This course presents an opportunity for students to apply gender theory to practice and synthesize their work in gender studies. Connections between the academy and the community, scholarship and social action will be emphasized. Students will arrange for a placement at a non-profit organization, business, or institution that incorporates a gender focus. A weekly seminar with other students provides a structured reflection forum to analyze experience and methods.

We will read a number of key feminist texts that theorize sexual difference, and challenge the oppression of women. We will then address queer theory, an offshoot and expansion of feminist theory, and study how it is both embedded in, and redefines, the feminist paradigms. This redefinition occurs roughly at the same time (1980s/90s) when race emerges as one of feminism's prominent blind spots. The postcolonial critique of feminism is a fourth vector we will examine, as well as anti-racist and postcolonial intersections with queerness.

This course will examine a range of ways in which Islam has constructed women--and women have constructed Islam. We will study concepts of gender as they are reflected in classical Islamic texts, as well as different aspects of the social, economic, political, and ritual lives of women in various Islamic societies.

This course explores the history of Spanish women from a critical and interdisciplinary perspective. Topics include a variety of feminist issues, from domestic violence to maternity and equality. There is a strong emphasis on developing analytical strategies for reading and speaking, improving skills for (creative) writing, and designing pedagogical materials for teaching. Course examines works by María de Zayas, Federico García Lorca, and Ana Rossetti, and movies by Icíar Bollaín and Bigas Luna, among others.

This course introduces students to critical and creative works that center Cuba and its diasporas. The primary questions of the course are: How have authors varyingly imagined Cuba over time and across space? How are these imaginings of Cuba politically, economically, and culturally situated? Students will question the personal/national and the public/private across a range of texts that explore issues of exile, nostalgia, memory, and nationalism. Readings include works by Cristina Garcia, Ana Menendez, Pablo Medina, Achy Obejas, Roberto G.

How do scholars produce knowledge? What can we learn from differences and similarities in the research process of a novelist, a biologist, an historian, a sociologist, and a film critic? Who decides what counts as knowledge? We will examine a range of methods from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, including visual analysis, archival exploration, interviewing, and ethnography, as we consider the specific advantages (and potential limitations) of diverse disciplinary approaches for feminist inquiry.

This course is designed to introduce students to social, cultural, historical, and political perspectives on gender and its construction. Through discussion and writing, we will explore the intersections among gender, race, class, and sexuality in multiple settings and contexts. Taking an interdisciplinary approach to a variety of questions, we will consider the distinctions between sex and gender, women's economic status, the making of masculinity, sexual violence, queer movements, racism, and the challenges of feminist activism across nations, and possibilities for change.

This course is designed to introduce students to social, cultural, historical, and political perspectives on gender and its construction. Through discussion and writing, we will explore the intersections among gender, race, class, and sexuality in multiple settings and contexts. Taking an interdisciplinary approach to a variety of questions, we will consider the distinctions between sex and gender, women's economic status, the making of masculinity, sexual violence, queer movements, racism, and the challenges of feminist activism across nations, and possibilities for change.

We know the world faces several profound problems that may well threaten the long-term sustainability of life as we know it: environmental degradation and resource limits, deepening global inequality, global corporate capitalism, and ineffective national and international political institutions. To respond wisely, we must understand the complex interlocking systems we loosely name contemporary globalization. Only then will we be able to imagine appropriate responses and solutions.