Gender Studies
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Gender affects everything in our lives: personal relationships, job opportunities, worldview, economic conditions, self-esteem, safety, etc. In our program, students learn how ideas about gender shape our knowledge of the world and our experience of everyday life. Gender Studies courses explore how research on gender—and its intersection with race, class, sexual orientation, age, and culture—has transformed our understanding of social institutions, human behavior, cultural expression, and intellectual inquiry.
The Gender Studies Program at UML is offered by the College of Arts and Sciences: Division of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, but any UML student can participate. Our curriculum is comprised of a wide range of designated courses in these departments: Criminal Justice, Cultural Studies, Economics, English, History, Legal Studies, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, R.E.S.D., and Sociology. Students create an individualized program to match their interests and career goals.
For assistance or information: Dr. Julie Nash, English Department, O'Leary Library 408
Minor Requirements
The Gender Studies minor requires 18-24 credits in designated interdisciplinary courses. 6 credits must be taken at the 300 level or above. Gender Studies minors may also take courses within their major and designate them for the Gender Studies minor provided that the total number of credits in their major does not exceed 45 of the 120-credit minimum required for graduation.
Bachelor of Liberal Arts Concentration
A Bachelor of Liberal Arts concentration in Gender Studies requires 24-30 credit hours in designated interdisciplinary courses. At least half of these courses must be taken at the 300 level or above.
For more information on the Gender Studies program and a complete list of all approved Gender Studies courses, visit .
or email: genderstudies@uml.edu
Courses
The following courses are approved for the Gender Studies Minor. Please see department listing for complete course descriptions.
NOTE: The prefix for Introduction to Gender Studies (#240) varies according to the department in which it is taught.
Cultural Studies - Art History
58.340 Women in Art
Cultural Studies - Languages
50.378 Women in French Cinema
52.330 Italian Women Writers
54.330 Spanish/Latin American Women Writers
Legal Studies
44.360 Gender, Race, and Crime
44.477 Domestic Violence
49.305 Women, Minorities, and Immigration
English
42.241 Women in Film
42.243 Contemporary Women Writers
42.244 Women in the Middle Ages and Renaissance
42.257 The Family in Literature
42.335 American Women Novelists
History
43.270 Women in American History
43.378 Seminar: Women and Work
43.379 Work and Society
43.385 History of Family and Childhood in the U.S.
Management
66.450 Labor Diversity & HRM Political Science
46.220 Gender and Politics
46.225 Gender, Work, and Politics
46.302 Gender, Law and Politics
46.304 Privacy in American Politics
46.320 Gender in Political Theory
Psychology
47.322 His Job/Her Marriage: Gender, Work, and Family
47.335 Psychology and Women
47.351 Human Sexuality
47.523 Women in the Community (permission of the instructor required)
Regional Economical and Social Development
57.211 Production and Democracy
57.353 Managing Workplace Diversity
57.504 Gender Differences at Work
Sociology
48.110 Patriotism, Religion and Motherhood
48.231 Sociology of the Family
48.370 Women in Society
48.305 Sociology of Family Law
48.331 Seminar: Reproductive Technology
48.410 Seminar: Sex and Gender
COURSES
59.240 Introduction to Women's Studies
This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the field of Women's Studies that examines both commonalties and differences among diverse groups of women. A variety of topics are presented such as past and present stratification in work and family, sexual identities, medial representations of women, and violence against women. Social movements for women's equality and feminist theories and methods are also introduced.
59.307 Gender Issues in l9th Century American Literature and Popular Culture
In the I9th century, Americans consciously sought to define themselves, calling for a recognizable literature that would illuminate and celebrate national character Defining the roles, behaviors, and even the very nature of men and women in the republic became an important corollary to this endeavor. These definitions and values were promulgated not only through traditional arts and literature, but also through magazines, etiquette manuals, and advertisements. We will examine selected texts from high and popular culture to see how gender operates to define individual character and to illuminate social issues, public images, and national myths. 3 cr.
59.308 Gender Issues in 20th Century American Literature and Popular Culture
In the 20th century, attitudes toward the gender roles defined by 19th century Americans underwent enormous changes which are reflected in all aspects of culture, both "high" and popular. As first movies then television came to dominate leisure time, the images mass media conveyed of stereotypical male and female behavior played a major role in defining perceptions of gender roles. This course will examine these changing perceptions and their implications in novels, film and television. 3 cr.
59.310 Gender Violence in the United States
This course examines the gender implications and underlining assumptions about women and men that are implicit in our laws dealing with gender violence, theories of violence and crimes, and responses to this violence by our justice system. In the first part of this course, we will examine some of the theories of gender domination and inequality. In the second part of the course we will apply our theoretical insights to the specific applications of gender violence and oppression. We will consider both individual acts of violence such as rape, incest, sexual abuse, wife and child battering and gay bashing as well as harmful acts in institutional violence including sexual harassment, pornography and corporate violence. 3 cr.
59.311 Men, Women, and the Military
War and military affairs have traditionally been considered "men's business." This course will examine both the expectations and the reality of this gender assignment. We will look at the roles both men and women have played in past wars and in the nation's military policies. We will consider why this has been, and ask how the situation is changing as women become a greater proportion of the USA's armed forces. 3 cr.
59.312 Issues in Human Reproduction
Birth control and abortion enable couples to have sex without having babies; new reproductive technologies like in-vitro fertilization enables couples to have babies without having sex. Public policies as well as individual activities effect changes in sex, marriage, childbearing, and other issues in human reproduction. We will see how the roles of men and women are affected by these changes in motherhood and fatherhood. 3 cr.
59.322 Gender, Work and Family
This course examines ways that gender is related to contemporary work roles, family roles, and social institutions. Why is it that men rise to the top in "women's professions," while women do not in male fields? Why are mothers treated differently from fathers in the workplace and why is housework not seen as work? Why do we idealize the "nuclear" family when most people live in other kinds of families? Exploring relationships among gender, paid work and diverse types of families will allow us to critique current social arrangements and to discuss options for healthier, more equitable alternatives for the future. 3 cr.