Africana Studies
346 (GSWS 346, HIST 346) Women in American History, 1865 to the Present
Kathleen M. Brown
Picking up where History 345 leaves off, this course explores how immigration industrialization, racial segregation, and the growing authority of science transformed the fundamental conditions of women's lives in the late nineteent and early twentieth centuries. Building on previous efforts by female reformers to perfect society, women at the turn of the century organized large social movements dedicated to improving the lives of women and children and gaining public access to political power. We will examine the fruits of this activism as well as the consequences of subsequent events for the rise of several important social movements in the latter half of the century -- including civil rights, women's liberation, and gay rights -- in which women played a vital role. The course concludes with an assessment of feminism in the present day, with special emphasis on the responses of younger women to its legacy.
610 (HIST 610) Topics in American Hist: Race & Gender Comp Persp
Kathleen M. Brown
Reading and discussion course on selected topics in American history.
639 (ANTH 639, GSWS 639) Erotic Subjectivity: Sex, Self, Spirit and Power in the African Diaspora
Lyndon K. Gill
This multi-disciplinary course explores various notions of black 'selfhood' through the lens of the erotic. Following from Caribbean-American lesbian poet Audre Lorde's reconceptualization of the erotic in her now classic essay "Uses of the Erotic: the Erotic as Power," we will consider sex/desire alongside political and spiritual consciousness in our assessment of the relationship between subjectivity and eros. Reaching across various geographical locations, historical periods and theoretical genealogies, our readings will draw from African Diaspora Studies, Anthropology and Gender/Sexuality Studies. We will also look to artistic production throughout the African Diaspora for the significant contributions black artists have made as some of the most exciting theorists of self, sex, spirit and power.
Anthropology
639 (ANTH 639, GSWS 639) Erotic Subjectivity: Sex, Self, Spirit and Power in the African Diaspora
Lyndon K. Gill
This multi-disciplinary course explores various notions of black 'selfhood' through the lens of the erotic. Following from Caribbean-American lesbian poet Audre Lorde's reconceptualization of the erotic in her now classic essay "Uses of the Erotic: the Erotic as Power," we will consider sex/desire alongside political and spiritual consciousness in our assessment of the relationship between subjectivity and eros. Reaching across various geographical locations, historical periods and theoretical genealogies, our readings will draw from African Diaspora Studies, Anthropology and Gender/Sexuality Studies. We will also look to artistic production throughout the African Diaspora for the significant contributions black artists have made as some of the most exciting theorists of self, sex, spirit and power.
Communications
094 (ENGL 094) Intro Literary Theory: Theory As the Letter "B"
Jean-Michel Rabate
This course introduces students to major issues in the history of literary theory, and provides an excellent foundation for the English major or minor. Treating the work of Plato and Aristotle as well as contemporary criticism, we will consider the fundamental issues that arise from representation, making meaning, appropriation and adaptation, categorization and genre, historicity and genealogy, and historicity and temporality. We will consider major movements in the history of theory including the "New" Criticism of the 1920's and 30's, structuralism and post-structuralism, Marxism and psychoanalysis, feminism, cultural studies, critical race theory, and queer theory. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
272 (ITAL 250, FREN 250, GSWS 253) Female Bodies, Different Bodies
Joan Elizabeth Dejean
This course examines how women and gays have been depicted and interpreted in the most recent Italian novels and films. Moreover, this class analyzes the most important aspects of Italian Feminist thought. A selection from Rosi Braidotti's "Patterns of Dissonance" will be read in class. We shall read novels by Natalia Ginzburg ("Family Sayings"), Aldo Busi ("Seminar on Youth"), Pier Vittorio Tondelli ("Separate Rooms"), Alberto Moravia ("Two Women"). We shall discuss the following films: "Ernesto", "Mary Forever", "Portrait of a Woman", "The City of Women", "Forgetting Venice". Course conducted in English.
278 Effects of Mass Media on Stereotyping and Prejudice
Seth K. Goldman
The way outgroups (e.g, African Americans, gays and lesbians, women, etc.) are portrayed in the media is widely assumed to have consequences for levels of prejudice and stereotyping in the mass public. The visual nature of television and its heavy viewership make it a particularly important source of information for impressions that ingroup members may have of other social groups. This class will evaluate: 1) analytical frameworks used to examine media content about outgroups, 2) theoretical frameworks that may be useful for understanding how media exposure influences outgroup attitudes, and 3) prior empirical evidence attesting to the causal impact of media exposure on outgroup attitudes.
English
090 (GSWS 090) Gender,Sexuality & Lit: Writing Women:1660-1800
Toni Bowers
This course will focus on questions of gender difference and of sexual desire in a range of literary works, paying special attention to works by women and treatments of same-sex desire. More fundamentally, the course will introduce students to questions about the relation between identity and representation. We will attend in particular to intersections between gender, sexuality, race, class, and nation, and will choose from a rich vein of authors: Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, the Brontes, Christina Rossetti, George Eliot, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, Gertrude Stein, Zora Neale Hurston, E. M. Forster, Virginia Woolf, Nella Larsen, Radclyffe Hall, Willa Cather, Elizabeth Bishop, Jean Rhys, James Baldwin, Sylvia Plath, Bessie Head, Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, Cherre Moraga, Toni Morrison, Michael Cunningham, Dorothy Allison, Jeanette Winterson, and Leslie Feinberg. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
094 (COML 094) Intro Literary Theory: Theory As the Letter "B"
Jean-Michel Rabate
This course introduces students to major issues in the history of literary theory, and provides an excellent foundation for the English major or minor. Treating the work of Plato and Aristotle as well as contemporary criticism, we will consider the fundamental issues that arise from representation, making meaning, appropriation and adaptation, categorization and genre, historicity and genealogy, and historicity and temporality. We will consider major movements in the history of theory including the "New" Criticism of the 1920's and 30's, structuralism and post-structuralism, Marxism and psychoanalysis, feminism, cultural studies, critical race theory, and queer theory. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
096-401 (GSWS 096-401) Theories Gender/Sexuality: Feminist Theory
Melissa E. Sanchez
What makes men and women different? What is the nature of desire? This course introduces students to a long history of speculation about the meaning and nature of gender and sexuality -- a history fundamental to literary representation and the business of making meaning. We will consider theories from Aristophanes speech in Platos Symposium to recent feminist and queer theory. Authors treated might include: Plato, Shakespeare, J. S. Mill, Mary Wollstonecraft, Sigmund Freud, Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Catherine MacKinnon, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Judith Butler, bell hooks, Leo Bersani, Gloria Anzaldua, David Halperin, Cherre Moraga, Donna Haraway, Gayatri Spivak, Diana Fuss, Rosemary Hennesy, Chandra Tadpole Mohanty, and Susan Stryker. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
Humanities & Social Science Sector
096-402 (GSWS 096-402) Theories of Gender and Sexuality: Queer Politics, Queer Communities
Heather K. Love
What makes men and women different? What is the nature of desire? This course introduces students to a long history of speculation about the meaning and nature of gender and sexuality -- a history fundamental to literary representation and the business of making meaning. We will consider theories from Aristophanes speech in Platos Symposium to recent feminist and queer theory. Authors treated might include: Plato, Shakespeare, J. S. Mill, Mary Wollstonecraft, Sigmund Freud, Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Catherine MacKinnon, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Judith Butler, bell hooks, Leo Bersani, Gloria Anzaldua, David Halperin, Cherre Moraga, Donna Haraway, Gayatri Spivak, Diana Fuss, Rosemary Hennesy, Chandra Tadpole Mohanty, and Susan Stryker. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
390 (GSWS 390) Topics In Gender, Sexuality, and Literature
Benjamin Franklin Seminars
Heather K. Love
The advanced women's studies course in the department, focusing on a particular aspect of literature by and about women. Topics might include: "Victorian Literary Women"; "Women, Politics, and Literature"; "Feminist Literary Theory";and similar foci. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
Education
235 (GSWS 235) Psychology of Women
Critical analyses of the psychological theories of female development, and introduction to feminist scholarship on gender development and sexuality.
