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Courses

Find information on regularly taught and upcoming courses, as well as degree requirements.

The Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies offers numerous courses each semester, including many courses that satisfy general education requirements.

The interdisciplinary nature of our programs means students can also take courses in other departments which are included in the lists below.

Fall 2024 Undergraduate Courses

WGSS Major and Certificate Courses

Introductory Courses

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to LGBTQ Studies (G)
  • WGSS 200 Intro to WGSS: Gender, Power, and Society (G)
  • WGSS 250 Intro to WGSS: Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 263: Intro to Black Women’s Studies 
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) I-Series

Foundational Courses

  • WGSS 301 Introduction to Research in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies (PR)
  • WGSS 302 Feminist, Critical Race, and Queer Theories (PR)
  • WGSS 319P Workshop in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies; Disability Justice

Experiential Learning / In Major Scholarship in Practice Courses

  • WGSS 358 Teaching Assistantship (PR)
  • WGSS 368 Internship (PR)
  • WGSS 378 Undergraduate Research or Creative Works Assistantship (PR)

Professional Development (Required for majors, elective for minors and certificates)

  • WGSS497 Professional Development (1 credit online, PR)

Capstone

  • WGSS 487 Advanced Research Seminar in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies (PR) 
  • WGSS488D Senior Seminar; Capitalism and Disability (PR) 


Social Justice Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 200 Intro to LGBTQ Studies (G)
  • LGBT 350 LGBTQ People and Communication
  • LGBT 386 LGBTQ Community Organizing Internship
  • WGSS 105 Intro to Disability Studies (G)
  • WGSS 200 Introduction to WGSS: Gender, Power, and Society (G)
  • WGSS 250 Introduction to WGSS: Art and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media (G)
  • WGSS 319D Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Disability Justice
  • WGSS 488D Capitalism and Disability 
  • PLCY 311 Women in Leadership

Transnational Politics and Perspectives Thematic Concentration:

  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 360 Caribbean Women
  • AMST 298Q Selected Topics in American Studies; U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture
  • AMST 328K Perspectives on Identity and Culture; Gender, Labor, and Racial Identity in Diaspora Communities
  • CMLT 275/ WGSS 275 World Literature by Women (G)
  • HIST 215 Women in Western Europe to 1750 (G)
  • HIST 289N/ WGSS 298N Politics of Sexuality in America: a Historical Approach (G)
  • HIST 412 History of Women and Gender in Africa
  • JWST 219G Special Topics in Jewish Studies: Zionism and Sexual Revolution
  • JWST 319L Special Topics in Jewish Studies; Sexuality in Jewish Culture


Race, Ethnicity, Class Thematic Concentration:

  • WGSS 263/ AASP 263 Introduction to Black Women’s Studies
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media (G)
  • WGSS 360/ AASP 361 Caribbean Women
  • AASP 398G/ AMST 328K Perspectives on Identity and Culture; Gender, Labor, and Racial Identity in Diaspora Communities
  • AMST 298Q / ENGL 235 U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture
  • KNES 225 Hoop Dreams: Black Masculinity and Sport

Bodies, Genders, Sexualities Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 200 Intro to LGBT Studies (G)
  • LGBT 310/ WGSS 310 Transgender Studies
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media (G)
  • WGSS 319D  Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Disability Justice
  • ENGL 329C Sexuality in the Cinema 

Arts, Technologies, and Cultural Production Thematic Concentration:

  • WGSS 250 Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media (G)
  • AMST 298Q Selected Topics in American Studies; U.S. Latina/o Literature and Culture
  • WGSS 275/ CMLT 275 World Literature by Women (G)
  • LGBT 265/ ENGL 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media (G)
  • ENGL 459C/LGBT459D Selected Topics in Sexuality and Literature: Life Writings in Different Media
  • LGBT 448Y/ WGSS 498Y/ ENGL439D Special Topics in LGBTQ Studies; Dickinson, Erotics, Poetics, Biopics: Some (Queer) Ways We Read Poetry
  • FREN 498G Special Topics in French Literature; Gender and Identity in Film and Literature of the French-Speaking World

LGBTQ Studies Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies (G)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G)
  • LGBT 265/ ENGL 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media (G)
  • LGBT 310/ WGSS 310 Transgender Studies
  • LGBT 350 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People and Communication
  • LGBT 386 LGBT Community Organizing Internship
  • LGBT 448Y/ ENGL439D LGBTQ Studies; Dickinson, Erotics, Poetics, Biopics: Some (Queer) Ways We Read Poetry (G)
  • LGBT459D/ ENGL 459C Sexuality and Literature: Life Writings in Different Media

 

G - Gen Ed     PR - Permission Required, email wgss@umd.edu to request

LGBTQ Studies Certificate and Minor Courses

Arts, Technology and Cultural Production:

  • LGBT 265/ ENGL 265 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Literatures and Media (G)
  • LGBT 448Y/ ENGL 439D/ WGSS 498Y Dickinson, Erotics, Poetics, Biopics: Some (Queer) Ways We Read Poetry 
  • LGBT459D/ ENGL 459C Sexuality and Literature: Life Writings in Different Media

Transnational Politics and Perspectives:

  • JWST 319L Special Topics in Jewish Studies; Sexuality in Jewish Culture

Institutions, Politics, And/Or Social Movements:

  • LGBT 350 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People and Communication (G, PR)
  • LGBT 386 LGBT Community Organizing Internship (G, PR)

Race, Ethnicity, and Class:

  • JWST 319L Special Topics in Jewish Studies; Sexuality in Jewish Culture

Transgender Studies

  • LGBT265/ ENGL 265 LGBT Literatures and Media (G)
  • LGBT 310 Transgender Studies

Queer And/Or Feminist Theory

  • WGSS 302 Feminist, Critical Race, and Queer Theories

Electives

HIST289N/ WGSS298N The Politics of Sexuality in America: A Historical Approach (G)

HLTH 377 Human Sexuality

Black Women’s Studies Minor Courses

Foundational Courses

  • WGSS 263/ AASP 263 Intro to Black Women's Studies
  • *AASP 398G/ AMST 328K Gender, Labor, and Racial Identity in Diaspora Communities

Electives

  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media (G)
  • *WGSS 360/ AASP 361/ LACS 348P Caribbean Women
  • KNES 225 Hoop Dreams – Black Masculinity and Sport (G)

*comparative or non-U.S. courses

Summer 2024 Undergraduate Courses

Summer 2024 Undergraduate Courses

  • LGBT 327/ ENGL 359F LGBT Film and Video a DSHU & DVUP
  • WGSS 105/ AMST 298D Introduction to Disability Studies a DSHU & DVUP
  • WGSS 205/AMST 298J Reproductive Justice a DSHU & DVUP
  • WGSS 298W Monsters and Racism: Black Horror & Speculative Fiction a DSHU
  • HIST 360/ WGSS 498M Women and the Civil Rights Movement

Courses by Thematic Concentration Area for the Women’s Studies Major and Certificate


Social Justice Concentration:

  • WGSS 105/ AMST 298D Introduction to Disability Studies (G)
  • WGSS 205/ AMST 298J Reproductive Justice (G)
  • HIST 360/ WGSS 498M Women and the Civil Rights Movement

Race, Ethnicity, Class Concentration:

  • WGSS 298W Monsters and Racism: Black Horror and Speculative Fiction
  • WGSS 498M Women and the Civil Rights Movement

Bodies, Genders, Sexualities Concentration:

  • LGBT 327/ ENGL 359F LGBTQ Film and Video
  • WGSS 205/ AMST 298J Reproductive Justice

Arts, Technologies, and Cultural Production Concentration:

  • LGBT 327/ ENGL 359F LGBTQ Film and Video
  • WGSS 298W Monsters and Racism: Black Horror and Speculative Fiction

LGBTQ Studies Concentration:

  • LGBT 327/ ENGL 359F LGBTQ Film and Video


Courses by thematic area for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate and Minor:
Arts, Technology and Cultural Production:
LGBT 327 LGBTQ Film and Video


Courses by area for Black Women’s Studies Minor:
Foundation Course:
WGSS 498M/AASP 498I/HIST 360: Women and the Civil Rights Movement

Spring 2024 Undergraduate Courses

WGSS Major and Certificate Courses

Introductory Courses

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies (G)
  • WGSS 200 Intro to WMST: Women and Society (G)
  • WGSS 250 Intro to WMST: Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) I-Series

Foundational Courses

  • WGSS 302 Feminist, Critical Race, and Queer Theories
  • WGSS 319D Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Disability Justice

Experiential Learning/ Departmental Scholarship in Practice - permission required.

