Academics: Course Info, Fall 2008 Courses
| FGSS 1106 | First-Year Writing Seminar Writing about Literature: Women and Writing |
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| TBA | Staff | 3.0 credits | Also ENGL 1105 |
| See www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute/ for the course description after August 1st. | |||
| FGSS 2010 | Introduction to Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | ||
| TR 10:10-11:25 | J. Juffer | 4.0 credits | |
| Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies is an interdisciplinary program focused on understanding the impart of gender and sexuality on the world around us and on the power hierarchies that structure it. In this class we focus mainly on the experiences, historical conditions, and concerns of women as they are shaped by gender and sexuality both in the present and the past. We will read a variety of texts, personal narratives, historical documents, and cultural criticism, to name a few across a range of disciplines. In so we will consider how larger structural systems of both privilege and oppression affect individuals’ identities, experiences, and options, and simultaneously we will examine forms of agency and action taken by women in the face of these larger systems. | |||
| FGSS 2490 | Feminism and Philosophy | ||
| TR 11:40-12:55 | N. Sethi | 4.0 credits | Also PHIL 2490 |
| An introduction using a variety of texts (philosophical, historical, literary, legal, and political) to feminist thought. Special attention will be paid to sexual difference and the social construction of gender, and to how we frame various issues (e.g., whether pornography is primarily an issue about freedom of expression or about equal protection). | |||
| FGSS 2840 | Sex, Gender, and Communication | ||
| TR 2:55-4:10 | L. Van Buskirk | 3.0 credits | Also COMM 2840 |
| Explores the personal, career, social, and economic implications of male and female gender categories. Topics include theories of male and female gender construction, social structures, personal relationships, and gender concerns in the workplace. | |||
| FGSS 3210 | Sex and Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective | ||
| MWF 11:15-12:05 | Staff | 4.0 credits | Also ANTHR 3421 |
| An introduction to the study of sex roles cross-culturally and to anthropological theories of sex and gender. The course examines the relative positioning of the sexes in social, political, economic, ideological, cultural, and biological aspects of culture; we emphasize the diversity in gender and prospects for change around the world. In addition to lectures and films or videos, participants will work in small discussion sections (maximum enrollment of eight) to prepare several practical field exercises, short papers and critical assessments of other course materials. | |||
| FGSS 3600 | Gender and Globalization | ||
| TR 2:55 - 4:10 | L. Benería | 4.0 credits | Also CRP 3650 |
| This course will invite students to think globally about gender issues and to trace the connections between global, national and local perspectives. Emphasis will be given to: understanding processes of globalization (economic, political, cultural); discussing the ways in which these processes interact with the dynamics of gender differentiation; understanding how globalization has affected women's and men's paid and unpaid work; discussing the significance of women's location in global markets; looking at the importance of culture and the social construction of gender in shaping the ways in which globalization affects people's lives and gender relations; introducing regional differences and similarities; discussing the gender dimensions in the debates on "the clash of civilizations;" and introducing questions of global governance and examining specific cases that illustrate women's role in the shaping of international debates. | |||
| FGSS 3690 | Fast Talking Dames & Sad Ladies | ||
| W 2:30-4:25 | L. Bogel | 4.0 credits | Also ENGL 3690, FILM 3690 |
| Students must be free to attend Monday and/or Tuesday late-afternoon screenings. There is a $30 film fee. Limited to 15: for permission, email <ldb4@cornell.edu>. In this seminar focusing on sassy or subdued heroines of Hollywood’s 1940s films and current films, we will work to define romantic comedy and melodrama as genres; as vehicles for female stars; as ways of viewing the world. Psychoanalytic and feminist analyses of these films will help us pose questions about gender and culture, about gendered spectatorship, about the relation of these films to American culture, about Hollywood’s changing constructions of “woman,” the “maternal,” and the “feminine,” and about representations of desire, pleasure, fantasy, and ideology. Required weekly screenings of such films as Gilda, The Lady Eve, Reckless Moment, Notorious, The Women, The Philadelphia Story, His Girl Friday, Mrs. Dalloway, The Hours, First Wives’ Club, All About My Mother, Silence of the Lambs, Far From Heaven, and The Deep End. | |||
