May 10, 2024

Course Catalog 2021-2022

Course Catalog 2021-2022 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions

Students planning a program of study or concentration are urged to review program requirements and course descriptions before meeting with their advisors. Not all courses listed here are taught every year, and students should consult the Course Schedule on the Wheaton website for information about offerings in a particular semester. Courses are numbered to indicate levels of advancement as follows: 100–199, elementary or introductory; 200–299, intermediate; 300 and above, advanced. Departments often design new courses, either to be offered on a one-time basis or an experimental basis, before deciding whether to make them a regular part of the curriculum. These courses are numbered 098, 198, 298 or 398.

Information is available online through WINDOW about prerequisites that must be completed before enrolling in a course, as well as the curriculum and general education requirements that a course fulfills. Most courses are offered for one course credit; a course credit at Wheaton is the equivalent of four semester hours.

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Women’s and Gender Studies
	WGS 239 - Families in Transition See SOC 235 for course description. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with SOC 235 Area Social Sciences Connection 20078 Division Social Sciences Compass Attributes Social Science
	WGS 240 - Identity, Genre and Poetry Contemporary poems have often embraced the complexities of identity, revealing untold stories and unheard perspectives. This course introduces you to the study of poetry by focusing on how identity gets associated with types of poetry and what individual poets do to subvert or refuse those associations. We will ask questions, such as what gender has to do with categories such as race, class and sexuality in the writing of poetry? How do aesthetic or formal choices make us think differently about race? How do contemporary poems call back to poems from different periods and cultures to rethink a particular form, such as the sonnet or the fragmentation associated with High Modernism? Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ENG 240 Area Humanities Connection 23004, 20085 Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Humanities, Structure/Power/Inequality, Taylor and Lane Scholars
	WGS 241 - Women in United States Economy Theories and empirical analysis of women’s work in the United States. Topics include the influence of feminist thought on economics, a multicultural history of women’s work, labor force participation, occupational distribution and wages, the gender division of labor in household production (housework and child rearing) and related policy issues. Cross listed with ECON 241 . Prerequisites ECON 101 or ECON 102 or ECON 112 or WGS 101 or Permission of Instructor Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ECON 241 Area Social Sciences Connection 23005 Division Social Sciences Compass Attributes Social Science, Structure/Power/Inequality, Taylor and Lane Scholars
	WGS 247 - Archetypes in Black Women’s Fiction The primary purpose of English 247 is to look for recurring character types in fiction written by contemporary African American women authors from the end of the Civil Rights era (1970s) to the present. And we will also examine the works in their cultural contexts, seeking to understand how the texts reflect the racial and gender concerns of their historical periods. Ultimately, English 247 fosters literary appreciation of African American women’s fiction. Prerequisites Open to Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ENG 247 Area Humanities Connection 20034, 23005 Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Humanities
	WGS 250 - Feminism, Philosophy and the Law See PHIL 255 for course description. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with PHIL 255 Area Humanities Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Humanities
	WGS 251 - Love and Marriage See ITAS 250 for course description. Credits 1 Notes Course taught in English. Cross-listed with ITAS 250 Area Humanities Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Humanities
	WGS 255 - Women in Africa What contributions have women made to the societies of Africa prior to colonialism? How and why did colonialism affect men and women differently? What are the implications of gender inequality for economic development in Africa today? These questions are considered from ethnographic, autobiographical and fictional accounts. Gender, class and cultural identity will be focal points. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ANTH 255 Area Social Sciences Connection 23001 Division Social Sciences Foundation Beyond the West Compass Attributes Social Science
	WGS 256 - The Ancient Romance Stories of lovers destined to be separated and reunited, of pirates and thieves, false death and miraculous revival, of identity lost and found. From Homer’s Odyssey through Daphnis and Chloe and The Ethiopian Tale to utopian and picaresque literature, Petronius’ Satyricon and the historical fantasy The Romance of Alexander the Great. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with CLAS 256 Division Arts and Humanities
	WGS 260 - Gender Inequality See SOC 260 for course description. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with SOC 260 Area Social Sciences Connection 20008, 23004 Division Social Sciences Compass Attributes Social Science
