Women's Studies
Office: 204 New England Bldg., website:
http://vassun.vassar.edu/~wmnstud/,
Phone: (845) 437-7140, e-mail: womenstudies@vassar.edu
Director: To be announced; Steering Committee:
Rodica Diaconescu-Blumenfeld (Italian), Ranita
Chatterjee (English/Women's Studies), Colleen Ballerino
Cohen (Anthropology/Women's Studies), Lisa Collins (Art),
Leslie Dunn (English), Robin Hackett (English/Women's
Studies), Diane Harriford (Sociology), Ann Imbrie (English),
Annea Lockwood (Music), Kirsten Menking (Geology), Seungsook
Moon (Sociology), Uma Narayan (Philosophy), Christine Reno
(French), Karen Robertson (English/Women's Studies), Jill
Schneiderman (Geography/Geology), Patricia Wallace
(English). Members of the Program: Elisabeth
Cardonne-Arlyck (French), Rodica Diaconescu-Blumenfeld
(Italian), Patricia-Pia Celerier (French), Ranita Chatterjee
(English/Women's Studies), Jennifer Church (Philosophy),
Colleen Ballerino Cohen (Anthropology/Women's Studies),
Miriam Cohen (History), Leslie Dunn (English), Janet Gray
(Psychology), Robin Hackett (English/Women's Studies), Diane
Harriford (Sociology), Ann Imbrie (English), Jean Kane
(English), Annea Lockwood (Music), Seungsook Moon
(Sociology), Uma Narayan (Philosophy), Christine Reno
(French), Karen Robertson (English/Women's Studies), Jill
Schneiderman (Geography/Geology), Mary Shanley (Political
Science), Denise Walen (Film), Patricia Wallace (English),
Susan Zlotnick (English). Participating Faculty: Mita
Choudhury (History), Lisa Collins (Art), Gretchen Gerzina
(English), Diane Harriford (Sociology), Luke Harris
(Political Science), Shirley Lans-Johnson (Economics),
Michael Joyce (English), Sarah Kozloff (Drama), Eileen
Leonard (Sociology), Kirsten Menking (Geology), Lisa
Paravisini-Gebert (Hispanic Studies), Robin Trainor
(Education), Adelaide Villmoare (Political Science), Yu Zhou
(Geology).
Students who wish to concentrate in the multidisciplinary
program in Women's Studies or elect the correlate sequence
should consult the director of the program. With an adviser
or advisers in the program, applicants plan a course of
study, tailored to their particular interests and needs in
the field. The concentration or correlate sequence must be
approved by the adviser or advisers and the director of the
program.
Requirements for Concentration: 12 units elected
from at least three disciplines, including: (1) Women's
Studies 130, Introduction to Women's Studies; (2) 1 unit in
feminist theory. Feminist theory courses include Philosophy
250, Political Science 278, Political Science 376; (3) 1
unit selected from Women's Studies 240, 241, or 251; (4)
Women's Studies 300, a 1-unit essay or project in the senior
year; (5) 3 additional units at the 300-level from the list
of Approved Courses. These courses must be taken in at least
two departments or one department and the Women's Studies
Program; (6) 5 additional courses from the list of Approved
Courses or the program's General List.
All courses should be chosen in consultation with the
adviser or the director of the program. No required courses
for a concentration in Women's Studies may be taken NRO, and
no more than 3 units may be taken as ungraded work. The
senior essay is graded.
Requirements for the Correlate Sequence: 6 graded
units including: (1) Women's Studies 130, Introduction to
Women's Studies; (2) 1 unit in feminist theory. Feminist
theory courses include Philosophy 250, Political Science
278, Political Science 376; (3) 4 other courses from the
list of Approved Courses, germane to the focus of the
correlate sequence. No more than 2 units may be taken at the
100-level and at least 1 unit must be at the 300-level.
Courses taken in the major may also fulfill requirements
in the correlate sequence, but the sequence must include
courses from at least three departments. It is recommended
that the correlate sequence adhere as closely as possible to
the plan outlined below.
Freshman or Sophomore 130 Introduction to Women's
Studies
Sophomore and Junior 200-level courses germane to the
sequence
Junior a course in feminist theory
Senior 300-level course germane to the sequence
I. Program Courses
130a. and b. Introduction to Women's Studies
(1)
Multidisciplinary study of the scholarship on women, with
an introduction to feminist theory and methodology. Includes
contemporary and historical experiences of women in private
and public spaces. Examination of how the concept of women
has been constructed in literature, science, the media and
other institutions, with attention to the way the
construction intersects with nationality, race, class and
sexuality.
Two 75-minute sessions.
181a. Issues in Feminism (1)
An introduction to issues in feminism with a focus on the
body, the representation of the body, and texuality.
