Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Fall 2024 Course List

 

WGS 101 Introduction to Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

An introduction to Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and to its perspectives. The course will use interdisciplinary perspectives to begin to examine the categories of gender and sexuality, as they intersect with race, ethnicity, class, nationality, disability, and other sites of social inequality. General Education Requirements: Ethics, Social Contexts and Institutions, and Cultural Diversity and International Perspectives (0001, MW, 2:00 -3:15 pm, Lydia Balestra  (0003, MWF, 10:00-10:50 am, Lydia Balestra) (0004, TTH, 9:30 – 10:45 am, Nancy Lewis)(0005, TTH, 12:30 -1:45 pm, Cam McDonnell) (0401/0991, Mary Okin, Online) 3 CR.

WGS 201: Topics: Transgender Studies

The evolution of gender and power through both gender identity and gender expression has taken societies by storm. Why does gender strike a chord across cultures, geographies, and languages? How are transgender, Two-Spirit, and gender-expansive identities a threat to authoritarianism around the global North and South? Students will be exposed to historic archives, recorded media, and primary documents that reveal the workings of gender as imperative for individuals and systems alike. Nonfiction sources include Leslie Feinberg’s (1996) Transgender Warriors and The Transgender Issue: Trans Justice is Justice for All (Shon Faye, 2021); fiction sources explore the likes of Virginia Woolf’s (1928) Orlando and popular contemporary works like Gretchen Felker-Martin’s (2022) Manhunt. ( 0001, MW, 3:30-4:445 pm Cam McDonnell) CR 3

WGS 201-002/HTY 232-Womanhood in America Course

This course explores the evolving roles of American women from the era of colonial settlement through the present day, highlighting a broad range of experiences and interrogating how the category of “womanhood” has developed and changed over time. You will be reading about both “famous” and ordinary women and will have the opportunity to read what women had to say about themselves and their situations. We will pay particular attention to the concept of intersectionality: the ways in which race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and other identities are intertwined and have shaped women’s experiences over time. We will encounter a diverse range of perspectives, including those of Native American, Black, and LGTBQ+ people. (0002-TTH, 11:00-12:15 pm, Mary Freeman)  3 CR

WGS 205  Intro to Feminist & Critical Data Analysis

This course explores data and its role in presenting and obscuring disparities of marginalized groups including but not limited to gender, race, ethnicity, (dis)ability, indigenous, sexuality, and class. The course will use technology to access, analyze, and critique data while also reading about and discussing relevant theoretical lenses and the role Western traditions of knowing have had in the creation of these data. General Education Requirements: Quantitative Literacy and Social Context and Institutions (0001, TTH, 2:00 – 3:15 pm, Kevin Roberge) 3 CR.

WGS 206 / ENG 229 Topics in Women’s Gender, and Sexuality Studies:  Investigating Equity

 This course seeks to reorient the discussion of “diversity” (in various forms) as a likely outcome of “equity” – taking as its premise that equitable practices and mindsets result in inclusion, and inclusivity leads to diversity.  Students will begin with a survey of contemporary images associated with the term “equity” and move to usefully differentiate between equity and equality through interacting with a series of TED Talks and podcasts. Building on Brenda J. Allen’s work in Difference Matters: Communicating Social Identity (2011), students will consider various forms of privilege through perceptions of gender, race, social class, sexuality, ability, and age. After identifying privileges at work in historical and contemporary contexts through documentary films, students will return to and refine their understanding of equity in light of those privileges. Throughout the term, students will construct multimodal projects to represent the way/s that their everyday choices might shape their own and other’s experiences of equity.  This class is designed to be highly collaborative and participatory. Gen Eds: Artistic and Creative Expression; Ethics (0001, TTH, 11:00 -12:15 pm, Mary Plymale-Larlee) 3CR.

WGS 301  Topics in Labor Studies – Women, Work, and Labor Activism

This course examines women’s symbiotic and changing relationships with work, their historical

importance and contributions to labor and political activism, and the nexus between feminism and unionism from colonial times to the present. The course will explore these topics primarily in the context of the United States, but also in other world areas, using primary and secondary sources in U.S. women’s and labor history, and global case studies. We will analyze the ways in

which gender has historically intersected with race, class, colonial relations, and war to create challenges and reinforce the continuity (and disruptions) of women’s work experience. We will also study the critical issues affecting women in today’s global workplace and women’s attempts to address these issues through union organizing, civic engagement, and feminist activism.