	WGS 262 - Women and Development This course focuses some of the central development problems in the Global South (poverty, hunger, infectious disease, illiteracy) and how our thinking about these issues changed once women were entered into the development equation. The backdrop to the issues we will tackle is the re-organization of the global political economy and the way that different actors in the business of development (international bodies such as the UN and its subsidiaries, national governments, multinational corporations and trade bodies, NGOs and Aid agencies, and the local recipients of aid) understand the fundamental problems causing underdevelopment and the solutions that they affirm. While we will consider the big picture of development from the top down, our key focus will remain on how women and men in the Global South understand and cope with the key development challenges they face in a rapidly changing world. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ANTH 260 Area Social Sciences Division Social Sciences Foundation Beyond the West Compass Attributes Social Science
	WGS 266 - Gender, Power and the Gods An introduction to the study of the public and private lives of women in Mediterranean antiquity from classical Athens and Rome to late antiquity (fifth century B.C.E. to fourth century C.E.). The relationship of secular authority to religious custom in the Greco-Roman city-states and empires, and the social status of women within these cultures as understood (and misunderstood) by civic institutions and religious customs, including medicine, law, mythology, art and politics. Special attention to religious practices that allowed women more visible and powerful social identities, including state festivals, the so-called mystery cults, and the emerging Rabbinic (Jewish) and Christian traditions. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with CLAS 266 Area Humanities Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Humanities
	WGS 267 - Weimar and Nazi Cinema and Culture This course examines the films of the Weimar and Nazi periods and their socio-historical, politico-cultural and aesthetic contexts of production. It covers a wide variety of works from the early beginnings of German cinema to the end of WWII. Each week is thematically structured around one film and several readings, on topics such as “the male gaze,” “mass culture and modernity”, or “fascist aesthetics.” (Previously Lulu, Lola and Leni: Women of German Cinema) Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with GER 267 . Area Humanities Connection 23014 Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Humanities
	WGS 270 - Gender and Education Gender plays a significant but not always obvious role in the lives of individual students, teachers, and policymakers in American education. Examining both P-12 schools and colleges, this course explores schools as sites for learning and teaching about gender, and as gendered workplaces for teachers and administrators. We explore ways that gender and gender identities affect students’ school experience, both in school culture and in the curriculum (direct instruction and “hidden curriculum”); gender differences in achievement and educational choices; curricular efforts to challenge gender assumptions; ways that teachers enact, construct, and challenge the gendered nature of education; and teaching as a gendered profession. We also investigate Wheaton College as a gendered setting. This course is cross listed with EDUC 270 . Credits 1 Notes Cross listed with EDUC 270 Area Social Sciences Connection CONX20008, CONX23004 Division Social Sciences Compass Attributes Social Science, Structure/Power/Inequality, Taylor and Lane Scholars
	WGS 272 - Romancing the Novel See ENG 272 for course description. Prerequisites ENG 101 or AP English credit Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ENG 272 Area Social Sciences Connection 23006 Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Humanities
	WGS 274 - Black in Berlin On a map of contemporary Berlin, Germany, we find a subway station called “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and a street named after Jesse Owens. Owens upset Nazi theories of white physical superiority by winning four gold medals for the U.S. in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Berlin reflects African American history in these and many more historical, political and cultural traces. This seminar will compare the troubled histories of the U.S. and Germany as we investigate the very different, but interwoven, changing definitions of, and expectations for, race, gender and identity. We will begin by considering Berlin as an unexpected place of openness and opportunity for African Americans, as it was here that W.E.B. DuBois analyzed race not as a biological but as a social phenomenon. We will continue to the deadly racial catastrophes of the early twentieth century and the changing social and economic climates of both countries. We will continue the course with the ecstatic German welcome of presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008 and the hope for a new post- racial era. Our final weeks will examine present day Afro-German culture. Questions of gender and intersectionality infuse every topic of Black in Berlin, from the first readings on Colonialism to the last week on contemporary Afro-German culture. Through film, music, fiction, art, essays, newspapers and interviews we will discuss the following topics: · German colonialism in Africa · German universities and black intellectuals · 19th & 20th century travel and expat communities · Jesse Owens and the black athlete in Germany · American G.I.s in Germany after WWII · Audre Lorde’s Berlin Years · Obama in Berlin 2008 · Contemporary German hip-hop & rap This course is cross listed with GER 270 Black in Berlin . Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with GER 270 Black in Berlin . Course taught in English. Area Humanities Division Arts and Humanities Foundation Beyond the West Compass Attributes Humanities, Structure/Power/Inequality, Taylor and Lane Scholars
