Course Descriptions

WST 201 Foundations in Women’s Studies
This multidisciplinary course introduces students to the contributions of women inhistory, religion, literature, philosophy, sciences, and the arts, and how the questions and methodologies of these disciplines differ when seen from women’s perspectives. Students will also study the diversity of women’s experiences in terms of race, sexual orientation, and class.

WST 281 Topics

WST 281 Topics: Gender and Islam
The course introduces students to the diversity and heterogeneity of gender relations in Muslim societies in the Arab World, Europe, Africa, North America, and South and Southeast Asia. It traces Islam as a culturally-lived experience, spanning from the local to the transnational. The course introduces students to feminist theoretical arguments from the humanities and social sciences, and juxtaposes these to complex case studies from various locals in order to illuminate connections between Islam and rituals, ethnicities, gender, education, the media, travel, migration, citizenship, political commitments, and conflict and societal change. Concurrently the course aims to undo the many stereotypes about Islam, Muslim societies, and Muslim women.

WST 281 Topics: Sexuality and Gender: A Global Perspective
This course will explore global contemporary issues of sexuality and gender, examining social institutions and their impact on women’s and men’s experiences of gender and sexuality. The course will focus in depth on topics such as ritualized genital cutting, sex work and sex trafficking, sexual violence, disability and sexuality, maternal sexuality, and global LBGT movements.

WST 281/481 Topics: Introduction to Men’s Studies
This course will look through a feminist academic lens at men and masculinity, particularly in relation to such topics as boyhood, health, relationships, sexualities, and violence.

WST 281/481 Topics: GLBT Issues in a Global Context
(CGE course; taught in Mexico)

WST 305 Issues in Queer Studies
A study of basic issues surrounding sexual orientation in the contemporary US culture, including various disciplinary perspectives and theory. The course may include guest speakers, a service-learning component at local GLBT/supporting agencies, and some travel and experiences in the Twin Cities, as well as an immersion experience outside of class time. Required experiential education fee.  Prerequisites: WST 201 or prior coursework in related fields (history, sociology, psychology) or consent of the instructor(s).

WST 313 Environmental Issues in Latin America: Environmental Theology and Ethics
(CGE Course. See International Programs, Social Justice, Gender and the Environment)

WST 315 Mid-Level Feminist Theory: Margins as Center
This multidisciplinary and multicultural feminist theory course focuses on the global voices often marginalized by the feminist canon. A variety of texts—including personal narratives, political statements, origin stories, and empirical studies—will be analyzed to highlight different theoretical approaches and multiple feminisms.

WST 324 Liberationist, Feminist, Queer, and Postcolonial Theologies in Latin America
(CGE Course. See International Programs—Crossing Borders: Gender and Social Change in Mesoamerica.)

WST 335 Contemporary Latin American Women: Texts and Voices
This course examines the social construction of gender in Latin American countries and addresses key issues faced by Latin American women today. Includes analysis of poems, excerpts of novels, essays, testimonies, and interviews by and about Latin American women. Aims to help students develop an appreciation for the complexity of diversity of Latin American women’s experiences. (Prereq.: SPA 311. Taught in Mexico.) (CGE Course.)

WST 341 Globalization, Social Struggles, and the Environment
(CGE Course. See International Programs, Migration and Globalization: Engaging Our Communities)

WST 357 Mexican History, Culture, and Cosmovision
An exploration of Latin American history from Pre-Columbian times through the conquest and colonial periods up to modern Latin America. The course will use a gendered lens to focus on Mexican history, culture and cosmovision.
Additional readings and written assignments will be required for upper division students. Taught on-site in Mexico through Center for Global Education. (Prereq.: 1 previous history course or consent of instructor required for 300-level course)

WST 359 Women, Gender, and Social Change in Latin America
(CGE Course. See International Programs, Crossing Borders: Gender and Social Change in Mesoamerica.)

WST 362 Walking the Truth: Culture, Gender and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa
This broad-based course explores the influence of culture and gender on the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. The natural history, biology, and epidemiology of AIDS in Africa, as well as socio-cultural, ethical, theological and political responses to the disease are examined. (Augsburg Abroad course. Summer)

WST 481 Topics in Women’s Studies

WST 481 Topics: Research Methods
This course will introduce students to interdisciplinary, qualitative research methods. We will explore the nature and ethics of the subject-researcher relationship and practice participant observation and interviewing skills. The final product of the course will be a completed research proposal.

WST 485 Women’s Studies Seminar
This advanced course will include student research and presentations that incorporate feminist theory. The seminar is required of all majors and satisfies the Keystone requirement. It is also required of minors who do not elect to do an independent study (499). It is offered at a different college each semester and may be taken in conjunction with WST 490.