590 (GSWS 590) Gender & Education
Jeremy H. Cutler
This course is designed to provide an overview of the major discussions and debates in the area of gender and education. While the intersections of gender, race, class, ethnicity, and sexuality are emphasized throughout this course, the focus of the research we will read is on gender and education in English-speaking countries. We will examine theoretical frameworks of gender and use these to read popular literature, examine teaching practices and teachers with respect to gender, using case studies to investigate the topics.
572 (GSWS 572) Language and Gender
Anne Pomerantz
A critical investigation of the relationship between language, gender, and social structure which addresses the role of language in reflecting and perpetuating gender divisions. Students' ongoing discourse analytic projects are integral to our exploration of issues related to sexism in and through language. Implications for individual and social change are discussed.
594 Diversity in Higher Education
Ann E. Tiao
This course explores issues of diversity as they pertain to higher education, including race, ethnicity, gender, class, religion, sexual orientation, ideology, etc. Rather than focusing on specific populations of people, the course will tackle issues of diversity within the context of concrete higher education functions and problems.
612 Interactional Processes with LGBT Individuals
Alison Wortman
In the past quarter century, the awareness of the unique issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals has expanded and become essential knowledge in our work as educators, providers of psychological services, and other service provision fields. This course provides a contextual and applied understanding the interactional processes facing LGBT individuals.
French
250 (COML 272, ITAL 250, GSWS 253) Female Bodies, Different Bodies
Joan Elizabeth Dejean
This course examines how women and gays have been depicted and interpreted in the most recent Italian novels and films. Moreover, this class analyzes the most important aspects of Italian Feminist thought. A selection from Rosi Braidotti's "Patterns of Dissonance" will be read in class. We shall read novels by Natalia Ginzburg ("Family Sayings"), Aldo Busi ("Seminar on Youth"), Pier Vittorio Tondelli ("Separate Rooms"), Alberto Moravia ("Two Women"). We shall discuss the following films: "Ernesto", "Mary Forever", "Portrait of a Woman", "The City of Women", "Forgetting Venice". Course conducted in English.
Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies
002 Gender and Society
Shannon B. Lundeen
This course examines the impact of sex and gender roles on contemporary American society. Differentiation by sex is the central organizing principle of nearly every human society. How can we understand the relationship between biological sex and socially constructed gender? How do maleness and femaleness affect the balance of power and resources in our society? How much has changed since the beginning of the Women's Movement of the 1960's? The course will examine key issues of gender difference and inequality including family life, paid work, economic status, violence, body image, sexuality, and reproduction. The course will examine men's roles and women's roles, treating gender as an interactive and dynamic concept.
003 Introduction to Sexuality Studies and Queer Theory
Benjamin Singer
This course surveys the history and recent developments in sexuality studies and queer thought. We will first establish a foundation in sexuality studies and queer thought by reading some inaugural texts in the field. We will then move to examine some critical intersections between sexuality and four intimately related subject areas: Feminism, Race Studies, Transgender Studies and Disability Studies. This will allow us to focus on the relationship to other modes of power, marginality, privilege, and social norms. The final part of the course will examine queer studies from a present/future vantage point through the frames of capitalism, cross-cultural considerations, citizenship and nationalism, as well as queer time, place and futures futures. The course will conclude by asking "What's queer (and not so queer) about Queer Studies today?"
090 (ENGL 090) Gender,Sexuality & Lit: Writing Women:1660-1800
Toni Bowers
This course will focus on questions of gender difference and of sexual desire in a range of literary works, paying special attention to works by women and treatments of same-sex desire. More fundamentally, the course will introduce students to questions about the relation between identity and representation. We will attend in particular to intersections between gender, sexuality, race, class, and nation, and will choose from a rich vein of authors: Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, the Brontes, Christina Rossetti, George Eliot, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, Gertrude Stein, Zora Neale Hurston, E. M. Forster, Virginia Woolf, Nella Larsen, Radclyffe Hall, Willa Cather, Elizabeth Bishop, Jean Rhys, James Baldwin, Sylvia Plath, Bessie Head, Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, Cherre Moraga, Toni Morrison, Michael Cunningham, Dorothy Allison, Jeanette Winterson, and Leslie Feinberg. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
096-401 (ENGL 096-401) Theories Gendr/Sexuality: Feminist Theory
Humanities & Social Science Sector
Melissa E. Sanchez
What makes men and women different? What is the nature of desire? This course introduces students to a long history of speculation about the meaning and nature of gender and sexuality -- a history fundamental to literary representation and the business of making meaning. We will consider theories from Aristophanes speech in Platos Symposium to recent feminist and queer theory. Authors treated might include: Plato, Shakespeare, J. S. Mill, Mary Wollstonecraft, Sigmund Freud, Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Catherine MacKinnon, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Judith Butler, bell hooks, Leo Bersani, Gloria Anzaldua, David Halperin, Cherre Moraga, Donna Haraway, Gayatri Spivak, Diana Fuss, Rosemary Hennesy, Chandra Tadpole Mohanty, and Susan Stryker. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
096-402 (ENGL 096-402) Theories of Gender and Sexuality: Queer Politics, Queer Communities
Humanities & Social Science Sector
Heather K. Love
What makes men and women different? What is the nature of desire? This course introduces students to a long history of speculation about the meaning and nature of gender and sexuality -- a history fundamental to literary representation and the business of making meaning. We will consider theories from Aristophanes speech in Platos Symposium to recent feminist and queer theory. Authors treated might include: Plato, Shakespeare, J. S. Mill, Mary Wollstonecraft, Sigmund Freud, Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Catherine MacKinnon, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Judith Butler, bell hooks, Leo Bersani, Gloria Anzaldua, David Halperin, Cherre Moraga, Donna Haraway, Gayatri Spivak, Diana Fuss, Rosemary Hennesy, Chandra Tadpole Mohanty, and Susan Stryker. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
216 (HSOC 216) Gender and Health
Katherine Anne Mason
235 (EDUC 235) Psychology of Women
Critical analyses of the psychological theories of female development, and introduction to feminist scholarship on gender development and sexuality.
