FALL 2026 COURSES

GWS 200:  SEX, GENDER, POWER
SECTIONS:
001: MW 12:00-12:50 & TBD (hybrid course; some portions meet online), MELISSA STEIN
002: MWF 9:00-9:50, TBD
003: TR 11:00-12:15, TBD
This course addresses key issues in GWS through a social science perspective that is cross-cultural, transnational, and interdisciplinary in its approach. It will cover such topics as identity and identity politics, sexuality and reproduction, labor and the gender politics of the workplace, health and health activism, feminist thought and action, gendered forms of violence and organized resistance, and the everyday experience of gender. Particular attention will be paid to the intersections of gender with other social categories, such as race, nationality, class, and sexual orientation. This course meets UK Core requirement (Intellectual Inquiry, Social Science) and counts toward requirements for the undergraduate GWS major and minor, and the sexuality studies certificate. 

GWS 201/303: GENDER & POPULAR CULTURE
SECTIONS:
001: TR 12:30-1:45, ARIA HALLIDAY
002: MWF 11:00-11:50, TBD
003: MWF 1:00-1:50, TBD
201:  ONLINE ASYNCHRONOUS (OCT 19-DEC 18), FRANCES HENDERSON
This course examines the role of popular culture in the construction of gendered identities in contemporary society. We examine a wide range of popular cultural forms -- including music, digital media, movies, and television -- to illustrate how femininity and masculinity are produced, represented, and consumed. This course serves as an introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies (GWS) from a humanities perspective. This course meets UK Core requirements (Intellectual Inquiry, Humanities) and counts toward requirements for the undergraduate GWS major and minor.

GWS 250: SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
SECTIONS:
001: MWF 2:00-2:50, TBD
002: MWF 3:00-3:50, TBD
This course takes you through some ways in which people have organized themselves around local, national, and international issues pertaining to gender. We engage key theories that explain the origins, strategies, and success of different forms of social movements across the world. We also critically analyze case studies from different parts of the world to understand how social movements work on the ground and in specific cultural environments with unique historical trajectories, attending to ways in which social movements are shaped by, and do or do not result in changes to social structures of gender, race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality. This course meets UK Core requirement (Global Dynamics) and counts toward requirements for the undergraduate GWS major and minor. 

GWS 300-001 (same as AAS 400):  TOPICS IN GWS:  HIP HOP FEMINISM
INSTRUCTOR:  ARIA HALLIDAY
MEETING TIMES:  TR 3:30-4:45
Selected topics in women’s studies with special attention to those of contemporary relevance. 

This course highlights the history of hip-hop since its inception in the late 1970s. Students will examine how hip-hop and feminism have similar concerns and yet provide an opportunity for individual and cultural expression. Students will connect music, lyrical analysis, music videos and films, and history to understand the ways cultural identity, regional geography, feminism, socioeconomic status, and protest are all relevant to contemporary discourses and visual aesthetics in hip-hop global cultures. We will also consider the ways that hip-hop encourages critical thinking, rebellion, and play.

GWS 300-002 (SAME AS PSY 375):  TOPICS IN GWS: PSYCHOLOGY OF GENDER
INSTRUCTOR: JENN HUNT
MEETING TIMES: TR 11:00-12:15
Selected topics in women’s studies with special attention to those of contemporary relevance.

This course examines psychological research and theory related to gender, with a focus on the ways in which gender impacts people’s daily lives. We will begin by discussing femininity, masculinity, and other gender identities, research that challenges the gender/sex binary, and the ways that gender intersects with other social identities. Then, we will investigate the origins of gender by considering social, cognitive, and biological influences on gender development. Next, we will learn about gender stereotypes and how they compare with actual similarities and differences between women and men. In the second half of the class, we will use this knowledge to assess how gender affects several important life domains including work, violence, relationships, sexuality, and health. Throughout the course, we will examine how gender can be studied using feminist empirical research methods and emphasize the importance of race, ethnicity, culture, and social class in understanding gender. This course counts toward both the Gender and Women’s Studies (GWS) and Psychology (PSY) majors. The prerequisite for the course is GWS 200 or GWS 201 (GWS prefix) or PSY 100 (PSY prefix).

