WGSS - Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies

WGSS408 Literature by Women Before 1800 (3 Credits)

Selected writings by women in the medieval and early modern era.

Prerequisite: Must have completed two English courses in literature; or permission of the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs. Cross-listed with: ENGL408.

Formerly: WMST408.

WGSS410 Women of the African Diaspora (3 Credits)

Explores the lives, experiences, and cultures of women of Africa and the African diaspora--African-America, the Caribbean, and Afro-Latin America. A variety of resources and materials will be used providing a distinctive interdisciplinary perspective.

Credit Only Granted for: WMST410 or WGSS410.

Formerly: WMST410.

WGSS420 Asian American Women: The Social Construction of Gender (3 Credits)

Examines the intersection of gender, race and class as it relates to Asian American women in the United States; how institutionalized cultural and social statuses of gender, race, ethnicity and social class produce and reproduce inequality with implications for Asian Americans and the broader society.

Restriction: Must not have completed WMST420. Cross-listed with: AAST420.

Credit Only Granted for: AAST420, WMST420 or WGSS420.

WGSS425 Gender Roles and Social Institutions (3 Credits)

Relationship between gender roles and the structure of one or more social institutions (e.g., the economy, the family, the political system, religion, education). The incorporation of gender roles into social institutions; perpetuation or transformation of sex roles by social institutions; how changing gender roles affect social institutions.

Credit Only Granted for: SOCY425, WMST425 or WGSS425.

Formerly: WMST425.

WGSS428 Topics in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (1-3 Credits)

Thematic exploration of a topic in women, gender, and sexuality studies.

Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs.

Formerly: WMST428.

WGSS444 Feminist Critical Theory (3 Credits)

Issues in contemporary feminist thought that have particular relevance to textual studies, such as theories of language, literature, culture, interpretation, and identity.

Prerequisite: WMST200, WGSS200, WMST250, WGSS250, or ENGL250. Cross-listed with: ENGL444.

Credit Only Granted for: ENGL444, WMST444 or WGSS444.

Formerly: WMST444.

WGSS448 Literature by Women of Color (3 Credits)

Literature by women of color in the United States, Britain, and in colonial and post-colonial countries.

Prerequisite: Must complete two English courses in literature; or permission of the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs. Cross-listed with: ENGL448.

Formerly: WMST448.

WGSS452 Women in the Media (3 Credits)

Participation and portrayal of women in the mass media from colonial to contemporary times.Cross-listed with: JOUR452.

Credit Only Granted for: JOUR452, WMST452 or WGSS452.

Formerly: WMST 452.

WGSS454 Women in Africa (3 Credits)

The place of women in African societies: the role and function of families; institutions such as marriage, birthing, and child rearing; ritual markers in women's lives; women in the workplace; women's associates; women's health issues; measures designed to control women's behavior; women and development.

Credit Only Granted for: HIST494, WMST454 or WGSS454.

Formerly: WMST454.

WGSS455 Women in Medieval Culture and Society (3 Credits)

Medieval women's identity and cultural roles: the condition, rank and rights of medieval women; their access to power; a study of women's writings and the constraints of social constructs upon the female authorial voice; and contemporary assumptions about women.Cross-listed with: HIST495.

Credit Only Granted for: HIST495, WMST455 or WGSS455.

Formerly: WMST455.

WGSS456 Women and Society in the Middle East (3 Credits)

Examines the customs, values and institutions that have shaped women's experience in the Middle East in the past and in the contemporary Middle East.

Recommended: Prior coursework in Middle East studies or gender studies. Cross-listed with: HIST492.

Credit Only Granted for: HIST492, WMST456 or WGSS456.

Formerly: WMST456.

WGSS457 Redefining Gender in the U.S., 1880-1935 (3 Credits)

Exploring changing perceptions of gender in the U.S., 1880-1935, and the impact of those changes on the day to day lives of men and women.

Credit Only Granted for: WGSS457 or WMST457.

Formerly: WMST457.

WGSS458 Literature by Women After 1800 (3 Credits)

Selected writings by women after 1800.

Prerequisite: Must have completed two English courses in literature; or permission of Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs. Cross-listed with: ENGL458.

Formerly: WMST458.

WGSS468 Feminist Cultural Studies (3 Credits)

Each version of this course focuses on one or several forms of popular culture -- such as TV, music, film, cyber-culture, or genre fiction (for example, science fiction) -- and demonstrates how feminists value, critique and explain such forms. Tools of feminist cultural studies include economic and social analyses of power, race, sexuality, gender, class, nationality, religion, technology, and globalization processes.

Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs.

Formerly: WMST468.

WGSS469 Study Abroad Special Topics IV (1-6 Credits)

Special topics course taken as part of an approved study abroad program.

Repeatable to: 15 credits if content differs.

Formerly: WMST469.

