Women's and Gender Studies (WMST)

WMST 123. Gendering Place: Sex and Power in Global Perspective. 1 Credit.

Offered Occasionally; Lecture hours:3
By examining how gender, and ideas of masculinity and femininity, structure spaces and shape mobility, this course will explore how gendered power relations and gendered violence are regulated and maintained in place. Crosslisted as GEOG 123.

WMST 150. Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies. 1 Credit.

Offered Fall, Spring or Summer; Lecture hours:3
Interdisciplinary introduction to the major theories, themes, and issues of women's and gender studies.

WMST 208. The Red Brush: Women Writers in Imperial China. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
In this course we explore the writings of Chinese women from the 1st to the early 20th centuries, and discuss the changing social and historical contexts within which these women wrote, and the obstacles these women writers had to overcome in order to ensure that their voices were heard. Crosslisted as EAST 208.

WMST 218. Latina Feminisms in US. 1 Credit.

Offered Occasionally; Lecture hours:3
This course examines the various experiences, perspectives and expressions of Latinas in the United States, which vary according to gender, sexuality, race, citizenship, region and language. Crosslisted as GEOG 208 and LAMS 218.

WMST 220. Feminist Thought and Action. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Explore the broad range of work that lays the intellectual and theoretical groundwork for contemporary feminist theory and politics, while providing student opportunities to experience such work critically through service learning experiences in the community. Prerequisite: WMST 150 or permission of the instructor.

WMST 221. Passion/Perversion: Japan Film. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3,Other:3
A discussion class in which numerous modern Japanese films are used to explore the representation of desire, both passionate and perverse. WARNING: explicit sexual content. Crosslisted as EAST 222.

WMST 222. Queer Studies. 1 Credit.

Offered Alternating Fall Semester; Lecture hours:3
This course examines social construction frameworks for analyzing contemporary sexualities, gendered identities, and the discourses and practices that maintain them. It introduces students to queer theory and its application to a variety of political and cultural fields.

WMST 223. Feminist Care, Joy, & Transformation. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
The class uses feminist theory to examine emotions, survival, and activism in times of crisis. Key topics will include anger, self-care and community-care, mutual aid, disability justice, the politics of pleasure and joy and feminists approaches to working for change.

WMST 224. African Women & Social Action. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Analysis of topics in films and novels by Ousmane Sembene: pre-colonial history, colonialism, post-colonial independence, racial and gender oppression, worker exploitation, religious conflict, and modernization. Prerequisites: ECON 101 or ECON 103 and permission of the instructor. Crosslisted as ECON 224.

WMST 225. Reading Race, Gender and Sexuality. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Exploiting the exclusionary nature of "High Modernism," this course highlights literature on the margins of modernism, revealing literature's political investment in race, class, and sexuality. Crosslisted as ENLS 239.

WMST 227. Race and Sexuality. 1 Credit.

Offered Alternate Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
This course explores the constructions of and intersections between race and sexuality. It also investigates the ways that these identities/locations have informed understanding of inequality in the U.S. Crosslisted as CBST 227.

WMST 230. Feminist Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An examination of feminist philosophy primarily as it occurs in the U.S. from the late 18th century to the present. Crosslisted as PHIL 230.

WMST 231. Psychology of Women. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Considers experiences of girls and women, gender differences, attitudes toward women, and issues of particular concern to women such as domestic violence, body image, and sexual assault. Crosslisted as PSYC 232.

WMST 232. Gender and Sexuality in South Asia. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Explores issues of gender and sexuality in South Asia, primarily India and Sri Lanka. Topics include marriage, family, life cycle, religion and nationalism. Crosslisted as ANTH 232.

WMST 235. Gender and Film/Media. 1 Credit.

Lecture hours:3
Current debates about gender and American film, from WW II to the present. Diverse critical approaches for interpreting film within the broad context of gender studies. Crosslisted as ENFS 235.

WMST 236. Gender, Race and Poverty. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
A study of concentrated poverty and unemployment in the United States and policies to generate full employment and eliminate poverty. Prerequisite: ECON 101 or ECON 103 and/or permission of the instructor. Crosslisted as ECON 236.

WMST 238. Women and Politics. 1 Credit.

Offered Alternating Spring Semester; Lecture hours:3
An analysis of women and politics generally with specific focus on feminism and its relationship to political discourse and political action. Crosslisted as POLS 238.

WMST 245. Dying for God: Martyrdom from Antigone to ISIS. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Early Christians were attracted to dramatic narratives of suffering--whether about spectacular deaths in the arena or extreme self-denial in the desert. This course explores the world of martyrs and monks and considers how ancient ideals about pain, gender, and sexuality continue to influence Christian thinking about holiness and sainthood. Crosslisted as CLAS 235 and RELI 253.

WMST 251. Gender, Power and Global Development. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
This course examines the relationship between women and development, as an ideological, economic, political, and social enterprise. Crosslisted as ANTH 251.

WMST 262. Gender, Race and Health. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
This course will introduce students to gender and race as theoretical concepts and categories of analysis in public health. Using an interdisciplinary and intersectional approach, it will explore the ways that gender and race have contributed to differentially structuring people’s experiences and expectations of health.

WMST 266. Women Writing/Writing Women: Literature and Feminist Theory. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An introduction to feminist thought with a special emphasis on the way in which women theorize their gender through writing and the way gender intersects with other identity categories such as race, class, and sexuality in literature.

