Women' Studies
Course Catalog

Lower Division Courses

  Upper Division | Graduate/Undergraduate

**Courses that qualify for general education credit.
Courses within a students department shall not count as fulfilling general education requirements. (This restriction only applies to one major. For students with a double major, courses in the second major could count in fulfilling their requirements.)

>Courses that qualify for general education further study course

140 Journal Writing. (1)

Workshop. Acquaints students with the concept and practice of journal writing. Readings deal with specific themes (work, family, relationships etc.) and students are required to keep a daily journal. Course provides an intense journal writing experience for those enrolled and encourages students to continue the practice on their own. Graded S/U

 

141 Women's Sexuality. (1)

Presents information on women's sexuality from physiological psychological and socio-cultural perspectives. This integrated view focuses on women's body images and perceptions of self as sexual beings, as well as on socialization and gender-role expectations, choices of sexual behavior, sexual dysfunction and communications in sexual relationships.

 

142 Domestic Violence. (1)

Deals with the roots of domestic violence embedded in family roles, legal systems, religious beliefs and the psychology of women, children and men. Also covers the consequences and prevention of family abuse. Includes discussion of literature and films.

150 Workshops. (1-2)

Topics vary by semester. Past topics have included assertion training (introductory and advanced) and rape information and prevention.

150C Assertion Training for Women. (1)

Workshop. Teaches women to develop assertion skills. Considers some of the changing roles and values of women in our society today and how these create a need for women to be assertive in their professional and personal choices. Examines barriers that exist to assertive behavior and ways to overcome them.

 

150J Rape Information and Prevention. (1)

Workshop; explores the cultural myths and stereotypes about rape, the legal system, methods of self-protection, community resources providing help for victims and other related issues. Primary focus on prevention of rape itself.

150M Advanced Assertion Training. (1)

For students who have taken Wom S. 150C. Applies assertion principles and behaviors to specific topics such as employment, male - female relations, sexuality, parent-child relations and organized group activity. Prerequisite: Wom. S. 150C

180 Special Topics. (1-2)

Topics vary by semester.

**190 The American Woman in Popular Culture. (3)

General education introductory course. Examines how women of various races, classes, and ethnicities are represented in a wide variety of popular media. Encourages the critical analysis of why and how these popular representations are politically and socially significant in shaping society's perceptions of "the American woman." Women's popular genres are also explored.

**240 Minority Women in America. (3)

Cross listed as ETH S. 240Q. General Education further studies course. An examination of the lives, talents and contributions made by minority women to the American culture. an analysis of the misconceptions about minority women that have been generated and perpetuated through the ages by providing accurate information about their lives and attitudes. to help people better relate to minority women in America and understand their attitudes, sensitivities and emotions.

 

**287 Women in Society: Social Issues. (3)

General education introductory course. Examines women's efforts to claim their identity from historical, legal and social perspectives. Includes recent laws relating to women; contemporary issues (such as rape, day care, working women, the future of marriage); agencies for change; theories of social change; and the relationship of women's rights to human rights.

 

Upper Division Courses

316 The American Male. (3)

Cross listed as Soc 316. General Education issues and perspectives course. Examines the male role in America from a variety of sociological perspectives and within particular settings, for example, work, family, and leisure. Other relevant topics: socialization, intimacy and adult developmental stages and crises. Discusses changing male roles produced by strains and conflicts in contemporary America.

 

325 Women in the Political System. (3)

Cross-listed as POL S. 325 Examines the political process of policy making, using policies of current interest concerning women. Explore the association of societal gender role expectations with existing and proposed public policies that pertain to women's lives. Prerequisite: 6 hours of social science or instructors consent.

330 Women's Personal Narratives. (3)

Cross-listed as Eng.336. Explores the literary genre of the journal as practiced by both historical and modern women. Examines works by both well-known diarists and little-known notebook keepers. In-class writing and out-of-class assignments; students are encouraged to do daily work in a journal of their own. Prerequisites Engl 101 and Engl 102.

  

332 Goddesses in Myth. (3)

Traces the development of the characteristics, powers and ideas about classical Greek and Roman as well as ancient Northern European goddesses from a pre-historic, worldwide worship of female deities. Examines the female dominated cultures and religions of the Paleolithic and Neolithic and then follows the transition from this ancient worship to the classical and Northern European conception of goddesses.

333 Women and Religion. (3)

Cross-listed as Rel.333. An examination of past and present images and roles of women in religious traditions. Looks at women in the Bible and religious history as well as contemporary criticisms of patriarchal religion and resources for change.

 

338 Philosophy of Feminism. (3)

Cross-listed as Phil.338. General education further studies course. An exploration of philosophical issues raised by the feminist movement emphasizing conceptual and ethical questions.

 

340 Human Sexuality. (3)

Cross-listed as Sc.Wk.340Q Provides a forum for information and discussion on topics relating to physical, psycho-social and cultural components of human sexuality. Includes female and male sexual attributes and roles, sexual problems, alternative life styles, birth control, values and sexuality and cultural components of sexuality.

