Fall 2009 Courses

FALL COURSES 2009

This interdisciplinary course provides a brief introduction to the field of women and gender studies, addressing the topic "Engendering America: Past and Present." By surveying the history and evolution of the role of women in society, masculinity, homosexuality, diversity, class, ethnicity, age, ability, and transgender issues in the United States, students will constantly rethink and reevaluate definitions. Course readings, audiovisual materials, and class discussions will allow students to encounter varying women and gender perspectives. What students theorize in this class will be linked to real-world practice. Several assignments in the course will take students out into the community to observe, talk, listen, and consider ways to take a small step toward improving the world.

Practical experience in a variety of professional settings. Includes bi-weekly seminar with internship coordinator. Students will complete at least 7-10 hours a week at an internship site. The internship will encourage students to put theories to the test of practice, explore approaches and ideas, and consider vocations. The course builds research expertise and practical experience in addition to vocational preparation. Limited enrollment.

Advanced independent study Honors work in Women's and Gender Studies. Must have a 3.30 GPA in your WGS major, 12 semester hours in the major. May be repeated for credit if the topic of study changes.

Supervised experience related to women's and gender studies; may include teaching internship, service learning opportunity, applied research experience, or internship in organizations and agencies that work on women's concerns or serving women in the community.

Core class introduces feminist social movements across historical and global contexts. Relies on interdisciplinary lenses and epistemologies, particularly as contested identity politics intersect with other systems of power and relationships.

This course investigates the social, cultural, and political history of hip hop. It focuses on the study of hip hop as an artistic literary phenomenon which reflects the Black experience and voices the concerns of African-Americans and Latinos in contemporary society. It is designed to give students an understanding as to the development of hip hop from the oral tradition to the commercial industry that dominates contemporary American popular culture. The course examines how contemporary themes within hip hop parallel past expressions of African-American creativity. The following themes are covered: the origins of hip hop, the literary elements of hip hop as well as hip hop’s connections to literary movements, such as, the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement; the ability of hip hop to articulate social ills as well as the concerns of urban and poor Black and Latino communities, and significant hip hop artists, their performances and impact. In short, hip hop is an extension of the Black Experience. Texts, literature, videos and other media will be used to gain a more comprehensive understanding of these dynamics as well as ex/intensive class discussions.

This course offers a unique view of African American masculine identity through the lenses of history, politics, economics, and culture; moreover, the course is designed to provide students with historical, theoretical and philosophical concepts of the Black male's experience in America. Within American society, stereotypical images of Black males are ubiquitous and run the gambit from black buck to Uncle Tom, from wide-eyed pickaninny to hyper-agile athlete, from signifying pimp to snap-happy queen, from docile accommodationist to virile political activist. The American psyche perceives black men as a problem and enigma; furthermore, he is often the object of our desire and our ridicule, a notion scattered in our literature, film, and media. What is a black man? Who is he? How does he define himself? These questions and their answers provide a framework with which to interrogate and dissect this most unique American dilemma. We will explore, in detail, the following themes and topics: adolescence, privilege, lynching, erasure, sports, systemic racism, hegemonic masculinity(heterosexual, white, able-bodied, middle- to upper-class), homosociality/homophobia, violence and war, jazz and hip hop aesthetics, sexuality, body as text, education and black public intellectualism, and “the new black man.” The course presents a mixture of lecture and film presentations.

In this course, we will study how passion, on the part of both teachers and learners, can become a motivating force for deeper understandings of ourselves and critical social issues in society. We will explore pedagogical theories and strategies used to promote critical thinking. This course incorporates dialogical, feminist, and critical pedagogies. We will examine teaching as an embodied practice that is experienced by learners in embodied ways related to social positionalities including race, class, gender, sexuality, and language. Students will examine the role of passion in the classroom and critically reflect on their roles as teachers and learners.

