WOMEN STUDIES
College of Humanities
(See Women Studies in the Academic Programs section for information on degrees)
Undergraduate Courses
150 Women in American History and Society (3) [US]
F
Examines the historical development of American institutions and ideals and the evolution of economic, political, and social processes in the U.S. from American Indian times to the present, particularly with regard to the roles and status of women. (See U.S. History and Government Requirement.)
160 Women, Politics, and Citizenship (3) [US,CA]
S
Examines American political ideals, institutions, and processes, with particular attention to their implications for women and women's contributions to public life. (See U.S. History and Government Requirement which includes California State and Local Government Requirement.)
200 Women: The Basic Questions (3) [GE]
Introduction to the origins, purpose, subject matter, and methods of women studies and to feminist perspectives on a range of social issues affecting women.
290 Issues in Women Studies (3) [GE]
Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. Introductory studies of selected topics of widespread interest in the field of women studies and feminist theory. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
301 Women in Groups: Communication and Process (3) [GE]
Examination of women's communication practice, both verbal and non-verbal. Analysis of the roles of women as leaders within groups as well as the functioning of leaderless groups. Attention to the experiences of women as participants in communication.
302 Translating Women's Experience (3) [GE]
Prerequisite: three units of English composition or equivalent. An exploration of various ways to translate women's cultural experience into writing. Students express, analyze, and act upon women's experience in several modes: personal and critical essays, journals and autobiographies, fiction and poetry, socio-political action writing.
303 Women as Creative Agents (3) [GE]
Personal expression and self-definition through creative experience in various media: drawing, painting, photography, poetry, sculpture, and writing. Examination of related work of women artists, filmmakers, poets from various backgrounds. Classwork, two units; laboratory, one unit.
400 Critical Analysis and Feminist Research (3) [GE]
Prerequisite: WOMS 200 or equivalent. Examines critically various methodological and theoretical issues raised in and by the field of women studies. These issues are considered in the context of a specific social problem, which may vary from semester to semester.
485 Women and Media (3) [GE]
Prerequisite: upper division standing. Uses a variety of analytic modes, including feminist, analytic, and economic criticism to assess both how women are represented in mass media and the status of women employed in mass media. (Also offered as BECA 485.)
511 Women and Violence (3) [GE]
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent. An examination of the psychological and physical violence visited upon women and relations of gender and violence. Includes current research, feminist theory, and controversy within the women's movement addressing various issues: incest, rape, battery, pornography, etc.
512 Lesbians and Women-Identified Women: An International Perspective (3)
Prerequisite: ENG 114. Seminar exploring differing concepts of women-identified women and their implications for feminist theory and research methodologies. Emphasis on understanding the constructions of lesbian identity and behavior in different world cultures and historical eras. Paired with WOMS 712. Students who have completed WOMS 512 may not take WOMS 712 later for credit.
530 Women Studies and Social Theory (3)
Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. Examination of the interconnection between the study of women in society and the study of issues in social theory. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
531 Women and International Development (3) [GE]
Prerequisite: WOMS 200 or consent of instructor. Study of the crucial roles women play in economic development and liberation struggles throughout the world. Examination of the impact of different technologies and strategies used by development agencies like the World Bank and A.I.D. on the lives of women.
532 Politics of Reproduction (3) [GE]
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent. Examines biological reproduction and women's special role as childbearers vis-à-vis social constraints that are placed upon women of various races and socioeconomic groups as a result of the political and economic structure of society.
533 Women and Men Changing (3) [GE]
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent. Film, literature, small group dynamics are used to help women and men become better co-workers, parents, political allies, friends, lovers. Works to re-educate women and men of different cultures to new understandings of their interpersonal/social relations.
534 Women and the Law (3) [GE]
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent. A critical interdisciplinary examination of our legal system's treatment of women's rights and responsibilities in the areas of property law, criminal law, family law, constitutional law, employment, education, and reproduction. (Also offered as S S 345.)
540 Issues in the Humanities and Arts (3)
Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. In-depth study of women's contribution to a given field or fields in the humanities or arts, or of these fields from a feminist perspective. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
541 Women Writers and Social Change (3)
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent. Examines the relationship between women's literature and women's participation, as activists and theorists, in movements in the U.S. for progressive social change. (Also listed as ENG 614.)
542 Women's Music and Social Consciousness (3)
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent. Historical examination of women's contributions to popular and folk music in the U.S., emphasizing the relationship of this music to the development of consciousness about women's status and oppression. Exploration of women's music as a form of resistance.
544 Feminist Literary Criticism (3) [GE]
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent. Examines the origins, methods, and functions of feminist literary criticism, and applies feminist critical analysis to specific works of literature by women and men. (Also offered as ENG 613.)