GWS 300-004 (Same as ANT 401):  TOPICS IN GWS: GENDER ROLES IN CROSS CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
INSTRUCTOR: MONICA UDVARDY
MEETING TIMES:  MW 4:00-5:15
Selected topics in women’s studies with special attention to those of contemporary relevance. 

The world encompasses a liberating array of cross-cultural variation in how humans interpret sexual difference. ANT 401 explores the theoretical and substantive basis for contemporary thinking about gender from an anthropological perspective. Gender content is explored in several cultures representing all levels of sociocultural complexity. Additional topics include the history of the study of gender within anthropology and the impact of development on gender systems in the global South. A primary objective is for the student to reflect upon her/his own gendered self.

GWS 300-005 (SAME AS WRD 401): TOPICS IN GWS:  SPECIAL TOPICS IN WRITING: REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
INSTRUCTOR: SHARON YAM
MEETING TIMES:  TR 11:00-12:15
Selected topics in women’s studies with special attention to those of contemporary relevance. 

Studies of special topics in writing, in areas such as literary nonfiction (essays), responding to literature, cultural critique, and composing law and justice

GWS 301-001: CROSSROADS IN GWS:  BLACK & LATINA WOMEN IN U.S. POLITICS
INSTRUCTOR: FRANCES HENDERSON
MEETING TIMES:  MWF 11:00-11:50
Specific topics will vary, but all courses taught under this title focus on the contributions, interplay, intersections, constructions, history, and confrontations that the social categories and lived experiences of gender, race, and class produce in the United States. Examines opportunities for civic responsibility and social justice.  

This course examines Black and Latina women’s participation in American politics as citizens, voters, activists, and elites. Central to this course are the meaning and nature of gender equality and the ways that gender intersects with race, ethnicity and class. Throughout the course, we will interrogate ideas about citizenship and participation through the lens of Black and Latina women. Politics will be broadly conceived to account for the various ways in which women of color participate both inside and on the margins of formal politics and political processes in the US. Thus, topics will likely include: analysis of the mobilization of women of color around reproductive justice, the carceral state, immigration and education, in addition to Black and Latina women’s mobilization into politics through the suffrage movement and the modern women’s movement. The course will also analyze the role of gender and race in shaping public opinion and electoral behavior; public opinion and electoral behavior on gender issues; women’s activities within the political parties. Throughout the semester, we will be following the role of Black and Latina women and gender issues in the 2020 election. This course will provide students with a limited introduction to the study of gender and U.S. politics including some central questions, concepts, and debates in the field. Students will develop intersectional theoretical frameworks and analytical tools for studying gender and politics in the United States.  This course meets UK Core requirement (Community, Culture, and U.S. Citizenship) and counts toward requirements for the undergraduate GWS major and minor. 

GWS 301-002: CROSSROADS IN GWS:  INEQUALITIES UNDER THE LAW
INSTRUCTOR:  JENN HUNT
MEETING TIMES: TR 2:00-3:15
Specific topics will vary, but all courses taught under this title focus on the contributions, interplay, intersections, constructions, history, and confrontations that the social categories and lived experiences of gender, race, and class produce in the United States. Examines opportunities for civic responsibility and social justice.  

The 14th Amendment of the Constitution guarantees equal protection under the laws, but data show considerable disparities and discrimination in legal domains. In this course, we will examine the many ways that race, class, gender, and sexuality affect people’s experiences and outcomes in legally-relevant domains. Topics addressed will include: How do race, gender, class, and sexuality affect police encounters, including the use of force, and community members’ trust in the police? How does race influence outcomes in legal cases, including convictions, incarceration, and the death penalty? How do bail and privatization create class barriers in the criminal justice system? How do housing policies lead to rental and eviction crises affecting poor and working-class people, as well as discrimination against people of Color who want to buy homes? How well does the law address employment discrimination and sexual harassment? How does family law reflect assumptions about gender? How does the law respond to the needs of LGBTQ individuals, same-gender relationships, and people with transgender or non-binary gender identities? As a UK core course focused on citizenship, assignments in this course will focus on strategies for promoting equality and justice, including op-eds to increase community awareness, letters to elected representatives, and policy briefs.  This course meets UK Core requirement (Community, Culture, and U.S. Citizenship) and counts toward requirements for the undergraduate GWS major and minor. 