This upper-level, writing intensive course provides an examination of modern and contemporary African American literature, concentrating on novels, poetry, essays, and drama, and emphasizing gender in relationship to race. Texts will be read through major historical periods of African American experiences and literary responses to them: the Depression and Realism and Modernism; Black nationalism and Black Aesthetics (the Black Arts Movement), Black feminism; and the “post” Civil Rights era and post-Soul aesthetics. We’ll consider whether there are distinct male and female experiences represented in the literature we read, and consider the development of interdependent and/or distinct black male and female literary traditions over the course of the twentieth (and twenty-first) century; we’ll also probe the ways that other categories, especially class and sexuality, intersect with the category of gender, sometimes troubling the very idea that there are actually “male” and “female” experiences at all. Topics for analysis include narrative and poetic strategies, major literary themes, and canon formation and genre practices. Visual art and film may accompany the introduction of texts.

Intrapersonal and interpersonal processes in the development and maintenance of families and close relationships over time.

Study of the variation within and between families through an exploration of the similarities and differences according to culture, race, class, gender, family structure, and sexual orientation.

Study of psychosocial, biological, cultural, and developmental research aspects of human sexuality emphasizing methods of sexuality research, relationships, gender issues, intimacy, sexual response, reproduction, exploitation, and dysfunctions.

This course offers an introduction to the experience of women in the Middle Ages through close examination of writings by and about women. In so doing we will be less concerned with the more traditional elements of medieval history and more interested in how such elements came to shape women's lives and opportunities. One of the central themes will be the importance of gender as a category of cultural difference; with this in mind we will spend a fair amount of time considering the ways in which medieval society defined femininity, appropriate female behavior, and the female body, as well as the ways in which those definitions and understandings changed over time.

Inquiry into status of women in society with emphasis on socialization, structural and institutional relationships, and continuities and discontinuities in women’s roles across the life cycle.

This is an interdisciplinary course designed to expose upper class undergraduate and graduate students to social entrepreneurship and multiple models for designing and implementing entrepreneurial projects that respond to social and economic issues. As social entrepreneurs, teams of students will investigate environmental concerns, identify related issues of justice, create and inspire a model for direct action, and assess the potential impact of this action on the community and society at large. Students are expected to assess diversity, oppression, and justice issues in the target area, drawing relationships locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Our goal is not only to teach about social entrepreneurship but also to actively engage students in social entrepreneurship. As such, we see service-learning, where community action and academic study are linked so that each strengthens the others a vital pathway for students to build deep relationships with community members. Through explicit discussion and reflection on service-learning, we will underscore the need for citizen engagement as students prepare for and initiate social change as they develop their social entrepreneurship competencies.