242 (HSOC 242, STSC 242) Science of Sex & Sexuality
Shannon B. Lundeen
The author of a New York Times article entitled "On Being Male, Female, Neither or Both" concluded her comments with the following statement: "The definition of sex was (and is) still up for grabs." In our post-modern world, we have become accustomed to the malleability of gender identity and sexuality. We are also aware that individuals undergo sex reassignment surgeries but by and large we assume that transgender people are transitioning from one discrete category to another. Queer activists certainly challenge this assumption, preferring to envision sex, gender, and sexuality on a continuum, but these days even scientists don't concur about a definitive definition of sex. Should sex be defined chiefly by anatomy? Chromosomes? The body's ability to produce and respond to hormones? If the boundaries of biological categories can be contested, what are the implications for culturally constructed ideas about gender identity and sexuality. In this course, we will examine the scientific study of sex and sexuality, and ask how these ostensibly objective inquiries have both influenced and been effected by changing cultural definitions of gender and sexuality. How, for example, can we account for our culture's compulsion for identifying the genetic bases of behavior while at the same time recognize society's increased acceptance of individuals' insistence on self-definition? What are the political and social implications of some gay right advocates' claim to "being born that way"? Though our course will mainly focus on state of these debates in 21st century America, we will trace the historical antecedents that brought us to this juncture. Our readings, therefore, will range from Aristotle's musings on the nature of sex to Victorians' anxious fascination with alleged hermaphrodites to current biomedical research on the gay gene.
253 (COML 272, FREN 250, ITAL 250) Female Bodies, Different Bodies
Joan Elizabeth Dejean
This course examines how women and gays have been depicted and interpreted in the most recent Italian novels and films. Moreover, this class analyzes the most important aspects of Italian Feminist thought. A selection from Rosi Braidotti's "Patterns of Dissonance" will be read in class. We shall read novels by Natalia Ginzburg ("Family Sayings"), Aldo Busi ("Seminar on Youth"), Pier Vittorio Tondelli ("Separate Rooms"), Alberto Moravia ("Two Women"). We shall discuss the following films: "Ernesto", "Mary Forever", "Portrait of a Woman", "The City of Women", "Forgetting Venice". Course conducted in English.
320 Contemporary Feminist Thought
One prior women's studies course
Dorothy E. Kurz
This course covers a broad range of feminist writers, from the pioneer thinkers of the 18th century to current feminists who focus on globalization. After examining how and why feminist thought developed, we will explore how different feminists perspectives explain gender inequality both in the US and in contemporary global contexts. Readings will also focus on how gender issues interact with race, ethnity, sexuality, and social class. We will also focus on how feminist theory informs current social movements for gender equality.
322 Advanced Topics in Gender and Sexuality Studies
Benjamin Singer
This advanced seminar explores the social and material conditions that gave rise to the category transgender at the turn of the twenty-first century. We will engage this contested terrain by critically examining the category transgender through a series of questions. How did transgender emerge historically and what cultural work does it perform? What does it enable as a category and what does it obscure? What are the possibilities and/or problems of using "transgender" to describe gender and sexuality cross-culturally? We will additionally consider 'transgender" as a nexus of powerful social critique by exploring several thematic rubrics: medical and social histories, categories, embodiment, feminist politics, cross-cultural studies, and activism. To highlight the interdisciplinary formation of the field, we will study a variety of texts including ethnographic writing, memoir, documentary film, performance, activism and policy analysis, legal theory, medical and science studies, as well as feminist and queer theory.
346 (HIST346, AFRC 346) Women in American History, 1865 to the Present
Kathleen M. Brown
Picking up where History 345 leaves off, this course explores how immigration industrialization, racial segregation, and the growing authority of science transformed the fundamental conditions of women's lives in the late nineteent and early twentieth centuries. Building on previous efforts by female reformers to perfect society, women at the turn of the century organized large social movements dedicated to improving the lives of women and children and gaining public access to political power. We will examine the fruits of this activism as well as the consequences of subsequent events for the rise of several important social movements in the latter half of the century -- including civil rights, women's liberation, and gay rights -- in which women played a vital role. The course concludes with an assessment of feminism in the present day, with special emphasis on the responses of younger women to its legacy.
390 (ENGL 390) Topics In Gender, Sexuality, and Literature
Benjamin Franklin Seminars
Heather K. Love
The advanced women's studies course in the department, focusing on a particular aspect of literature by and about women. Topics might include: "Victorian Literary Women"; "Women, Politics, and Literature"; "Feminist Literary Theory";and similar foci. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
572 (EDUC 572) Language and Gender
Anne Pomerantz
A critical investigation of the relationship between language, gender, and social structure which addresses the role of language in reflecting and perpetuating gender divisions. Students' ongoing discourse analytic projects are integral to our exploration of issues related to sexism in and through language. Implications for individual and social change are discussed.
590 (EDUC 590) Gender & Education
Jeremy H. Cutler
This course is designed to provide an overview of the major discussions and debates in the area of gender and education. While the intersections of gender, race, class, ethnicity, and sexuality are emphasized throughout this course, the focus of the research we will read is on gender and education in English-speaking countries. We will examine theoretical frameworks of gender and use these to read popular literature, examine teaching practices and teachers with respect to gender, using case studies to investigate the topics.
