Five College Consortium

Placing women's experiences at the center of interpretation, this class introduces basic concepts and key areas of gender both historically and contemporaneously. It is an inter-disciplinary, trans-disciplinary, and cross cultural study of gender as well as an overview of theoretical perspectives of its intersection with other social constructs of difference (race/ethnicity, class, sexuality, and age). We will move beyond the theme of "gender difference" and examine the ongoing debate about the politics of gender inequality and inequity in our societies and cultures. Students will engage in critical reading and thinking about these interlocking systems which have shaped and influenced the historical, cultural, social, political, and economical contexts of our lives. Specific attention will be given to resistance of those gendered inequalities, and the various ways that social movements have created new systems of change by engaging in national and global transformational politics. (Gen.Ed. I, U)