The Gender Issue
Women’s Studies, Fall 2015
Women’s Studies Courses for Spring 2016
To complete a minor in Women’s Studies, students must take History 130
(Introduction to Women’s Studies) plus 5 additional courses drawn from at least 2
different disciplines. These courses often overlap nicely with chosen major fields.
For Spring 2016, Women’s Studies minors can choose from the following courses:
HIST 232
U.S. Women’s History
Three Credits LA
This course traces the history of women in the U.S. from the colonial period until the present.
We explore changing perceptions of womanhood; the intersecting impact of race, class, and
ethnicity in women’s lives; and women’s contributions to political, economic, and social
developments in U.S. history.
Monday 11am and Wednesday 9:30am, taught by Sally Dwyer-McNulty
HIST 267
Women in Asia
Three Credits LA
This course addresses major themes in the history of women in China, Vietnam, Japan, Korea,
Afghanistan, and India. The guiding force of this course is the historic interactions among Asian
women over the topics of gender, class, ethnicity, politics, religion, and activism, to name a few.
Rather than move from country to country, analysis follows the theoretical foundations of a
“Women in Asia” course in addition to the cultural exchanges that have put women and their
issues in dialogue with one another.
Tuesday and Thursday at 11:00 am, taught by Kristin Bayer
BIOL 232
Sex, Evolution and Behavior
Three Credits LA
This course is designed for the non-science major and will examine how natural selection
influences the evolution of social behavior in animals (including humans). Topics will include:
1
the physiological basis of behavior, the adaptive value of behavior, learning and instinct, mate
selection, parental investment, altruism, infanticide, primate behavior, and human sociobiology.
(111) Monday and Wednesday at 5pm-6:16pm, taught by William Wenkert
(112) Monday and Wednesday at 3:30pm-4:45pm, taught by William Wenkert
COM 400
Gender, Culture and Communication
Three Credits LA
This course explores the dynamics between gender, communication, and culture in today’s
society. Areas studied will include the following: how communication creates and perpetuates
gender roles; how human behavior reflects socially created gender roles; how people can act and
communicate to improve their individual and collective lives in terms of gender roles. This is an
experiential course in which students will connect theory and research with their own lives.
Offered in fall and spring.
Prerequisite: Junior standing
(111) Monday and Thursday at 12:30 pm-01:45 pm, taught by Shannon Roper
(112) Monday and Thursday at 2:00 pm-03:15 pm, taught by Shannon Roper
ENG 220
Literature and Gender
Three Credits LA
This course will examine literary texts with special emphasis on gender issues. Questions may be
raised, for instance, about gender definitions and roles, gender and language, gender as a locus of
economic, political, social, or literary power. Topics will vary from semester to semester. The
course may be organized around a group of writers, a historical period or movement, a genre, a
theme, or a combination of these. Offered every year.
(111) Monday/Thursday 12:30pm, taught by Rose DeAngelis
(113) Wednesday 8am/Friday 11a, TBA
(200) Monday 6:30pm, taught by Rose DeAngelis
(201) Wednesday 6:30pm, taught by Pau-San Haruta
(721) Online, taught by Angela Laflen
Special Topics Courses:
HONR 312 and 320
Medieval Gender and Sexuality
Three Credits LA
In the past no less than today, prevailing gender norms were informed by attitudes towards
sexuality and the body, which themselves were determined by religious and cultural traditions as
well as scientific and judicial ideas. This class will explore the construction of gender, notions
about sexuality and sex difference, and how these ideas affected lived experience during the
Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. We will explore the traditions, theories, and scientific
ideas that profoundly influenced medieval and Renaissance conceptions of sex and gender,
2
including courtly love, Galenic and Aristotelian medicine, the writings of Church Fathers, and
humanism. Since these theoretical ideas could contradict, we will also look at the experience of
men and women who lived within – or rejected – the boundaries of accepted behavior, from
monks and nuns to prostitutes and male crossdressers. Students will be encouraged to make
comparative analysis of the historical past to the present to enrich our understanding of this topic.
Tuesday, 6:30pm, taught by Janine Peterson
Gender Studies Pathway
Students can also choose a Gender Studies Pathway to fulfill requirements in the
Marist Core.
The Gender Studies Pathway focuses on gender as a significant cultural and
cognitive category. Courses examine how gender has influenced the lives, status,
and opportunities of all people, and attend to ways in which gender intersects
with race, class, and ethnicity to shape social structures and individual
experiences.
Each Pathway must contain 4 courses covering a minimum of 3 different
disciplines. Honors and special-topics courses may be used in Pathways if they
have been approved for this purpose. 3
What Is Women’s Studies
and Why Does It Matter?