	WGS 275 - Disability and Difference Disability Studies examines the societal treatment and lived experiences of people with disabilities. While disability is often seen as a deviation from “normal” functioning, it is a near-universal human experience. This class takes a critical approach to disability, asking questions like: To what extent is disability “natural,” and to what extent is it mediated by cultural norms, medicine, and politics? What does disability, in combination with gender, class, race, and age, reveal about power and inequality in society? And how might we work toward a future in which more people can be meaningfully included in the life of our society? Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with SOC 275 Area Social Sciences Division Social Sciences Compass Attributes Social Science
	WGS 284 - Women in Russian Culture See RUSS 284 for course description. Credits 1 Notes Course taught in English. Cross-listed with RUSS 284 Area Humanities Connection 23020 Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Humanities
	WGS 285 - Women and Politics This course examines the way those who identify or are identified as women have been excluded from the political arena all over the world, and the ways in which their increasing participation has changed the way politics is done. This course is organized into two sections. The first part examines the effect of gender on the political process, focusing on women’s political participation and representation. The second part of the course reviews some of the key policy concerns of women around the world, including economic opportunity, education, health, and physical autonomy. Credits 1 Notes Cross-referenced with POLS 285 Area Social Sciences Division Social Sciences Foundation Beyond the West Compass Attributes Structure/Power/Inequality, Taylor and Lane Scholars
	WGS 290 - The Psychology of Women Examines psychological theories and research about women and gender. Discusses similarities as well as gender differences and the multiple causes for those differences. Explores the ways in which ethnicity, class and sexual orientation interact with gender in the U.S. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with PSY 290 Area Social Sciences Connection 23004, 23005 Division Social Sciences Compass Attributes Social Science
	WGS 291 - Sociology of Sexualities See SOC 290 for course description. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with SOC 290 Area Social Sciences Connection 20078 Division Social Sciences Compass Attributes Social Science
	WGS 298 - Fashioning Selves: Performing Identity in Dress See THEA 298 for course description. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with THEA 298 .
	WGS 298 - Horror Film and the Unruly Body See FNMS 298 for course description Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with FNMS 298
	WGS 298 - Le donne in Italia A version of ITAS 235 Women in Modern Italy, taught in Italian. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ITAS 298 .
	WGS 298 - Masculinities This course surveys the meaning(s) of “masculinity” as this concept has developed in the 20th and 21st centuries, particularly (but not only) in the United States. In so doing, the class seeks to understand how a bundle of disparate forces, values, and norms came to be associated with this term, such that it could be mobilized to justify and/or buttress a wide range of power structures in our society. The course then considers what resources exist within the concept of masculinity - or what resources could be added to it - to better understand, critique, and ameliorate these power structures. WGS 298 thus engages students with questions and texts that explore how social structures systematically advantage and reward some groups and disadvantage others, and the way that individuals and groups have reinforced, resisted, modified, and challenged these structures. It also explores disparities in access, opportunities, or benefits of natural, cultural, social, legal, political, and economic structures, systems or institutions. Credits 1 Compass Attributes Structure/Power/Inequality, Taylor and Lane Scholars
	WGS 298 - Power, Sex, Gender and Global Health Inequality shapes the ways that world health issues are experienced by individuals and communities across cultures. This course focuses on (1) how unequal access to power shapes reproductive health, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and other forms of gender-based health disparities; and (2). how power imbalances shapes the knowledge produced in the growing field of global health. The course will provide students with a survey of the ways gender shapes global health issues whilst also focusing their attention on the cultures implicit in medicine and public health regimes. Credits 1 Notes Last offered Spring 2018