 

345 Women and Dependencies. (3)

Provides information about women's dependencies and their relationship to constructions of gender. Examines dependencies on substances and processes, (alcohol, street and prescription drugs, eating disorders and dysfunctional relationships) in their social and personal context. Examines theories of treatment and recovery in relation to feminist theory and women's roles in co-dependency.

 

>361 Women and Work. (3)

General Education further studies course. Examines the image and reality of women's employment form minimum wage work to corporate board rooms, as well as women's unpaid work. It explores the impact of cultural values, societal arrangements, and public policy on occupations, wages, and family life.

 

370 Women in World Religions (3)

Cross listed as REL 370. Examines past and present roles and statuses of women in various religious traditions of the world, e.g. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. Examines the portrayal of women's roles in various religious and philosophical texts and the redefinition of women's roles in the modern age within the contexts of these belief systems.

 

379 Asian Women in Modern History (3)

Examines women's historical and contemporary experiences in Asian America and modern Asia. Investigates Asian women's contributions to the rapid industrialization and the export-oriented economies in the Asia-Pacific region within the context of our global economy. Traces the ways in which the changes in immigration laws during the twentieth century affected the pattern of Asian women's immigration to the U.S. Also introduces writings that integrate Asian-American women's experiences into the discourses on race, gender, and class in the U.S.

 

380 Special Topics. (1-3)

Focuses on intermediate topics of interest to women's studies.

 

380K Women and Peace. (3)

Explores many facets of women's strategies for interpersonal and political peacemaking. Also explores women's pacifist and patriotic strategies, including service, resistance and direct actions.

 

>387 Women in Society: Cultural Images. (3)

General education further studies course. Examines the roots of ideas about women in our society and women's responses to those ideas as they have attempted to define themselves. Emphasizes cultural images of women in literature, art, myth, philosophy, religion, psychology, education and politics. Also considers women in other cultures and other times and contemporary women's visions of an alternative future.

>391 Women's Global Issues. (3)

General education further studies course. Explores women's issues form a global perspective in relation to policies approved by the International Women's Decade conferences of the United Nations. Emphasizes understanding the impact of nationalism, race, class and cultural values in creating obstacles to women's full participation in society. Explores strategies for achieving full human rights for women. Prerequisites: one course in women's studies and one course in history or political science.

 

480 Special Topics. (1-3)

Provides advanced exploration of various women's studies themes.

 

481 Cooperative Education. (1-4)

Provides a fields placement that integrates theory with a planned and supervised professional experience designed to complement and enhance the students academic program. Offered Cr/NCr only.

 

482 Latina in Culture and Society. (3)

Examines what it means to be a Latina and a feminist in U.S. culture, confronting racism and sexism as well as being empowered through Latina identity. The exploration of Latina identity results in creative transformation and a new understanding of the relationship of self to the community. Material drawn from Chicana feminist studies in prose, poetry, criticism, film, and from presentation by guest speakers.

Graduate/Undergraduate Courses

510 Hollywood Melodrama: The Woman's Film(3)

Melodrama, as a "woman's genre", is important to the development of feminist film critisism, which interrogates the contradictory meanings of motherhood and family within this culture. Through readings and films, this course provides a stylistic, literary, and cultural/historical background for this 19th-century form with a specific focus on the woman's film and the family melodrama which highlight woman's position withi the home. Utilizes textual analysis and some psychoanalytic criticism to explore and critique the fantasies and desires expressed in the visual excesses of film melodrama.

>511 Women in Early America, 1600-1830. (3)

General education further studies course. Traces women's contributions and experiences in building the U.S., from 1600 to the 1830's. Includes both conventional and newly developed methodologies in women's history research.

 

513 Women in Africa (3)

Who is the African woman? What are her joys, obstacles, struggles, triumphs, and rites of passage? This course addresses these issues through their intersection with gender, race/ethnicity, and class in selected traditional and postcolonial settings on the African continent. Facilitates appreciation of African women and gender through African cultural voices. Emphasizes the views of women expressed in their songs, dances, dramas, ritual actions, activism, and writing. Telephone/video conference with women in Africa, as well as stories, poems, and other literary, historical and anthropological material will be used.

514 Women in the Middle East (3)

Examines Arab women of the Middle East. Focuses on women in the region historically designated as the "fertile plains" -- Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the Palestinian Territories. Covers the impact of Western colonialism and global geopolitics on women's lives; women's activism in relation to nationalism and women's rights; Western racial stereotypes of Arab women and men and their role in foreign intervention in the 20th and 21st centuries. Provides case study in the relationship of nationalism and women's rights as framed by Arab women's studies.

