Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

College of Arts and Sciences

336 Curry Building
336-334-5673
http://wgs.uncg.edu

Lisa Levenstein, Director
Sarah Cervenak, Director of Undergraduate Studies
Danielle Bouchard, Graduate Program Director

Program Faculty

Risa Applegarth, Department of English
Silvia Bettez, Department of Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations
Claudia Cabello-Hutt, Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Sarah Cervenak, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program
  and African American and African Diaspora Studies Program
Daniel Coleman Chávez, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program
Ben Clarke, Department of English
Jenny Dale, Professional Librarian, Coordinator of First-Year Programs
Emily Edwards, Department of Media Studies,
  Director of Center for Creative Writing in the Arts
Jennifer Feather, Department of English
Tara Green, African American and African Diaspora Studies Program
  Linda Arnold Carlisle Excellence Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies
Paige Hall Smith, Department of Public Health Education,
Director of the Center for Women’s Health and Wellness,
Ana Paula Höfling, Department of Dance
Gwen Hunnicutt, Department of Sociology
Elizabeth Keathley, School of Music
Karen Kilcup, Elizabeth Rosenthal Excellence Professor, Department of English
Derek Krueger, Joe Rosenthal Excellence Professor, Department of Religious Studies
Arielle Kuperberg, Department of Sociology
Lisa Levenstein, Department of History
Cybelle McFadden, Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Noelle Morissette, Department of English
Nancy Myers, Department of English
Loreen Olson, Department of Communication Studies
Mark Rifkin, Department of English
Susanne Rinner, Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Eugene Rogers, Department of Religious Studies
María Sánchez, Department of English
Amy Vetter, Department of Teacher Education and Higher Education
Amy Vines, Department of English
Amy Williamsen, Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

Mission Statement

The central focus of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program is to explain how gender is produced within social institutions and how these institutions affect individual lives and to analyze the mutual constitution of gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, nationality, and religion. The Program addresses issues of neglect, omission, and bias in curricula while honing critical thinking skills vital to a liberal education. With the assistance of the community-based Friends of Women’s and Gender Studies, the program sponsors visiting scholars, lectures, films, and conferences devoted to the advancement of women’s and gender studies.

WGS 150 Gender, Race, and Sexuality 3

Students will address the complex historical and contemporary relationships among gender, race, and sexuality as important and interdependent aspects of social life.

WGS 224 Philosophy of Race and Gender 3

This course provides historical background for understanding racial inequalities, focuses on the concepts of race and gender and how they are connected to racism and sexism, and explores the concept of intersectionality.

MAC: MAC Diversity and Equity

Notes: Same as PHI 224.

WGS 250 An Introduction to Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies 3

An interdisciplinary introduction to frameworks and approaches in the field of women's, gender and sexuality studies.

MAC: MAC Diversity and Equity

WGS 260 Writing in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies 3

Focuses on the development of writing skills for the discipline of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Fosters information literacy, proficiency in engaging with and responding to scholarship, and the cultivation of strong research practices.

Prerequisites: WGS 250 or WGS 270.

WGS 270 Introduction to LGBTQI Studies 3

An introduction to the academic study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex histories, experiences, and cultures.

MAC: MAC Diversity and Equity

WGS 280 Women's Health and Bodies 3

How politics and culture shape ideas about diverse women's health and bodies. Topics include gender, race, sexuality, disability, reproduction, disease, violence, and the health care system.

MAC: MAC Health and Wellness

WGS 300X Experimental Course 1-6

This number reserved for experimental courses. Refer to the Course Schedule for current offerings.

WGS 310 Christianity and the Construction of Gender 3

Study of the role of categories of male and female in the creation and maintenance of Christian notions of holiness, authority, and hierarchy in historical perspective.

Notes: Same as REL 310.

WGS 311 Gender and Violence 3

An exploration of gender-based violence in contemporary culture and social life. Topics discussed may include assault, stalking, intimate partner violence, and media portraits of gender violence.

Notes: Students cannot receive credit for both WGS 311 and SOC 419 or WGS 419.

WGS 312 Judaism and the Construction of Gender 3

Jewish understandings of gender from ancient to modern times, with focus on law and tradition, roles in the Jewish community, family, sexuality, and Jewish theology.

Notes: Same as REL 312.

WGS 329 Sociological Perspectives on Gender 3

Inquiry into status of genders in society with emphasis on structural and institutional relationships as well as socialization and the continuities and discontinuities in gendered displays across the life cycle.

Notes: Same as SOC 329.

WGS 333 Postcolonial and Transnational Feminisms 3

Examines histories of, and critical feminist responses to, western colonialism and imperialism. Explores the construction of race, gender, class, and sexuality within imperial projects and anti-imperial movements.

CIC: CIC College Writing

Prerequisites: WGS 250 or WGS 270.

WGS 350 Introduction to Feminist Theories 3

Explores and evaluates feminist theories in a socio-historical context. Raises questions about their implications for different methods of inquiry and about the nature of knowledge and rational thought.

CIC: CIC College Writing

Prerequisites: WGS 250 or WGS 270.

