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Department of Women’s and Gender Studies

Graduate Course Offerings

A full list of course descriptions is available in the Academic Bulletin. Each semester's courses with additional information can be found on the WGST Courses page.

Fall 2025

WGST 515: Race, Gender, and Graphic Novels

 Representations of race and gender in comics with a special emphasis on the experiences of African Americans. Cross-listed course: AFAM 515

WGST 541: Issues in Women's Health

Topic: Reproductive Controversies. This course explores issues in women’s health focused on reproductive controversies. Students will think critically through the lens of feminist medical anthropology about social controversies in the development of the birth control pill, the development of American gynecology, the insider and outside perspectives on the practice of female genital cutting, and the frontiers of human technology co-evolution for the future of reproduction. Cross-listed course: ANTH 591

WGST 551: Adolescent Mentoring

Application of skills and theories of adolescent mentoring taught in the classroom to a supervised, structured mentoring field experience.Cross-listed course: CRJU 551

WGST 554: Women, Gender, and Crime 

Impact of gender-based relations on crime and the criminal justice system. Cross-listed course: CRJU 554.

WGST 701: Feminist Theories and Epistemologies 

Examination of feminist theories and epistemologies from diverse disciplines and intellectual movements, providing an overview of historical developments in feminist discourse. Emphasis on debates surrounding such concepts as gender, identity, difference, power, and embodiment.

WGST 796: Music, Gender, and Sexuality

This course is designed to investigate relationships between music, gender, and sexuality in the context of a musicological seminar. We will explore these concepts through various methodologies, including reading, writing, discussion, and performance. Students will also engage in individual research projects, in consultation with the instructor, and share the ongoing and final results of this research with other members of the seminar.  Cross-listed course: MUSC 744

WGST 796: Service Learning and Social Justice: The Art of Grant Writing

This course provides an introduction to grant writing and grants administration in reference to global women’s rights. It is designed for students in various disciplines who want to understand the grant process from the introductory stages to the final stages of implementing the grant. Beginners in grant writing and those who already have some grant writing experience are welcome. The class will particularly focus on grants that apply to women and gender issues from both a national and international perspective. Students will be required to locateand write a grant which will include a letter of inquiry, a cover letter, a project narrative, and a budget. Service learning is a component of the class so applicable grants will be submitted to relevant organizations. Each student is limited to 20 contact hours with their chosen organization.Cross-listed course: POLI 797

WGST 796: History of Gender and Sexualities in America

 This graduate course will expose students to major themes and scholarly literature in the History of Gender and Sexualities in the United States from the Colonial Period to the 20th Century through an intersectional approach. Topics of discussion will include issues such as changing ideas of normative sexuality, political movements for women’s equality and LGBTQ rights, gender stereotypes in popular culture, and connections between ideologies and policy formation. Readings stand as models for effective ways to research American gender and sexuality from a variety of perspectives and disciplines. Students will become familiar with major historiographical trends in the fields, as well as the ways that the field has shifted over time, influenced by both political and intellectual developments. While a familiarity with feminist theory, or courses such as WGST 701 will be useful, they are not required. Cross-listed course: HIST 700

 


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