| FGSS 3850 | Gender and Sexual Minorities | ||
| M 7:30-10:00 | K. Cohen | 3.0 credits | Also HD 3840 |
| This course introduces students to theories, empirical scholarship, public policies, and current controversies with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, sexual questioning, and other sexual minority populations. The major focus is on sexual development, lifestyles, and communities with additional emphasis on ethnic, racial, gender, and class issues. Videos supplement the readings and lectures. | |||
| FGSS 3990 | Undergraduate Independent Study | ||
| TBA | Staff | 1.0-4.0 credits | |
| Prerequisites: one course in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and permission of a faculty member in Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. | |||
| FGSS 4000 | Senior Seminar in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | ||
| W 10:10-12:05 | K. McCullough | 4.0 credits | |
| Required for, and limited to, Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies majors. Although the topic/focus of this course will surely vary with the instructor, it will always be treated as a broad capstone course for majors. | |||
| FGSS 4100 | Health and Survival Inequalities | ||
| TR 2:55-4:10 | A. Basu | 4.0 credits | Also SOC 4100, D SOC 4100 |
| Historical inequalities in health and survival continue to exist today. This course will cover some of the markers of such inequalities, including religion, class, race, gender and age and examine some of the biological, socioeconomic and political determinants of these differences. Macro as well as individual and family level determinants will be examined. Policy prescriptions will be evaluated and new innovative approaches proposed. | |||
| FGSS 4530 | 20th Century American Women Writers of Color | ||
| T 10:10-12:05 | S. Wong | 4.0 credits | Also ENGL 4530, AM ST 4530, AAS 4530 |
| In this course, we'll be reading literature--primarily novels--produced by hemispheric American women writers of the mid- to late twentieth-century. We will look at how these writings articulate concerns with language, home, mobility, and memory, and at how the work is informed by the specificities of gender, race, region and class. Readings may include work by Leslie Marmon Silko, Sandra Cisneros, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Jamaica Kincaid, Gwendolyn Brooks, Ann Petry, Fae Myenne Ng, Carolivia Herron, Helena Maria Viramontes, and Shani Mootoo. | |||
| FGSS 479 | Advanced Seminar in American Literature | ||
| W 12:20-2:15 | S. Samuels | 4.0 credits | Also ENGL 4790, VISST 4800, ART H 4979, AMST 4790 |
| This course will explore a thematic shared by women writers and artists in the turn from the late 20th century to the early 21st century, a time we haven't yet named historically. For the writers and artists we will examine, questions of bodily visibility raise further questions about sexuality and mother-daughter relations. They also use fiction and visual culture to show elements of ingestion and forced incorporation. For example, many narrators emphasize scenes of eating and refusing to eat. Paying particular attention to women who write on reproduction and race, we will read critics such as Hortense Spillers, Julia Kristeva, and Nawal al Sadawi. We will also ask such questions as: How does the famous foregrounding of nudity and female genitalia by women artists like Mary Kelly and Renee Cox relate to questions of food and consumption, especially in works like “The Dinner Party” or “The Last Supper”? How does Renee Cox change assumptions about the female nude when she photographs herself naked with her naked son in “Yo Mama”? What about Cindy Sherman's use of medical paraphernalia to impersonate women's bodies? Texts will be by Tsitsi Dangarembga, Edwidge Danticat, Oonya Kempadoo, Jamaica Kincaid, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Toni Morrison. Artists examined include Renee Cox, Mary Kelly, Shirin Neshat, Cindy Sherman, Sally Mann, Bernie Searle, and Kara Walker. | |||
| FGSS 4791 | Transgender & Transexuality | ||
| M 2:30-4:25 | M. Raskolnikov | 4.0 credits | Also ENGL 4791 |
| What is a man? What is a woman? What do the terms "transgender" and "transsexual" mean? How about: drag queen, transvestite, butch, boi, femme, stone femme, tranny-chaser? How does the contemporary proliferation of sexual identities and possibilities transform our understanding of sex, gender, sexuality and the body? This course engages students in current discussions of gender difference and gender identity from feminist, queer and transgender perspectives. Together, we will examine some queer theory, essays (both academic and personal), novels, films, and possibly some legal and medical writings, trying to keep the really interesting questions wide open. Graduate students as well as undergraduates are welcome to enroll for credit. | |||
