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Need upper division or electives? Check out these courses – no pre-reqs!

Winter term registration is well underway, even while dead week and finals week march on!

We still have spots open in three classes (listed after the break) which satisfy the requirements for electives for the WGS major or minor  and the Queer Studies minor. These courses not only examine historical context of their respective topics, but also dive into the changing contemporary landscape. All three are topic-changing classes, which means they’re not guaranteed to come around again–so if you’re interested, be sure to catch them while you can.

Included below are the updated expanded descriptions, which have been added to the course schedule.

See you in class!

WGS 399 – Queer Film

This course focuses on both historic and contemporary representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and communities in films. Thematic issues will include sexual and gender identity, asylum and citizenship, violence, religion, and love. We will view and discuss documentaries, independent films, international films, and clips from mainstream movies. Readings will support the thematic issues raised by the films; the political contexts, uses, and receptions of the films; and the production environment and stylistic choices of the filmmakers. This class provides an opportunity to explore LGBT issues and engage in interpretive and critical discussion and writing.

WGS 407 – Women’s Health

What does it mean for a woman to have a “healthy” body? How do we tell our stories about health and illness? Who decides what counts as health?  How are these constructions influenced by race, class, gender, and ethnicity? This course examines women’s health experiences, primarily (though not exclusively) in the US. It addresses questions of authority and decision-making that remain central in women’s health policy debates today. Topics include sexuality, prenatal care and birthing practices, the “epidemic” of obesity, reproductive health, cancers, menstruation and menopause, abortion, birth control, disability, chronic pain, mental health, and environmental toxins.

WGS 410 – Islam, Gender and Modernity

This course works towards unpacking stereotypes of “the Muslim Woman” by providing a historically nuanced understanding of the debates on gender and religious reform in Muslim societies in both the colonial and post-colonial contexts. In the first half of the course we will consider how colonial and nationalist regimes have shaped and redefined gender relations as well as notions of the feminine (and masculine) in the Muslim world. The course will also look more closely at the manner in which gender and identity is interwoven with and produced through everyday practices of religious belief and rituals. The course will draw on histories, memoirs and contemporary case studies that explore gender in Muslim societies. Students will engage with feminist and post-colonial theory in order to examine the theoretical and methodological issues posed by feminist scholars in the study of gender in Muslim societies in order to critically think about the notions of equality, freedom and rights as they often frame debates on gender, Islam and the rights of Muslim women. In doing so, we will consider what role the language of rights and democracy plays in contemporary gender politics in the Muslim world.