WGS 374 Ecofeminism 3

Study of Ecofeminism as a philosophy and social movement that focuses on interconnections between feminism and environmentalism. Analysis of paradigms and inequalities that devalue and oppress both 'women' and 'nature'.

WGS 375 Topics in Native American and Indigenous Studies 3

Exploration of the literatures, cultural productions, histories, and politics of indigenous peoples. Topic will vary depending on section.

Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic varies. Same as ENG 375.

WGS 400 Independent Study 1-3

Intensive independent study of specialized topics.

Prerequisites: Permission of sponsoring instructor.

Notes: May be repeated once for credit.

WGS 400X Experimental Course 1-6

This number reserved for experimental courses. Refer to the Course Schedule for current offerings.

WGS 419 Gender, Crime, and Deviance 3

Examines key questions in scholarly literature on gender, crime, and deviance: how gender socialization, gender roles, and institutions affect males' and females' offending, deviant behavior, and victimization.

Notes: Same as SOC 419. Students cannot receive credit for both WGS 419 and WGS 311.

WGS 430 Critical Sexuality Studies and Queer Theory 3

Examines sexuality as an identity and an object of knowledge in connection to race, class, and gender. Includes exploration of the history of, and new developments in, queer theory.

Prerequisites: WGS 350 or permission of instructor.

WGS 440 Social Entrepreneurship: Justice and a Green Environment 3

Interdisciplinary engagement of social entrepreneurship as model for change on an issue of environmental sustainability. Exploration of models that respond to social, economic, environmental, and justice issues.

Prerequisites: Upper-division undergraduate status.

Notes: Same as BUS 440, ENT 440, PCS 440.

WGS 450 Topics Seminar in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies 3

An in-depth study of a selected topic or topics in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies involving directed reading and research.

Notes: May be repeated up to three (3) times for credit as topics vary.

WGS 460 Internship in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies 3

Practical experience in a variety of professional settings. Includes biweekly seminar with internship coordinator. Students complete at least 7-10 hours a week at internship sites.

Prerequisites: WGS 250, plus 6 additional hours in WGS. 6 hours in core courses in major, if other than WGS;

Notes: For Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies majors and minors only.

WGS 490 Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies Senior Capstone Course 3

Senior-level work on a major theme in the field of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Each student will design and complete a culminating research project.

CIC: CIC College Writing

Prerequisites: Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies Major.

WGS 493 Honors Work 3-6

Prerequisite: Permission of instructor; 3.30 GPA in the major, 12 s.h. in the major;

Notes: May be repeated for credit if the topic of study changes.

WGS 530 Critical Sexuality Studies and Queer Theory 3

Examines sexuality as an identity and an object of knowledge in connection to race, class, and gender. Includes exploration of the history of, and new developments in, queer theory.

WGS 600 Independent Study 3-6

A research or creative project related to women's and gender studies supervised by a WGS faculty member.

Prerequisites: At least 9 hours with a B (3.0) average or better.

WGS 600X Experimental Course 1-6

This number reserved for experimental courses. Refer to the Course Schedule for current offerings.

WGS 601 Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Internship 3

Supervised experience related to women's, gender, and sexuality studies. May include teaching internship, service learning opportunity, applied research experience, or internship in social justice organizations and agencies.

Prerequisites: For master's students, at least 15 credit hours of graduate-level course work including WGS 650 and WGS 651.

WGS 602 Internship Seminar 3

Prerequisite: At least 15 credit hours of graduate level course work including WGS 650 and WGS 651;

Corequisites: WGS 601.

WGS 640 Experiences in Sustainable Entrepreneurship 3

Interdisciplinary course in sustainable entrepreneurship. Exploration of models for designing and implementing entrepreneurial projects which respond to social, economic, environmental, and justice issues. Introduction to direct action and evaluation.

Notes: Same as ENT 640, BUS 640.

WGS 650 Feminist Theory: Intersections of Gender, Race and Class 3

Introduces feminist social movements across historical and global contexts. Relies on interdisciplinary lenses and epistemologies, particularly as contested identity politics intersect with other systems of power and relationships.

WGS 651 Feminist Research Analysis 3

Feminist approaches to philosophical and practical inquiries: data collection, analysis, and presentation. Prepares students to critically read research to understand the place of gender in lived experiences and institutional spaces.

Prerequisites: WGS 650.

WGS 670 Race, Gender, and U.S. Empire 3

Interdisciplinary investigation of the social construction of race and gender in the context of U.S. warfare and imperial statecraft. Examines critiques of US empire using critical race and feminist frameworks.

WGS 699 Thesis 1-6

Individual guidance in the development of a specific research problem.

Notes: May be repeated for a maximum of 6 hours credit.

WGS 706 Topics in Gender and Sexuality Studies 3

Intensive work at an advanced level on a selected topic in Gender and Sexuality Studies.

Notes: Same as ENG 706. May be repeated once for credit when topic varies.

WGS 750X Experimental Course 1-6

This number reserved for experimental courses. Refer to the Course Schedule for current offerings.

WGS 801 Thesis Extension 1-3

Thesis Extension.

WGS 803 Research Extension 1-3

Research Extension.