GWS 309-201 (SAME AS CPH 309):  HEALTH, HISTORY, AND HUMAN DIVERSITY
SECTIONS:
201: ONLINE ASYNCHRONOUS, TBD
202: ONLINE ASYNCHRONOUS, TBD
Health care reform is often in the news, and everyone has an opinion on why the system is broken, how to fix it, who should have access to good medical care, under what circumstances, and what constitutes “good care.” This online, multi-format course will consider what it has meant to be a good patient or a good doctor at various points in U.S. history, who was included or excluded in each group, how medicine became professionalized, and how people have organized around health issues. Students will engage with primary sources, watch related films, interact with the professor during virtual “office hours,” and participate in online moderated discussions. This course meets UK Core requirement (Intellectual Inquiry, Humanities and/or Community, Culture, and Citizenship in the U.S.) and counts toward requirements for the undergraduate GWS major and minor.

GWS 506-001: HISTORY OF SEXUALITY
INSTRUCTOR:  ELIZABETH WILLIAMS
MEETING TIMES:  TR 11:00-12:15
An overview of the history of beliefs about sexuality, sexual cultures and norms, and sexuality’s relationship to power in American society from the colonial period to the present.

In his foundational text The History of Sexuality​, Vol. 1, the theorist Michel Foucault referred to sexuality as “an especially dense transfer point for relations of power.” Sexuality is a language through which a huge variety of identities—racial, religious, gendered, national, ethnic—are mediated. In this class, we will learn how sexuality was constructed in Europe and the US from the ancient world to the present day. In the process, we will explore a number of questions about both the nature of sexuality and its role in the operation of power and resistance. How did biological sex come to be understood in binary terms in the West? How has same-sex love been understood in various times and locations? How did sexuality influence the development of the idea of “race”? Can sexuality act as a site of resistance? If so, under what conditions, and for whom? Students in this course will: (1) Gain an understanding of how sexuality intersects with other forms of identity, including race, class, gender, religion, ability, nation, etc. (2) Understand how ideas about sex, gender, and sexuality have changed over time and across geographic space, (3) Learn how to read academic texts strategically, looking for argument, evidence, and approach, (4) Hone skills in academic writing, with a focus on argumentation, organization, and analysis, (5)Develop proficiency in analyzing primary sources, unpacking the deeper meanings at play.

GWS 599-001:  DOING FEMINIST RESEARCH II: CAPSTONE
INSTRUCTOR: FRANCES HENDERSON
MEETING TIMES: W 1:00-3:30
This course provides a space for students to synthesize what they have learned about the methods and theories of GWS in various ways. Students will reflect on how one constructs an argument and writes as an interdisciplinary scholar on gender or women. Students will write a senior thesis and edit the theses of other students; students will also read and discuss materials which deal with research and writing in GWS. 

AFFILIATED COURSES

PSY 563-001: DIVERSITY AMONG CONTEMPORARY FAMILIES IN THE U.S. 
INSTRUCTOR: RACHEL FARR
MEETING TIMES: TR 12:30-1:45pm
This course is designed to provide in-depth study of a specialized topic in development psychology,  Topics will vary from year to year and may include: cognitive development; development of memory and attention; development of reasoning and problem solving; and media use and children’s development. 

The notion of the "traditional American family" has transformed as families in the United States (U.S.) have become increasingly more diverse. This discussion- based course for senior psychology majors (others may enroll with instructor's permission) is intended as an overview and analysis of a contemporary family systems in the U.S., such as single-parent families, multiracial families, adoptive and foster family systems, families who have children via assisted reproductive technologies (ART), and those with members who hold minoritized sexual, gender, and racial/ethnic identities. Taught from developmental psychological, family science, feminist, and intersectional perspectives, students will gain understanding in theory and research methods for studying children and families. Course material will be considered within the context of social issues, questions, and public controversies. The course will address factors that contribute to positive family functioning and healthy outcomes for children and parents. Implications for future research, clinical practice, public policy, and law surrounding parenting and families (e.g., custody and placement decisions) will be covered.