639 (ANTH 639, GSWS 639) Erotic Subjectivity: Sex, Self, Spirit and Power in the African Diaspora
Lyndon K. Gill
This multi-disciplinary course explores various notions of black 'selfhood' through the lens of the erotic. Following from Caribbean-American lesbian poet Audre Lorde's reconceptualization of the erotic in her now classic essay "Uses of the Erotic: the Erotic as Power," we will consider sex/desire alongside political and spiritual consciousness in our assessment of the relationship between subjectivity and eros. Reaching across various geographical locations, historical periods and theoretical genealogies, our readings will draw from African Diaspora Studies, Anthropology and Gender/Sexuality Studies. We will also look to artistic production throughout the African Diaspora for the significant contributions black artists have made as some of the most exciting theorists of self, sex, spirit and power.
Health and Societies
216 (GSWS 216) Gender and Health
Katherine Anne Mason
242 (GSWS 242, STSC 242) Science of Sex & Sexuality
Shannon B. Lundeen
The author of a New York Times article entitled "On Being Male, Female, Neither or Both" concluded her comments with the following statement: "The definition of sex was (and is) still up for grabs." In our post-modern world, we have become accustomed to the malleability of gender identity and sexuality. We are also aware that individuals undergo sex reassignment surgeries but by and large we assume that transgender people are transitioning from one discrete category to another. Queer activists certainly challenge this assumption, preferring to envision sex, gender, and sexuality on a continuum, but these days even scientists don't concur about a definitive definition of sex. Should sex be defined chiefly by anatomy? Chromosomes? The body's ability to produce and respond to hormones? If the boundaries of biological categories can be contested, what are the implications for culturally constructed ideas about gender identity and sexulatity. In this course, we will examine the scientific study of sex and sexuality, and ask how these ostensibly objective inquiries have both influenced and been effected by changing cultural definitions of gender and sexuality. How, for example, can we account for our culture's compulsion for identifying the genetic bases of behavior while at the same time recognize society's increased acceptance of individuals' insistence on self-definition? What are the political and social implications of some gay right advocates' claim to "being born that way"? Though our course will mainly focus on state of these debates in 21st century America, we will trace the historical antecedents that brought us to this juncture. Our readings, therefore, will range from Aristotle's musings on the nature of sex to Victorians' anxious fascination with alleged hermaphrodites to current biomedical research on the gay gene.
332 (NURS 303, NURS 503) Contemporary Issues in Human Sexuality
Loretta Sweet Jemmott & Susan L Villari
Course content emphasizes theories of sexual development and factors influencing sexual behavior within the continuum of health and illness. Common sexual practices of people are studied within the context of lifestyle and situational life crises. Concepts of normal sexual function and dysfunction are examined. Contemporary sexual issues are explored.
History
346 (AFRC 346, GSWS 346) Women in American History, 1865 to the Present
Kathleen M. Brown
Picking up where History 345 leaves off, this course explores how immigration industrialization, racial segregation, and the growing authority of science transformed the fundamental conditions of women's lives in the late nineteent and early twentieth centuries. Building on previous efforts by female reformers to perfect society, women at the turn of the century organized large social movements dedicated to improving the lives of women and children and gaining public access to political power. We will examine the fruits of this activism as well as the consequences of subsequent events for the rise of several important social movements in the latter half of the century -- including civil rights, women's liberation, and gay rights -- in which women played a vital role. The course concludes with an assessment of feminism in the present day, with special emphasis on the responses of younger women to its legacy.
610 (AFRC 610) Topics in American Hist: Race & Gender Comp Persp
Kathleen M. Brown
Reading and discussion course on selected topics in American history.
Italian
250 (COML 272, FREN 250, GSWS 253) Female Bodies, Different Bodies
Joan Elizabeth Dejean
This course examines how women and gays have been depicted and interpreted in the most recent Italian novels and films. Moreover, this class analyzes the most important aspects of Italian Feminist thought. A selection from Rosi Braidotti's "Patterns of Dissonance" will be read in class. We shall read novels by Natalia Ginzburg ("Family Sayings"), Aldo Busi ("Seminar on Youth"), Pier Vittorio Tondelli ("Separate Rooms"), Alberto Moravia ("Two Women"). We shall discuss the following films: "Ernesto", "Mary Forever", "Portrait of a Woman", "The City of Women", "Forgetting Venice". Course conducted in English.
Nursing
303 (HSOC 332, NURS 503) Contemporary Issues in Human Sexuality
Loretta Sweet Jemmott & Susan L Villari
Course content emphasizes theories of sexual development and factors influencing sexual behavior within the continuum of health and illness. Common sexual practices of people are studied within the context of lifestyle and situational life crises. Concepts of normal sexual function and dysfunction are examined. Contemporary sexual issues are explored.
503 (NURS 303, HSOC 332) Contemporary Issues in Human Sexuality
Loretta Sweet Jemmott & Susan L Villari
Course content emphasizes theories of sexual development and factors influencing sexual behavior within the continuum of health and illness. Common sexual practices of people are studied within the context of lifestyle and situational life crises. Concepts of normal sexual function and dysfunction are examined. Contemporary sexual issues are explored.
Science, Technology, and Society
242 (HSOC 242, GSWS 242) Science of Sex & Sexuality
Shannon B. Lundeen
The author of a New York Times article entitled "On Being Male, Female, Neither or Both" concluded her comments with the following statement: "The definition of sex was (and is) still up for grabs." In our post-modern world, we have become accustomed to the malleability of gender identity and sexuality. We are also aware that individuals undergo sex reassignment surgeries but by and large we assume that transgender people are transitioning from one discrete category to another. Queer activists certainly challenge this assumption, preferring to envision sex, gender, and sexuality on a continuum, but these days even scientists don't concur about a definitive definition of sex. Should sex be defined chiefly by anatomy? Chromosomes? The body's ability to produce and respond to hormones? If the boundaries of biological categories can be contested, what are the implications for culturally constructed ideas about gender identity and sexulatity. In this course, we will examine the scientific study of sex and sexuality, and ask how these ostensibly objective inquiries have both influenced and been effected by changing cultural definitions of gender and sexuality. How, for example, can we account for our culture's compulsion for identifying the genetic bases of behavior while at the same time recognize society's increased acceptance of individuals' insistence on self-definition? What are the political and social implications of some gay right advocates' claim to "being born that way"? Though our course will mainly focus on state of these debates in 21st century America, we will trace the historical antecedents that brought us to this juncture. Our readings, therefore, will range from Aristotle's musings on the nature of sex to Victorians' anxious fascination with alleged hermaphrodites to current biomedical research on the gay gene.