  • WGSS 358 Teaching Assistantship (PR)
  • WGSS 368 Internship (PR)
  • WGSS 378 Research and Creative Works Assistantship (PR)

Capstone

  • LGBT 488E Seminar in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies; Queering Black Femininities
  • WGSS 487 Advanced Research Seminar in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies
  • WGSS 488F Senior Seminar Blackness, Gender, and Sexuality: Women Writing Self in the African Diaspora

Spring 2024 WGSS Thematic Concentration Area Course List 

(students in the WGSS BA and WGSS Certificate need 12 credits in 1 Concentration Area)

Social Justice

  • LGBT 386 LGBT Community Organizing Internship (PR)
  • WGSS 250 Introduction to WGSS: Art and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media (DSSP)
  • WGSS 319D  Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Disability Justice
  • WGSS 488F Senior Seminar Blackness, Gender, and Sexuality: Women Writing Self in the African Diaspora
  • ENGL 329A Special Topics in Film Studies; Cinema of Liberation

Transnational Politics and Perspectives

  • WGSS 211 Women in America Since 1880
  • WGSS 275 / CMLT 275 World Literature by Women (G)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 298N / HIST 289N Politics of Sexuality in America: a Historical Approach
  • WGSS 488F Senior Seminar Blackness, Gender, and Sexuality: Women Writing Self in the African Diaspora
  • WGSS 498J Advanced Special Topics in WGSS; Contemporary Chinese and Chinese American Cinema on Women
  • AMST 298Q Selected Topics in American Studies; U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture
  • ANTH 403 Queer Anthropology
  • PERS498M  Special Topics in Persian Studies; Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in the Islamic World

Race, Ethnicity, Class

  • LGBT 264/ WGSS 264  Quare/Queer Contentions: Exploration of Sexualities in the Black Community
  • LGBT 488E  Seminar in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies; Queering Black Femininties
  • WGSS 211 Women in America Since 1880
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media (DSSP)
  • WGSS 370 Black Feminist Thought
  • WGSS 488F Senior Seminar Blackness, Gender, and Sexuality: Women Writing Self in the African Diaspora
  • AASP 498I  Special Topics in Black Culture; Racial Socialization of Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research and Practice (Cancelled)
  • AAST 498J Advanced Special Topics in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Asian American Women and Gender
  • AMST 298Q / ENGL 235 U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture
  • KNES 225 Hoop Dreams: Black Masculinity and Sport

Bodies, Genders, Sexualities

  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media (DSSP)
  • WGSS 298N / HIST 289N Politics of Sexuality in America: A Historical Approach
  • WGSS 319D  Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Disability Justice
  • WGSS 336/ PSYC 336 Psychology of Women
  • KNES 225 Hoop Dreams: Black Masculinity and Sport
  • PERS 498M Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in the Islamic World

Arts, Technologies, Cultural Production

  • LGBT 448Y/ ENGL439D Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies; Dickinson, Erotics, Poetics, Biopics: Some (Queer) Ways We Read Poetry
  • WGSS 250 Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 255 Reading Women Writing
  • WGSS 275 World Literature by Women (G) 
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media (DSSP)
  • WGSS 488F Senior Seminar Blackness, Gender, and Sexuality: Women Writing Self in the African Diaspora
  • AMST 298Q Selected Topics in American Studies; U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture
  • ENGL 329A Special Topics in Film Studies; Cinema of Liberation
  • ENGL 459C/LGBT459D Selected Topics in Sexuality and Literature: Life Writings in Different Media

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender And Queer Studies

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies (G)
  • LGBT 264/ WGSS 264  Quare/Queer Contentions: Exploration of Sexualities in the Black Community
  • LGBT 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media (G)
  • LGBT 386 LGBT Community Organizing Internship
  • LGBT 448Y/ ENGL439D Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies; Dickinson, Erotics, Poetics, Biopics: Some (Queer) Ways We Read Poetry
  • LGBT 488E Seminar in LGBTQ Studies; Queering Black Femininities
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention
  • ANTH 403 Queer Anthropology
  • HLTH 424 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Health
  • ENGL 459C/LGBT459D Selected Topics in Sexuality and Literature: Life Writings in Different Media

LGBTQ Certificate and Minor Courses

LGBTQ Studies Foundation Courses

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies
  • LGBT 386 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Organization Internship (PR)
  • LGBT 488E Seminar in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies; Queering Black Femininities

LGBTQ Thematic Areas: 

Certificate students need courses from at least 3 different Thematic Areas, minor students need courses from at least 2 areas. 

Arts, Technology and Cultural Production

  • LGBT 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media
  • LGBT 448Y/ ENGL439D Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies; Dickinson, Erotics, Poetics, Biopics: Some (Queer) Ways We Read Poetry
  • ENGL 459C/LGBT459D Selected Topics in Sexuality and Literature: Life Writings in Different Media

Institutions, Politics, and/or Social Movements

  • LGBT 386 Undergraduate LGBTQ Internship
  • HLTH 424 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health

Queer and/or Feminist Theory

  • WGSS 302 Feminist, Critical Race, and Queer Theories
  • WGSS 370 Black Feminist Thought

Race, Ethnicity, and Class

  • LGBT 264/ WGSS 264  Quare/Queer Contentions: Exploration of Sexualities in the Black Community
  • LGBT 488E Seminar in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies; Queering Black Femininities

Transnational Politics and Perspectives

  • LGBT 264/ WGSS 264  Quare/Queer Contentions: Exploration of Sexualities in the Black Community

Transgender Studies

  • LGBT 265/ENGL265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media

Other Electives (these are not part of the thematic areas)

  • WGSS 298N / HIST 289N Politics of Sexuality in America: A Historical Approach
  • HLTH 377 Human Sexuality

Black Women’s Studies Minor Courses

BWST Foundation:

  • LGBT 264/ WGSS 264  Quare/Queer Contentions: Exploration of Sexualities in the Black Community

BWST Electives:

  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media (DSSP)
  • WGSS 370 Black Feminist Thought
  • * WGSS 488F Senior Seminar - Blackness, Gender, and Sexuality: Women Writing Self in the African Diaspora (this fulfills the non-us or comparative requirement)
  • AASP 498I  Special Topics in Black Culture; Racial Socialization of Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research and Practice (Cancelled)
  • KNES 225 Hoop Dreams– Black Masculinity and Sport

Fall 2023 Undergraduate Courses

WGSS Major and Certificate Courses

Introductory Courses

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to LGBTQ Studies (G)
  • WGSS 200 Intro to WGSS: Gender, Power, and Society (G)
  • WGSS 250 Intro to WGSS: Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WGSS263: Intro to Black Women’s Studies 
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) I-Series

Foundational Courses

  • WGSS 301 Introduction to Research in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies (PR)
  • WGSS 302 Feminist, Critical Race, and Queer Theories (PR)
  • WGSS 319P Workshop in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies; Pleasure, Intimacy, and Violence

Experiential Learning / In Major Scholarship in Practice Courses

  • WGSS 358 Teaching Assistantship (PR)
  • WGSS 368 Internship (PR)
  • WGSS 378 Undergraduate Research or Creative Works Assistantship (PR)

Professional Development (Required for majors, elective for minors and certificates)

  • WGSS497 Professional Development (1 credit online, PR)

Capstone

  • WGSS 487 Advanced Research Seminar in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies (PR) (required for the major)
  • WGSS488G Senior Seminar; Transnational Feminisms (PR) (required for the major)


Social Justice Thematic Concentration:

  • WGSS 250 Women, Art, and Culture
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention 
  • WGSS 319P Workshop in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies; Pleasure, Intimacy, and Violence
  • PLCY 311 Women in Leadership

Transnational Politics and Perspectives Thematic Concentration:

  • WGSS 275 World Literature by Women (also CMLT 275)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention
  • WGSS 298L/HIST213 History of Sexuality 
  • AMST 328K Perspectives on Identity and Culture; Gender, Labor, and Racial Identity in Diaspora Communities
  • HIST 215 Women in Western Europe to 1750
  • WGSS498D Sex, Gender and Sexuality in the Islamic World 


Race, Ethnicity, Class Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 263 Intro to Black Women's Studies
  • WGSS 265 Constructions of Black Manhood and Womanhood
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention
  • WGSS 314 / AASP 313 Black Women in U.S. History
  • WGSS 319P Workshop in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies; Pleasure, Intimacy, and Violence
  • ASSP 398G/ AMST 328K Perspectives on Identity and Culture; Gender, Labor, and Racial Identity in Diaspora Communities
  • HIST 429A Victoria's Secrets: Sex and Class in Nineteenth Century Britain

Bodies, Genders, Sexualities Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 265 Constructions of Manhood and Womanhood in the Black Community
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention
  • WGSS 319P Workshop in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies; Pleasure, Intimacy, and Violence
  • WGSS 336/ PSYC 336 Psychology of Women
  • ENGL 329C Sexuality in the Cinema 

 

Arts, Technologies, and Cultural Production Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 265/ ENGL 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media
  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 250 Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 255/ ENGL 250 Reading Women Writing (G)
  • WGSS 275 / CMLT 275 World Literature by Women (G) 
  • WGSS498K The Transnational Cinema of Ang Lee 
  • WGSS 498Y/ ENGL 439D Dickinson, Erotics, Poetics, Biopics: Some (Queer) Ways We Read Poetry (G) 
  • ENGL 329C Sexuality in the Cinema (cross-listed as CMLT398L)

LGBTQ Studies Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to LGBTQ Studies (G)
  • LGBT 265/ ENGL 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media
  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention 
  • ENGL 329C Sexuality in the Cinema (cross-listed as CMLT398L)

Courses Eligible for the Cognate or as Electives:

  • WGSS 301 Introduction to Research in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies (this course is an elective option for certificate students)
  • WGSS 498A/PSYC 318D Community Interventions: Domestic Violence
  • COMM 324 Communication and Gender
  • FMSC 310 Maternal, Child and Family Health
  • FMSC 330 Family Health: Health Happens in Families
  • HLTH377 Human Sexuality
  • SOCY 335 Sociology of Health and Illness

Courses also on Testudo (WGSS FA ‘23): 

  • WGSS105: Intro to Disability Justice 
  • WGSS255: Reading Women Writing 
  • WGSS452 Women in the Media 

 

LGBTQ Certificate and Minor Courses

Arts, Technology and Cultural Production:

  • LGBT 265/ENGL 265  Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Literatures and Media
  • LGBT 448Y Dickinson, Erotics, Poetics, Biopics: Some (Queer) Ways We Read Poetry (ENGL 439D and WGSS 498Y)
  • ENGL 329C Sexuality in the Cinema (cross-listed as CMLT398L)