WGSS471 Women's Health (3 Credits)

The women's health movement from the perspective of consumerism and feminism. The physician-patient relationship in the gynecological and other medical settings. The gynecological exam, gynecological problems, contraception, abortion, pregnancy, breast and cervical cancer and surgical procedures. Psychological aspects of gynecological concerns.

Restriction: Must be in a program in the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; or must be in a major within SPHL-Behavioral & Community Health department. Cross-listed with: HLTH471.

Credit Only Granted for: HLTH471, WMST471, or WGSS471..

Formerly: WMST471.

WGSS486 Advanced Feminist, Critical Race, and Queer Theories (3 Credits)

Provides undergraduates with a survey of foundational texts in the intersecting fields of feminist, critical race, and queer studies, as well as an overview of current scholarship in order to give students an opportunity to understand the origins and the development of these fields. This course is especially recommended for students interested in pursuing graduate education. Our discussions will be focused on the trajectories of these intellectual conversations as they have developed in the academy.

Prerequisite: WMST301 or permission of the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

WGSS487 Advanced Research Seminar in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies (3 Credits)

A research seminar that allows students to focus their developed skills on a single topic of their own choosing while meeting regularly in seminar to discuss, critique, support, and learn from their peers' projects and assessments. Students choose a topic based on their own interests and prior coursework, perform advanced research appropriate to the question, and formulate an appropriate method of presentation of their research findings. The culminating presentation may take the form of a written paper or a creative, digital, or activist project.

Prerequisite: WMST300 or WGSS301; and WMST400 or WGSS302.

Credit Only Granted for: WMST487 or WGSS487.

Formerly: WMST487.

WGSS488 Senior Seminar (3 Credits)

Seminar for advanced majors in women's studies or other students with appropriate preparation. Interdisciplinary topics will vary each semester.

Restriction: Permission of the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs.

Formerly: WMST488.

WGSS489 Individual Research in Gender, Race and Queer Studies (3 Credits)

Allows students who wish to continue the research they began in WMST487 or WGSS487 to do so under the guidance of an individual faculty mentor. Each student taking this class will develop an individual syllabus based on the project on which they are working, with the goal of developing a work of scholarship specific to their interests that can serve as an entry point for graduate study or professional work.

Prerequisite: WMST487 or WGSS487.

Credit Only Granted for: WMST489 or WGSS489.

Formerly: WMST489.

WGSS491 Judaism and the Construction of Gender (3 Credits)

The study of Jewish culture, religious practice, communal authority, and literature through the frame of such critical categories of analysis as gender, sexuality, masculinity, power, ethics, and the feminine.

Prerequisite: 1 course in JWST; or 1 course in LGBT; or 1 course in WMST or WGSS. Cross-listed with: JWST491.

Credit Only Granted for: JWST491, WMST491 or WGSS491.

Formerly: WMST491.

WGSS492 Sex, Gender, and Jewish Identity (3 Credits)

An exploration of Jewish embodiment, including dynamics related to biological sex, culturally-framed gender, and sexuality. Topics of discussion may include transgender and intersex Jews, stereotypes and gender performance, modesty, genetics, and body alteration. Focus is on contemporary Jewish culture, framed within the larger historical and textual tradition.

Prerequisite: 1 course in WGSS; or 1 course in JWST; or 1 course in LGBT; or permission of instructor. Cross-listed with: JWST492, LGBT448W.

Credit Only Granted for: JWST492, JWST409G, LGBT448W, WMST498W or WGSS492.

Formerly: WMST498W and JWST409G.

WGSS494 Lesbian Communities and Differences (3 Credits)

The meanings of lesbian communities across many lines of difference. Using lesbian-feminists of the 1970s as a starting point, we will look both back and forward in history, tracing changes and exploring the meanings of these in their social and historical contexts.

Prerequisite: 1 course in LGBT, WMST, or WGSS. Cross-listed with: LGBT494.

Credit Only Granted for: LGBT494, WMST494 or WGSS494.

Formerly: WMST494.

WGSS496 African-American Women Filmmakers (3 Credits)

Examines the cinematic artistry of African-American women filmmakers and the ways in which these films address the dual and inseparable roles of race and gender.

Credit Only Granted for: WMST496 or WGSS496.

Formerly: WMST496.

WGSS497 Professional Development (1 Credit)

To assist students in thinking about the next step post-undergraduate degree and to think long term about the importance of their WMST degree in lifelong career, personal, and political development. This course will provide students an opportunity to reflect upon where they are going beyond the B.A. and develop ways to communicate how their coursework and experiences at UMD have prepared them for the next step. The course will focus on the practicalities of resume writing, internship or job searches, etc. but also on the specific challenges/opportunities of translating interdisciplinary training to professional internship or beyond-the B.A. sites. Students may take this course in preparation for their internship (working to select an appropriate internship that can translate well to post-undergraduate aspirations) or they may take it post-internship as they determine their post-graduation steps.

