Cells are the smallest common denominator of life: the simplest organisms are single cells, while others like ourselves are composed of vast communities of cells. In this course, we will learn how cellular structure and function is orchestrated by biological molecules, most notably the genome and the proteins it encodes. Topics will include genetic inheritance, gene and protein regulation, cellular processes including transport, energy capture, and signaling, the cellular and molecular basis for disease, and modern techniques including genomics, bioinformatics, and microscopy.

This course will examine heterosexism and transgender oppression in K-12 schools in the U.S. Additionally, this course will focus on how teachers and administrators can work to create transformative and liberatory spaces for GLBT youth in education. Students will be introduced to topics such as nontraditional family structures, bullying, bystander intervention, youth development and adultism. Essays and a final project are required.

Since the 1960s, many social movements for justice, equality, and inclusion in our world have taken the form of struggles for recognition (e.g., antiracism, feminism, multiculturalism, LGBT activism, etc.). What is recognition in this sense and conversely misrecognition, i.e., the sort of harm or injustice done to someone or certain populations of people by failing or choosing not to recognize them? How can (mis)recognition show up and be theorized both as a matter of how people are (unjustly) socially constituted and how they should (not) treat one another?

During the Spanish Empire (16th-18th centuries), witches, prostitutes, transvestite warriors, lesbians and daring noblewomen and nuns violated the social order by failing to uphold the expected sexual morality of the ideal woman. They were silenced, criticized, punished, and even burned at the stake. Students will study contradictory discourses of good and evil and beauty and ugliness in relation to gender in the Spanish Empire.

This capstone course brings seniors together to think through relationships among empirical research, theory, activism, and practice in gender studies. Majors with diverse interests, perspectives, and expertise (and other seniors with substantial background in the field) will have the opportunity to reflect on the significance of their gender studies education in relation to their current work (including work in 333s, 390, 395), their academic studies as a whole, and their plans for the future. Course readings and discussion will be shaped by students in collaboration with the instructor.

The course provides an historical and topical overview of Latina/o migration to the United States. We will examine the economic, political, and social antecedents to Latin American migration, and the historical impact of the migration process in the U.S. Considering migration from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, we will discuss the social construction of race, the gendered nature of migration, migrant labor struggles, Latin American-U.S. Latino relations, immigration policy, and border life and enforcement.