Transnational Politics and Perspectives:

  • WGSS498D Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in the Islamic World

Institutions, Politics, And/Or Social Movements:

  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies 
  • HLTH 424 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health

Race, Ethnicity, and Class

  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies

Transgender Studies

  • LGBT265/ENGL 265 LGBT Literatures and Media

Queer And/Or Feminist Theory

  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 302 Feminist, Critical Race, and Queer Theories

Black Women’s Studies Minor Courses

Foundation

  • WGSS 263/AASP 263 Intro to Black Women's Studies
  • WGSS 265/AASP 265 Constructions of Manhood and Womanhood in the Black Community
  • WGSS 314/AASP 313 Black Women in U.S. History
  • *AASP 398G/AMST 328K Gender, Labor, and Racial Identity in Diaspora Communities

Electives

  • LGBT 448L/AASP498Y Black Queer Studies
  • KNES 225 Hoop Dreams – Black Masculinity and Sport
  • *HIST 412 History of Women and Gender in Africa

*comparative or non-U.S. courses

Past semesters

Summer 2021 Undergraduate Courses

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to LGBTQ Studies
  • LGBT 327 LGBT Film and Video
  • LGBT 398G/ WGSS 379J Special Topics: Black Trans Studies
  • WMST 250 Introduction to WGSS: Art and Culture
  • WMST 298D Bodies in Contention
  • WMST 400 Theories of Feminism (also counts as WGSS 302)
  • WMST 498M Advanced Special Topics in WGSS; Women and the Civil Rights Movement
  • AASP 498Z Black Women in Popular Culture: From the Blues to Beyonce'
  • CLAS 320 Women in Classical Antiquity
  • LASC 348A Online & In the Streets: Women's Struggles for Justice in Latin America
  • LASC 348Q Digitalizing Borders, Stories, and Resistance in The Americas

Courses by Thematic Concentration Area for the Women’s Studies Major and Certificate 
Social Justice Concentration:

  • WMST 250 Women, Art, and Culture
  • WMST 290 Bodies in Contention 
  • LASC 348A Online & In the Streets: Women's Struggles for Justice in Latin America

Transnational Politics and Perspectives Concentration:

  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention 
  • LASC 348A Online & In the Streets: Women's Struggles for Justice in Latin America

Race, Ethnicity, Class Concentration:

  • LGBT 398G Black Trans Studies
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention
  • WGSS 498M Advanced Special Topics in WGSS; Women and the Civil Rights Movement
  • AASP 498Z Black Women in Popular Culture: From the Blues to Beyonce'

Bodies, Genders, Sexualities Concentration:

  • LGBT 327 LGBT Film and Video
  • WGSS 290 Women’s Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)

Arts, Technologies, and Cultural Production Concentration:

  • LGBT 327 LGBTQ Film and Video
  • WGSS 250 Intro to WGSS: Art and Culture
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)

LGBTQ Studies Concentration:

  • LGBT 200 Intro to LGBTQ Studies
  • LGBT 327 LGBTQ Film and Video
  • LGBT 398G Black Trans Studies
  • WMST 298D Bodies in Contention

Courses by thematic area for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate and Minor:
Arts, Technology and Cultural Production: 

  • LGBT 327 LGBT Film and Video

Race, Ethnicity, and Class: 

  • LGBT 398G Black Trans Studies

Transgender Studies: 

  • LGBT 398G Black Trans Studies

Queer And/Or Feminist Theory: 

  • WMST 400  - Theories of Feminism 

Courses by area for Black Women’s Studies Minor:
Historical Course Requirement: 

  • AASP 498I/HIST 360/WMST 498M: “Women and the Civil Rights Movement”

Upper Level Elective Courses:

  • AASP 498: Special Topics in Black Culture: Black Women in Popular Culture: From the Blues to Beyonce
  • AASP 498I/HIST 360/WMST 498M: “Women and the Civil Rights Movement”

Spring 2021 - Undergraduate Women's Studies Major and Certificate Courses

Introductory Courses

  • LGBT 200 Introduction toLGBTQ Studies (G)
  • WMST 200 Intro to WMST: Women and Society (G)
  • WMST 250 Intro to WMST: Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WMST 298D Bodies in Contention (G) I-Series

Foundational Courses

  • WMST 400 Theories of Feminism (will count towards WMST 302 requirement)
  • WMST 319E Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Making Race and Gender in Reality Television

Experiential Learning Courses

  • WMST 358 Teaching Assistantship (PR)
  • WMST 368 Internship (PR)
  • WMST 378 Research and Creative Works Assistantship (PR)

Capstone

  • WMST 488A Senior Seminar: Black Women in the Arts (PR)
  • LGBT 488D Senior Seminar: The Queer Politics of Health (PR)

Spring 2021 WMST Thematic Concentration Area Course List 
(students need 12 credits in 1 Concentration Area)

Social Justice

  • LGBT 386         LGBT Community Organizing Internship
  • WMST 250       Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WMST 298D     Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WMST 498M    Women and the Civil Rights Movement 
  • AMST 328G     Perspectives on Identity and Culture; The Art of Black Social Movements: Marcus Garvey to Black Lives Matter
  • ENGL 329A      Special Topics in Film Studies; Cinema of Liberation
  • PLCY 311         Women in Leadership

Transnational Politics and Perspectives

  • WMST 275       World Literature by Women (G) (also CMLT 275)
  • WMST 298D    Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • AMST 298Q     Selected Topics in American Studies; U.S. Latina/o Literature and Culture
  • JWST 319L      Special Topics in Jewish Studies; Sexuality in Jewish Culture

Race, Ethnicity, Class

  • LGBT 448L       Black Queer Studies (G)
  • WMST 211       Love, Labor, and Citizenship: Women in America Since 1880 
  • WMST 265/AASP 298B Constructions of Manhood and Womanhood in the Black Community
  • WMST 298D    Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WMST 319E    Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Making Race and Gender in Reality Television
  • WMST 498M   Women and the Civil Rights Movement 
  • AASP 498J      Special Topics in Black Culture; Racial Socialization of Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research and Practice
  • AMST 298Q     U.S. Latina/o Literature and Culture (also ENGL 235)
  • ENGL 448C       Literature, Visual Culture and Art by Women of Color
  • HIST 328G       Heretics, Witches, and Slaves: Marginalized Communities in the Middle Ages

Bodies, Genders, Sexualities

  • WMST 265/AASP 298B Constructions of Manhood and Womanhood in the Black Community
  • WMST 298D    Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WMST 325      The Sociology of Gender (also SOCY 325)
  • WMST 428H    Topics in Women's Studies; Cultural History of Drag
  • WMST 471       Women’s Health 
  • HIST 298N       Politics of Sexuality in America: A Historical Approach
  • JOUR 458O     Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation and the News Media
  • KNES 289R      Hoop Dreams- Black Masculinity and Sport (G) (I-series)

Arts, Techonologies, Cultural Production

  • WMST 250      Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WMST 275      World Literature by Women (G) 
  • WMST 298D    Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WMST 319E    Workshops in Gender, Race, & Queer Studies: Making Race and Gender in Reality Television
  • WMST452       Women in the Media (G) 
  • AMST 298Q     Selected Topics in American Studies; U.S. Latina/o Literature and Culture
  • AMST 328G     The Art of Black Social Movements: Marcus Garvey to Black Lives Matter (also ENGL 368K)
  • ENGL 448C      Literature, Visual Culture and Art by Women of Color
  • JOUR 458O      Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation and the News Media
  • JWST 319L       Special Topics in Jewish Studies; Sexuality in Jewish Culture
  • PERS 398W     Art by Iranian Women

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender And Queer Studies

  • LGBT 200        Introduction to LGBTQ Studies (G)
  • LGBT 265        LGBTQ Literatures (G)
  • LGBT 386        LGBTQ Community Organizing Internship
  • LGBT 448L      Black Queer Studies (G)
  • HLTH 424        Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Health

Electives (upper level courses are eligible for use as the major’s cognate requirement):

  • COMM 324       Communications and Gender  
  • CCJS 346         Domestic Violence
  • FMSC 190        Man Up! Where are the Fathers
  • FMSC 310        Maternal, Child and Family Health
  • FMSC 330        Family Theories & Patterns
  • HESI 418G       Women's Leadership
  • HIST 408P       Senior Seminar; Witchcraft and Persecution, 1450-1750
  • HLTH 377         Human Sexuality
  • PSYC 354        Multicultural Psychology in the U.S.
  • SOCY 335        Sociology of Health and Illness
  • SOCY 435        Society, Biology, and Health
  • THET 408R      Theory and Performance Studies; Race and Body Politics in/as Performance
  • WMST 336       Psychology of Women (G)

Spring 2021 - Undergraduate LGBT Studies Certificate and Minor Courses

LGBT Foundation Courses

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies
  • LGBT386 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Organization Internship (PR)
  • LGBT 488D Senior Seminar in LGBT Studies: The Queer Politics of Health (PR)

Thematic Areas: 

Certificate students need courses from at least 3 different Thematic Areas, minor students need courses from at least 2 areas. 

