST 353. Feminist and American Separatist Movements* Cross-listed with POSC 353. . Within a feminist framework we will contrast social protest movements such as the Black Panther Party and Radical Zionism that appear to elevate racial or ethnic identity above gender concerns with lesbian feminist strategies that include an analysis of race and class as well as those feminist strategies that do not. In each case we will look at the multifaceted intersections of gender, race, class, and ethnicity. Prerequisite: Women's and Gender Studies 110 or Political Science 122. 6 credits cr., SS, Not offered in 2002-2003.
WGST 354. Feminist Political Theory* Cross-listed with POSC 354. This seminar will cover the major developments in feminist theory as that theory relates to authority (political) relationships. Liberal, radical, Marxist and socialist-feminist critiques and their antecedents in political philosophy will be analyzed in the course. Feminist theory applied to or derived from psychoanalysis, cognitive development, moral reasoning, and theology will also be discussed. Prerequisites: Women's and Gender Studies 110, Political Science 122, or any theory class. 6 credits cr., SS,RAD, Spring—K. Wright
WGST 355. Contemporary Feminist Thought: Women and War* Cross-listed with POSC 355. Ancient and modern political philosophers view the duty to defend one's country as an essential part of citizenship. In many modern liberal democracies, military service is also considered an essential individual right. While women have often been exempted or precluded from military service, they nevertheless have played important symbolic and actual roles in warmaking. The status of woman as the nurturer of the warrior and the potential for women to be warriors raise a number of questions in feminist theory and democratic theory that this advanced seminar will examine. 6 credits cr., SS, Not offered in 2002-2003.
WGST 395. Ethnography of Reproduction Cross-listed with SOAN 395,LTAM 395. This seminar explores the meanings of reproductive beliefs and practices in comparative perspective. It focuses on (but is not limited to) ethnographic examples from the U.S./Canada and England and from sub-Saharan Africa (societies with relatively low fertility and high utilization of technology and a set of societies with mostly high fertility and low utilization of technology). Topics examined include fertility and birth, fertility rites, new reproductive technologies, abortion, population control, infertility, child survival and child loss. Prerequisites: Sociology/Anthropology 110 or 111; 226, 260, 262 or 130 is recommended; or permission of the instructor. 6 credits cr., SS, Spring—P. Feldman-Savelsberg
WGST 395. Idioms of Inequality: Ethnicity, Gender, and Exchange in Latin America Cross-listed with SOAN 395,LTAM 395. Focusing on Indian as well as Hispanic cultures in Mexico, Central, and South America, this course will analyze the ways in which identity is processed through symbols of difference. It seeks to understand how ethnicity, gender, and exchange sometimes operate as means for achieving solidarity and complementarity, yet at other times function as the quintessential sources for inequality. Drawing ethnographic materials from Latin America, this course examines the meaning and significance of culturally variable expressions of inequality as modulated through critical social relations. An emphasis will be placed on highlighting salient theoretical debates through the interpretation of both classic and contemporary ethnographies. Prerequisites: Sociology/Anthropology 110, 111, upper division coursework in Latin American Studies, or permission of the instructor. 6 credits cr., SS, Fall—J. Levi
WGST 396. "Sexualities" Serving as the capstone seminar for the Women's and Gender Studies major/concentration, this course will take an interdisciplinary approach to theoretical and empirical configurations of sexuality in its diverse forms. Drawing on historically relevant and recent work in literature, anthropology, philosophy, psychology and other disciplines, we will explore a variety of paradigms for the construction of sexuality (e.g., bisexual, heterosexual, lesbian, gay male) and examine the complex ways in which different modes of representation shape and, in turn, are shaped by these sexualities. Attention will be paid to the impact of race, class and ethnicity on configurations of sexuality. 6 credits cr., HU, Spring—J. Manion