346 (GSWS 346, HIST 346) Women in American History, 1865 to the Present
Kathleen M. Brown
Picking up where History 345 leaves off, this course explores how immigration industrialization, racial segregation, and the growing authority of science transformed the fundamental conditions of women's lives in the late nineteent and early twentieth centuries. Building on previous efforts by female reformers to perfect society, women at the turn of the century organized large social movements dedicated to improving the lives of women and children and gaining public access to political power. We will examine the fruits of this activism as well as the consequences of subsequent events for the rise of several important social movements in the latter half of the century -- including civil rights, women's liberation, and gay rights -- in which women played a vital role. The course concludes with an assessment of feminism in the present day, with special emphasis on the responses of younger women to its legacy.
610 (HIST 610) Topics in American Hist: Race & Gender Comp Persp
Kathleen M. Brown
Reading and discussion course on selected topics in American history.
639 (ANTH 639, GSWS 639) Erotic Subjectivity: Sex, Self, Spirit and Power in the African Diaspora
Lyndon K. Gill
This multi-disciplinary course explores various notions of black 'selfhood' through the lens of the erotic. Following from Caribbean-American lesbian poet Audre Lorde's reconceptualization of the erotic in her now classic essay "Uses of the Erotic: the Erotic as Power," we will consider sex/desire alongside political and spiritual consciousness in our assessment of the relationship between subjectivity and eros. Reaching across various geographical locations, historical periods and theoretical genealogies, our readings will draw from African Diaspora Studies, Anthropology and Gender/Sexuality Studies. We will also look to artistic production throughout the African Diaspora for the significant contributions black artists have made as some of the most exciting theorists of self, sex, spirit and power.
Anthropology
639 (ANTH 639, GSWS 639) Erotic Subjectivity: Sex, Self, Spirit and Power in the African Diaspora
Lyndon K. Gill
This multi-disciplinary course explores various notions of black 'selfhood' through the lens of the erotic. Following from Caribbean-American lesbian poet Audre Lorde's reconceptualization of the erotic in her now classic essay "Uses of the Erotic: the Erotic as Power," we will consider sex/desire alongside political and spiritual consciousness in our assessment of the relationship between subjectivity and eros. Reaching across various geographical locations, historical periods and theoretical genealogies, our readings will draw from African Diaspora Studies, Anthropology and Gender/Sexuality Studies. We will also look to artistic production throughout the African Diaspora for the significant contributions black artists have made as some of the most exciting theorists of self, sex, spirit and power.
Communications
094 (ENGL 094) Intro Literary Theory: Theory As the Letter "B"
Jean-Michel Rabate
This course introduces students to major issues in the history of literary theory, and provides an excellent foundation for the English major or minor. Treating the work of Plato and Aristotle as well as contemporary criticism, we will consider the fundamental issues that arise from representation, making meaning, appropriation and adaptation, categorization and genre, historicity and genealogy, and historicity and temporality. We will consider major movements in the history of theory including the "New" Criticism of the 1920's and 30's, structuralism and post-structuralism, Marxism and psychoanalysis, feminism, cultural studies, critical race theory, and queer theory. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
272 (ITAL 250, FREN 250, GSWS 253) Female Bodies, Different Bodies
Joan Elizabeth Dejean
This course examines how women and gays have been depicted and interpreted in the most recent Italian novels and films. Moreover, this class analyzes the most important aspects of Italian Feminist thought. A selection from Rosi Braidotti's "Patterns of Dissonance" will be read in class. We shall read novels by Natalia Ginzburg ("Family Sayings"), Aldo Busi ("Seminar on Youth"), Pier Vittorio Tondelli ("Separate Rooms"), Alberto Moravia ("Two Women"). We shall discuss the following films: "Ernesto", "Mary Forever", "Portrait of a Woman", "The City of Women", "Forgetting Venice". Course conducted in English.
278 Effects of Mass Media on Stereotyping and Prejudice
Seth K. Goldman
The way outgroups (e.g, African Americans, gays and lesbians, women, etc.) are portrayed in the media is widely assumed to have consequences for levels of prejudice and stereotyping in the mass public. The visual nature of television and its heavy viewership make it a particularly important source of information for impressions that ingroup members may have of other social groups. This class will evaluate: 1) analytical frameworks used to examine media content about outgroups, 2) theoretical frameworks that may be useful for understanding how media exposure influences outgroup attitudes, and 3) prior empirical evidence attesting to the causal impact of media exposure on outgroup attitudes.
English
090 (GSWS 090) Gender,Sexuality & Lit: Writing Women:1660-1800
Toni Bowers
This course will focus on questions of gender difference and of sexual desire in a range of literary works, paying special attention to works by women and treatments of same-sex desire. More fundamentally, the course will introduce students to questions about the relation between identity and representation. We will attend in particular to intersections between gender, sexuality, race, class, and nation, and will choose from a rich vein of authors: Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, the Brontes, Christina Rossetti, George Eliot, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, Gertrude Stein, Zora Neale Hurston, E. M. Forster, Virginia Woolf, Nella Larsen, Radclyffe Hall, Willa Cather, Elizabeth Bishop, Jean Rhys, James Baldwin, Sylvia Plath, Bessie Head, Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, Cherre Moraga, Toni Morrison, Michael Cunningham, Dorothy Allison, Jeanette Winterson, and Leslie Feinberg. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
094 (COML 094) Intro Literary Theory: Theory As the Letter "B"
Jean-Michel Rabate
This course introduces students to major issues in the history of literary theory, and provides an excellent foundation for the English major or minor. Treating the work of Plato and Aristotle as well as contemporary criticism, we will consider the fundamental issues that arise from representation, making meaning, appropriation and adaptation, categorization and genre, historicity and genealogy, and historicity and temporality. We will consider major movements in the history of theory including the "New" Criticism of the 1920's and 30's, structuralism and post-structuralism, Marxism and psychoanalysis, feminism, cultural studies, critical race theory, and queer theory. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
096-401 (GSWS 096-401) Theories Gender/Sexuality: Feminist Theory
Melissa E. Sanchez
What makes men and women different? What is the nature of desire? This course introduces students to a long history of speculation about the meaning and nature of gender and sexuality -- a history fundamental to literary representation and the business of making meaning. We will consider theories from Aristophanes speech in Platos Symposium to recent feminist and queer theory. Authors treated might include: Plato, Shakespeare, J. S. Mill, Mary Wollstonecraft, Sigmund Freud, Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Catherine MacKinnon, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Judith Butler, bell hooks, Leo Bersani, Gloria Anzaldua, David Halperin, Cherre Moraga, Donna Haraway, Gayatri Spivak, Diana Fuss, Rosemary Hennesy, Chandra Tadpole Mohanty, and Susan Stryker. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
Humanities & Social Science Sector
096-402 (GSWS 096-402) Theories of Gender and Sexuality: Queer Politics, Queer Communities
Heather K. Love
What makes men and women different? What is the nature of desire? This course introduces students to a long history of speculation about the meaning and nature of gender and sexuality -- a history fundamental to literary representation and the business of making meaning. We will consider theories from Aristophanes speech in Platos Symposium to recent feminist and queer theory. Authors treated might include: Plato, Shakespeare, J. S. Mill, Mary Wollstonecraft, Sigmund Freud, Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Catherine MacKinnon, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Judith Butler, bell hooks, Leo Bersani, Gloria Anzaldua, David Halperin, Cherre Moraga, Donna Haraway, Gayatri Spivak, Diana Fuss, Rosemary Hennesy, Chandra Tadpole Mohanty, and Susan Stryker. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
390 (GSWS 390) Topics In Gender, Sexuality, and Literature
Benjamin Franklin Seminars
Heather K. Love
The advanced women's studies course in the department, focusing on a particular aspect of literature by and about women. Topics might include: "Victorian Literary Women"; "Women, Politics, and Literature"; "Feminist Literary Theory";and similar foci. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
Education
235 (GSWS 235) Psychology of Women
Critical analyses of the psychological theories of female development, and introduction to feminist scholarship on gender development and sexuality.