Arts, Technology and Cultural Production

  • LGBT 265 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Literatures
  • WMST 319E Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Making Race and Gender in Reality Television
  • JOUR 458O Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation and the News Media

Institutions, Politics, and/or Social Movements

  • LGBT 386 Undergraduate LGBTQ Internship
  • HLTH 424 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health

Queer and/or Feminist Theory

  • WMST 400 Theories of Feminism
    LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies

Race, Ethnicity, and Class

  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • JWST 319L Sexuality in Jewish Culture
  • WMST 319E Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Making Race and Gender in Reality Television

Transnational Politics and Perspectives

  • JWST 319L Sexuality in Jewish Culture

Transgender Studies

  • LGBT 265/ENGL265 LGBTQ Literatures

Other Electives (these are not part of the thematic areas)

  • WMST 325 The Sociology of Gender (also SOCY 325)
  • HIST 298N Politics of Sexuality in America: A Historical Approach
  • HLTH 377 Human Sexuality
  • WMST 428H Topics in Women's Studies; Cultural History of Drag

Spring 2021 - Undergraduate Black Women's Studies Minor Courses

Foundation:

  • WMST 265/AASP 298B Constructions of Manhood and Womanhood in the Black Community
  • WMST 498M/HIST 360/AASP 498I Women and the Civil Rights Movement 

Electives:

  • AASP 498J Special Topics in Black Culture; Racial Socialization of Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research and Practice 
  • KNES 289R Hoop Dreams – Black Masculinity and Sport 
  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies (also AASP 498Y)
  • WMST 488A Senior Seminar - Black Women in the Arts (Permission is required, email wgss@umd.edu)

Spring 2021 Graduate Courses of Interest

Courses from Department Faculty

WMST 602      Approaches to Women's Studies II   Team taught - Ashwini Tambe, Alexis Lotian, Elsa Barkley Brown

WMST 621      Feminist Theories and Women's Movements: Genealogies  Heather Rellihan (AACC Adjunct)

 

Courses from Affiliate Faculty

AMST 603      Current Approaches to American Studies - Christina Hanhardt (aff)

AMST 629D   Seminar in American Studies: Race, Class, and Material Culture - Psyche Williams-Forson (aff)

AMST 629U/MITH 610 Seminar in American Studies: Introduction to Digital Studies in the Arts and Humanities - Jason Farman (aff)

ANTH 606      Qualitative Methods in Applied Anthropology -  Christina Getrich (aff)

ANTH 616      Anthropology of Global Violence - Andrea Lopez (aff)

ANTH 656      Conservation and Indigenous People in South America - Janet Chernela (aff)

ANTH 661      Language as Practice - Janet Chernela (aff)

EDHI 653      Organization and Administration of Higher Education - KerryAnn O'Meara (aff)

EDHI 666      The Academic Profession - KerryAnn O'Meara (aff)

EDHI 684      Alternative Education, Alternative Development - Steven Klees (aff)

ENGL 719B    Seminar in Renaissance Literature: Sex Education: Women, Sex, and Gender in the Early Modern Period - Kim Coles (aff)

FREN 699G   Seminar: Rebellious Voices: Literature and Film by Maghrebi Women - Valerie Orlando (aff)

GERM 689M  Special Topics - MA Level: Babylon Berlin - Hester Baer (aff)

HIST 601      History and Contemporary Theory - David Sartorius (aff)

SOCY 642      The Sociology of Mental Health - Long Doan (aff)

SOCY 661      Social Stratification - Meredith Kleykamp (aff)

SPAN 798N   Open Seminar: Central American/Latinx Transnational Feminisms - Ana Rodriguez (aff)

 

Additional Courses of Interest

ENGL 628E    Readings in African American Literature: Exploring Imagined Black Worlds - Rion Scott

ENGL 708D   Seminar in Rhetoric: Rhetorics of Disability and Universal Design - Melanie Kill

HIST 619E    Special Topics in History: From Colonialization to Decolonialization in North Africa, 1830-1962 - Peter Wien

HIST 639W  Special Topics in History: Slavery Law and Power in Early America and the British Empire - Holly Brewer

SOCY 625      Activism and Global Movements - Dana Fisher

Summer 2023 Undergraduate Courses

Summer 2023 Undergraduate Courses

  • LGBT 327 LGBT Film and Video a DSHU & DVUP
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention a DSHS, DVUP, & SCIS
  • WGSS 298W Monsters and Racism: Black Horror & Speculative Fiction a DSHU
  • WGSS 379L Online and in the Streets: Protest and Activism in Latin American Feminist Movements a Global Classrooms course
  • WGSS 498M Advanced Special Topics in WGSS; Women and the Civil Rights Movement

Courses by Thematic Concentration Area for the Women’s Studies Major and Certificate


Social Justice Concentration:

  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention
  • WGSS379L Online & In the Streets: Women's Struggles for Justice in Latin America

Transnational Politics and Perspectives Concentration:

  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention
  • WGSS379L Online & In the Streets: Women's Struggles for Justice in Latin America


Race, Ethnicity, Class Concentration:

  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention
  • WGSS 298W Monsters and Racism: Black Horror and Speculative Fiction
  • WGSS 498M Women and the Civil Rights Movement


Bodies, Genders, Sexualities Concentration:

  • LGBT 327 LGBTQ Film and Video
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention

Arts, Technologies, and Cultural Production Concentration:

  • LGBT 327 LGBTQ Film and Video
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention
  • WGSS 298W Monsters and Racism: Black Horror and Speculative Fiction

LGBTQ Studies Concentration:

  • LGBT 327 LGBTQ Film and Video
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention


Courses by thematic area for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate and Minor:
Arts, Technology and Cultural Production:
LGBT 327 LGBTQ Film and Video


Courses by area for Black Women’s Studies Minor:
Foundation Course:
WGSS 498M/AASP 498I/HIST 360: Women and the Civil Rights Movement

Spring 23 Undergraduate Courses

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Major and Certificate Courses

Introductory Courses

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies (G)
  • WGSS 200 Intro to WMST: Women and Society (G)
  • WGSS 250 Intro to WMST: Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 263 Introduction to Black Women’s Studies 
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) I-Series

Foundational Courses

  • WGSS 302 Feminist, Critical Race, and Queer Theories

Experiential Learning/ Departmental Scholarship in Practice - permission required.

  • WGSS 358 Teaching Assistantship (PR)
  • WGSS 368 Internship (PR)
  • WGSS 378 Research and Creative Works Assistantship (PR)

Capstone

  • LGBT 488E Seminar in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies; Queering Black Femininities
  • WGSS 487 Advanced Research Seminar in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies
  • WGSS 488F Senior Seminar Blackness, Gender, and Sexuality: Women Writing Self in the African Diaspora

Spring 2023 WGSS Thematic Concentration Area Course List 

(students in the WGSS BA and WGSS Certificate need 12 credits in 1 Concentration Area)

Social Justice

  • LGBT 386 LGBT Community Organizing Internship (PR)
  • WGSS 250 Introduction to WGSS: Art and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media (DSSP)
  • WGSS 488F Senior Seminar Blackness, Gender, and Sexuality: Women Writing Self in the African Diaspora
  • ENGL 329A Special Topics in Film Studies; Cinema of Liberation

Transnational Politics and Perspectives

  • WGSS 275 / CMLT 275 World Literature by Women (G)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 298N / HIST 289N Politics of Sexuality in America: a Historical Approach
  • WGSS 488F Senior Seminar Blackness, Gender, and Sexuality: Women Writing Self in the African Diaspora
  • AMST 298Q Selected Topics in American Studies; U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture
  • ANTH 403 Queer Anthropology

Race, Ethnicity, Class

  • WGSS 211 Women in America Since 1880
  • WGSS 263 Introduction to Black Women’s Studies 
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media (DSSP)
  • WGSS 488F Senior Seminar Blackness, Gender, and Sexuality: Women Writing Self in the African Diaspora
  • WGSS 498Z Black Women’s Art and Culture
  • AMST 298Q / ENGL 235 U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture

Bodies, Genders, Sexualities

  • LGBT 310/ WGSS 310 Transgender Studies
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media (DSSP)
  • WGSS 298N / HIST 289N Politics of Sexuality in America: A Historical Approach
  • KNES 225 Hoop Dreams: Black Masculinity and Sport

Arts, Technologies, Cultural Production

  • WGSS 250 Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 255 Reading Women Writing
  • WGSS 275 World Literature by Women (G) 
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media (DSSP)
  • WGSS 488F Senior Seminar Blackness, Gender, and Sexuality: Women Writing Self in the African Diaspora
  • WGSS 498Z Black Women’s Art and Culture
  • AMST 298Q Selected Topics in American Studies; U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture
  • ENGL 329A Special Topics in Film Studies; Cinema of Liberation
  • WGSS 458O / JOUR 458O Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation and the News Media

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender And Queer Studies

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies (G)
  • LGBT 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media (G)
  • LGBT 310/ WGSS 310 Transgender Studies
  • LGBT 386 LGBT Community Organizing Internship
  • LGBT 459M Selected Topics in Sexuality and Literature; American Poetry: Beginning to the Present
  • LGBT 488E Seminar in LGBTQ Studies; Queering Black Femininities
  • ANTH 403 Queer Anthropology
  • HLTH 424 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Health

Courses eligible for use as electives

  • WGSS 320 / CLAS 320 Women in Classical Antiquity
  • WGSS 336 / PSYC 336 Psychology of Women
  • WGSS 428O / JOUR 428O Topics in WGSS: Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation and the News Media
  • WGSS 452 / JOUR 452 Women in the Media
  • WGSS 471 / HLTH 471 Women's Health
  • AASP 498E Special Topics in Black Culture; Emotions and Culture in the African-American Community
  • AAST498G Advanced Topics in Asian American Studies; Asian American Women and Gender
  • COMM 324 Communication and Gender
  • CCJS 346  Domestic Violence
  • ENGL329Y Special Topics in Film Studies; A Cinema of Migration as Message
  • FMSC 310 Maternal, Child and Family Health
  • FMSC 330 Family Health: Health Happens in Families
  • HIST 211 Women in America Since 1880
  • HIST 217 From Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication to Bridget Jones's Diary: Women and Gender in Modern Britain: 1790-Present
  • HIST 319V Special Topics in History; America in the 1960s
  • HLTH 377 Human Sexuality
  • JWST 373 Sexuality in Jewish Literature and Culture
  • PLCY 288A Introduction to Public Policy Topics; 21st Century Racial Justice and Gender from the Bullhorn to the Ballot
  • PSYC 354  Multicultural Psychology in the U.S.
  • SOCY 225 Women's Jobs, Men's Jobs: How and Why Do They Differ?
  • SOCY 335 Sociology of Health and Illness
  • SOCY 435 Society, Biology, and Health
  • SOCY 470 Pregnancy and Parenthood in an Unequal Society

LGBTQ Studies Certificate and Minor Courses

LGBTQ Studies Foundation Courses

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies
  • LGBT 386 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Organization Internship (PR)
  • LGBT 488E Seminar in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies; Queering Black Femininities

LGBTQ Thematic Areas: 

Certificate students need courses from at least 3 different Thematic Areas, minor students need courses from at least 2 areas. 