FALL COURSES 2009
CRN	Course ID	Credit	Title	Days	Time	Place	Instructor	GEC
81262	WGS 250-01	3	Intro to Women's & Gender Studies	M W F	11:00-11:50	Petty 150	Sarah Jane Cervenak	SB/CSB/GSB/WGS
83124	WGS 250-02	3	Intro to Women's & Gender Studies	T R	11:00-12:15	Petty 213	Elizabeth T. Walker	SB/CSB/GSB/SI/WGS
This interdisciplinary course provides a brief introduction to the field of women and gender studies, addressing the topic "Engendering America: Past and Present." By surveying the history and evolution of the role of women in society, masculinity, homosexuality, diversity, class, ethnicity, age, ability, and transgender issues in the United States, students will constantly rethink and reevaluate definitions. Course readings, audiovisual materials, and class discussions will allow students to encounter varying women and gender perspectives. What students theorize in this class will be linked to real-world practice. Several assignments in the course will take students out into the community to observe, talk, listen, and consider ways to take a small step toward improving the world.
83126	WGS 333-01	3	Gendered Worlds	M W	3:30-4:45	MHRA 1215	Belinda Walzer	GHP/GMO/GN/WGS
Explores social problems, movements, and change related to gender in specific cultural, historical, political contexts. Advances a questioning of one’s position in gendered, relations of power in a constantly changing world.
83130	WGS 350-01	3	Intro to Feminist Theories	T R	11:00-12:15	Bryan 204	Danielle Bouchard	AE/CAE/GPR/WGS
Explores and evaluates feminist theories in a socio-historical context. Raises questions about their implications for different methods of inquiry and about the nature of knowledge and rational thought.
83132	WGS 400-01	1	Independent Study				Katherine Jamieson	WGS
Intensive independent study of specialized topics.
83136	WGS 450-01	3	Special Topics: Sociological Perspectives on Gender	T R	11:00-12:15	Graham 204	Gwendolyn C. Hunnicutt	WGS
Inquiry into status of women in society with emphasis on socialization, structural and institutional relationships, and continuities and discontinuities in women’s roles across the life cycle.
83138	WGS 460-01	3	Internship in WGS				Danielle Bouchard	WGS
Practical experience in a variety of professional settings. Includes bi-weekly seminar with internship coordinator. Students will complete at least 7-10 hours a week at an internship site. The internship will encourage students to put theories to the test of practice, explore approaches and ideas, and consider vocations. The course builds research expertise and practical experience in addition to vocational preparation. Limited enrollment.
83139	WGS 493-01	3	Honors Work				Katherine Jamieson	HSS,WGS
Advanced independent study Honors work in Women's and Gender Studies. Must have a 3.30 GPA in your WGS major, 12 semester hours in the major. May be repeated for credit if the topic of study changes.
83140	WGS 600-01	3-6	Independent Study				Katherine Jamieson	WGS
Independent study of specialized topics. Requires written plan, permission of sponsoring instructor, and approval of the Women's and Gender Studies Program director.
83142	WGS 601-01	3	WGS Internship				Danielle Bouchard	WGS
Supervised experience related to women's and gender studies; may include teaching internship, service learning opportunity, applied research experience, or internship in organizations and agencies that work on women's concerns or serving women in the community.
83144	WGS 650-01	3	Feminist Theory: Intersections of Race, Gender and Class	R	4:00-6:50	MHRA 1207	Danielle Bouchard	WGS
Core class introduces feminist social movements across historical and global contexts. Relies on interdisciplinary lenses and epistemologies, particularly as contested identity politics intersect with other systems of power and relationships.
83147	WGS 803-01	1	Research Extension				Katherine Jamieson	WGS
81698	AFS 305-05	3	Special Topics: Hip Hop	T R	12:30-13:45	ABCB 107	Sabrina Boyer	AFS/WGS
This course investigates the social, cultural, and political history of hip hop. It focuses on the study of hip hop as an artistic literary phenomenon which reflects the Black experience and voices the concerns of African-Americans and Latinos in contemporary society. It is designed to give students an understanding as to the development of hip hop from the oral tradition to the commercial industry that dominates contemporary American popular culture. The course examines how contemporary themes within hip hop parallel past expressions of African-American creativity. The following themes are covered: the origins of hip hop, the literary elements of hip hop as well as hip hop’s connections to literary movements, such as, the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement; the ability of hip hop to articulate social ills as well as the concerns of urban and poor Black and Latino communities, and significant hip hop artists, their performances and impact. In short, hip hop is an extension of the Black Experience. Texts, literature, videos and other media will be used to gain a more comprehensive understanding of these dynamics as well as ex/intensive class discussions.
81299	AFS 305-06	3	Special Topics: Black Masculinity	R	6:00-845	Eberhart 554	Robert E. Randolph	AFS/WGS