590 (GSWS 590) Gender & Education
Jeremy H. Cutler
This course is designed to provide an overview of the major discussions and debates in the area of gender and education. While the intersections of gender, race, class, ethnicity, and sexuality are emphasized throughout this course, the focus of the research we will read is on gender and education in English-speaking countries. We will examine theoretical frameworks of gender and use these to read popular literature, examine teaching practices and teachers with respect to gender, using case studies to investigate the topics.
572 (GSWS 572) Language and Gender
Anne Pomerantz
A critical investigation of the relationship between language, gender, and social structure which addresses the role of language in reflecting and perpetuating gender divisions. Students' ongoing discourse analytic projects are integral to our exploration of issues related to sexism in and through language. Implications for individual and social change are discussed.
594 Diversity in Higher Education
Ann E. Tiao
This course explores issues of diversity as they pertain to higher education, including race, ethnicity, gender, class, religion, sexual orientation, ideology, etc. Rather than focusing on specific populations of people, the course will tackle issues of diversity within the context of concrete higher education functions and problems.
612 Interactional Processes with LGBT Individuals
Alison Wortman
In the past quarter century, the awareness of the unique issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals has expanded and become essential knowledge in our work as educators, providers of psychological services, and other service provision fields. This course provides a contextual and applied understanding the interactional processes facing LGBT individuals.
French
250 (COML 272, ITAL 250, GSWS 253) Female Bodies, Different Bodies
Joan Elizabeth Dejean
This course examines how women and gays have been depicted and interpreted in the most recent Italian novels and films. Moreover, this class analyzes the most important aspects of Italian Feminist thought. A selection from Rosi Braidotti's "Patterns of Dissonance" will be read in class. We shall read novels by Natalia Ginzburg ("Family Sayings"), Aldo Busi ("Seminar on Youth"), Pier Vittorio Tondelli ("Separate Rooms"), Alberto Moravia ("Two Women"). We shall discuss the following films: "Ernesto", "Mary Forever", "Portrait of a Woman", "The City of Women", "Forgetting Venice". Course conducted in English.
Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies
002 Gender and Society
Shannon B. Lundeen
This course examines the impact of sex and gender roles on contemporary American society. Differentiation by sex is the central organizing principle of nearly every human society. How can we understand the relationship between biological sex and socially constructed gender? How do maleness and femaleness affect the balance of power and resources in our society? How much has changed since the beginning of the Women's Movement of the 1960's? The course will examine key issues of gender difference and inequality including family life, paid work, economic status, violence, body image, sexuality, and reproduction. The course will examine men's roles and women's roles, treating gender as an interactive and dynamic concept.
003 Introduction to Sexuality Studies and Queer Theory
Benjamin Singer
This course surveys the history and recent developments in sexuality studies and queer thought. We will first establish a foundation in sexuality studies and queer thought by reading some inaugural texts in the field. We will then move to examine some critical intersections between sexuality and four intimately related subject areas: Feminism, Race Studies, Transgender Studies and Disability Studies. This will allow us to focus on the relationship to other modes of power, marginality, privilege, and social norms. The final part of the course will examine queer studies from a present/future vantage point through the frames of capitalism, cross-cultural considerations, citizenship and nationalism, as well as queer time, place and futures futures. The course will conclude by asking "What's queer (and not so queer) about Queer Studies today?"
090 (ENGL 090) Gender,Sexuality & Lit: Writing Women:1660-1800
Toni Bowers
This course will focus on questions of gender difference and of sexual desire in a range of literary works, paying special attention to works by women and treatments of same-sex desire. More fundamentally, the course will introduce students to questions about the relation between identity and representation. We will attend in particular to intersections between gender, sexuality, race, class, and nation, and will choose from a rich vein of authors: Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, the Brontes, Christina Rossetti, George Eliot, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, Gertrude Stein, Zora Neale Hurston, E. M. Forster, Virginia Woolf, Nella Larsen, Radclyffe Hall, Willa Cather, Elizabeth Bishop, Jean Rhys, James Baldwin, Sylvia Plath, Bessie Head, Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, Cherre Moraga, Toni Morrison, Michael Cunningham, Dorothy Allison, Jeanette Winterson, and Leslie Feinberg. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
096-401 (ENGL 096-401) Theories Gendr/Sexuality: Feminist Theory
Humanities & Social Science Sector
Melissa E. Sanchez
What makes men and women different? What is the nature of desire? This course introduces students to a long history of speculation about the meaning and nature of gender and sexuality -- a history fundamental to literary representation and the business of making meaning. We will consider theories from Aristophanes speech in Platos Symposium to recent feminist and queer theory. Authors treated might include: Plato, Shakespeare, J. S. Mill, Mary Wollstonecraft, Sigmund Freud, Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Catherine MacKinnon, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Judith Butler, bell hooks, Leo Bersani, Gloria Anzaldua, David Halperin, Cherre Moraga, Donna Haraway, Gayatri Spivak, Diana Fuss, Rosemary Hennesy, Chandra Tadpole Mohanty, and Susan Stryker. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
096-402 (ENGL 096-402) Theories of Gender and Sexuality: Queer Politics, Queer Communities
Humanities & Social Science Sector
Heather K. Love
What makes men and women different? What is the nature of desire? This course introduces students to a long history of speculation about the meaning and nature of gender and sexuality -- a history fundamental to literary representation and the business of making meaning. We will consider theories from Aristophanes speech in Platos Symposium to recent feminist and queer theory. Authors treated might include: Plato, Shakespeare, J. S. Mill, Mary Wollstonecraft, Sigmund Freud, Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Catherine MacKinnon, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Judith Butler, bell hooks, Leo Bersani, Gloria Anzaldua, David Halperin, Cherre Moraga, Donna Haraway, Gayatri Spivak, Diana Fuss, Rosemary Hennesy, Chandra Tadpole Mohanty, and Susan Stryker. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
216 (HSOC 216) Gender and Health
Katherine Anne Mason
235 (EDUC 235) Psychology of Women
Critical analyses of the psychological theories of female development, and introduction to feminist scholarship on gender development and sexuality.