Arts, Technology and Cultural Production

  • LGBT 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media
  • LGBT459M Selected Topics in Sexuality and Literature; American Poetry: Beginning to the Present

Institutions, Politics, and/or Social Movements

  • LGBT 386 Undergraduate LGBTQ Internship
  • HLTH 424 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health

Queer and/or Feminist Theory

  • LGBT 310 Transgender Studies
  • WGSS 302 Feminist, Critical Race, and Queer Theories

Race, Ethnicity, and Class

  • LGBT 488E Seminar in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies; Queering Black Femininities

Transnational Politics and Perspectives

  • LGBT 310 Transgender Studies

Transgender Studies

  • LGBT 265/ENGL265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media
  • LGBT 310 Transgender Studies

Other Electives (these are not part of the thematic areas)

  • WGSS 298N / HIST 289N Politics of Sexuality in America: A Historical Approach
  • WGSS 428O / JOUR 428O Topics in WGSS: Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation and the News Media
  • HLTH 377 Human Sexuality

Black Women's Studies Minor Courses

BWST Foundation:

  • WGSS 263 Intro to Black Women’s Studies
  • AASP 398G: Gender, Labor, and Racial Identity in Diaspora Communities

BWST Electives:

  • WGSS 488F Senior Seminar - Blackness, Gender, and Sexuality: Women Writing Self in the African Diaspora
  • WGSS 498Z Black Women’s Art and Culture
  • WGSS498R/ AASP 499C Race and Reproduction
  • KNES 225 Hoop Dreams– Black Masculinity and Sport
  • TDPS408B: Black Musical Theatre: Theory and Practice

Winter 2022 Undergraduate Courses

LGBTQ Studies Certificate and Minor Courses

LGBT 327: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Film and Video
Asynchronous Online with James Goodwin 

Restriction: Junior standing or higher.
Comparative analysis of forms, themes, and the politics of representation in film and video by and/or about LGBT people. This course begins from the premise that movies are designed to give us a variety of meaningful viewing experiences, sometimes pleasurable, sometimes not. The class teaches a range of analytical approaches for understanding how films create meanings and what those meanings may be. In this course, we will trace both the diversity and similarities between global and Western representations of what we call homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgender identities as represented in film and video.
 

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Major and Certificate Courses

WGSS 290: Bodies in Contention ( I-series)
Asynchronous Online with 
Sydney Lewis
The topic of this course, “Bodily Discomforts,” prompts us to look at marginalized and non-normative bodies in order to think about how these bodies that cause societal discomfort (non-white bodies, fat bodies, disabled bodies, queer, intersex, and trans gender bodies) can encourage us to consider ALL of our bodies as socially constructed and subject to discipline and management. Instead of utilizing biology as the primary mode of understanding bodies, this course takes a humanities approach to bodies in order to reveal the body as a site constructed through discourse (language and how we talk about bodies) and ideologies (pervasive societal ways we think about bodies). 

WGSS 326: Biology of Reproduction
Asynchronous Online with 
Justicia Opoku-Edusei
The biology of the reproductive system with emphasis on mammals and, in particular, on human reproduction. Hormone actions, sperm production, ovulation, sexual differentiation, sexual behavior, contraception, pregnancy, lactation, maternal behavior and menopause.

Fall 2022 Undergraduate Courses

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Major and Certificate Courses

Introductory Courses

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to LGBTQ Studies (G)
  • WGSS 200 Intro to WGSS: Gender, Power, and Society (G)
  • WGSS 250 Intro to WGSS: Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) I-Series

Foundational Courses

  • WGSS 301 Introduction to Research in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies (PR)
  • WGSS 302 Feminist, Critical Race, and Queer Theories (PR)
  • WGSS 319D Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies; Disability Studies

Experiential Learning Courses

  • WGSS 358 Teaching Assistantship (PR)
  • WGSS 368 Internship (PR)
  • WGSS 378 Research and Creative Works Assistantship (PR)
  • WGSS 497 Professional Development (1 credit)

Capstone

  • WGSS 487 Advanced Research Seminar in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies (PR) (required for the major)
  • WGSS 488B Senior Seminar Health Inequality and Social Determinants: How Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender Matter (PR) (for the major and certificate)
     

Fall 2021 Thematic Concentration Area Course List 
(students need 12 credits in 1 Concentration Area)

Social Justice Thematic Concentration:

  • WGSS 250 Women, Art, and Culture
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention 
  • WGSS 319D Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Disability Justice
  • PLCY 311 Women in Leadership

Transnational Politics and Perspectives Thematic Concentration:

  • WGSS 275 World Literature by Women (also CMLT 275)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention
  • WGSS 298L/HIST213 History of Sexuality 
  • WGSS 360 Caribbean Women
  • WGSS 498J Contemporary Chinese and Chinese American Cinema on Women
  • AMST 328K Perspectives on Identity and Culture; Gender, Labor, and Racial Identity in Diaspora Communities
  • HIST 215 Women in Western Europe to 1750
  • PERS 498M Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in the Islamic World

Race, Ethnicity, Class Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 265 Constructions of Black Manhood and Womanhood
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention
  • WGSS 314 / AASP 313 Black Women in U.S. History
  • WGSS 360 Caribbean Women
  • WGSS 370 Black Feminist Thought
  • WGSS 498J Contemporary Chinese and Chinese American Cinema on Women
  • ASSP 398G/ AMST 328K Perspectives on Identity and Culture; Gender, Labor, and Racial Identity in Diaspora Communities
  • AASP 498J Special Topics in Black Culture; Racial Socialization of Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research and Practice
  • HIST 419J American Women and the Great Society: the 1960’s and Beyond
  • HIST 429A Victoria's Secrets: Sex and Class in Nineteenth Century Britain

Bodies, Genders, Sexualities Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 448C Sex and the City
  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 265 Constructions of Manhood and Womanhood in the Black Community
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention
  • WGSS 319D Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Disability Justice
  • WGSS 336/ PSYC 336 Psychology of Women
  • ENGL 329C Sexuality in the Cinema 
  • PERS 498M Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in the Islamic World

Arts, Technologies, and Cultural Production Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 265/ ENGL 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media
  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 250 Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 255/ ENGL 250 Reading Women Writing (G)
  • WGSS 275 / CMLT 275 World Literature by Women (G) 
  • WGSS 498J Contemporary Chinese and Chinese American Cinema on Women
  • WGSS 498Y/ ENGL 439D Dickinson, Erotics, Poetics, Biopics: Some (Queer) Ways We Read Poetry (G) 
  • AMST 328X Perspectives on Identity and Culture; (Dis)ability in American Film
  • ENGL 329C Sexuality in the Cinema (cross-listed as CMLT398L)
  • ENGL 359A Special Topics in LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media; American Autobiographics
  • ENGL 408C Literature by Women Before 1800; Battle of the Sexes: Are Women Writers of the Renaissance Any Good?
  • FREN 498G Special Topics in French Literature; Gender and Identity in Film and Literature of the French-Speaking World


LGBTQ Studies Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to LGBTQ Studies (G)
  • LGBT 265/ ENGL 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media
  • LGBT 448C Sex and the City
  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention 
  • WGSS 498Y/ ENGL 439D Dickinson, Erotics, Poetics, Biopics: Some (Queer) Ways We Read Poetry (G)
  • ENGL 329C Sexuality in the Cinema (cross-listed as CMLT398L)
  • ENGL 359A Special Topics in LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media; American Autobiographics

Courses Eligible for the Cognate or as Electives:

  • WGSS 301 Introduction to Research in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies (this course is an elective option for certificate students)
  • WGSS 498A/PSYC 318D Community Interventions: Domestic Violence
  • COMM 324 Communication and Gender
  • FMSC 310 Maternal, Child and Family Health
  • FMSC 330 Family Health: Health Happens in Families
  • FREN 498G Gender and Identity in Film and Literature of the French-Speaking World
  • JWST319K Special Topics in Jewish Studies; Jewry of Muscle: Zionism and Jewish Masculinity
  • HLTH377 Human Sexuality
  • SOCY 335 Sociology of Health and Illness

LGBTQ Studies Certificate and Minor Courses

Arts, Technology and Cultural Production:

  • LGBT 265/ENGL 265  Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Literatures and Media
  • LGBT 448Y Dickinson, Erotics, Poetics, Biopics: Some (Queer) Ways We Read Poetry (ENGL 439D and WGSS 498Y)
  • ENGL 329C Sexuality in the Cinema (cross-listed as CMLT398L)
  • ENGL 359A Special Topics in LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media; American Autobiographics

Transnational Politics and Perspectives:

  • PERS 498M Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in the Islamic World

Institutions, Politics, And/Or Social Movements:

  • LGBT 448C Sex and the City
  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies 
  • HLTH 424 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health

Race, Ethnicity, and Class

  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies

Transgender Studies

  • LGBT265/ENGL 265 LGBT Literatures and Media

Queer And/Or Feminist Theory

  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 302 Feminist, Critical Race, and Queer Theories

Black Women's Studies Minor Courses

Foundation

  • WGSS 265/AASP 298B Constructions of Manhood and Womanhood in the Black Community
  • WGSS 314/AASP 313 Black Women in U.S. History
  • AASP 398G/AMST 328K Gender, Labor, and Racial Identity in Diaspora Communities

Electives

  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 360 Caribbean Women
  • WGSS 370 Black Feminist Thought
  • AASP 498J Special Topics in Black Culture; Racial Socialization of Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research and Practice 
  • KNES 225 Hoop Dreams – Black Masculinity and Sport 

Summer 2022 Undergraduate Courses

Summer 2022 Undergraduate Courses

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to LGBTQ Studies (G)
  • LGBT 298D / LASC 298D Moving Bodies: Narratives of Queer and Trans Diaspora in the Americas
  • LGBT 327 LGBTQ Film and Video
  • LGBT 398G/ WGSS 379J Special Topics: Black Trans Studies
  • WGSS 250 Introduction to WGSS: Art and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (I-Series)
  • WGSS 498M Advanced Special Topics in WGSS; Women and the Civil Rights Movement
     
  • AASP 498Z Black Women in Popular Culture: From the Blues to Beyonce
  • ANTH 263 Sexuality and Culture
  • LASC 348A Online & In the Streets: Women's Struggles for Justice in Latin America

Courses by Thematic Concentration Area for the Women’s Studies Major and Certificate 
Social Justice Concentration:

  • WGSS 250 Intro to WGSS: Art, and Culture
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention 
  • LASC 348A Online & In the Streets: Women's Struggles for Justice in Latin America

Transnational Politics and Perspectives Concentration:

  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention 
  • LGBT 298D / LASC 298D Moving Bodies: Narratives of Queer and Trans Diaspora in the Americas
  • LASC 348A Online & In the Streets: Women's Struggles for Justice in Latin America

Race, Ethnicity, Class Concentration:

  • LGBT 398G Black Trans Studies
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention
  • WGSS 498M Women and the Civil Rights Movement
  • AASP 498Z Black Women in Popular Culture: From the Blues to Beyonce

Bodies, Genders, Sexualities Concentration:

  • LGBT 298D / LASC 298D Moving Bodies: Narratives of Queer and Trans Diaspora in the Americas
  • LGBT 327 LGBTQ Film and Video
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention 
  • ANTH 263 Sexuality and Culture

Arts, Technologies, and Cultural Production Concentration:

  • LGBT 327 LGBTQ Film and Video
  • WGSS 250 Intro to WGSS: Art and Culture
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention 

LGBTQ Studies Concentration:

  • LGBT 200 Intro to LGBTQ Studies
  • LGBT 298D / LASC 298D Moving Bodies: Narratives of Queer and Trans Diaspora in the Americas
  • LGBT 327 LGBTQ Film and Video
  • LGBT 398G Black Trans Studies
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention

Courses by thematic area for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate and Minor:
Arts, Technology and Cultural Production: 

  • LGBT 327 LGBTQ Film and Video

Transnational Politics and Perspectives:

  • ANTH 263 Sexuality and Culture
  • LGBT 298D / LASC 298D Moving Bodies: Narratives of Queer and Trans Diaspora in the Americas

Race, Ethnicity, and Class: 

  • LGBT 398G Black Trans Studies

Transgender Studies: 

  • LGBT 398G Black Trans Studies

 

Courses by area for Black Women’s Studies Minor:
Foundation Course: 

  • WGSS 498M/AASP 498I/HIST 360: Women and the Civil Rights Movement

Upper Level Elective Courses:

  • AASP 498: Special Topics in Black Culture: Black Women in Popular Culture: From the Blues to Beyonce
  • LGBT 398G Black Trans Studies

Spring 2022 Undergraduate Courses

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Major and Certificate Courses

Introductory Courses

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies (G)
  • WGSS 200 Intro to WMST: Women and Society (G)
  • WGSS 250 Intro to WMST: Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) I-Series

Foundational Courses

  • WGSS 302 Feminist, Critical Race, and Queer Theories
  • WGSS 319C Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Gender, Drag, and Burlesque 
  • WGSS 319U Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Introduction to Critical University Studies

Experiential Learning Courses

  • WGSS 358 Teaching Assistantship (PR)
  • WGSS 368 Internship (PR)

Capstone

  • WGSS 488A Senior Seminar: Black Women in the Arts (PR)
  • LGBT 488D Senior Seminar: The Queer Politics of Health (PR)


Spring 2022 WMST Thematic Concentration Area Course List 
(students need 12 credits in 1 Concentration Area)

Social Justice

  • LGBT 386 LGBT Community Organizing Internship (PR)
  • WGSS 250 Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media
  • WGSS 319U Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Introduction to Critical University Studies 
  • WGSS 428D Special Topics in WGSS: Debt Culture
  • WGSS 498M/ AASP 498I/HIST 360 Women and the Civil Rights Movement 
  • ENGL 329A Special Topics in Film Studies; Cinema of Liberation
  • HIST467 Women and Reform Movements in the Twentieth-Century United States
  • PLCY 311 Women in Leadership

Transnational Politics and Perspectives

  • WGSS 275 World Literature by Women (G) (also CMLT 275)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 298N / HIST 289N Politics of Sexuality in America: a Historical Approach
  • AMST 298Q Selected Topics in American Studies; U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture

Race, Ethnicity, Class

  • WGSS 211 Love, Labor, and Citizenship: Women in America Since 1880
  • WGSS 263 Introduction to Black Women’s Studies 
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media
  • WGSS 319C Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Gender, Drag, and Burlesque 
  • WGSS 379G Topics in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; History of Black Women at the University of Maryland
  • WGSS 428D Topics in WGSS: Debt Culture
  • WGSS 428L Topics in WGSS; 21st Century Black Feminists
  • WGSS 488A Senior Seminar: Black Women in the Arts 
  • WGSS 498M/ HIST 360/ AASP 498I Women and the Civil Rights Movement 
  • AASP 498J Special Topics in Black Culture; Racial Socialization of Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research and Practice
  • AMST 298Q U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture (also ENGL 235)
  • ENGL 448C Literature, Visual Culture and Art by Women of Color

Bodies, Genders, Sexualities

  • WGSS 298N / HIST 289N Politics of Sexuality in America: A Historical Approach
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 319C Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Gender, Drag, and Burlesque
  • WGSS 428L Topics in WGSS; 21st Century Black Feminists
  • LGBT 310 Transgender Studies
  • LGBT 488D Senior Seminar in LGBT Studies: The Queer Politics of Health (PR)

Arts, Technologies, Cultural Production

  • WGSS 250 Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 255 Reading Women Writing
  • WGSS 275 World Literature by Women (G) 
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) (I-Series)
  • WGSS 291 Racialized Gender and Rebel Media
  • WGSS 319C Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Gender, Drag, and Burlesque 
  • WGSS 488A Senior Seminar: Black Women in the Arts
  • AMST 298Q Selected Topics in American Studies; U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture
  • ENGL 448C Literature, Visual Culture and Art by Women of Color
  • JOUR 458O Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation and the News Media
  • PERS 398E Special Topics in Persian Studies; Gender and Body in Contemporary Iranian Art

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender And Queer Studies

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies (G)
  • LGBT 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media (G)
  • LGBT 310 Transgender Studies
  • LGBT 386 LGBT Community Organizing Internship
  • LGBT 459M Selected Topics in Sexuality and Literature; American Poetry: Beginning to the Present
  • LGBT 488D Seminar in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies; The Queer Politics of Health
  • HLTH 424 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Health

LGBTQ Studies Certificate and Minor Courses

LGBTQ Studies Foundation Courses

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies
  • LGBT 386 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Organization Internship (PR)
  • LGBT 488D Senior Seminar in LGBT Studies: The Queer Politics of Health (PR)

Thematic Areas: 

Certificate students need courses from at least 3 different Thematic Areas, minor students need courses from at least 2 areas. 