This course offers a unique view of African American masculine identity through the lenses of history, politics, economics, and culture; moreover, the course is designed to provide students with historical, theoretical and philosophical concepts of the Black male's experience in America. Within American society, stereotypical images of Black males are ubiquitous and run the gambit from black buck to Uncle Tom, from wide-eyed pickaninny to hyper-agile athlete, from signifying pimp to snap-happy queen, from docile accommodationist to virile political activist. The American psyche perceives black men as a problem and enigma; furthermore, he is often the object of our desire and our ridicule, a notion scattered in our literature, film, and media. What is a black man? Who is he? How does he define himself? These questions and their answers provide a framework with which to interrogate and dissect this most unique American dilemma. We will explore, in detail, the following themes and topics: adolescence, privilege, lynching, erasure, sports, systemic racism, hegemonic masculinity(heterosexual, white, able-bodied, middle- to upper-class), homosociality/homophobia, violence and war, jazz and hip hop aesthetics, sexuality, body as text, education and black public intellectualism, and “the new black man.” The course presents a mixture of lecture and film presentations.
81698	CED 574A-01	3	Cont. Tpcs: Women's Issues	T	9:00-11:50	FERG 251		.WGS
Designed to study issues, problems, and new approaches in helping relationships. Emphasis placed on current topic(s) of interest
81963	ELC 688G-01	3	Cont Pr Sem:Sociology of Education	T	7:00-9:50	CURY 332	Silvia C. Bettez	WGS
81844	ELC 688B-01	3	Passionate Pedagogies	R	4:00-6:50	CURY 312	Silvia Bettez	WGS
In this course, we will study how passion, on the part of both teachers and learners, can become a motivating force for deeper understandings of ourselves and critical social issues in society. We will explore pedagogical theories and strategies used to promote critical thinking. This course incorporates dialogical, feminist, and critical pedagogies. We will examine teaching as an embodied practice that is experienced by learners in embodied ways related to social positionalities including race, class, gender, sexuality, and language. Students will examine the role of passion in the classroom and critically reflect on their roles as teachers and learners.
82475	ENG 331-01	3	Women in Literature	T R	12:30-1:45	Petty 213	Mary Ellis Gibson	GLT, WGS
This course will focus upon U.S. women writers from the early 19th century to the present day. Topics covered will include challenges facing women writers at different historical periods; how women authors conceive of terms such as “art,” “politics,” and literary “merit”; and how women authors treat the intersection of different facets of identity (race, ethnicity, class, nationality or regional affiliation, sexual orientation, etc.). Assignments will include short papers as well as a final exam. Authors will likely include Harriet Jacobs, Harriet Beecher Stowe, María Amparo Ruiz de Burton, Willa Cather, Nella Larsen, and Jhumpa Lahiri..
82490	ENG 376-01	3	African American Writers after the 1920s	M W F	9:00-9:50	MHRA 3208	Noelle Morrissette	WGS, AFS, WI
This upper-level, writing intensive course provides an examination of modern and contemporary African American literature, concentrating on novels, poetry, essays, and drama, and emphasizing gender in relationship to race. Texts will be read through major historical periods of African American experiences and literary responses to them: the Depression and Realism and Modernism; Black nationalism and Black Aesthetics (the Black Arts Movement), Black feminism; and the “post” Civil Rights era and post-Soul aesthetics. We’ll consider whether there are distinct male and female experiences represented in the literature we read, and consider the development of interdependent and/or distinct black male and female literary traditions over the course of the twentieth (and twenty-first) century; we’ll also probe the ways that other categories, especially class and sexuality, intersect with the category of gender, sometimes troubling the very idea that there are actually “male” and “female” experiences at all. Topics for analysis include narrative and poetic strategies, major literary themes, and canon formation and genre practices. Visual art and film may accompany the introduction of texts.
84056	ENG 383-01	3	Topics in Queer Studies	T R	2:00-3:15	Petty 224	Mark Rifkin	WGS
We often speak of sexuality as if it were private, intimate, personal – something properly sealed off from the prying eyes of the world that speaks to the innermost experience of individual selfhood. Yet what happens when we think about sexuality less as descriptive of individual predilections and more as a public vocabulary? How do ideas about sexuality help shape existing understandings of normality, family, homemaking, individuality, and citizenship? How are such ideas informed and affected by existing ways of representing race? In this course, we will explore how race and sexuality can be conceptualized less as easily distinguishable kinds of identity than as deeply intertwined aspects of social life in the U.S. Looking at works by a range of writers, both of color and white, we will explore the complex intersections among contemporary ways of conceptualizing and representing race and sexuality, drawing on ideas developed within the field of queer studies. In particular, we will examine the relation between sexual freedom and the pursuit of racial justice, how racial and sexual identity work together in articulations of individual and collective experience, the historical and ongoing sexualization of communities of color, and the role of racial privilege in white lgbt writing. Authors may include Audre Lorde, Cherríe Moraga, Craig Womack, Qwo-Li Driskill, Beth Brant, Dorothy Allison, Randall Kenan, Leslie Feinberg, and John Rechy.
