https://www.uvm.edu/cas/genderstudies
The Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies program (GSWS) offers a unique and wide-ranging way of studying and engaging with the world. Concepts of study include sex, gender, and sexuality; identities such as female, male, intersex, gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, and queer; and the intersections of these identities with race, class, (dis)ability, and other systems of inequality and privilege. Areas of academic inquiry include women’s history, the history of sexuality, trans studies, intersectional health, economic inequality, feminist and queer theory, feminist and queer literary studies, law and politics, and transdisciplinary approaches to sex and gender. GSWS is both an academic discipline and a meeting place for students and faculty in every discipline who want to explore these critically important issues. The program is scholarly, and it is fully engaged with the world in which we live.
Courses
GSWS 1010. FYS: Intro to GSWS. 3 Credits.
Intensive first-year seminar introducing the field of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies. Topics include key theoretical approaches to conceptualizing gender, sexuality, and power; how gender and sexuality are policed; and the relationship between gender, sexuality, and other social categories. Emphasis on developing critical reading and writing skills, substantive revision, information literacy, and analytical thinking. Catamount Core: D2, S1, WIL1.
GSWS 1020. Topics In: LASP Writing. 3 Credits.
Intensive course in a broad disciplinary area (humanities, social sciences, arts, or natural sciences). Part of an integrated first-year experience in which students take 2-4 classes exploring aesthetic, humanistic, social, linguistic, environmental, or scientific issues. May repeat for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Co-requisite: Enrollment in the appropriate Liberal Arts Scholars Program.
GSWS 1025. Topics In: LASP Seminar. 3 Credits.
Intensive course in a broad disciplinary area (humanities, social sciences, arts, or natural sciences). Part of an integrated first-year experience in which students take 2-4 classes exploring aesthetic, humanistic, social, linguistic, environmental, or scientific issues. May repeat for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Co-requisite: Enrollment in the appropriate Liberal Arts Scholars Program.
GSWS 1500. Intro to GSWS. 3 Credits.
Introduction to the field of gender, sexuality, and women's studies. Topics include key theoretical approaches to conceptualizing gender, sexuality, and power; how gender and sexuality are policed; and the relationship between gender, sexuality, and other social categories. Credit not awarded for both GSWS 1500 and GSWS 1010. Catamount Core: D2, S1.
GSWS 1620. Topics in Gender/Sexuality Lit. 3 Credits.
Courses examine the representation and construction of gender and sexuality in literature. Representative topics: Gender, Sexuality and Identity in American Poetry. May be repeated for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Cross-listed with: ENGL 1270. Catamount Core: AH2, D2.
GSWS 1630. Women in Literature. 3 Credits.
Survey of women's literary tradition in English. Focuses on the ways women have written, read, written about, and been represented in nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature. Cross-listed with: ENGL 1280. Catamount Core: AH2.
GSWS 1785. Sociology of Sexualities. 3 Credits.
Examination of the social construction of sexuality with emphasis on theories, concepts, and cultural ramifications of a range of sexual practices and identities. Cross-listed with: SOC 1330. Catamount Core: S1.
GSWS 1990. Special Topics. 1-18 Credits.
See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.
GSWS 2050. Gender and Feminism(s). 3 Credits.
Exploration of the politics and history of feminist movements and theories, as well as the ways in which gender has shaped public policies. The emphasis will be primarily, although not exclusively, on gender and feminism(s) in the United States. Prerequisite: GSWS 1010 or GSWS 1500. Catamount Core: D2.
GSWS 2070. LGBT Politics and History. 3 Credits.
Explores the history, strategies, conflicts, and issues surrounding the various movements advancing the claims of LGBT rights, as well as the roles LGBTQ people play as participants in American politics and culture. Prerequisite: GSWS 1500, GSWS 1010, POLS 1300, POLS 1013, or Instructor permission. Cross-listed with: POLS 2450. Catamount Core: D2.
GSWS 2715. Gender Sex Race & the Body. 3 Credits.
Cross-cultural study of gender, sex, sexuality, and race including exploring the cultural construction of categories and cultural practices related to the body and gender, sex, sexuality, and race. Prerequisites: GSWS 1010, GSWS 1500, or ANTH 1100. Cross-listed with: ANTH 2205. Catamount Core: D2.
GSWS 2735. Gender, Space & Environment. 3 Credits.
Examination of the ways in which human relationships to both the built and the natural environment are mediated by gender. Prerequisite: Six hours in Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies, Environmental Studies, or Geography. Cross-listed with: GEOG 2774, ENVS 2240.
GSWS 2745. Language, Gender and Sexuality. 3 Credits.