| FGSS 4912 | Senior Honors Seminar – Topic: Gender, Memory, and History in U.S. Fiction | ||
| M 12:20-2:15 | K. McCullough | 4.0 credits | Also ENGL 4910 |
| This seminar will investigate the narrative uses of history and memory in US fiction, focusing particularly on the impact of gender on these representations. How do US writers use history in their fiction, and to what ends? What are the effects on drawing on received historical narratives? What are the effects of constructing one's own history to fill a void in the received historical narrative? To what extent is history—personal or public—produced by memory and how are personal and public histories connected? Authors under consideration may include: Julia Alvarez, Lan Cao, Michelle Cliff, Cristina Garcia, Jewelle Gomez, Harriet Jacobs, Gayl Jones, Maxine Hong Kingston, Lydia Kwa, Achy Obejas, and Danzy Senna. | |||
| FGSS 4990 | Individual Study: Senior Honors Thesis (for Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies seniors only) | ||
| TBA | Staff | 1.0-8.0 credits | |
| To graduate with honors, a major must complete a senior thesis under the supervision of a faculty member in Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, and defend that thesis orally before an honors committee. To be eligible for honors, students must have at least a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 in all course work and a 3.3 average in all courses applying to their Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies major. Students interested in the Honors program should consult the Director of Undergraduate Studies late in the spring semester of their junior year or very early in the fall semester of their senior year. | |||
| FGSS 6240 | Gender, Context, and Epistemological Development | ||
| T 12:20-2:15 | D. Schrader | 3.0 credits | Also EDUC 6140 |
| This seminar explores concepts of epistemological development and reflective thought, and the role of context in the development of knowledge. The course focuses on questions such as: What is the nature of knowledge? How do we know? How do we know what we know? How do we develop and modify thought strategies and problem solving strategies and reflect on those strategies? What role does gender play in how we know? How does our own epistemic perspective and metacognitive awareness interact with another’s and affect learning? The texts provide theoretical background for the course. Articles enhance the depth of application of the basic theoretical constructs under study. Students’ submissions of related articles are welcomed and encouraged. | |||
| FGSS 6811 | James Baldwin | ||
| T 7:30-9:30 | D. Woubshet | 4.0 credits | Also ENGL 6811, AMST 6811 |
| James Baldwin is one of the most discerning interpreters of the English language and among the shrewdest interlocutors of American life. This course will examine his writings (novels, essays, plays, screenplays, and poems) against a variegated historical backdrop. We will take an in-depth look at his oeuvre, paying careful attention to style and form, and also how his work pries open America's literary, cultural and political imagination. Among the themes for consideration are: familial and broader kinship ties; the politics of racial and sexual difference; individual and collective death; and, love. Readings will include: Go Tell It on the Mountain, Giovanni's Room, Amen Corner, Another Country, Just Above My Head, and The Price of the Ticket. | |||
| FGSS 6990 | Topics in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | ||
| TBA | Staff | 4.0 credits | |
| Independent reading course for graduate students only on topics not covered in regularly scheduled courses; permission of instructor required. Students develop a course of readings in consultation with a faculty member in the field of Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies who has agreed to supervise the course work. | |||
| FGSS 7630 | Gender and Late Antiquity | ||
| T 1:25-4:25 | K. Bowes, K. Haines-Eitzen | 4.0 credits | Also CLASS 7633 , HIST 7633, NES 7633, RELST 7633 |
| This seminar treats gender, broadly construed to include masculinity, femininity and sexuality—from approximately 100-500 A.D. Of particular interest will be the multiple intersections between gender and late ancient economics, religion, politics, art and archaeology. The seminar will use relevant theoretical works and secondary sources to read ancient texts (hagiography, documentary papyri, ecclesiastical letters, inscriptions) and material culture (art, architecture and other artifactual material). | |||
