GNDR G600 & CULS C701: Concepts of Gender (3 credits)

This course introduces historical, theoretical, behavioral, philosophical, scientific, multi- and cross-cultural perspectives on gender and its meanings, exploring its disciplinary and interdisciplinary uses and implications. Attention is given to the emergence of the category "gender" itself, and its variable applications to different fields of knowledge, experience, cultural expression, and institutional regulation. The class will be taught as seminar. Readings are to be done before class so that you may fully participate in the discussion. This course deals with aspects of human sexuality and gender in a straight-forward and explicit manner. If this is a problem for you, please do not take this course.

Lecture: 11:00am-1:45pm - T - Instructor: Sanders, S (section: 22253) MO 313

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GNDR G601 & CULS C701 Scientific Practices & Feminist Knowledge (3 credits)

This course examines intersections of gender and knowledge, with a particular focus on feminist analyses of scientific epistemology and practice, exploring the implications of various, sometimes conflicting, feminist theories about the social meaning and the gendered construction of scientific research. Particular focus is placed upon race, class, sexuality and cultural difference in medical, psychological, and evolutionary accounts of "human nature." Specific topics for students' research projects may include: the history and politics of sexual difference in scientific discourse; feminist perspectives on, and appropriations of, the concept of objectivity; the circulation of scientific findings and technologies in popular culture; and the formulation of alternative scientific methods and knowledge.

Lecture: 1:00pm-3:30pm - R - Instructor: Gremillion, H (section: 26745) MME 131

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GNDR G701 & ANTH E660: Graduate Topics in Gender Studies (3 credits)
Topic: Dance, Gender & Embodied Discourse

Dance does not exist except as it is realized in the human body. Through its performance and its ability to elicit a kinesthetic response in performer and viewer alike, dance becomes elemental and gendered. Classical performance traditions, popular forms, and communally-embedded dance all address gender and the potential for embodied meanings. Embodied forms of discourse speak through a variety of voices and channels creating meanings that may be ambiguous and contradictory. We will examine form and meaning as we explore the danced body and its dialogic potential across Eastern and Western traditions both classical and popular. Seminar participants may choose any genre or tradition of dance or dance-theatre for their research.

Lecture: 2:30pm-3:45pm - TR - Instructor: Royce, A P (section : 28199) BH 209

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GNDR G701 & POLS Y657 & POLS Y665: Graduate Topics in Gender Studies (3 credits)
Topic: Comparative Gender Policies

The course will examine discursive politics and social movement practices to understand the conditions and processes that lead to gender public policies. While recognizing that public policies affect all people, this course will focus on policies that either directly or indirectly confront the way gender is constructed and maintained. Our primary focus will be on issues such as marriage and civil unions (both heterosexual and same-sex), reproduction (including abortion and reproductive technologies), family/ child policies (including perhaps adoption), soldiering and citizenship (including transgender considerations.) One of our emphases will be on comparing the discursive politics and political opportunity structures across nations for the same set of issues. Why does discourse develop differently, what are the conditions leading to different opportunity structures, and why are outcomes similar or different? The first two-thirds of the seminar will focus on a core set of readings, including both classics such as Skocpol's Protecting Soldier and Mothers and Mansbridge, Why We Lost the ERA, to new studies such as Outshoorn, The Politics of Prostitution: Women's Movements, Democratic States and the Globalisation of Sex Commerce (2004), Bernstein & Schaffner, Regulating Sex (2005) and Mazur, Theorizing Feminist Policy (2006). The last third of the semester will provide an opportunity for students to explore other policy areas not covered in the core readings. Readings will be drawn from political science, gender studies, sociology, and policy studies journals, books and edited volumes.

Lecture: 1:15pm-3:20pm - M - Instructor: Robinson, J (section: 23348) WH 204

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GNDR G701 & LAW B789: Graduate Topics in Gender Studies (3 credits)
Topic: Feminist Jurisprudence

This class explores a variety of feminist approaches to law. We will begin with a review of the development of several schools of feminist legal theory, including liberal feminism, cultural or relational feminism, dominance feminism, and postmodernist feminism. We will examine the perspective offered by these approaches on central issues in the philosophy of law, including the meaning of equality, the possibility of objectivity or neutrality, and the role of power. We will then apply these feminist theories to a range of legal issues, such as rape, sexual harassment and other employment discrimination, child custody, spousal abuse, the regulation of reproduction, and work/family conflict.

Lecture: 1:15pm-2:10pm - MTW - Instructor: Williams, S (section: 26746) Law 213

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GNDR G701 & ANTH E617: Graduate Topics in Gender Studies (3 credits)
Topic: African Women

African women carry heavy, growing responsibilities within their communities that bring them respect but rarely the resources they need. Following themes of autonomy and control of social, cultural and economic resources, we discuss alternatives and radical changes from pre-colonial to contemporary times and consider their relevance to African and US development policy, to African feminist concerns and to our own options. We will talk about how African women fit into important public discussions in Africa on economic development, urbanization, family breakdown, nationalism and religion. Some issues familiar in Western media, including famines, refugees, civil wars, Islamic and Christian fundamentalism, polygyny and AIDS, have special relevance for African women. They also can contribute distinctive experiences and ideas to our discussions of some problems Americans now feel sharply, such as preserving family and religious values, building mutual respect between men and women and between ethnic groups, teen or unwed mothers, budget cuts, unemployment and global economic competition. Basic concepts and analytic skills from this course will help you join in these debates effectively and learn critically from public media such as television and newspapers. By the end of the semester, you will know what major issues African women consider important to their lives, especially family and economic issues. You should be well aware of the broad range of diversity of viewpoints on these issues and familiar with some of the most common perspectives. You will also see the range of diversity in the situations of specific groups of African women, and be able to identify the most important local and international conditions that affect their position. We will concentrate on the factors that give women more or less access to key resources they need to provide security for themselves and their families. We will also consider how our actions and US government policies contribute to these influential factors.

Lecture: 2:30pm-3:45pm - TR - Instructor: Clark, G (section: 26742) SB 150

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