Possible issues may include reproductive rights,
pornography, anorexia, prostitution, women in popular
culture and the female voice. Special attention is paid to
the intersections of race, class and gender. Ms.
Hackett.
Open only to Freshmen.
Two 75-minute sessions.
[220a. Medieval and Renaissance Culture: Women in
(1)
Renaissance Culture]
(Same as Medieval and Renaissance Studies 220a)
Not offered in 2000/01.
[230b. Women in Film] (1)
Not offered in 2000/01.
[231b. Women Making Music] (1)
(Same as Music 231)
Prerequisites: one unit in music or women's studies, or
by permission.
240a. Construction of Gender (1)
Topics vary from year to year. The topic for 2000/01 is
Representations of Women in American Popular Media.
From the perspective of feminist cultural studies the
course considers aspects of contemporary American culture:
movies, toys, television, popular fiction, cultural rituals
and ceremonies. The course may include the production of an
analytical video. Ms. Cohen, Ms. Robertson.
Two 75-minute sessions.
[241b. Feminist Approaches to Science and
Technology] (1)
(Same as Science, Technology, and Society 241)
Not offered in 2000/01.
250b. Women in Japanese and Chinese Literature
(1)
(Same as Asian Studies 250)
[251b. Global Feminism] (1)
Building upon the multicultural emphases of Introduction
to Women's Studies, this course focuses on issues pertinent
to women's experiences in different cultural and national
contexts, and on political formulations about the nature of
feminist practice in these contexts. It illuminates the ways
gender operates to structure women's activities and ideas
locally, regionally and globally. The course presents a
general review of relevant theoretical issues and debates
and also allows for concentrated work on specific issues and
in specific geographical areas, as determined by the
interest and expertise of the teaching faculty. Ms.
Celerier, Ms. Moon.
Two 75-minute sessions.
264b. Black Women in American History: Nineteenth and
(1)
Twentieth Centuries
(Same as Africana Studies 264) Ms. Collins.
Two 75-minute periods.
283b. Gender, Postcolonialism and Visual
Representation (1)
(Same as International Studies 283) This course explores
the politics of gender and visual representation in relation
to colonial and postcolonial histories. Centrally, the class
inquires into the status of the visual within wider systems
of knowledge and power. Through a historical focus on the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries, we address the issue of
authenticity, the commodification of the exotic, the
investment in primitivism, the female body on display, and
the notion of the "gaze" as we exhume the ways in which
ideology is uniquely enmeshed in visual culture. Primary
materials used are texts, films, and reproductions. Ms.
Kane
Two 75-minute periods.
285a. Gender and Social Space (1)
(Same as Urban Studies 285) This course explores the
inter-relation of gender and key spatial forms and practices
such as the home, the city, the hotel, migration, shopping,
community activism and walking at night. The course draws on
feminist theoretical work from diverse fields such as
geography, architecture, anthropology and urban studies not
only to begin to map the gendered divisions of the social
world but also to understand gender itself as a spatial
practice. Ms. Brawley.
Two 75-minute periods.
287a. Women and the Culture of Nature: Feminist
Environmentalism (1)
(Same as Urban Studies 287) This course is an
introduction to feminist environmentalism as a political
movement and an emerging critical field. We explore the ways
women have shaped the meaning of nature as naturalists,
gardeners, tourists, artists, scholars and activists. We
also explore a range of feminist theoretical approaches to
the environment and to environmental crisis, such as
critical ecofeminism, feminist movements to end
environmental racism, and Marxist-feminist critiques of
capitalist development. Ms. Brawley, Ms. Hackett.
Two 75-minute periods.
324b. Women's Parts: Women Interpreting Shakespeare
(1)
(Same as Drama 324) How have women positioned themselves
in relation to Shakespearean drama over the centuries? In
what ways have they used the texts as inspiration for their
own creative work? Women have taken up many roles in
response to Shakespeare's plays, including but not limited
to the "women's parts." This seminar considers women's
engagements with Shakespeare as both literary model and
cultural authority; we look at women as adaptors, directors,
actors and critics. Material ranges from the late sixteenth
century through the twentieth century and includes a wide
variety of contemporary feminist criticism. Authors may
include Margaret Cavendish, Mary Cowden Clarke, Helena
Faucit, Virginia Woolf, Isak Dinesen, Gloria Naylor, Zora
Neale Hurtston, Anne Marie MacDonald and Paula Vogel. Ms.
Dunn, Ms. Walen.
One 2-hour meeting per week.
366b. Vision and Critique in the Black Arts and
Women's (1)
Art Movements
(Same as Africana Studies and Art 366) Focusing on the
relationships between visual culture and social movements in
the U.S., this seminar examines the arts, institutions, and
ideas of the Black Arts movement and Women's Art movement of
the 1960s and 1970s. Analyzing paintings, photographs,
posters, quilts, collages, murals, manifestos, mixed-media
works, installations, films, performances, and various
systems of creation, collaboration, and display, we explore
connections between art, politics, and society. Ms.