242 (HSOC 242, STSC 242) Science of Sex & Sexuality
Shannon B. Lundeen
The author of a New York Times article entitled "On Being Male, Female, Neither or Both" concluded her comments with the following statement: "The definition of sex was (and is) still up for grabs." In our post-modern world, we have become accustomed to the malleability of gender identity and sexuality. We are also aware that individuals undergo sex reassignment surgeries but by and large we assume that transgender people are transitioning from one discrete category to another. Queer activists certainly challenge this assumption, preferring to envision sex, gender, and sexuality on a continuum, but these days even scientists don't concur about a definitive definition of sex. Should sex be defined chiefly by anatomy? Chromosomes? The body's ability to produce and respond to hormones? If the boundaries of biological categories can be contested, what are the implications for culturally constructed ideas about gender identity and sexuality. In this course, we will examine the scientific study of sex and sexuality, and ask how these ostensibly objective inquiries have both influenced and been effected by changing cultural definitions of gender and sexuality. How, for example, can we account for our culture's compulsion for identifying the genetic bases of behavior while at the same time recognize society's increased acceptance of individuals' insistence on self-definition? What are the political and social implications of some gay right advocates' claim to "being born that way"? Though our course will mainly focus on state of these debates in 21st century America, we will trace the historical antecedents that brought us to this juncture. Our readings, therefore, will range from Aristotle's musings on the nature of sex to Victorians' anxious fascination with alleged hermaphrodites to current biomedical research on the gay gene.
253 (COML 272, FREN 250, ITAL 250) Female Bodies, Different Bodies
Joan Elizabeth Dejean
This course examines how women and gays have been depicted and interpreted in the most recent Italian novels and films. Moreover, this class analyzes the most important aspects of Italian Feminist thought. A selection from Rosi Braidotti's "Patterns of Dissonance" will be read in class. We shall read novels by Natalia Ginzburg ("Family Sayings"), Aldo Busi ("Seminar on Youth"), Pier Vittorio Tondelli ("Separate Rooms"), Alberto Moravia ("Two Women"). We shall discuss the following films: "Ernesto", "Mary Forever", "Portrait of a Woman", "The City of Women", "Forgetting Venice". Course conducted in English.
320 Contemporary Feminist Thought
One prior women's studies course
Dorothy E. Kurz
This course covers a broad range of feminist writers, from the pioneer thinkers of the 18th century to current feminists who focus on globalization. After examining how and why feminist thought developed, we will explore how different feminists perspectives explain gender inequality both in the US and in contemporary global contexts. Readings will also focus on how gender issues interact with race, ethnity, sexuality, and social class. We will also focus on how feminist theory informs current social movements for gender equality.
322 Advanced Topics in Gender and Sexuality Studies
Benjamin Singer
This advanced seminar explores the social and material conditions that gave rise to the category transgender at the turn of the twenty-first century. We will engage this contested terrain by critically examining the category transgender through a series of questions. How did transgender emerge historically and what cultural work does it perform? What does it enable as a category and what does it obscure? What are the possibilities and/or problems of using "transgender" to describe gender and sexuality cross-culturally? We will additionally consider 'transgender" as a nexus of powerful social critique by exploring several thematic rubrics: medical and social histories, categories, embodiment, feminist politics, cross-cultural studies, and activism. To highlight the interdisciplinary formation of the field, we will study a variety of texts including ethnographic writing, memoir, documentary film, performance, activism and policy analysis, legal theory, medical and science studies, as well as feminist and queer theory.
346 (HIST346, AFRC 346) Women in American History, 1865 to the Present
Kathleen M. Brown
Picking up where History 345 leaves off, this course explores how immigration industrialization, racial segregation, and the growing authority of science transformed the fundamental conditions of women's lives in the late nineteent and early twentieth centuries. Building on previous efforts by female reformers to perfect society, women at the turn of the century organized large social movements dedicated to improving the lives of women and children and gaining public access to political power. We will examine the fruits of this activism as well as the consequences of subsequent events for the rise of several important social movements in the latter half of the century -- including civil rights, women's liberation, and gay rights -- in which women played a vital role. The course concludes with an assessment of feminism in the present day, with special emphasis on the responses of younger women to its legacy.
390 (ENGL 390) Topics In Gender, Sexuality, and Literature
Benjamin Franklin Seminars
Heather K. Love
The advanced women's studies course in the department, focusing on a particular aspect of literature by and about women. Topics might include: "Victorian Literary Women"; "Women, Politics, and Literature"; "Feminist Literary Theory";and similar foci. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
572 (EDUC 572) Language and Gender
Anne Pomerantz
A critical investigation of the relationship between language, gender, and social structure which addresses the role of language in reflecting and perpetuating gender divisions. Students' ongoing discourse analytic projects are integral to our exploration of issues related to sexism in and through language. Implications for individual and social change are discussed.
590 (EDUC 590) Gender & Education
Jeremy H. Cutler
This course is designed to provide an overview of the major discussions and debates in the area of gender and education. While the intersections of gender, race, class, ethnicity, and sexuality are emphasized throughout this course, the focus of the research we will read is on gender and education in English-speaking countries. We will examine theoretical frameworks of gender and use these to read popular literature, examine teaching practices and teachers with respect to gender, using case studies to investigate the topics.