	WGS 298 - Race & Ethnicity in Child Literature Children’s literature offers a special space for considerations of identity. While a presumed homogeneity of that identity has often been a point of fervent pride, protest, counter-protest, and reimagining, race and ethnicity are as deeply interwoven with the subject of childhood as invocations of children have been to the political discourse surrounding race and ethnicity. This course engages that discourse by offering literary representations of young peoples in racialized contexts paired with critical vocabularies attuned to equity and social justice. Key children’s and adolescent texts include but are not limited to poetry, memoir, speculative fiction, and graphic novels. Critical thinking in the form of class discussion, academic writing, and multimodal production is anticipated. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ENG 298
	WGS 298 - Sociology of Militarism: Race, Gender, Class and US Empire See SOC 298 for course description. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with SOC 298
	WGS 299 - Independent Study An opportunity to do independent work in a particular area not included in the regular courses. Credits 1
	WGS 301 - Fashion, Sex and the City What is fashion? Is it just about clothing and appearances? How does fashion relate to material culture, art, politics, ideology? How has Italy contributed to the development of the fashion system? What is the origin of the “Made in Italy” and how did it transform the country into a global economic powerhouse? In order to answer these questions, “Fashion, Sex and the City” explores the development of fashion in Italy between the 14th and the 21st centuries, highlighting the links between clothing, gender and urban development; appearance, eroticism and morality; the fashion industry, national identity and globalization. (Taught in English) Credits 1 Notes Course taught in English. Cross-listed with ITAS 310 Area Humanities Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Global Honors, Humanities
	WGS 310 - Gender, Race, and Nation This is a course on feminist epistemology. It examines how various forms of feminist knowledge are constructed and deconstructs notions such as “woman,” gender, gender oppression, patriarchy, women’s liberation, women’s rights and sisterhood. The course examines contentious debates about and among Western, Third World, global, postcolonial, poststructural and transnational feminisms. Prerequisites Two courses in either Women and Gender Studies and/or Sociology Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with SOC 310 Area Social Sciences Connection 23006 Division Social Sciences Foundation Beyond the West Compass Attributes Global Honors, Social Science
	WGS 311 - Violence against Women This seminar explores the nature of violence against women, focusing on current research on woman battering, rape, child sexual abuse and pornography. Students will compare theoretical approaches and will critically examine empirical research. The impact of race, ethnicity and class on the abuse experience are considered. A major part of the seminar involves original research by students on an issue of their choice. The semester will culminate in a symposium on violence against women organized by seminar members. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ANTH 311 and SOC 311 Permission of Instructor Area Social Sciences Division Social Sciences Compass Attributes Social Science, Structure/Power/Inequality, Taylor and Lane Scholars
	WGS 312 - Feminist Theory This advanced-level course is designed to explore in depth many of the theoretical frameworks and methodological issues that are touched upon in women’s studies and gender-balanced courses. The course focuses on historical and contemporary writings from a range of perspectives, including liberal feminism, radical feminism, socialist feminism and postmodernism. Special topics such as racism, lesbianism and international women’s issues are also examined. Credits 1 Notes Open to Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors. Cross-listed with PHIL 312 and ENG 312 Area Humanities Connection 23005 Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Humanities, Structure/Power/Inequality, Taylor and Lane Scholars
	WGS 317 - Queer Theory Developed partly in response to the AIDS epidemic and to make sense of the continued marginalization of people who were not heterosexual, queer theory is a field of inquiry aimed at understanding difference and inequality. The central subjects of queer theory are people marginalized due to their gender or sexuality. Queer theory also asks how “queer” can help us understand a broad range of stigmatized differences: as resistance to the “normal.” This course examines both the intellectual roots of queer theory and its branches into areas like transgender studies, disability studies, and more. Prerequisites One WGS course or Permission of Instructor Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with SOC 317 Area Social Sciences Division Social Sciences Compass Attributes Social Science, Structure/Power/Inequality, Taylor and Lane Scholars
	WGS 320 - Race, Gender and Poverty See SOC 320 for course description. Prerequisites Open to Juniors and Seniors or by Permission of Instructor` Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with SOC 320 Area Social Sciences Division Social Sciences Compass Attributes Social Science