80639	HDF 212-02	3	Families and Close Relationships	T R	9:30-10:45	STON 142	Heather Helms	GSB,WGS
80641	HDF 212-04	3	Families and Close Relationships	T R	11:00-12:15	STON 142	Heather Helms	GSB,WGS
Intrapersonal and interpersonal processes in the development and maintenance of families and close relationships over time.
80677	HDF 407-01	3	Current Issues Women and Families	T R	9:30-10:45	CURY 334	Mary Y. Morgan	WGS
Contemporary and changing issues affecting individuals and families and their environment. Multidisciplinary approach to decision making and problem-solving.
80678	HDF 409-01	3	Family Diversity	T R	2:00-3:15	STON 142	Mary Y. Morgan	WGS
80679	HDF 409-02	3	Family Diversity	M W F	9:00-9:50	STON 204	Andrea Hunter	WGS
Study of the variation within and between families through an exploration of the similarities and differences according to culture, race, class, gender, family structure, and sexual orientation.
80680	HDF 410-01	3	Families & Children in Global Perspective	T R	11:00-12:15	CURY 334	Mary Y. Morgan	GL/WGS
A study of Asian, African, Latin American, and Eastern European families and children, focusing on family structure, gender roles, and socialization practices within their socioeconomic, historical, and cultural context.
82372	HEA 260-01	3	Human Sexuality	M W F	10:00-10:50	HEHP 340		GSB/WGS
82374	HEA 260-02	3	Human Sexuality	WEB			Leah Tompkins	GSB/WGS
Study of psychosocial, biological, cultural, and developmental research aspects of human sexuality emphasizing methods of sexuality research, relationships, gender issues, intimacy, sexual response, reproduction, exploitation, and dysfunctions.
82395	HEA 333-01	3	Women's Health	T R	3:30-4:45	HEPE 236	Tracy R. Nichols	WGS
82397	HEA 333-01	3	Women's Health	WEB			Leah Tompkins	WGS
We consider how the complexities of women's lives and status influence women's health. Students will consider how research, practice, and action can all contribute to improved health for all women.
80158	HIS 310-01	3	Daughters of Eve: Women of the Middle Ages	T R	9:30-10:45	CURY 241	Richard E. Barton	GL/WGS
This course offers an introduction to the experience of women in the Middle Ages through close examination of writings by and about women. In so doing we will be less concerned with the more traditional elements of medieval history and more interested in how such elements came to shape women's lives and opportunities. One of the central themes will be the importance of gender as a category of cultural difference; with this in mind we will spend a fair amount of time considering the ways in which medieval society defined femininity, appropriate female behavior, and the female body, as well as the ways in which those definitions and understandings changed over time.
80160	HIS 315-01	3	Witchcraft and Magic in European History	M W F	11:00-11:50	Graham 207	Jodi Bilinkoff	WGS
This course seeks to introduce students to women's experiences in the past as a vital component of the making of the United States. In addition, we will explore the history (historiography) of the study of women. Students will read and analyze both primary accounts -- letters, diaries, slave narratives, and novels -- and recent secondary studies that use methods of social history and gender analysis to reconstruct our understanding of American history. During the semester, we will have both lectures, class discussions, and class presentations including a final group project.
80161	HIS 329-01	3	US Women's History Since 1865	M W	2:00-3:15	MHRA 2211	Lisa Levenstein	WGS
This course explores the dramatic changes in women’s experiences in the U.S. from 1865 to the present. We will explore these transformations from multiple perspectives, looking at famous women as well as ordinary women, liberal women and conservative women, middle-class women and poor women, African American women and white women, Asian American women, Native American women and Mexican American women. Questions that we will address include: How did women’s experiences differ along race and class lines? How did ideas about gender and race change over time? To what extent did women shape their own history? How does women’s history change our understanding of United States history in general?
80380	HIS 551-01	3	Gender and History	T	3:30-6:20	MHRA 1209	Lisa Levenstein	WGS
This course will explore how diverse women in the United States have negotiated work and family since World War II. We will explore their experiences with both paid and unpaid labor and examine a variety of family forms. The course will contrast the decline in the idealization of white stay-at-home mothers with the increasing celebration of "career mothers" ("supermoms") and stigmatization of "welfare mothers." In so doing, we will examine both the profound transformations in women’s experiences with work and family over the past 60 years and the significant changes in the images of women, work, and family promoted in popular culture.