516 Sociology of Sex Roles. (3)

Cross-listed as Soc. 516. General education further studies course. Analyzes the institutional sources of man's and woman's roles, the source of changes in these roles, the consequent ambiguities and conflicts. Prerequisite: Soc.111Q

 

523 Feminist Film Criticism. (3)

Applies critical methods of analysis from the field of feminist film studies (such as psychoanalysis, ideology critique, close textual analysis, narrative and genre criticism) to the representation of women in film. Emphasis placed on historical development of feminist film theory and criticism as it relates to classical Hollywood narrative, film genres, and avant-garde film. Prerequisites: 3 hors of an upper level humanities course or 3 hours of an upper level Women's Studies course.

 

532 Women in Ethnic America. (3)

Cross-listed as ETH 532 and HIST 532. An in-depth, thematic understanding of the historical experiences of women of color across space and time in U.S. history. Employing a female-centered framework of analysis, course probes the intersections of race, class gender, and sexuality in women's lives.

 

533 Women and the Law. (3)

Introduces the legal aspects of women's rights, including the equal rights amendment to the U.S. Constitution; right to choose a name; sex discrimination in employment, education and credit; welfare and criminal justice. Also considers women in the field of law, such as lawyers and legislators.

 

534 Psychology of Women. (3)

Cross-listed as Psy 534. General education issues and perspectives course. Psychological assumptions, research and theories of the roles, behavior and potential of women in contemporary society. Prerequisite: Psy.111Q

 

535 Literary Images of Women: Diverse Voices. (3)

Cross-listed as Engl. 535. Explores literature written in English by women of diverse ethnic, racial, class, and other backgrounds as well as of varying sexual orientations, ages, and degrees of physical ability. Analyzes materials as literary works and as expressions of women's differences from one another. Works are selected based on their specific attention to the question of gender as it intersects with other elements of culture. Prerequisite: Eng. 101, 102 and one course in literature.

 

536 Writing by Women. (3)

Cross-listed as Engl. 536. Explores various themes in critical approaches to literature composed by women writers, especially those whose works have been underrepresented in the literary canon. Genres and time periods covered, critical theories explored and specific authors studied vary in different semesters.

 

537 Contemporary Women's Drama. (3)

Cross-listed as Engl. 537 Examines contemporary plays by and about women to discover and explore the insights of the various play-wrights into the lives and roles of women. Writers considered vary. In addition to reading and analyzing plays, students write plays of their own. Prerequisites: Engl 101 and 102 and 3 hours of English literature.

 

>541 Women, Children and Poverty. (3)

General education issues and perspectives course. Cross-listed as Soc.Wk.541. Addresses the problem of poverty among women in the U.S. today and e examines existing and proposed public policies designed to alleviate the problem. Explores theoretical models of poverty policy analysis and the role of values in their formulation and implementation. Discusses issues of age, race, and family; special attention to poverty among Kansas families. Prerequisites: 6 hours of social science preferably in women's studies, including Wom S. 287.

 

543 Women and Health. (3)

Cross-Listed as Nurse. 543. Examines the historical development of the women's health movement, focuses on current issues relevant to woman and health care and explores the roles of women in the health care system and as consumers of health care. Examines self-care practices of women and studies ways to promote positive health practices. Open to non-nursing majors.

 

570 Directed Readings. (1-3)

For students who wish to pursue special reading or research projects not covered in course work. Prerequisite: instructor's consent.

 

580 Special Topics. (1-3)

Focuses on advanced topics of interest to women's studies.

 

>586 Gender, Race, and Knowledge. (3)

Examines the impact of gender, and race on knowledge (understanding of objects, people, events, and activities.) Assumes that gender, race, and knowledge are socially constructed categories. Concerned with science as a practice of representation. Focuses on the white masculinist ideas or beliefs that motivate and affect the practice of academic disciplines. Considers: What is the relationship between the making of masculinity and femininity and science? How are gender and race woven into science and social science and with what results? Does the entrance of white women and people of color into sciences and humanities change how that are practiced? Do they produce significantly different understanding about the world? Central premise is that all knowledge emerges from some type of love or passion. What types of passion produce knowers, knowing and the known?

587 Theory of Feminism. (3)

Because feminism is not a single ideological stance or perspective, course examines a variety of ideas underlying feminist cultural critiques and visions for social change. Discusses the contribution of women's studies to various academic disciplines. Prerequisites Wom S. 287 and 387, or 6 hours of women's studies courses, or instructor's consent.

 

635 Leadership Techniques for Women. (3)

Cross-listed as Comm.635. Provides the woman student experience in decision making and improves skills in leadership through role playing and exercise in group dynamics.

Courses for
Graduate Students Only

870 Directed Readings. (2-3)

For graduate students to pursue research in areas not normally covered in course work. Repeatable for credit with departmental consent. Prerequisite: instructor's consent.

 

880 Seminar in Women's Studies. (3)

Intensive study of selected women's studies topics. Seminar discussion, reports and research project. Previous topics include Advanced Theories of Feminism and Contemporary Women's Fiction. Repeatable for credit with departmental consent. Prerequisite: instructor's consent.