Arts, Technology and Cultural Production

  • LGBT 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media
  • LGBT459M Selected Topics in Sexuality and Literature; American Poetry: Beginning to the Present
  • WGSS 319C Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Gender, Drag, and Burlesque 

Institutions, Politics, and/or Social Movements

  • LGBT 386 Undergraduate LGBTQ Internship
  • HLTH 424 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health

Queer and/or Feminist Theory

  • LGBT 310 Transgender Studies
  • WGSS 302 Feminist, Critical Race, and Queer Theories
  • WGSS 428L Topics in WGSS; 21st Century Black Feminisms

Race, Ethnicity, and Class

  • WGSS 319C Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Gender, Drag, and Burlesque 

Transnational Politics and Perspectives

  • LGBT 310 Transgender Studies

Transgender Studies

  • LGBT 265/ENGL265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media
  • LGBT 310 Transgender Studies

Black Women's Studies Minor Courses

Foundation:

  • WGSS 263 Intro to Black Women’s Studies
  • WGSS 488A Senior Seminar - Black Women in the Arts (Permission is required, email wgss@umd.edu)
  • WGSS 498M/ HIST 360/ AASP 498I Women and the Civil Rights Movement 

Electives:

  • WGSS 428L Topics in WGSS; 21st Century Black Feminisms
  • AASP 498J Special Topics in Black Culture; Racial Socialization of Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research and Practice
  • KNES 225 Hoop Dreams– Black Masculinity and Sport 
  • HIST 329C Special Topics in History; History of Black Women at the University of Maryland (1 cr)

 

Fall 2021 Undergraduate Courses

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Major and Certificate Courses

Introductory Courses

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to LGBTQ Studies (G)
  • WGSS 200 Intro to WGSS: Gender, Power, and Society (G)
  • WGSS 250 Intro to WGSS: Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention (G) I-Series

Foundational Courses

  • WGSS 301 Introduction to Research in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies
  • WGSS 302 Feminist, Critical Race, and Queer Theories
  • WGSS 319D Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies; Disability Studies

Experiential Learning Courses

  • WGSS 358 Teaching Assistantship (PR)
  • WGSS 368 Internship (PR)
  • WGSS 378 Research and Creative Works Assistantship (PR)

WGSS 497 Professional Development (1 credit)

Capstone

  • WGSS 487 Advanced Research Seminar in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies
  • WGSS 488C Senior Seminar (PR)

Fall 2021  Thematic Concentration Area Course List 
(students need 12 credits in 1 Concentration Area)

Social Justice Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 350 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People and Communication
  • LGBT 386 LGBT Community Organizing Internship
  • WGSS 250 Women, Art, and Culture
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention 
  • WGSS 319D Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Disability Justice
  • PLCY 311 Women in Leadership

Transnational Politics and Perspectives Thematic Concentration:

  • WGSS 275 World Literature by Women (also CMLT 275)
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention 
  • WGSS 488C Senior Seminar South Asian Feminisms 
  • AMST 298Q Selected Topics in American Studies; U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture
  • AMST 328K Perspectives on Identity and Culture; Gender, Labor, and Racial Identity in Diaspora Communities
  • HIST 412 History of Women and Gender in Africa
  • JWST 219G Special Topics in Jewish Studies: Zionism and Sexual Revolution 
  • FILM 429C Contemporary Chinese and Chinese American Cinema on Women

Race, Ethnicity, Class Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 265 Constructions of Black Manhood and Womanhood
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention
  • WGSS 314 / AASP 313 Black Women in U.S. History
  • AASP 498J Special Topics in Black Culture; Racial Socialization of Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research and Practice
  • AMST 298Q Selected Topics in American Studies; U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture
  • AASP 398G/ AMST 328K Perspectives on Identity and Culture; Gender, Labor, and Racial Identity in Diaspora Communities
  • ARTH 488C Contemporary Chinese American Cinema on Women
  • HIST 412 History of Women and Gender in Africa
  • HIST 429A Victoria's Secrets: Sex and Class in Nineteenth Century Britain

Bodies, Genders, Sexualities Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 265 Constructions of Manhood and Womanhood in the Black Community
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention
  • WGSS 319D Workshops in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies: Disability Justice
  • WGSS 336/ PSYC 336 Psychology of Women
  • AMST 328X Perspectives on Identity and Culture; (Dis)ability in American Film
  • ANTH 263 Sexuality and Culture
  • ENGL 329C Sexuality in the Cinema
  • ENGL 359D Special Topics in LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media; Queer Modernisms
  • HIST 213 History of Sexuality 

Arts, Technologies, and Cultural Production Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 265/ ENGL 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media
  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 250 Women, Art, and Culture (G)
  • WGSS 255/ ENGL 250 Reading Women Writing (G)
  • WGSS 275 / CMLT 275 World Literature by Women (G) 
  • WGSS 444/ ENGL 4444 - Feminist Critical Theory
  • WGSS 498Y/ ENGL 439D Dickinson, Erotics, Poetics, Biopics: Some (Queer) Ways We Read Poetry (G) 
  • AMST 328X Perspectives on Identity and Culture; (Dis)ability in American Film
  • ENGL 329C Sexuality in the Cinema (cross-listed as CMLT398L)
  • ENGL 359D Special Topics in LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media; Queer Modernisms
  • ENGL 458B Literature by Women After 1800; Sexualities and Life Writing
  • FILM 423 Women and French Cinema
  • FILM 429C Contemporary Chinese and Chinese American Cinema on Women

LGBTQ Studies Thematic Concentration:

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to LGBTQ Studies (G)
  • LGBT 265/ ENGL 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media
  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 290 Bodies in Contention 
  • WGSS 498Y/ ENGL 439D Dickinson, Erotics, Poetics, Biopics: Some (Queer) Ways We Read Poetry (G)
  • ENGL 329C Sexuality in the Cinema (cross-listed as CMLT398L)
  • ENGL 359D Special Topics in LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media; Queer Modernisms
  • ENGL 458B Literature by Women After 1800; Sexualities and Life Writing

Electives (upper level courses are eligible for use as the major’s cognate requirement):

  • WGSS 301 Introduction to Research in Gender, Race, and Queer Studies (this course is required for majors and is an elective for certificate students)
  • WGSS 498A/PSYC 318D Community Interventions: Domestic Violence
  • COMM 324 Communication and Gender
  • FMSC 190 Man Up! Where Are The Fathers?
  • FMSC310 Maternal, Child and Family Health
  • FMSC330 Family Theories and Patterns
  • HLTH377 Human Sexuality
  • HIST 339N Special Topics in History; Sex and Gender in 20th Century American Politics and Policy
  • HIST 428W Selected Topics in History; Global Mobility in the Age of Sail: Studies in Sexuality, Gender, Race, & Colonialism
  • SOCY 335 Sociology of Health and Illness

LGBTQ Studies Certificate and Minor Courses

Arts, Technology and Cultural Production:

  • LGBT265/ENGL 265 – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Literatures and Media
  • LGBT 448Y Dickinson, Erotics, Poetics, Biopics: Some (Queer) Ways We Read Poetry (ENGL 439D and WGSS 498Y)
  • ENGL 329C – Sexuality in the Cinema (cross-listed as CMLT398L)
  • ENGL 359D Special Topics in LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media; Queer Modernisms

 Transnational Politics and Perspectives:

  • ANTH 263 – Sexuality and Culture

Institutions, Politics, And/Or Social Movements:

  • LGBT 350 – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People and Communication
  • LGBT386 – Undergraduate LGBTQ Internship
  • LGBT 448L – Black Queer Studies 

Race, Ethnicity, and Class

  • LGBT 448L – Black Queer Studies

 Transgender Studies

  • LGBT265/ENGL 265 LGBT Literatures and Media

Queer And/Or Feminist Theory

  • LGBT 448L – Black Queer Studies
  • WGSS 302 - Feminist, Critical Race, and Queer Theories
  • WGSS 444/ENGL 4444 - Feminist Critical Theory

Black Women's Studies Minor Courses

Foundation:

  • WMST 265/AASP 298B Constructions of Manhood and Womanhood in the Black Community
  • WGSS 314/AASP 313 Black Women in U.S. History
  • AASP 398G/AMST 328K Gender, Labor, and Racial Identity in Diaspora Communities

Electives:

  • AASP 498J Special Topics in Black Culture; Racial Socialization of Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research and Practice 
  • ENGL 362 Caribbean Literature in English
  • HIST 329C Special Topics in History; History of Black Women at the University of Maryland (1 cr)
  • HIST 412 History of Women and Gender in Africa
  • KNES 225 Hoop Dreams – Black Masculinity and Sport 
  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies

Fall 2021 Courses - Graduate Programs

Courses of Interest

Courses from Department Faculty

  • WMST 601--Approaches to Women's Studies I, Instructor TBA

Courses from Affiliate Faculty

  • ANTH 612--Hypermarginality and Urban Health, Andrea Lopez
  • COMM 700--Introduction to Graduate Study in Communication, Carly Woods
  • ENGL 658A--Readings in Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the Americas: Contemporary Latinx Literature and the Built Environment, Randy Ontiveros
  • ENGL 809--Academic Publishing Workshop, GerShun Avilez
  • EPIB 630--Epidemiologic Methods in Sexual and Reproductive Health Research, Typhanye Dyer
  • FREN 600--Literary History, Theories, and Methodologies for French and Francophone Studies
  • FREN 659B--Literature and the Press in Nineteenth Century French: Recovering the Print Era in the Digital Age, Maria Beliaeva Solomon
  • FREN 665--Contemporary French Theater, Caroline Eades
  • GERM 689Q--Of Monsters and Men: German Romanticism, Julie Koser
  • GERM 689T--All Power to the Imagination: 1968 and German Culture, Hester Baer
  • JOUR 601--Theories of Journalism and Public Communication, Linda Steiner
  • LATN 688R--Roman Elegy, Katherine Wasdin
  • SOCY 660--Theories of Social Psychology, Rashawn Ray
  • SOCY 682--Critical Race Theory, Kris Marsh
  • SPHL 602--Foundations of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Typhanye Dyer

Additional Courses of Interest

  • ANTH 633--Archaeology of Slavery: Classical, Caribbean and North American Contexts, Mark Leone
  • ANTH 666--Anthropology of Work, Paul Shackel
  • COMM 711--Historical/Critical Methods in Communication Research, Instructor TBA
  • COMM 716--Advanced Qualitative Methods in Communication Research, Instructor TBA
  • EDHI 680--Gender, Development, and Education, Lauren DeCrosta
  • ENGL 738C--Seminar in Nineteenth-Century Literature: Indigenous and Imperial Archives
  • SOCY 601--Statistics for Sociological Research I, Amelia Branigan
  • SOCY 655--Social Movements and Race, Wayne Santoro
  • SOCY 667--Craft of Ethnography, Instructor TBA
  • TLTC 798--University Teaching and Learning, Tami Smith

Undergraduate Programs Information

Course Catalog

See the Undergraduate Catalog for a full list of our course offerings and Testudo for our current courses.