Prerequisite: 12 credits in LGBT, WMST or WGSS courses.

Restriction: Must have completed a minimum of 75 credits.

Credit Only Granted for: WMST497 or WGSS497.

Formerly: WMST497.

WGSS498 Advanced Special Topics in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (1-3 Credits)

Advanced study of a thematic topic in women, gender, and sexuality studies.

Restriction: Permission of the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs.

Formerly: WMST498.

WGSS498D Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in the Islamic World (3 Credits)

WGSS499 Independent Study (1-3 Credits)

Research and writing or specific readings on a topic selected by the student and supervised by a faculty member of the Women's Studies Department.

Prerequisite: 1 course in WMST or WGSS.

Restriction: Permission of the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs.

Formerly: WMST499.

WGSS601 Theoretical Foundations in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (3 Credits)

Examines fundamental concepts in the interdisciplinary field of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Engages intersectionality as a critical analytic and set of responses to structural power and domination. Provides students with a theoretical foundation for understanding gender, race, and sexuality as analytic categories operating in transnational and global contexts and intersecting with other categories of difference.

Prerequisite: WMST400 or WGSS302; or students who have taken courses with comparable content may contact the department.

Restriction: Must be in the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies doctoral or graduate certificate program.

Credit Only Granted for: WMST601 or WGSS601.

Formerly: WMST601.

WGSS602 Methodologies and Epistemologies in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (3 Credits)

Examines the politics and practice of knowledge production in the interdisciplinary field of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Explores how theory is connected to the formation of raced/gendered/sexed bodies, subjectivities, and existences that unsettle Eurocentric genealogies of disciplinary knowledge formation. Introduces students to methodological and epistemological frameworks for attending to the impact of relations of power and domination on how research and scholarship are created and defined within and across disciplinary boundaries, cultures, and paradigms.

Prerequisite: WMST400 or WGSS302; or permission of the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.

Restriction: Must be in the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies doctoral or graduate certificate programs.

Credit Only Granted for: WMST602 or WGSS602.

Formerly: WMST602.

WGSS618 Feminist Pedagogy (3 Credits)

Examines the higher education classroom from a feminist perspective through theory and analysis. Students are graduate teaching assistants with the Women's Studies department.

Restriction: Permission of ARHU-Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Repeatable to: 9 credits.

Formerly: WMST618.

WGSS619 Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Teaching Practicum (1 Credit)

Provides WGSS graduate teaching assistants with ongoing regular faculty supervision during the semesters the students are teaching courses in the department.

Restriction: Must have permission of the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies; and must be a current WGSS teaching assistant.

Repeatable to: 8 credits if content differs.

Formerly: WMST619.

WGSS628 Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Colloquium (1 Credit)

An intensive advanced exploration of current problems and issues in women, gender, and sexuality studies.

Repeatable to: 12 credits if content differs.

Formerly: WMST628.

WGSS698 Special Topics in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (1-3 Credits)

Advanced work in selected topics in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Prerequisite: WMST400 or WGSS302; or permission of the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Restriction: Must be in the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies doctoral or graduate certificate program; or permission of the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Repeatable to: 12 credits if content differs.

Formerly: WMST698.

WGSS699 Independent Study (1-3 Credits)

Research and writing on specific readings on a topic selected by the student which is approved and supervised by a faculty member of the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Restriction: Permission of instructor.

Repeatable to: 9 credits.

Formerly: WMST699.

WGSS708 Research Seminar in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (3 Credits)

Guides students through the process of developing a research article in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from idea to completed draft, with a view to future publication. Students will work to build research skills and develop their individual projects within the structure, accountability, and collaboration of a seminar format. The work of the class will include arranging individual meetings with core and affiliate Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies faculty who can advise the student on their specific research area.

Restriction: Permission of instructor.

Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs.

Formerly: WMST708.

WGSS709 Directed Independent Reading for Major Field Exam (1-6 Credits)

Directed reading in preparation for Major Field Exam. In consultation with their advisors, students identify, analyze, critique and synthesize material relevant to their major fields of inquiry. Grading will be based on combinations of oral performance in the bi-weekly meetings, production of annotated bibliographies and synthetic papers.

Restriction: Permission of Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Repeatable to: 12 credits.

Formerly: WMST709.

WGSS799 Masters Thesis Research (1-6 Credits)

Master's Thesis Research

Repeatable to: 9 credits.

Formerly: WMST799.

WGSS898 Pre-Candidacy Research (1-8 Credits)

Pre-Candidacy Research

Repeatable to: 12 credits.

Formerly: WMST898.

WGSS899 Doctoral Dissertation Research (1-8 Credits)

Doctoral Dissertation Research

Repeatable to: 36 credits.

Formerly: WMST899 .