WMST 269. Feminist Political Theory. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An examination of how various feminist ideas, commitments and critiques alter how we understand fundamental concepts and problems in political theory, such as the nature of justice, the function of political community, the foundation of rights, the definition of freedom and who is deserving of political rule. Crosslisted as POLS 269.

WMST 270. Special Topics in Women's and Gender Studies. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3; Repeatable
A course on special topics of interest to faculty members, offered occasionally. Subject varies.

WMST 277. Gender in Africa. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
This course examines gender and sexuality in Africa historically and contemporarily, using an examination of Africanist gender theory along with a critical examination of Western conventional categories and a critical approach to issues of family, generational tensions, sexuality, and power as useful ways for thinking through change in African history. Crosslisted as HIST 277 and IREL 273.

WMST 280. Feminist Literary Theory. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Feminist Literary Theory provides an introduction to feminist methodologies in literary studies particularly and in the humanities generally. The course centers a historical and intersectional approach to the theorization of gendered authorship.

WMST 290. Gender Issues in Education. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An examination of how gender affects the teaching-learning process with an emphasis on theory, curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment. Crosslisted as EDUC 290.

WMST 305. Gender, Environment & Health. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
This course explores how gender (intersecting with other identities) shapes interactions with the environment and related health outcomes. We will attend to multiple forms of power structures that enable and constrain possibilities of well-being. Crosslisted as ENST 305 and GEOG 305.

WMST 316. Geographies of Nationalism. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
The course explores nationalism and its increasing popularity by considering it geographically; for example, its dynamic scalar dimensions, its forging of race and gender spatially, and its naturalization in landscape and built form. In so doing, we will critically consider those interests that nationalism serves. Crosslisted as GEOG 316.

WMST 317. Carceral Landscapes: Understanding Geographies of Punishment, Policing and Detention. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
This course will examine how power systems of control and confinement reverberate to reshape society and space. This course will investigate the cultural landscape produced by drives to punish and confine populations, especially drives based on race, gender presentation, and citizenship status. Crosslisted as GEOG 317.

WMST 318. Economic History of Women in the United States. 1 Credit.

Offered Occasionally; Lecture hours:3
Examination of the history of women in the U.S. economy, with particular attention to racial-ethnic and class differences among women. Prerequisites: (ECON 203 or ECON 257) or (ECON 204 or ECON 258) or (ECON 202 or ECON 259) and permission of the instructor. Crosslisted as ECON 319.

WMST 320. Independent Studies. 1 Credit.

Offered Both Fall and Spring; Lecture hours:Varies,Other:3; Repeatable
Independent study supervised by Women's and Gender Studies faculty member. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

WMST 324. Geographies of Identity. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Who are "we"? Seminar considers role of space in constituting society around the world. Explores nationalism, globalization, multiculturalism, citizenship, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, disability. Crosslisted as GEOG 324.

WMST 325. History of Sexuality. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
A cross-cultural and interdisciplinary examination of the signification of sexuality in literature, philosophy, scientific discourse, and the visual arts. Prerequisite: WMST 150 or permission of the instructor. Crosslisted as HUMN 320.

WMST 328. Mating and Marrying in America. 1 Credit.

Offered Alternate Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
This is a course on changing patterns in American courtship (dating), marriage, and family life from the 20th to the 21st century. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Crosslisted as SOCI 328.

WMST 332. Women and the Penal System. 1 Credit.

Offered Spring Semester Only; Lecture hours:3
This course explores the interface between inequality, crime, punishment, and justice, with an emphasis on women in the United States; the course is populated by both Bucknell students and incarcerated students at a nearby women's prison. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Crosslisted as SOCI 332.

WMST 333. Black Feminisms. 1 Credit.

Offered Occasionally; Lecture hours:3
This course explores the context, development, and outcomes of black feminists in the United States during the second half of the 20th century. Crosslisted as CBST 333 and WMST 633.

WMST 334. Women in Antiquity. 1 Credit.

Offered Occasionally; Lecture hours:3
Seminar-style examination of the lives of women in antiquity both real and imagined, as attested in a variety of ancient media. Crosslisted as CLAS 334. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

WMST 350. Reproductive Justice & Health. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
This seminar explores reproductive politics and health through the intersectional, feminist lens of reproductive justice. We will cover historical, domestic, and global struggles for reproductive autonomy, rights and care. Students will draw from interdisciplinary work in feminist studies to understand reproductive experiences across the lifecourse.

WMST 370. Special Topics in Women's and Gender Studies. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3; Repeatable
Advanced course on special topics of interest to faculty members, offered occasionally. Subject varies.

WMST 371. Dance, Culture and Power. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An exploration of dance as cultural and political practice. Topics include: colonialism; the politics of tradition; gender, ethnicity, and nationalism; dance and violence. Prerequisites: not open to first-year students or students who have taken ANTH 271 or WMST 271 Dance and Culture. Crosslisted as ANTH 371 and UNIV 371.

WMST 390. Honors in Women's and Gender Studies. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Individual, special projects supervised by instructor, culminating in honors thesis. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

WMST 3NT. WMST Non-traditional Study. .5-1 Credits.

Offered Fall, Spring, Summer; Lecture hours:Varies,Other:Varies; Repeatable
Non-traditional study in WMST. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

WMST 400. Advanced Seminar in Women's and Gender Studies. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
The seminar will focus on the production of an independent research project by each student, with common readings on the practice of feminist scholarship. Students will develop and give formal presentations of their projects. Prerequisites: open to seniors, juniors by permission, WMST 150 and WMST 220 or WMST 230/PHIL 230.