By Molly Scott
Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary field, meaning that what is taught in these courses spans
many different areas of study. This can make it difficult to answer the question “what is
Women’s Studies?” But it also means that students can tailor their program in Women’s Studies
to reflect their own interests in the subject. For example, as an English major I am concerned
with gender representation in fiction and writing, so I took English 220: Literature and Gender,
which turned out to be one of my favorite classes at Marist. In Women’s Studies classes, in
addition to gender, issues related to race, class, and sexuality are discussed as well as their
influence on things like the law, science, representation in history, and more. In short, what you
can expect from a Women’s Studies course is to develop a deeper understanding of how these
ideas affect different disciplines as well as to acquire knowledge that can have real life
applications.
At Marist, the Women’s Studies Program offers a minor, which requires students to complete the
Introduction to Women’s Studies course (Hist 130) and 5 other courses. Minoring in Women’s
Studies does look good on a resume as it indicates to employers that you are aware of and
sensitive to gender issues. It also usually signals that you can write and articulate your ideas
well. Some courses that are regularly offered include, but are not limited to:
HIST 332: Women and Religion in America
COM 400: Gender, Culture and Communication
ENG 220: Literature and Gender
POSC 214: Gender and Law
PSYCH 331: Psychology of Women
SOC 336: Social Inequality
BIOL 232: Sex, Evolution and Behavior
I am taking the Intro to Women’s Studies class now, and this course has confirmed for me that I
made the right choice to minor in Women’s Studies. We cover a wide variety of topics that all
connect back to Women’s Studies as a discipline as well as discuss important current and
historical events. It is also a space where students can consider how the course itself should be
taught and what changes could be implemented to make the minor more inclusive.
What I have learned so far through my minor is that Women’s Studies remains an important area
of study today. Many of the most important issues currently facing society are gender issues,
including the implementation of Title IX, transgender politics and representation, the gender
wage gap, the gender dynamics of the presidency, and issues concerning reproductive rights.
Students who take Women’s Studies classes have the chance to talk about these kinds of topics
in the classroom and are prepared to contribute to discussions about them in their workplaces and
communities as well. I have personally found Women’s Studies to be an increasingly informative
area of study that has made me a better critical thinker inside and outside the classroom.
4
Stay in Touch with Women’s Studies!
We welcome your ideas, questions, and announcements of
upcoming events or calls for papers
1) Join our Facebook group “Marist Women’s Studies”
2) To join a Marist Women’s Studies email list to receive
announcements from the program, please send your
contact information to angela.laflen@marist.edu or
kristin.bayer@marist.edu
3) Check us out on the web at
http://www.marist.edu/liberalarts/womensstudies/
4) Contact the co-directors at kristin.bayer@marist.edu and
angela.laflen@marist.edu
F.E.M.M.E
Feminine Empowerment Motivating and Managing Education
It is obvious that the sexualization and objectification of women's bodies in today's society incurs
shaming effects that police boundaries of social acceptability. What is less obvious is why these
practices persist and continue to impact women's sense of embodiment and the levels of power
they have access to. A new group is being formed on Marist's campus to lead conversations and
discussions about these and related issues and to work toward building a space on campus that
will provide and encourage authentic images of female empowerment.
Help us empower all women on campus and join our
conversation every Tuesday at 7:00 pm in the Henry Hudson
Room in Fontaine!
Any questions please email Sara Craft at sara.craft1@marist.edu
5
Upcoming Events:
Writing + Human Sexuality
Thursday, Nov 12 at 7 p.m. in the Henry Hudson Room
Sexual behavior and the art of creative writing are two distinct ways that human
beings express identity. Sometimes, it is how they discover it. Author of the
critically acclaimed memoir, Whip Smart, and award-winning essayist, Melissa
Febos discusses the nexus of these practices; the places where they intersect with
gender, feminism, queer and ethnic identity; and unexpected catharsis of
deviance.
Melissa Febos is the author of the memoir, Whip Smart (St. Martin’s Press 2010).
Her writing has been published in Glamour, Kenyon Review, Post Road, Poets &
Writers, Portland Review, Prairie Schooner, Hunger Mountain, Salon,
Dissent, The Brooklyn Rail, New York Times, Bitch Magazine, The Chronicle of
Higher Education Review, The Rumpus, and Goodbye to All That: Writers on
Loving and Leaving New York, and she has been featured on NPR’s Fresh Air with
Terry Gross, Anderson Cooper Live, CNN, and The Atlantic, among many
others. The winner of essay prizes from Prairie Schooner, Story Quarterly, and
The Center for Women Writers, she is the recipient of a 2012 Bread Loaf
Nonfiction Fellowship, a 2013 Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Artist Grant, a
2014 Virginia Center for Creative Arts fellowship, a 2015 Vermont Studio Center
fellowship, a 2015 Lower Manhattan Cultural Council “Process Space” fellowship
on Governor’s Island, and MacDowell Colony fellowships in 2010, 2011, &
2014. For eight years she co-curated and hosted the Mixer Reading and Music
Series in Manhattan, and has taught workshops and retreats nationwide. The
recipient of an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and member of the Executive
Committee of VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, Melissa is currently Assistant
Professor of Creative Writing at Monmouth University and MFA faculty at the
Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). The daughter of a sea captain and a
psychotherapist, she was raised on Cape Cod and lives in Brooklyn.
6