	WGS 324 - The 18th Century Novel Before the 18th century, novels in English did not exist. By the end of the 18th century, however, many cultural figures worried about the seemingly obsessive novel reading that was going on among young (particularly female) readers. This course will examine what changed between 1700 and 1800 to make the novel the most important genre of English literature. We will explore the novel as a historical and literary phenomenon. We will see the many ways that the novel answered the grand social and cultural questions which dominated the 18th century. What is the difference between men and women? What makes a human life worthwhile? How should I relate to my family and loved ones? What makes a story seem truthful or false? By reading the prose of Defoe, Haywood, Richardson, Fielding, Sterne, Burney and Austen, we shall find out. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ENG 325 Compass Attributes Structure/Power/Inequality, Global Honors
	WGS 325 - Early Modern Feminism: Spain and the New World The history of women in Golden Age Spain is a largely untapped field. In early modern Spain, church and state, helped by the powerful Inquisition, promptly extended their dominance from the control of basic expression of faith to the domain of daily life, of personal privacy, and inside this sphere, sexual behaviors. Women were not spared in this general domestication of minds and bodies. On the contrary, in this patriarchal and catholic society all eyes were focused on their writings, talk, body and its image, sexuality, and faith, even their dreams and visions. In this course we will examine the position of women in religious, political, literary, and economic life. Drawing on both historical and literary approaches we will challenge the portrait of Spanish women as passive and marginalized, showing that despite forces working to exclude them, women in Golden Age Spain influenced religious life and politics and made vital contributions to economic and cultural life. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with HISP 320 Compass Attributes Foreign Language, Global Honors, Structure/Power/Inequality, Taylor and Lane Scholars
	WGS 326 - Queer Politics and Hispanisms This course will provide a framework to study the historical and theoretical foundations of queer theory and queer activism. We will explore how queer theory problematizes stable identities in Latin American, Latin@ and Iberian cultures. We will discuss what happens when people challenge or refuse normativized sexuality and gender categories and look at how queer citizens are caught within the processes of nationalism, neocolonialism, globalization and neoliberalism. We will start the semester reading canonical texts by Michel Foucault, Teresa de Lauretis, Eve Sedgwick, Judith Butler, Gayle Rubin, Judith Halberstam or Gloria Anzaldúa that will help us understand the interdisciplinary scholarship that we will explore during the second half of the semester. The second part of the course will address the question of queerness by analyzing literature, film and cultural products focusing primarily on explicit representation of LGBTQ characters and communities in Latin American, Latin@ and Iberian cultures. Credits 1 Notes Course taught in English. Cross-listed with HISP 325 Area Humanities Connection 20058, 23003, 23006 Division Arts and Humanities Foundation Beyond the West Compass Attributes Foreign Language, Global Honors, Humanities, Structure/Power/Inequality, Taylor and Lane Scholars
	WGS 331 - Other Voices, Other Stories: Great Works by Women from France and the Francophone World In this course we study novels and short stories by contemporary women writers whose work defies traditional literary forms and introduces new modes of expression, whether as narrative experiments, figures of discourse or alternative texts” the body, for example, as metaphor or “text.” We explore how these writers respond to marginalization, subjugation or oppression through literature and how their stories operate on a political level. The course begins with a short introduction to French feminist theory. Authors may include Cixous, Leclerc, Duras, Letessier, Ernaux, Djébar, Tadjo, Bâ, Sow Fall. Credits 1 Notes Before enrolling in a 300-level course, students should have completed at least two of the required courses at the 200-level (FR 235, FR 236, and FR 245). Prerequisites may be waived by the instructor for students with special preparation. Course taught in French. Cross-listed with FR 331 Area Humanities Connection 23006 Division Arts and Humanities Foundation Beyond the West Compass Attributes Humanities, Global Honors, Taylor and Lane Scholars
	WGS 341 - Sex and Culture in the 19th Century U.S. Examines the history of thinking about the nature and meaning of sexuality, with particular attention to the religious, medical, psychiatric and sexological discourses in the United States and Europe; popular responses to these discourses; and the changing boundaries between “normality” and “deviance.” Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with HIST 341 Area History Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Humanities
	WGS 343 - Fictions of the Modern See ENG 343 for course description. Prerequisites Open to Seniors, Juniors and Sophomores who have taken ENG 290 or by Permission of Instructor Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ENG 343
