WS-WOMEN'S STUDIES – 2005-07 Catalog
Women's Studies Program

WS 301  Introduction to Women's Studies (4) GE D5    USCP

Introduction to theories and research on gender and sexuality, gender stratification, and gender role development. Broad interdisciplinary examination of issues involving gender and sexuality, as well as race and ethnicity, with special emphasis on how these issues affect both women’s and men’s lives. Issues such as reproductive rights, gender and body image, the origins of patriarchy, gender and class. 4 lectures. Prerequisite: Completion of GE Area A and completion of two lower division Area D courses or consent of instructor.

WS 311  Women in Cross Cultural Perspectives (4)           GE D5

Similarities and differences in women's lives internationally. Cultural influences such as class, ethnicity, and religion on women's status. Study of global feminism, reproductive rights, women's labor, women in development, women's politics. 4 lectures. Prerequisite: Completion of GE Area A, and one course from D2 and one from D3 or consent of instructor.

WS 316  Women as Subject and Object in Art History (4)
(Also listed as ART 316)

Exploration of the role of women in the visual arts. Women as artists, women as portrayed in art, and feminist theory as it applies to the study of the visual arts and art history. 4 lectures. Prerequisite: ART 111, ART 112 or consent of instructor.

WS 336  Religion, Gender and Society (4)
(Also listed as RELS 336) GE C4    USCP

Critical examination of religious ideas and institutions in America in relation to gender, race and politics. Focus on women and religion, the religious experience of minorities, and on politics. 4 lectures. Prerequisite: Completion of GE Area A, and PHIL 230 or PHIL 231; one Religious Studies course or consent of instructor.

WS 340  Sexuality Studies (4)                   GE D5

Sexuality in a cultural and historical context. Changing definitions of human subjectivity. The cultural and social regimes that control and create sexuality (including the “invention” of homo/heterosexuality and the social, legal and political systems that define sexual ab/normality). Contemporary issues of sexual orientation and topics of sexuality in relation to gender and race. 4 seminars. Prerequisite: Completion of GE Area A and completion of two lower-division Area D courses. Completion of WS 301 preferred.

WS 350  Gender, Race, Science and Technology (4)          USCP
(Also listed as ES 350)

Applications and histories of reproductive technologies and the ways in which these technologies are linked to the science of the body. How these technologies help to construct and deconstruct race and gender in the United States. 3 lectures, 1 activity. Prerequisite: Completion of GE Area B requirements or consent of instructor.

WS 400  Special Problems for Advanced Undergraduates (1–2)

Individual investigation, research studies, or surveys of selected problems. Total credit limited to 4 units, with a maximum of 2 units per quarter. Prerequisite: WS 301; WS 401 or WS 411 or HIST 434 or HIST 435 or PSY 314; and consent of Women's Studies director.

WS 401  Seminar in Women's Studies (4)

Intensive study of a selected topic in Women’s Studies (such as women and work, women and the law, women in the arts). The topic will be listed in the Class Schedule. Field experience may be required as appropriate. May be repeated for up to 8 units. 3 seminars and a research project. Prerequisite: WS 301 or consent of instructor and upper division standing.

WS 434  American Women’s History to 1870 (4)
(Also listed as HIST 434)

Female ideology and experience from the colonial period through the American Civil War. Use of a variety of sources, including women’s own writing, in order to understand the history of women as it both reflects and shapes American culture and society. 3 lectures and research project. Prerequisite: Junior standing or consent of instructor.

WS 435  American Women’s History from 1870 (4)
(Also listed as HIST 435)                USCP

The female past in the modern period of U.S. history. Considers how transformations in gender roles are reflective of other significant changes in American culture and society. Emphasis on class, race, and ethnic variations in women’s experience. 3 lectures and research project. Prerequisite: Junior standing or consent of instructor.

WS 450  Feminist Theory (4)                      USCP

History and evolution of ideas about gender, race/ethnicity and sexual identity. Special attention as to how social, historical, and ideological forces, organized by the central, intertwined concepts of gender and race, shape both our critical thinking and our lives. 3 lectures, 1 activity. Prerequisite: WS 301 or consent of instructor.