545 American Radical Women Writers (3)
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent. The tradition of significant literary works by American women writers since about 1840 who have focused on such issues as the rights of women and minorities, abolitionism, socialism and anarchism, and peace. (Also offered as ENG 545.)
550 Special Studies in Lesbian Lives (3)
Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. Intensive study of specific aspects of lesbian lives. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
551 Lesbian Literature (3) [GE]
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent. A study of literature by and about lesbians of various racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Focus on both the emergence of feminist concerns and on esthetic issues of theme and form.
552 Lesbian Lives and Thought (3) [GE]
Prerequisites: ENG 114 or equivalent. Overview of lesbian history emphasizing female romantic friendships, women who pass as men, the development of "lesbian" as a deviant category, the birth of a Lesbian Liberation movement. Analysis of contemporary issues such as the coming out process, families of origin and created families, parenting, relationships, sex, work, legal rights, and culture.
560 Studies in Women's Ethnic and Racial Identity (3)
Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. Opportunity for in-depth study of women's experience as members of ethnic and racial groups. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
561 Women of Color in the U.S. (3) [GE]
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent. Major issues and themes in the history, culture, and contemporary lives of Black, Native American, Asian American, and Latina women in the U.S.
562 History of African American Women (3) [GE]
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent. Examines the experiences of Black women under slavery; in their pioneering roles as industrial, domestic, and agricultural workers; and in their varied political, social, and educational roles in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
563 Women and Cross-Cultural Organizing (3)
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent. Examines strategies for and difficulties associated with creating personal, organizational, and political alliances among women of diverse cultural and/or racial backgrounds, especially as these women's cross-cultural alliances are used to bring about social change.
564 Women Writers and Colonialism (3)
Prerequisite: ENG 214 or equivalent. Study of literature by women writers whose work addresses the experience of peoples in colonized countries with a history of colonialism and/or imperialism. Paired with WOMS 764. Students who have completed WOMS 564 may not take WOMS 764 later for credit.
565 Women in the Muslim and Arab Worlds (3)
Prerequisite: upper division standing or consent of instructor. An examination of differences/similarities in women's lives in Muslim/Arab world, including diaspora in Europe and North America. Also covers minorities in Arab Middle East. Analysis includes issues of gender as it relates to nationalism, religion, and culture.
590 Special Issues in Women Studies (3)
Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. Concentrated study on selected cross-disciplinary topics of most prominent importance in Women Studies. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
591 Aging: The Older Woman (3) [GE]
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent. Analysis of the phenomenon of aging among women of various ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds in the United States. Examination of ways in which women are limited and defined by age. Exploration of new ways of experiencing growth and aging.
595 Anthropology of Women (3) [GE]
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent. Review of comparative materials from ethnography, physical anthropology, and prehistory on women's roles. Theories of origin of the family, the cultural conditioning of sex roles, the myth of feminine evil, and changing sex roles in modern societies. (Also offered as ANTH 590.)
611 Female Sexuality: Social and Theoretical Perspectives (3) [GE]
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent and WOMS 200 or consent of instructor. Examination of the relationship between female sexuality and its social and ideological contexts. Exploration of various theories about female sexuality, focusing on trends and issues in current feminist thought (e.g. analyses of compulsory heterosexuality, lesbian sexuality, etc.)
621 Feminist Thought (3)
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent and WOMS 200 or consent of instructor. An examination of trends in feminist thought as applied to such issues as sexuality, racism, economics, the family, spirituality, and global ecology; and of the origins of these trends in political theory, personal experience, and social context.
630 Matriarchy/Patriarchy (3)
Prerequisite: WOMS 200 or ANTH 120 or consent of instructor. Investigation of theoretical and political implications of the "matriarchy debate" in Western social thought, particularly in current feminist thinking, in recent anthropological reinterpretations, and in prior controversy between "mainstream" and Marxist social scientists. Paired with WOMS 730. Students completing WOMS 630 may not take WOMS 730 later for credit.
698 Work Study in Feminist Projects (1-3)
Supervised community, university, or Women Studies Program service which implements or otherwise relates to the Women Studies major, program, individual WOMS courses, or the student's own major. May be taken for a total of nine units.
699 Special Study (1-3)
Prerequisite: ENG 114 or equivalent. Special study in some aspect of feminism or women studies, performed under department faculty supervision. Enrollment by petition. Repeatable for credit.
Graduate Courses
700 Introduction to Graduate Study (3)
Origins and current status of women studies as a field of knowledge. Relationships between gender and epistemology; examination of feminist critiques and transformations of research methodologies. Development of research skills; identification of major works and issues in feminist scholarship.
710 History of Women's Consciousness and Resistance in Cross-Cultural Perspectives I: Non-Western Societies (3)
Prerequisite or corequisite: WOMS 700 or consent of instructor. Themes in women's consciousness and resistance in pre-colonial and non-western cultures. Social stratification and the state; political marginalization of women. Egalitarianism in the legacy of women's participation in society. Colonial transformations and the politics/cultures of resistance.