	WGS 344 - Medieval Sex, Gender & Body This class explores how historians study sex, gender, and the body in medieval Europe and Byzantium, especially in religious contexts. We will focus on historiography and methodology through topics such as the role of women, manipulation of bodies by torture and asceticism, and blurring of traditional gender lines through same-sex relations, cross-dressing and castration. Credits 1 Notes Open to Juniors and Seniors or by Permission of Instructor. Cross-listed with HIST 344 Area History Compass Attributes Global Honors, Structure/Power/Inequality, Taylor & Lane Scholars
	WGS 350 - The Social Life of Gender See ANTH 350 for course description. Prerequisites ANTH 102 or WGS 101 Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ANTH 350 Area Social Sciences Connection 23006 Division Social Sciences Foundation Beyond the West Compass Attributes Social Science
	WGS 356 - The Ancient Romance See CLAS 256 for course description. Students at the 300 level will do extra reading, writing and research in projects directed by the instructor. Prerequisites Open to Classics, Classical Civilization, Ancient Studies Majors or by Permission of Instructor Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with CLAS 356
	WGS 366 - Gender, Power and the Gods See CLAS 366 for course description. Prerequisites Open only to Classics, Classical Civilization, Ancient Studies or Women’s and Gender Studies Majors or by Permission of Instructor Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with CLAS 366
	WGS 370 - Contemporary Women Writers of the Hispanic World This course introduces the students to the study of narrative written by contemporary Spanish women authors from the end of the Civil War (1939) to the present. We will approach the texts from a dual perspective. On the one hand, we will analyze the works in their socio-political and cultural context. On the other hand, we will study the works at the textual level, i.e., analyzing the text itself, its trends and its main elements: plot, themes, characters, techniques, narrative voices and the reader’s role in the work. Prerequisites HISP 240 or Permission of Instructor Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with HISP 370 Area Humanities Division Arts and Humanities Foundation Foreign Language Compass Attributes Foreign Language, Humanities
	WGS 371 - Women at Work: Art History and Feminism This course considers the ways feminist scholarship has transformed the discipline of art history, examining the rediscovery of exceptional women artists from the 1970s onward, as well as recent feminist critics’ efforts to redefine the structure of the field. Students examine two overlapping categories of work; the production of women artists and patrons, and the textual contributions of feminist scholars and critics. The rationale for this new course is to strengthen the department’ ties to women’ studies and to broaden the theoretical focus of the history of art major. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ARTH 370 Area Humanities Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Humanities
	WGS 372 - Masculinity and American Art See ARTH 371 for course description. Prerequisites One 200-level History of Art course or higher or Permission of Instructor Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ARTH 371 Area Humanities Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Humanities
	WGS 374 - Black in Berlin On a map of contemporary Berlin, Germany, we find a subway station called “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and a street named after Jesse Owens. Owens upset Nazi theories of white physical superiority by winning four gold medals for the U.S. in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Berlin reflects African American history in these and many more historical, political and cultural traces. This seminar will compare the troubled histories of the U.S. and Germany as we investigate the very different, but interwoven, changing definitions of, and expectations for, race, gender and identity. We will begin by considering Berlin as an unexpected place of openness and opportunity for African Americans, as it was here that W.E.B. DuBois analyzed race not as a biological but as a social phenomenon. We will continue to the deadly racial catastrophes of the early twentieth century and the changing social and economic climates of both countries. We will continue the course with the ecstatic German welcome of presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008 and the hope for a new post- racial era. Our final weeks will examine present day Afro-German culture. Questions of gender and intersectionality infuse every topic of Black in Berlin, from the first readings on Colonialism to the last week on contemporary Afro-German culture. Through film, music, fiction, art, essays, newspapers and interviews we will discuss the following topics: · German colonialism in Africa · German universities and black intellectuals · 19th & 20th century travel and expat communities · Jesse Owens and the black athlete in Germany · American G.I.s in Germany after WWII · Audre Lorde’s Berlin Years · Obama in Berlin 2008 · Contemporary German hip-hop & rap This course is cross listed with GER 370 Black in Berlin . Prerequisites GER 240 Advanced German or Permission of Instructor. Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with GER 370 . Course taught in German. Area Humanities Division Arts and Humanities Foundation Beyond the West, Foreign Language Compass Attributes Humanities, Structure/Power/Inequality, Taylor and Lane Scholars, Foreign Language