Considers the field's emergence and evolution in relation to sociolinguistic and feminist theory. Examines how gendered identities are socially and linguistically constructed from a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives. Maintains a focus throughout on queer linguistic scholarship, looking beyond binaries; disentangling gender, sex, and sexuality; interrogating relationship of language to systems of power/oppression. Prerequisites: GSWS 1010, GSWS 1500, LING 1200, LING 1500, or ANTH 1600. Cross-listed with: LING 2220.
GSWS 2765. The Politics of Sex. 3 Credits.
The evolution of sexual politics within the United States. Includes examinations of shifting debates over marriage, reproduction, abortion, LGBT rights, sex education, and teen sexuality. Prerequisite: GSWS 1500, GSWS 1010, POLS 1300, or POLS 1013. Cross-listed with: POLS 2455.
GSWS 2785. Gender, Sexualities & Medicine. 3 Credits.
Examines medicine through a sociocultural lens, drawing on sociological, historical, anthropological, philosophical, feminist, queer, and critical race studies perspectives in order to explore the intersections of sex, gender, sexuality, and medicine. Prerequisites: GSWS 1010, GSWS 1500, three hours of Sociology, or Health & Society major or minor. Cross-listed with: SOC 2335.
GSWS 2801. Communicating Masculinities. 3 Credits.
An exploration of how our culture communicates about and defines masculinity, what the effects are for individuals and institutions, and the alternative possibilities for creating new masculinities. Pre/Co-requisites: GSWS 1010 or GSWS 1500.
GSWS 2811. Ecofeminism. 3 Credits.
Exploration of a broad range of ecofeminist texts. The field of ecofeminist studies specifically addresses the traditional interpretation of nature as female or feminine, the connection between the oppression of women and the exploitation of nature, and ways in which environmental issues often affect women. Prerequisites: GSWS 1010, GSWS 1500, or ENVS 1500. Cross-listed with: ENVS 2220. Catamount Core: D2.
GSWS 2990. Special Topics. 1-18 Credits.
See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.
GSWS 3050. Internship: GSWS Core. 3-6 Credits.
A semester-long on-site internship relevant to GSWS, secured by the student. The internship is combined with a structured academic learning plan delivered via regular class meetings with a faculty member and cohort of other students or independently under the direction of a faculty member. Required for GSWS majors and open to other qualified students. Prerequisite: A contract must be obtained from and returned to the Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies Program office during registration; permission of Director of Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies.
GSWS 3660. Topics in Gender & Sexuality. 3 Credits.
Topics examining gender and/or sexuality in the ancient world. May repeat for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Prerequisites: GSWS 1010, GSWS 1500, or three hours in Classics. Cross-listed witih: CLAS 3540. Catamount Core: AH3.
GSWS 3765. Gender and Law. 3 Credits.
Examination of the interaction between gender and law in American society. Topics covered include workplace law, family law, and personal autonomy. Prerequisites: POLS 1300 or POLS 1013; three hours of Political Science at the 2000-level. Cross-listed with: POLS 3350.
GSWS 3990. Special Topics. 1-18 Credits.
See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.
GSWS 3991. Internship. 1-18 Credits.
On-site supervised work experience combined with a structured academic learning plan directed by a faculty member or a faculty-staff team in which a faculty member is the instructor of record, for which academic credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion.
GSWS 3993. Independent Study. 1-18 Credits.
A course which is tailored to fit the interests of a specific student, which occurs outside the traditional classroom/laboratory setting under the supervision of a faculty member, for which credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion. Prerequisites: GSWS 1500; permission of Director of Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies.
GSWS 3995. Undergraduate Research. 1-18 Credits.
Undergraduate student work on individual or small team research projects under the supervision of a faculty member, for which credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion. Prerequisites: GSWS 1500; approval of Director of Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies.
GSWS 4050. Topics In: GSWS Senior Seminar. 3 Credits.
Advanced discussion-based, interdisciplinary approaches to the study of topics in the field. Representative topics: Feminist Media Studies; Feminist Theory in Historical Perspective; Gender, Sexuality and the Law. May be repeated for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Prerequisites: GSWS 1010 or GSWS 1500; six additional hours in GSWS; Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies major or minor or Sexuality & Gender Identity Studies minor.
GSWS 4990. Special Topics. 1-18 Credits.
See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.
GSWS 4994. Teaching Assistantship. 1-3 Credits.
Undergraduate student service as a teaching assistant, usually in an introductory-level course in the discipline for which credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion.
GSWS 4996. Honors. 1-6 Credits.
College honors thesis or other department/program honors, under the supervision of a faculty member. Offered at department discretion.