Gender and Women’s studies is an interdisciplinary field that grew out of the recognition that the experience and potential of over half the world’s population has real consequences for academic study and teaching, research and scholarship. By considering women both as subjects of inquiry and as inquiring subjects, we have discovered new ways of thinking about gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity and their intersections in disciplines. The minor is a total of 21 credit hours.
Required Courses: 9 credit hours
GNDR 2110 Intro to Women, Gender & Sexuality (3)
GNDR 3000 Feminist Theory (3)
GNDR 4990 Independent Research (3)
Electives: 12 credit hours Choose are least 12 additional credit hours from the list of women’s studies courses in consultation with the major adviser.
CJUS 4090 Domestic & Sexual Violence (3)
ENGL 3140 Women in Literature (3)
ENGL 3150 Native American Women’s Literature: Voices and Visions (3)
ENGL 3180 Chicano/a Literature (3)
ENGL 4640 Women and Rhetoric (3)
HLED 3520 Health & Sex Education (3)
HIST 4110 Women in the US (3)
PSYC 4220 Human Sexuality (3)
PSYC 4300 Gender Roles (3)
SOWK 4290 Family Violence (3)
SPAN 4060 Hispanic Women Authors (3)
SOCI 4290 Gender, Culture, and Society (3)
SOCI 4500 Women and Globalization (3)
Minor total: 21 credit hours
Gender & Women’s Studies (GNDR), Courses in
GNDR 2110. Introduction to Women, Gender & Sexuality (3); Var
This course introduces students to key concepts, debates, and analytical tools informing Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. As an interdisciplinary field of study, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies employs academic perspectives from a range of disciplines and theoretical approaches. It also incorporates lived experience and social location into its object of analysis. Though content will vary according to the expertise and focus of the instructor, this course will develop tools through readings and assignments that critically analyze how gender and sexuality are shaped by different networks of power and social relations and demonstrate how the intersections of race, class, disability, national status, and other categories identity and difference are central to their understanding and deployment. In addition to feminist though, areas of focus might include gender and sexuality in relation to social, cultural, political, creative, economic, or scientific discourses. This class is recommended for those with a general interest in the topic area as well as for those seeking a foundational course for further study. Previously WMST 200.
GNDR 3000. Feminist Theory (3); Var
Feminist theory explores the basic forms that organize everyday society and that influences dominant ways of thinking. Feminist theory employs a variety of schools of thought including liberalism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, postcolonial theory, and transnational feminist theory. Students in feminist theory will gain an insight into the range and uses of feminist theory. The main goal of this course is to introduce ways of investigating and reflecting upon recent topics and discord within feminist dialogues, within an international context. Central content areas include: feminism and nationalism; cultural identity; diaspora dialogue; the social construction of gender, race and sexuality; perspectives on pornography and racial hatred propaganda/speech/acts; and international sex trafficking and prostitution. Questions considered include: What makes up theory in women’s studies? How useful is theory in reflective, critical, challenging debates revolving around dominant sex/ race/class power structures? What can theory offer activists? What recent debates and dialogues are emerging within feminist/womanist theory? These questions continue themes in this class is to teach students basic tools of analysis for addressing these issues. 4350. Special Topics (1-4 VC) Gender and Politics; eating disorders, gender and education. Previously NMHU WMST 300.
GNDR 4180. Reproductive Justice (3); Var
This class examines the reproductive justice theoretical framework, its history, origins, and conceptualization to explore its practical applications for transformative feminist activism and theorizing. Reproductive justice developed as a multi-layered theoretical paradigm and model for theorists/activists concerned about issues surrounding reproductive dignity. Prerequisite: SOCI 1110.
GNDR 4980. Women’s Studies: Internship/Directed Study (3); Var
This course includes directed studies on a women’s issue, in the student’s major field, to be approved by the Women’s Studies Committee as a whole and to be supervised by a designated faculty member of the committee in conjunction (if necessary) with a selected faculty member in the field of the study. Internships: apply theory, concepts and skills developed in the women’s studies minor to work on projects related to profit or nonprofit organizations. A final research paper in the range of 15-20 pages will result from the student’s directed study. Prerequisites: WMST 2000 AND 3000 and senior status and approval of women’s studies. Previously NMHU WMST 499.