639 (ANTH 639, GSWS 639) Erotic Subjectivity: Sex, Self, Spirit and Power in the African Diaspora
Lyndon K. Gill
This multi-disciplinary course explores various notions of black 'selfhood' through the lens of the erotic. Following from Caribbean-American lesbian poet Audre Lorde's reconceptualization of the erotic in her now classic essay "Uses of the Erotic: the Erotic as Power," we will consider sex/desire alongside political and spiritual consciousness in our assessment of the relationship between subjectivity and eros. Reaching across various geographical locations, historical periods and theoretical genealogies, our readings will draw from African Diaspora Studies, Anthropology and Gender/Sexuality Studies. We will also look to artistic production throughout the African Diaspora for the significant contributions black artists have made as some of the most exciting theorists of self, sex, spirit and power.
Health and Societies
216 (GSWS 216) Gender and Health
Katherine Anne Mason
242 (GSWS 242, STSC 242) Science of Sex & Sexuality
Shannon B. Lundeen
The author of a New York Times article entitled "On Being Male, Female, Neither or Both" concluded her comments with the following statement: "The definition of sex was (and is) still up for grabs." In our post-modern world, we have become accustomed to the malleability of gender identity and sexuality. We are also aware that individuals undergo sex reassignment surgeries but by and large we assume that transgender people are transitioning from one discrete category to another. Queer activists certainly challenge this assumption, preferring to envision sex, gender, and sexuality on a continuum, but these days even scientists don't concur about a definitive definition of sex. Should sex be defined chiefly by anatomy? Chromosomes? The body's ability to produce and respond to hormones? If the boundaries of biological categories can be contested, what are the implications for culturally constructed ideas about gender identity and sexulatity. In this course, we will examine the scientific study of sex and sexuality, and ask how these ostensibly objective inquiries have both influenced and been effected by changing cultural definitions of gender and sexuality. How, for example, can we account for our culture's compulsion for identifying the genetic bases of behavior while at the same time recognize society's increased acceptance of individuals' insistence on self-definition? What are the political and social implications of some gay right advocates' claim to "being born that way"? Though our course will mainly focus on state of these debates in 21st century America, we will trace the historical antecedents that brought us to this juncture. Our readings, therefore, will range from Aristotle's musings on the nature of sex to Victorians' anxious fascination with alleged hermaphrodites to current biomedical research on the gay gene.
332 (NURS 303, NURS 503) Contemporary Issues in Human Sexuality
Loretta Sweet Jemmott & Susan L Villari
Course content emphasizes theories of sexual development and factors influencing sexual behavior within the continuum of health and illness. Common sexual practices of people are studied within the context of lifestyle and situational life crises. Concepts of normal sexual function and dysfunction are examined. Contemporary sexual issues are explored.
History
346 (AFRC 346, GSWS 346) Women in American History, 1865 to the Present
Kathleen M. Brown
Picking up where History 345 leaves off, this course explores how immigration industrialization, racial segregation, and the growing authority of science transformed the fundamental conditions of women's lives in the late nineteent and early twentieth centuries. Building on previous efforts by female reformers to perfect society, women at the turn of the century organized large social movements dedicated to improving the lives of women and children and gaining public access to political power. We will examine the fruits of this activism as well as the consequences of subsequent events for the rise of several important social movements in the latter half of the century -- including civil rights, women's liberation, and gay rights -- in which women played a vital role. The course concludes with an assessment of feminism in the present day, with special emphasis on the responses of younger women to its legacy.
610 (AFRC 610) Topics in American Hist: Race & Gender Comp Persp
Kathleen M. Brown
Reading and discussion course on selected topics in American history.
Italian
250 (COML 272, FREN 250, GSWS 253) Female Bodies, Different Bodies
Joan Elizabeth Dejean
This course examines how women and gays have been depicted and interpreted in the most recent Italian novels and films. Moreover, this class analyzes the most important aspects of Italian Feminist thought. A selection from Rosi Braidotti's "Patterns of Dissonance" will be read in class. We shall read novels by Natalia Ginzburg ("Family Sayings"), Aldo Busi ("Seminar on Youth"), Pier Vittorio Tondelli ("Separate Rooms"), Alberto Moravia ("Two Women"). We shall discuss the following films: "Ernesto", "Mary Forever", "Portrait of a Woman", "The City of Women", "Forgetting Venice". Course conducted in English.
Nursing
303 (HSOC 332, NURS 503) Contemporary Issues in Human Sexuality
Loretta Sweet Jemmott & Susan L Villari
Course content emphasizes theories of sexual development and factors influencing sexual behavior within the continuum of health and illness. Common sexual practices of people are studied within the context of lifestyle and situational life crises. Concepts of normal sexual function and dysfunction are examined. Contemporary sexual issues are explored.
503 (NURS 303, HSOC 332) Contemporary Issues in Human Sexuality
Loretta Sweet Jemmott & Susan L Villari
Course content emphasizes theories of sexual development and factors influencing sexual behavior within the continuum of health and illness. Common sexual practices of people are studied within the context of lifestyle and situational life crises. Concepts of normal sexual function and dysfunction are examined. Contemporary sexual issues are explored.
Science, Technology, and Society
242 (HSOC 242, GSWS 242) Science of Sex & Sexuality
Shannon B. Lundeen
The author of a New York Times article entitled "On Being Male, Female, Neither or Both" concluded her comments with the following statement: "The definition of sex was (and is) still up for grabs." In our post-modern world, we have become accustomed to the malleability of gender identity and sexuality. We are also aware that individuals undergo sex reassignment surgeries but by and large we assume that transgender people are transitioning from one discrete category to another. Queer activists certainly challenge this assumption, preferring to envision sex, gender, and sexuality on a continuum, but these days even scientists don't concur about a definitive definition of sex. Should sex be defined chiefly by anatomy? Chromosomes? The body's ability to produce and respond to hormones? If the boundaries of biological categories can be contested, what are the implications for culturally constructed ideas about gender identity and sexulatity. In this course, we will examine the scientific study of sex and sexuality, and ask how these ostensibly objective inquiries have both influenced and been effected by changing cultural definitions of gender and sexuality. How, for example, can we account for our culture's compulsion for identifying the genetic bases of behavior while at the same time recognize society's increased acceptance of individuals' insistence on self-definition? What are the political and social implications of some gay right advocates' claim to "being born that way"? Though our course will mainly focus on state of these debates in 21st century America, we will trace the historical antecedents that brought us to this juncture. Our readings, therefore, will range from Aristotle's musings on the nature of sex to Victorians' anxious fascination with alleged hermaphrodites to current biomedical research on the gay gene.
For full details about the time and location of the listed courses, please visit the Spring 2011 Course Timetable.
