To view GWS courses offered during a specific semester, visit the online University Course Catalogue. Select the semester desired from the drop-down menu, then type "GWS" in the Course Prefix box or select GWS from the drop-down menu. There may also be GWS courses listed under the general "A&S" prefix or as Discovery Seminar Program "DSP" courses. Note that actual course offerings are subject to change, but this guide will provide the most current information available.

SUMMER 2023 COURSES

GWS 200-210: SEX AND POWER
INSTRUCTOR: JINGXUE ZHANG
ONLINE ASYNCHRONOUS, JULY 13-AUG 9
This course introduces Gender and Women’s Studies from a social science perspective using cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approaches. Analyzes relations of power marked by gender and how these relate to other social distinctions and processes. How does sex impact our sense of power? How is power forged through sexual imagery and sexual relationships? When does your sex set limits on your leisure, education, and earning power? Do you need real analysis instead of soundbites for explaining social inequalities between the sexes? This course meets USP and/or UK Core requirement (Intellectual Inquiry, Social Science) and counts toward requirements for the undergraduate GWS major and minor, and the sexuality studies certificate.

GWS 201-210: GENDER & POPULAR CULTURE
INSTRUCTOR: LEE MANDELO
ONLINE ASYNCHRONOUS, JUNE 13-JULY 12
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, computer games, 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. We will explore the ways identities are constructed through various types of media and popular culture. Representations of gender are central to our study but are always already influenced by other social categories, such as race, sexuality, and class. As a class, in addition to scholarly work, we will investigate how different kinds of texts, such as music videos, movies, television, advertisements, social media, and fictional work, shape our understanding and experience regarding what it means to be a “man” or a “woman.” Throughout this exploration, we will also consider how representation affects us as individuals and as communities in ways to reproduce and perpetuate the social hierarchy of gender, race, sexuality, and class. In GWS 201, we will explore a variety of texts through different lenses that recognize the social systems that privilege some and disadvantage others based on claimed and perceived identities. This course will give you an opportunity to develop your communication and research skills, but most of all, it will challenge you as a critical thinker. This course meets USP and/or UK Core requirements (Intellectual Inquiry, Humanities) and counts toward requirements for undergraduate GWS majors and minors.

GWS 250-210: SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
INSTRUCTOR: SHRUTHI PARTHASARATHY
ONLINE, ASYNCHRONOUS, MAY 15-JUNE 12
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 USP and/or UK Core requirement (Global Dynamics) and counts toward requirements for the undergraduate GWS major and minor.

ADDITIONAL COURSES FOR GWS CREDIT

PS 391-212: Special Topics in Political Science: Political Violence and Human Security
Instructor:  Baylee Harrell
Online, Asynchronous, May 15-June 27
This course is designed to provide students with a thorough understanding of political violence through both psychological and political frameworks. The course begins with an overview of trends in political violence over time as well as the push for human rights and security. Next, students will learn the why people participate in political violence and the political contexts that give rise to such events. Students will then observe these mechanisms unfolding by exploring various typologies of violence against civilians through analyzing prominent historical cases. The course concludes by considering psychological determinants and policy decisions that are effective in preventing, mitigating, and ending political violence.