While mainstream discourse tends to frame "transgender" as a perpetually new phenomenon, this survey of transgender studies will contextualize present-day conversations in a longer intellectual history. We will be guided by questions like: What does trans mean and how has its meaning been shaped by regimes of gender, racism, colonization, ableism, and medical and legal regulation? What have emerged as the main concerns of transgender studies/activism and how has trans studies interacted with more established academic fields?

This course is an introduction to the interdisciplinary feminist study of sexuality. Its primary goal is to provide a forum for students to consider the history of sexuality and race in the U.S. both in terms of theoretical frameworks within women's and gender studies, and in terms of a range of sites where those theoretical approaches become material, are negotiated, or are shifted. The course is a fully interdisciplinary innovation.

Not available at this time

An introduction to the vibrant field of women, gender, and sexuality studies, this course familiarizes students with the basic concepts in the field and draws connections to the world in which we live. An interdisciplinary field grounded in commitment to both intellectual rigor and individual and social transformation, WGSS asks fundamental questions about the conceptual and material conditions of our lives. What are ?gender,? ?sexuality,? ?race,? and ?class?? How are gender categories, in particular, constructed differently across social groups, nations, and historical periods?

What is health? What makes health a matter of feminism? And what might a feminist health politics look like? These questions lay at the heart of this course. In Feminist Health Politics, we will examine how health becomes defined, and will question whether health and disease are objectively measured conditions or subjective states.

This course is about the framework of transnational women's and gendered activisms and scholarship. We will survey the field of transnational feminist research and praxis, locating structures of power, practices of resistance, and the geographies of development at work in a range of theories and social movements.

Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies teaches critical thinking skills. How can students use these skills to make informed career choices? How is it possible to engage in planning one?s career while conscious of the realities of race, gender, sexuality, and class in today?s economy? What are career options for students whose values include working for a better society? Is it possible to put together a balanced life and pay the bills besides?

The Commonwealth Honors College thesis or project is intended to provide students with the opportunity to work closely with faculty members to define and carry out in-depth research or creative endeavors. It provides excellent preparation for students who intend to continue their education through graduate study or begin their professional careers. The student works closely with their 499Y Honors Research sponsor to pursue research on a topic or question of special interest to them in preparation for writing a 499T Honors Thesis or completing a 499P Honors Project.