	WGS 376 - Literary and Cultural Theory See ENG 376 for course description. Prerequisites Two courses in English Literature or Permission of Instructor. Open to Junior and Seniors Credits 1
	WGS 377 - Feminist Criticism See ENG 377 for course description. Prerequisites Two courses in literature and/or Women’s and Gender Studies. Open to Juniors and Seniors only Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ENG 377 Area Humanities Connection 23005 Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Humanities
	WGS 384 - Women in Russian Culture Advanced See RUSS 284 for course description. Prerequisites Permission of Instructor Credits 1 Notes Course taught in English. Cross-listed with RUSS 384 . Area Humanities Connection 23020 Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Humanities
	WGS 386 - Young Adult Literature What is Young Adult literature? Is it anything written for young people (aged 12 to 17? 10 to 25?) or is it literature appropriated by the young? Is it characteristically edgy? hopeful? defined by power relations? by abjection? Can it be canonical? What counts as a crossover novel? … In addition to grappling with criticism and theory, we’ll explore a wide range of literature for young adults, including science fiction, graphic fiction, poetry, and realistic fiction. The works address such topics as sex, love, LGBTQ, racism, violence, rape, the media, incest, history, hope, despair. Students will write frequently and create an online anthology. Prerequisites At least one English course at the 200-level or above or one Education course Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with ENG 386 Area Humanities Division Arts and Humanities Compass Attributes Humanities
	WGS 398 - Queer Cinema See FNMS 398 for course description Credits 1 Notes Cross-listed with FNMS 398
	WGS 398 - Queer Cinema and TV What does mean to “queer” a film? How have LGBTQ+ artists created space for themselves on television? The seminar will focus on queer media, with the goal of exploring how film and television shape the perception of sexual and gendered identities (particularly at intersection with other forms of difference including race, class, region, and disability). The class will be organized chronologically, moving from classical Hollywood cinema through queer representation in a post-marriage equality world. Queer theory, television studies, critical race theory, and feminist readings will be interwoven through the course, and texts examined will range from Paris is Burning and Moonlight to Orange is the New Black and Black Mirror. Credits 1 Notes Last offered Spring 2018
	WGS 398 - Women in Film This course is formulated around paradoxes: it will trouble the category of “woman,” while also analyzing key areas in which gender identity has affected the film industry: the representation of women, women filmmakers (cis, trans, non-binary, and otherwise self-identifying), and feminist film theory. Students will watch films from Rear Window and Daughters of the Dust to The Witch and Legally Blonde, with the goal of illuminating how the idea of “woman” is constructed on film and how audiences engage, reshape, and elaborate on that construction in their everyday lives. Prerequisites Students are strongly encouraged to have taken either FNMS 258, WGS 101 or WGS 102 prior to taking this course. Credits 1 Notes Course is cross-listed with FNMS 398 Women in Film
	WGS 399 - Independent Study Advanced students, in consultation with an instructor, may arrange to pursue independent study on topics not covered by the regular course offerings. Credits 1
	WGS 401 - Senior Seminar A semester of directed reading and research where students will examine significant issues at the forefront of feminist theory and research, as well as the principal theoretical debates within the field of women’s studies. Topics chosen for discussion will depend on class interest, recent research and timeliness. Potential topics include postcolonial feminisms, women and war, and black feminist theory. Prerequisites Open only to Senior Women’s and Gender Studies Majors and Minors Credits 1
	WGS 499 - Independent Research Advanced students, in consultation with an instructor, may arrange to pursue independent study on topics not covered by the regular course offerings. Credits 1
	WGS 500 - Individual Research Open to senior majors by invitation of the Program. All other interested students should speak with the program coordinator or Women’s Studies academic advisor. Credits 1
Wheaton Credit Internship
	WCI 098 - Wheaton Credit Internship This course, designed for students who have secured an internship, integrates on-site and academic learning. Supervised by a faculty member, students consider academic perspectives that complement and contextualize their internship experience. Course credit varies from .25 to 1 credit, depending upon the internship and the nature of the course work. Before enrolling in a WCI course, students must complete a WCI Internship Agreement Form detailing the plan for the internship, and obtain signatures from Career Services, the internship onsite supervisor, and the faculty supervisor. Prerequisites Secured Internship Credits .25 to 1 Notes This course is graded as “Pass” or “Fail.” A grade of “P” is not factored into a student’s grade point average, and does not count as one of the three “P” grades that a student can earn through the “G/P/F” option. A grade of “F” will be factored into a student’s grade point average.