This course does not require prerequisites. (0190- TTH, Online, 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm, An Nyguyen) 3 Cr

 WGS 301 Family Systems that Harm and Pathways to Healing

In this course we will examine the various patterns that exist in certain family systems that consciously or unconsciously harm one or more of their own members, such as families where alcoholism is present, where there is physical, verbal, emotional, or sexual abuse. We will examine concepts such as scapegoating in family systems, gaslighting, projection, denial, inter-generational trauma, domestic violence, sexual abuse, sibling abuse, family “rules” as well the way in which family narratives and stories often silence the narrative of abuse and privilege the stories of some family members over others. As a system, the family unit would ideally support and protect all of its members; however, we will explore what happens in families when this is not the case and give voice to the stories of the most vulnerable members in a family system, the targeted individual, scapegoat, “black sheep,” or “identified patient.” We will explore these types of family dynamics across racial, ethnic, class groups and investigate these patterns through the lens of gender as well. We will also examine the various strategies that targeted individuals in families have used to break free from harmful family dynamics, including the role of the first-personal narrative (autobiographical writing), expressive arts as therapy (dance, music, art therapy), as well the role of professional counseling. We will draw on a range of literature in this course, including clinical mental health literature but also anthropological, sociological and literary sources to examine the harms that are sometimes done within the most intimate social system in society, the family, harms that are then frequently silenced. The theoretical models employed in our analysis will include feminist pedagogical, sociological, clinical counseling, and family and systems theories. (0990– Online, Mary Okin) 3CR.               

WGS 303/HTY 399 Social Move, Media & Change

This course considers the roles of gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, age, religion, and nationality in relation to an understanding of social movements and social change in the Modern Middle East from the 19th century to the present. The course will also assess different varieties of feminism and women’s movements such as the rise of the women’s press in Egypt and Turkey in the early 1900s, anticolonial activism in the 1940s-1960s, the Arab Spring, contemporary LGBTQ+ activism, and the current Iranian protests for “Woman, life, freedom!” (“Jin, jiyan, azadi!”). Alongside secondary sources, students will examine primary sources produced by these movements – pamphlets, posters, memoirs, and even YouTube videos and Instagram posts. No prior knowledge of Middle Eastern history is required, and all course materials will be available in English. (0001, MWF, 1:00 pm – 1:50 pm, Kara Perrucio) 3CR.

WGS 401: Feminist Plays and Performance

What makes a work of performance a “feminist” work? In the context of performance writing, how do we define “feminism”? How does feminist thought shape the very structure of performance? This course will address feminist plays and performance texts, broadly defined. We will read, and at times view a diverse range of plays and performance writing that engage directly and indirectly with feminist themes. We will focus primarily on American writers of the 20th and 21st century, however, in order to contextualize these texts, we will also examine some earlier works and works from global performance traditions. In addition to playscripts, will also investigate forms of performance writing such as stand up comedy, performance created by feminist collectives, spoken word poetry, and performance art. Through the lens of performance and gender studies, we will explore what feminist performance writing can teach us about gendered perspectives and experiences. We will look at performance texts on suffragism, bodily autonomy, motherhood/parenthood, performance of gender, gender beyond the binary, and how gender intersects with all aspects of identity. Examples of writers we may cover: Angelina Weld Grimké, Susan Glaspell, Lilian Hellman, Kate Bornstein, Maria Irene Fornez, Alok Vaid-Manon, Wendy Wasserstein, Tina Howe, Kia Corthron, Sahar Ishtiaque Ullah, Spiderwoman Theatre, Naomi Iizuka, Eve Ensler, and Sarah Jones. (0001, MWF 2:00 – 2:50 pm,  Rosalie Purvis) 3 CR

WGS 411: Internship in WGS

Students pursue internships in workplaces such as businesses, non-profits, and other organizations. Course meetings provide students with faculty mentorship, opportunities to troubleshoot their internship work with peers, and related course content. Topics covered may include diversity/equity/justice in the workplace, social justice in the community, the correlation between academic courses and the workplace, and career exploration/preparation. For each topic, strategies for improving workplace communication are also covered. Each student will design their internship in consultation with their host organization and the course instructor such that it meets their specific interests/goals. Internship work will vary but typically includes activities, such as research, ideation, communication, writing, public relations, editing, content development, community organizing, and other related activities.  ( 0001, TTH,11:00 am – 12:15 pm   Ryan Dippre) CR 3

WGS 499 Direct Study Women, Gender and Sexuality

        *Fulfilled by either WGS 410 or WGS 411, to be taken with a 0-credit WGS 499     

 

 

 

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The University of Maine is located on Marsh Island, the homeland of the Penobscot people, a distinct, sovereign, legal, and political entity with powers of self-governance and self-determination.

The University of Maine does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, including transgender status and gender expression, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. Contact the Director, Equal Opportunity, 5754 North Stevens Hall, Room 101, Orono, ME 04469-5754 at 207.581.1226 (voice), TTY 711 (Maine Relay System), equal.opportunity@maine.edu with questions or concerns.

                                                                                                         Contact: umaine.wgs@maine.edu or 207-581-3439

(3-11-2024)