WGS.101 - Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies

Drawing on multiple disciplines - such as literature, history, economics, psychology, philosophy, political science, anthropology, media studies and the arts - to examine cultural assumptions about sex, gender, and sexuality. This class will introduce the student to several different frameworks for thinking about sex and gender, among other social categories - like race and class - across a variety of social and cultural contexts. We will consider the ways that gender functions in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, and how it interacts with race and class in the media and in the concrete reality of women's and men's lives. The class will focus on in-class discussions of the readings and on their application to the U.S. and beyond.
A. Walsh

WGS.109 - Women & Global Activism in Media & Politics

Lecture: TR 3-5 Through the study of novels, films, art, and critical essays, we consider how women redefine the notion of community, nation, and development internationally. We explore traditional values, social change, gender roles, identity formation, migration flows, globalization and development, popular culture and urban life, cyber-culture, activism, and human rights. We will consider the following questions: What is the relevance of western feminist critical thinking for Third-World literature or cinema? Is feminism western? How have Third-World women been addressing and defining women's issues on their own terms?
A. Sur

WGS.110 - Sexual and Gender Identities

TIntroduces scholarly debates about sexual identities, gender identities and expressions, and sexual orientation and its representation in various media. Topics may include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) sexual identities as well as their histories in Western and non-Western cultures; queer theory and theories of identity; the origins of social movements for equality; issues of race and diversity within LGBT communities; questions of visibility and media representation; and the politics of sexual orientation in contemporary American institutions. Materials include secondary readings in history, philosophy and cultural theory as well as novels and plays, films and television programs, community studies, oral histories, and legal cases.
K. Surkan

WGS.111 - Gender and Media Studies

EExamines representations of race, gender, and sexual identity in the media. Considers issues of authorship, spectatorship, and the ways in which various media (film, television, print journalism, advertising) enable, facilitate, and challenge these social constructions in society. Studies the impact of new media and digital media through analysis of gendered and racialized language and embodiment online in blogs and vlogs, avatars, and in the construction of cyberidentities. Provides introduction to feminist approaches to media studies by drawing from work in feminist film theory, cultural studies, gender and politics, and cyberfeminism.
K. Surkan

WGS.161 - Gender and Law in US History

Explores the legal history of the US as a gendered system. Examines how women have shaped the meanings of American citizenship through pursuit of political rights such as suffrage, jury duty, and military service, as well as how the legal system has shaped gender relations for both women and men through regulation of such issues as marriage, divorce, work, reproduction, and the family. Readings draw from primary and secondary materials, focusing on the broad historical relationship between law and society. No legal knowledge is required or assumed.
C. Capozzola

WGS.236 - East Asian Culture: From Zen to Pop (New!)

Examines traditional forms of East Asian culture (including literature, art, performance, food, and religion) as well as contemporary forms of popular culture (film, pop music, karaoke, and manga). Covers China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, with an emphasis on China. Considers women's culture, as well as the influence and presence of Asian cultural expressions in the US. Uses resources in the Boston area, including the MFA, the Children's Museum, and the Sackler collection at Harvard. Taught in English.
E. Teng

WGS.271 - Dilemmas in Bio-Medical Ethics: Playing God or Doing Good?

An introduction to the cross-cultural study of biomedical ethics. Examines moral foundations of the science and practice of western biomedicine through case studies of abortion, contraception, cloning, organ transplantation and other issues. Evaluates challenges that new medical technologies pose to the practice and availability of medical services around the globe, and to cross-cultural ideas of kinship and personhood. Discusses critiques of the biomedical tradition from anthropological, feminist, legal, religious, and cross-cultural theorists.
E.C. James

WGS.301 - Feminist Thought

In this course we will examine the development of feminist theory over time. Some subjects we will examine in detail include suffrage and equality; radical feminism; psychoanalysis and feminism; theories of power; sexuality and gender; embodied knowledge; pornography; identities and global feminism; militarism; and the welfare state. Throughout the course we will analyze different ways of looking at power and political culture in modern societies, issues of race and class, poverty and welfare, sexuality and morality.
E. Wood