Classes - Fall 2009
SP.401 Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies
HASS-D, Category 4, CI-H
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. Integrates analysis of current events through student presentations, aiming to increase awareness of contemporary and historical experiences of women, and of the ways sex and gender interact with race, class, nationality, and other social identities. Students are introduced to recent scholarship on gender and its implications for traditional disciplines.
A. Sur
SP.417/24.912J/21A.114J/21H.106J/21L.008J/21M.630J/21W.741J Black Matters: Introduction to Black Studies
HASS-D, Category 4, CI-H
Interdisciplinary survey of people of African descent that draws on the overlapping approaches of history, literature, anthropology, legal studies, media studies, performance, linguistics, and creative writing. Connects the experiences of African-Americans and of other American minorities, focusing on social, political, and cultural histories, and on linguistic patterns. Includes lectures, discussions, workshops, and required field trips that involve minimal cost to students.
M. DeGraff, E. James, H. Lee
SP.459J/21H.575J Women in South Asia from 1800 to Present
Exploration of the changes and continuities in the lives of South Asian women. Using gender as a lens, examines how politics of race, class, caste, and religion have affected women in South Asian countries, primarily in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Current debates within South Asian women's history illustrate the issues and problems that arise in re-writing the past from a gendered perspective. Primary documents, secondary readings, films, newspaper articles, and the Internet.
H. Roy
SP.493/21L.715/CMS.871 Media in Cultural Context
HASS
Meets with 21L.715 when the topic has content consistent with the requirements for Women's Studies subjects. Seminar designed to provide close case study examinations of specific media or media configurations and the larger social, cultural, economic, political, or technological contexts within which they operate. Subject organized around recurring themes in media history, specific genres or movements, specific media, or specific historical moments. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided. Previously taught cross-listed topics include Gendered Genres: Horror and Maternal Melodramas, Girl Culture in Japan, and Exploring Children's Culture. Limited to 12.
E. Reilly
SP.622J/2A.216J Dilemmas in Bio-Medical Ethics
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. Enrollment limited.
E. James
SP.650/9.75 The Psychology of Gender and Race (International focus)
HASS
Examines evidence (and lack thereof) regarding when and how an individual's thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected by gender and race. Topics include gender and racial factors in: identity development; cognition and emotion; stereotypes; physical and mental health, sexuality, close relationships, and work. Enrollment limited to 25.
C. Kapungu
21L.702 Studies in Fiction
HASS
Intensive study of a range of texts by a single author or by a limited group of authors whose achievements are mutually illuminating. Some attention to narrative theory and biographical and cultural backgrounds. Instruction and practice in oral and written communication. Previously taught topics include Stowe, Twain, and the Transformation of 19th-century America, and Joyce and the Legacy of Modernism. Limited to 12.
C. Kapungu