Collins.
One 2-hour meeting per week.
375a. Seminar in Women's Studies (1)
Addressing developments in the new scholarship on women,
and in feminist theory and methodology, the seminar is
team-taught by two faculty members from different
disciplines, and affords students the opportunity to present
their own scholarly work in the field. The topic varies from
year to year. The course takes up issues of gender, family,
and political life in the United States, using historical,
philosophical, and literary sources.
Topic for 2000/01: Brave New Families. This course
studies changes in the portrayals of American families in
literature, public policy, and law , and explores the
narratives (legal, personal, literary) in which those
changes are articulated. Topics we look at include different
understandings of family in various cultural groups in the
United States, multi-racial families (whether formed by
intermarriage or adoption), gay and lesbian families, and
families formed by use of assisted reproductive technology
("surrogacy" and sperm and egg donation). The course also
examines the contested discourse surrounding the idea of
motherhood. We ask whether and how it is possible to
articulate general ethical and legal principles to govern
family formation and relationships in a pluralistic society.
Throughout the course we consider the question of the
propriety of public regulation of family life, and the role
of narrative in shaping and reshaping both popular and legal
understandings of families. What forces shape the narratives
in which we tell our understandings of family, and what
forms do those narratives take?
We read a variety of works including fiction, poetry,
literary and political theory, as well as various court
decisions. The course includes such authors as Octavia
Butler, Barbara Kingsolver, Toni Morrison, Nell Painter,
Adrienne Rich, Hannah Arendt, as well as various court
decisions.
Ms. Shanley, Ms. Wallace.
Open to junior and seniors majoring in women's studies,
taking the correlate sequence or concentrating in related
fields.
One 2-hour meeting per week.
380b. Queer Theory (1)
This seminar is an exploration of queer theory from
historical and feminist perspectives. Often queer theory and
feminist theory are setup in opposition to one another, as
are queer theorists and feminist theorists. This course
looks for theoretical and historical links between these two
modes of thinking that have practical implications for
social activism on the street and in the academy. Readings
include gender, race and sexological theories of this
century, as well as literature that has been part of late
twentieth-century liberation movements including journalism,
fiction, poetry, drama, and film. Ms. Hackett.
Prerequisites: Introduction to Sociology, Introduction to
English or a 200-level
Women's Studies course.
One 2-hour meeting per week.
382b. "Unspeakable Things Unspoken" The Female Voice
in the (1)
Novels of Toni Morrison
An exploration of the writings of Toni Morrison as well
as critical essays on her work. Class discussions involve
close readings of her seven novels as well as her critical
work. Ms. Gerzina.
One 2-hour meeting per week.
II. Reading Courses
Prerequisite for reading courses: Women's Studies 130 and
one additional Women's Studies course or course from the
list of Approved Courses. Permission of the director is
required for all reading courses.
297.02. Lesbian Sex and Politics in the United States
(1/2)
The program.
297.03. Constructing American Masculinities
(1/2)
The program.
297.04. Women and Sport
(1/2)
The program.
III. Independent Work
Prerequisite for fieldwork or independent study: 2 units
of work in Women's Studies or from the list of Approved
Courses. Permission of the director is required for all
independent work.
290a or b. Field Work (1/2 or
1)
298a or b. Independent Study
(1/2 or 1)
300a-300b. Senior Thesis or Project
(1/2,
1/2)
A 1-unit thesis or project written in two semesters.
399a or b. Senior Independent Study
(1/2 or 1)
IV. Approved Courses.
Below is a partial list of Approved Courses. For current
offerings, consult the list circulated each term by the
program, together with the Women's Studies
Handbook.
American Culture 275 From Melting Pot to Multiculturalism
(1)
Asian Studies 240 Women in China (1)
Education 297.03 The Adolescent in American Society
(1/2)
Education 297.11 Sexism, Racism, and Ageism in the
Curriculum (1/2)
English 262 Post Colonial Literatures (1)
English 319 Race and Its Metaphors (1)
English 326 Studies in Ethnic American Literature (1)
Environmental Studies 103 Earth System Science and
Environmental Justice (1)
French 266 Contemporary African and Caribbean Writers
(1)
History 259 The History of the Family in Early Modern
Europe (1)
History 260 Women in the United States to 1890 (1)
Political Science 237 Law of Race and Gender (1)
Political Science 346 Seminar in American Politics
(1)
Sociology 236 Women, Men, and Social Change in East Asia
(1)
V. General Courses
Consult the list circulated each term by the program,
together with the Women's Studies Handbook.