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Course Descriptions

WGS 239 - Families in Transition

WGS 240 - Identity, Genre and Poetry

WGS 241 - Women in United States Economy

WGS 247 - Archetypes in Black Women’s Fiction

WGS 250 - Feminism, Philosophy and the Law

WGS 251 - Love and Marriage

WGS 255 - Women in Africa

WGS 256 - The Ancient Romance

WGS 260 - Gender Inequality

WGS 262 - Women and Development

WGS 266 - Gender, Power and the Gods

WGS 267 - Weimar and Nazi Cinema and Culture

WGS 270 - Gender and Education

WGS 272 - Romancing the Novel

WGS 274 - Black in Berlin

WGS 275 - Disability and Difference

WGS 284 - Women in Russian Culture

WGS 285 - Women and Politics

WGS 290 - The Psychology of Women

WGS 291 - Sociology of Sexualities

WGS 298 - Fashioning Selves: Performing Identity in Dress

WGS 298 - Horror Film and the Unruly Body

WGS 298 - Le donne in Italia

WGS 298 - Masculinities

WGS 298 - Power, Sex, Gender and Global Health

WGS 298 - Race & Ethnicity in Child Literature

WGS 298 - Sociology of Militarism: Race, Gender, Class and US Empire

WGS 299 - Independent Study

WGS 301 - Fashion, Sex and the City

WGS 310 - Gender, Race, and Nation

WGS 311 - Violence against Women

WGS 312 - Feminist Theory

WGS 317 - Queer Theory

WGS 320 - Race, Gender and Poverty

WGS 324 - The 18th Century Novel

WGS 325 - Early Modern Feminism: Spain and the New World

WGS 326 - Queer Politics and Hispanisms

WGS 331 - Other Voices, Other Stories: Great Works by Women from France and the Francophone World

WGS 341 - Sex and Culture in the 19th Century U.S.

WGS 343 - Fictions of the Modern

WGS 344 - Medieval Sex, Gender & Body

WGS 350 - The Social Life of Gender

WGS 356 - The Ancient Romance

WGS 366 - Gender, Power and the Gods

WGS 370 - Contemporary Women Writers of the Hispanic World

WGS 371 - Women at Work: Art History and Feminism

WGS 372 - Masculinity and American Art

WGS 374 - Black in Berlin

WGS 376 - Literary and Cultural Theory

WGS 377 - Feminist Criticism

WGS 384 - Women in Russian Culture Advanced

WGS 386 - Young Adult Literature

WGS 398 - Queer Cinema

WGS 398 - Queer Cinema and TV

WGS 398 - Women in Film

WGS 399 - Independent Study

WGS 401 - Senior Seminar

WGS 499 - Independent Research

WGS 500 - Individual Research

WCI 098 - Wheaton Credit Internship