711 History of Women's Consciousness and Resistance in Cross-Cultural Perspectives II: Western Societies (3)
Prerequisite or corequisite: WOMS 700 or consent of instructor. Themes in the history of women in western Europe and the North American continent. Indigenous, colonized, and European women's resistance to social injustice and to their own disenfranchisement. Turning points in women's activitism. Impact of race/class inequities.
712 Lesbians and Women-Identified Women: An International Perspective (3)
Prerequisite or corequisite: WOMS 700 or consent of instructor. Seminar exploring differing concepts of women-identified women and their implications for feminist theory and research methodologies. Emphasis on understanding the constructions of lesbian identity and behavior in different world cultures and historical eras. Paired with WOMS 512. Students who have completed WOMS 512 may not take WOMS 712 for credit.
713 Issues in Feminist Theory (3)
Prerequisite or corequisite: WOMS 700 or consent of instructor. Intensive examination of specific issues, topics, or theoretical tendencies in current feminist discussion and debate, and analysis of the implications of theory for social practice.
720 Feminist Pedagogies (3)
Prerequisite: WOMS 700 or consent of instructor. Seminar on theories, methods, and planning of Women Studies courses, designed for Women Studies majors interested in teaching at the college level. Curriculum planning, construction of lecture, leading discussions.
730 Matriarchy/Patriarchy (3)
Investigation of theoretical and political implications of the "matriarchy debate" in Western social thought, particularly in current feminist thinking, in recent anthropological reinterpretations, and in prior controversy between "mainstream" and Marxist social scientists. Paired with WOMS 630. Students who have completed WOMS 630 may not take WOMS 730 for credit.
747 Feminist Criticisms (3)
Prerequisite: graduate standing in women studies or permission of instructor. Diverse feminist theoretical and critical approaches in various social contexts. Consideration of women's relations to texts. Topics include canons; female aesthetics; social, linguistic, and psychoanalytic approaches. (Also offered as ENG 747.)
750 Issues of Gender, Race, Class, Sexuality (3)
Prerequisite: WOMS 700 or consent of instructor. Topic to be specified in the Class Schedule. Intensive examination of particular social issues and bodies of readings integrating a consideration of gender with a consideration of race and ethnicity, class, and/or sexuality. May be repeated once for credit when topic varies.
760 Issues in Women's Literature and Culture (3)
Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. Gender and culture as the basis for a cross-cultural examination of women's literature rooted in colonial discourse. Pan-African women writers serve as points of departure for the study of Irish, Palestinian, and other women writers.
764 Women Writers and Colonialism (3)
Prerequisite: ENG 214 or equivalent. Study of literature by women writers whose work addresses the experience of peoples in colonized countries with a history of colonialism and/or imperialism. Paired with WOMS 564. Students who have completed WOMS 564 may not take WOMS 764 for credit.
770 Issues in Women and Public Policy (3)
Prerequisites: WOMS 700 or consent of instructor. Topic to be specified in the Class Schedule. Examination of a specific issue in public policy, its role in the formation of gender inequities, and its impact on the position of women in the economy. May be repeated once for credit when topic varies.
820 Feminist Perspectives to Social Research (3)
Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor. For Women Studies students, WOMS 700 required. Explores the field of social research and feminism. It will prepare students to critically analyze research studies, develop research skills, and develop their master's projects.
894 Creative Work Project (3)
Prerequisites: WOMS 700, advancement to candidacy, and approval of the graduate major adviser. An original creative work. Projects must be described in a written document that summarizes the project's relation to other work in the area, its rationale, its significance, and its creative methodologies. Graduate Approved Program and Proposal for Culminating Experience Requirement forms must be approved by the Graduate Division before registration. CR/NC grading only.
895 Field Study Project (3)
Prerequisites: WOMS 700, advancement to candidacy, and approval of the graduate major adviser. A field study or applied research project resulting in a completed written work that includes the project's significance, objectives, methodology, and conclusions or recommendations. Graduate Approved Program and Proposal for Culminating Experience Requirement forms must be approved by the Graduate Division before registration. CR/NC grading only.
898 Master's Thesis (3)
Prerequisites: WOMS 700, advancement to candidacy, and approval of the graduate major adviser. Intensive study of a topic or issue within the field of women studies, culminating in a written thesis showing independent thinking, appropriate methodology and organization, clarity of purpose, thorough documentation, and relevant conclusions. Graduate Approved Program and Proposal for Culminating Experience Requirement forms must be approved by the Graduate Division before registration. CR/NC grading only.
899 Special Study (1-3)
Prerequisite: consent of the graduate major adviser and the supervising faculty member. Study is planned, developed, and completed under the direction of a member of the department faculty. Open only to graduate students who have demonstrated ability to do independent work. Enrollment is by petition.