WST 490 Women’s Studies—Keystone (0.0 course)
This course provides a Keystone component for all WST majors. (Prereq.: WST 201 and permission of instructor)

AIS 208/408 Native American Women and Film
Beginning with issues of representation and a history of Hollywood’s portrayal of Native American women as princess figures, sexualized maidens, or squaws, we will expand our conceptualization of Native American women by putting into conversation a variety of voices that talk back to or address mainstream stereotypes of Native American women. Our goal is to expand our conceptualizations of Native American women and their important roles in society by examining a variety of cultural issues as they are presented through documentary and fiction films made by and about Native American women.

AIS 233 Women: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
This course examines a variety of issues concerning the biological, evolutionary, and historical origins of women’s roles and status in society. Comparative roles of women are examined in tribal contexts across various indigenous cultures. Studies include the role of women in Native American and African tribes, peasant societies of Eastern Europe, Mexico, the Middle East, and China.

AIS 305 Indigenous Issues of Central America
This travel seminar explores issues faced by Indigenous peoples of Guatemala, Nicaragua, or Mexico. May be taken in conjunction with WST 490 or AIS 490.

AIS 320 American Indian Women
Through life histories of Indian women, the course examines the vital roles and contributions of women in past and present tribal cultures. It explores the continuity of women’s roles over time and the changes in these roles, precipitated by the influences of Western colonialism. The course also assesses how American Indian women have crossed cultural boundaries and influenced non-tribal communities through their activism and traditionalism.

ART 352 Women and Art
A study of the creative role of women in the visual arts, including the fine arts, the traditional arts, and the arts of Native American women. (Prereq: ENL 111 or 112 or HON 111)

ENL 365 Contemporary Postcolonial Fiction
This examination of contemporary world fiction includes work by authors from Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, and fiction written by indigenous authors worldwide. The course explores novels in relation to language, culture, and gender in an age of globalization and fragmented nationalisms, considering fictions in their literary, cultural, and social contexts. (Prereq: ENL 220 or 221 or one 200-level literature, language, or theory course, or consent of instructor.)

ENL 367 Women and Fiction
This course studies novels and short stories by women across cultures. Emphasis on the conditions that have affected women’s writing (including race and class), the reflection of women’s unique experience in their writing, and the ways in which women writers have contributed to and modified the Western literary heritage. (Prereq: ENL 220 or 221 or one 200-level literature, language, or theory course, or consent of instructor.)

ENL 385 Language and Power
Students will consider both spoken and written examples of language as a means of establishing, maintaining, or revoking power. They will also pay attention to gender differences in the use of language and analyze ways in which speakers and writers can both create and revise reality via the language they use. (Prereq: ENL 220 or 221 or one 200-level literature, language, or theory course, or consent of instructor.)

HIS 195/INS 233 Topics: Promoting Justice and Seeking Equality: Globalization and Women’s
Grassroots Movements in Latin America/Women in Cross-Cultural Perspective

HIS 282 History of Women Since 1848
This course examines in comparative perspective women’s changing political, economic, social, and sexual status since the 19th century, with attention given to social, racial, ethnic, and sexual differences among women.

HPE 316 Human Sexuality
A study of the psychological, social, and biological components of human sexuality. (Prereq: HPE 110).

POL 124 American Women and Politics
Investigates the roles women play in the political system. Political, economic, and social issues will be explored from contemporary and historical perspectives.

POL 359 Topics: Women in Comparative Politics
Various aspects of women in comparative politics will be explored. (Prereq: one course in political science or consent of instructor.)

REL 441 Feminism and Christianity
Attention will be given to religious influences on societal roles for women and men, feminist interpretation of the Bible, and the impact of feminism on Christian theology, especially in terms of language and metaphor.

SOC 231 Family Systems
The term family is a universal concept, yet its membership, rituals, and functions vary dramatically across world cultures and subcultures in the United States. Family systems are explored with respect to cultural and historical settings, variations among families, and modern cultural and social patterns.

SOC 265 Race, Class, and Gender
Who gets what, when, and how? Individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds—race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality—receive unequal  portions of wealth, power, and prestige in our society. This course focuses on both
the collective and individual processes involved in social inequality.

SOC 266 Sociology of Sexualities
What we mean by “sex” changes over time. During different historical time periods it’s been a sin, a means of forging ties between powerful families, a source of psychological perversion, a means to pleasure, a symbol of love, as well as a personal identity. This class explores how sexuality and its components (desire, pleasure, love, the body) are socially constructed.

Internships and Independent Study Courses

(Must be approved in writing by the women’s studies coordinator)

WST 199 Internship

WST 299 Directed Study

WST 399 Internship

WST 499 Independent Study/Research