80932	HSS 108-01	3	First Year Seminar: Personal and Political Intersections with Women’s Lives	M W	2:00-3:15	CURY 244	Beth Walker	GSB/HSS/WGS
Gloria Steinem often said “The personal is political.” In this course we will explore how women’s lives, even their bodies and cycles, have been caught in the intersection of the political and the personal. Over the semester, students will survey historical, philosophical, political, social, and religious attitudes toward women and women’s reproductive abilities/freedom with an emphasis on cultural comparisons. Through readings, discussions and group activities, students will trace the attitudes and trends that gave rise to social reform movements and survey the contemporary controversies that still surround reproductive rights in the US. From there we will Honors Course Booklet Fall 2009 Lloyd International Honors College page 10 The University of North Carolina at Greensboro compare the US with contemporary Europe and expand our view to survey cultural differences in attitudes and practices in selected developing nations (in South/Central America, Africa, Middle East). Special attention will be given to how “Western” attitudes, and foreign policies have impacted these countries, particularly as they relate to women’s health issues, family planning and cultural practices.
83044	MST 325-01	3	Gender and Media Culture	T R	9:30-10:45	MHRA 1210	Emily Edwards	GSB,WGS,WI
Examination of the nature of media contents and production processes as they influence the construction of feminine and masculine identities. (Formerly BCN 325)
81431	PHI 301-02	3	Topics: Ways of Knowing	T	5:00-7:50	NMOR 328	Janine Jones	WGS
Ways of Knowing, a course in epistemology, is designed to introduce students to some of the traditional epistemological questions posed by the Western philosophical tradition, such as, “What is knowledge?” and “How do we gain knowledge?” However, the topics of discussion for this course will go well beyond these initial questions and their traditional responses. We will examine the responses given by feminist epistemologists, such as Helen E. Longino, Nancy Tuala, and Sandra Harding (and various other thinkers) to the above queries. Further, following the work of philosophers such as Lorraine Code, we will address additional questions, such as “Who are the knowers?”, “What are our objects of knowledge?” and “What is the importance of understanding the purpose of our knowledge-acquisition activities?” For as Sarah Hoagland points out in “Resisting Rationality”, “Even when we seek in friendship the openings and unexpected connections that situated knowledges make possible, we can be dangerous. Two whom are we addressing ourselves, to whom are we offering information, and why? What are the limits and consequences of our practice in context?” (Engendering Rationalities, p. 138) Hence, we will explore that various ways that we, with our situated knowledges, can be extremely dangerous.
80256	PSY 346-01	3	Sex, Gender, and Behavior	T R	5:00-6:15	EBER 284	Jennifer Sommer	WGS
Evaluation of effects of biological sex and gender role socialization on personality and behavior through examination of empirical research.
80822	REL 309-01	3	Spirituality and Culture in the West	T R	3:30-4:45	Graham 203	Eugene F. Rogers l	WGS/WI
Examines spirituality in Western religious traditions in relation to changing roles of men and women, spiritual needs, culture and identity.
80586	SOC 329-01	3	Special Topics: Sociological Perspectives on Gender	T R	11:00-12:15	Graham 204	Gwendolyn C. Hunnicutt	WGS
Inquiry into status of women in society with emphasis on socialization, structural and institutional relationships, and continuities and discontinuities in women’s roles across the life cycle.
84712	SWK 540-01	3	Social Entrepreneurship: Justice and a Green Environment	M	6:00-8:50	Petty 136	Cathryne Schmitz	WGS
This is an interdisciplinary course designed to expose upper class undergraduate and graduate students to social entrepreneurship and multiple models for designing and implementing entrepreneurial projects that respond to social and economic issues. As social entrepreneurs, teams of students will investigate environmental concerns, identify related issues of justice, create and inspire a model for direct action, and assess the potential impact of this action on the community and society at large. Students are expected to assess diversity, oppression, and justice issues in the target area, drawing relationships locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Our goal is not only to teach about social entrepreneurship but also to actively engage students in social entrepreneurship. As such, we see service-learning, where community action and academic study are linked so that each strengthens the others a vital pathway for students to build deep relationships with community members. Through explicit discussion and reflection on service-learning, we will underscore the need for citizen engagement as students prepare for and initiate social change as they develop their social entrepreneurship competencies.