Undergraduate Program Requirements

Please refer to the following pages for information on the requirements for each program:

Course Descriptions

Undergraduate WGSS Course Descriptions

WMST 200 Introduction to Women’s Studies: Women and Society (3 credits) An interdisciplinary study of the status, roles, and experiences of women in society. Sources from a variety of fields such as literature, psychology, history, and anthropology, focusing on the writings of women.

WMST 210 Love, Labor, and Citizenship: Women in America to 1880 (3 credits) Also offered as HIST 210. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: HIST 210 or WMST 210. An examination of the economic, family, and political roles of colonial, slave, immigrant and frontier women in America from the pre-industrial colonial period through the early stages of nineteenth century industrialization and urbanization.

WMST 211 Women in America Since 1880 (3 credits) Also offered as HIST 211. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: HIST 211 or WMST 211. An examination of women’s changing roles in working class and middle class families, the effects of industrialization on women’s economic activities and status, and women’s involvement in political and social struggles, including those for women’s rights, birth control, and civil rights.

WMST 212 Women in Western Europe 1750-Present (3 credits) Also offered as HIST 212. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: HIST 212 or WMST 212. An analysis of the economic, family, and political roles of European women from 1750 to the present. The effects of industrialization on women’s work and status, the demographic parameters of women’s lives, and women’s participation in political events from market riots to suffrage struggles.

WMST 241 Women Writers of French Expression in Translation (3 credits) Also offered as FREN 241. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: FREN 241 or WMST 241. Works and ideas of Twentieth Century women writers of French in Canada, Africa, the Caribbean, and France. Taught in English.

WMST 250 Introduction to Women’s Studies: Women, Art and Culture (3 credits) An examination of women’s creative powers as expressed in selected examples of music, film, art, drama, poetry, fiction, and other literature. Explores women’s creativity in relation to families, religion, education, ethnicity, class, sexuality, and within a cultural tradition shaped by women.

WMST 255 Reading Women Writing (3 credits) Also offered as ENGL 250. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: WMST 255 or ENGL 250. Images of women in literature by and about women.

WMST 263 Introduction to Black Women’s Studies (3 credits) Also offered as AASP298I. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: WMST 298A, AASP 298I, or AASP 298S. Formerly WMST 298A. Interdisciplinary exploration of Black women, culture and society in the United States. Drawn primarily from the social sciences and history with complementary material from literature and the arts.

WMST 265 Constuctions of Manhood and Womanhood in the Black Community (3 credits) Also offered as AASP 298B. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: WMST 265, or AASP 298B. Investigates the ways that African Americans are represented and constructed in public and private spheres and explores the social constructions and representations of Black manhood and womanhood from various disciplinary perspectives.

WMST 267 Introduction to Black Women’s Cultural Studies (3 credits) Credit will be granted for only one of the following: WMST 267 or WMST 298A. Formerly WMST 298A. An introduction to black women’s cultural production and to an understanding of how the social norms and ideals about women within black communities and in the larger society have shaped black women’s own self-perceptions and behaviors and thus their cultural production.

WMST 269 Special Topics in Study Abroad II (1-6 credits) Repeatable to 15 credits if content differs. Special topics course taken as part of an approved study abroad program.

WMST 275 World Literature by Women (3 credits) Also offered as CMLT 275. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: WMST 275 or CMLT 275. Comparative study of selected works by women writers of several countries, exploring points of intersection and divergence in women’s literary representations.

WMST 281 Women in German Literature and Society (3 credits) Also offered as GERM 281. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: WMST 281 or GERM 281. A study of changing literary images and social roles of women from the beginning of the 19th century to the present.

WMST 298 Special Topics in Women’s Studies (1-3 credits) Repeatable to 6 credits if content differs.

WMST298F Special Topics in Women’s Studies: Gender and Financial Well-being (1 creditFacilitates the development of greater economic acumen among women about systems of finance and economics in the world and encourages women’s critical engagement in finance and economics. The course teaches students, especially women students, the nuts and bolts of managing personal finances and encourages students to consider careers in finance, while learning skills needed for leadership.

WMST 300 Feminist Re-conceptualizations of Knowledge (3 credits) Prerequisite: permission of department. For WMST majors only. An examination of how the interdisciplinary study of women and gender has generated new questions, challenged traditional methodologies and offered insights on the ways we come to learn, know, and teach. Explores the impact of feminist thinking on various disciplines.

WMST 314 Black Women in United States History (3 credits) Sophomore standing. Also offered as AASP 313 and HIST 329E. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AASP 313, AASP 498W, HIST 329E, WMST 314 or WMST 498N. Formerly WMST 498N. Black American women’s history from slavery to the present. Focused on gaining a fuller understanding of the effect of race, class and gender on the life cycles and multiple roles of Black women as mothers, daughters, wives, workers and social-change agents.

WMST 320 Women in Classical Antiquity (3 credits) Also offered as CLAS 320. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: CLAS 320 or WMST 320. A study of women’s image and reality in ancient Greek and Roman societies through an examination of literary, linguistic, historical, legal, and artistic evidence; special emphasis on women’s role in the family, views of female sexuality, and the place of women in creative art. Readings in primary sources in translation and modern critical writings.

WMST 325 The Sociology of Gender (3 credits) Prerequisite: Three credits of sociology. Also offered as SOCY 325. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: SOCY 325 or WMST 325. Institutional bases of gender roles and gender inequality, cultural perspectives on gender, gender socialization, feminism, and gender-role change. Emphasis on contemporary American society.

WMST 326 Biology of Reproduction (3 credits) Prerequisite: BSCI 105 or permission of department. Also offered as BSCI 342. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: BSCI 342 or WMST 326. The biology of the reproductive system with emphasis on mammals and, in particular, on human reproduction. Hormone actions, sperm production, ovulation, sexual differentiation, sexual behavior, contraception, pregnancy, lactation, maternal behavior and menopause.

WMST 336 Psychology of Women (3 credits) Prerequisite: PSYC 100. Also offered as PSYC 336. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: PSYC 336 or WMST 336. A study of the biology, life span development, socialization, personality, mental health, and special issues of women.

WMST 348 Literary Works by Women (3 credits) Prerequisite: Two lower-level English courses, at least one in literature; or permission of department. Repeatable to 6 credits if content differs. Also offered as ENGL 348. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ENGL 348 or WMST 348. The context, form, style and meaning of literary works by women.

WMST 350 Feminist Pedagogy (6 credits) Prerequisite: permission of department. General application of feminist methodology to teaching and communication skills, teaching strategies, motivation, classroom dynamics and knowledge of students’ development and learning styles.

WMST 360 Caribbean Women (3 credits) An interdisciplinary analysis of the lives and experiences of women across the Caribbean region, through an examination of their roles in individual, national, social and cultural formations. Special emphasis on contemporary women’s issues and organizations.

WMST 369 Special Topics in Study Abroad III (1-6 credits) Repeatable to 15 credits if content differs. Special topics course taken as part of an approved study abroad program.

WMST 370 Black Feminist Thought (3 credits) Prerequisite: One course in AASP or WMST. Examines the ideas, words and actions of Black women writers, speakers, artists, and activists in the United States.

WMST 380 Feminist Analysis of the Workplace (6 credits) Prerequisite: permission of department. An examination of the world of work from a feminist perspective through theory and experience. Designed to provide students with experiences in work situations that have social, economic, educational and/or political impact on women’s lives. Students will develop the skill to theoretically analyze their experience and practically implement feminist models in the workplace.

WMST 386 Experiential Learning (1-6 credits) Prerequisite: Learning Proposal approved by Women’s Studies Academic Advisor. Junior standing.

WMST 400 Theories of Feminism (3 credits) Prerequisite: one course in WMST or a course cross-listed with a WMST course. A study of the multiplicity of feminist theories which have been developed to explain women’s position in the family, the workplace, and society. Major feminist writings are considered in the context of their historical moment and in the context of the intellectual traditions to which they relate.

WMST 408 Literature by Women Before 1800 (3 credits) Prerequisite: Two English courses in literature or permission of department. Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Also offered as ENGL 408. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ENGL 408 or WMST 408. Selected writings by women in the medieval and early modern era.

WMST 410 Women of the African Diaspora (3 credits) Explores the lives, experiences, and cultures of women of Africa and the African diaspora–African-America, the Caribbean, and Afro-Latin America. A variety of resources and materials will be used providing a distinctive interdisciplinary perspective.

WMST 420 Asian American Women: The Social Construction of Gender (3 credits) Also offered as AAST 420. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AAST 420 or WMST 420. Examines the intersection of gender, race and class as it relates to Asian American women in the United States; how institutionalized cultural and social statuses of gender, race, ethnicity and social class, produce and reproduce inequality within the lives of Asian American women.

WMST 425 Gender Roles and Social Institutions (3 credits) Also offered as SOCY 425. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: SOCY 425 or WMST 425. Relationship between gender roles and the structure of one or more social institutions (e.g., the economy, the family, the political system, religion, education). The incorporation of gender roles into social institutions; perpetuation or transformation of sex roles by social institutions; how changing gender roles affect social institutions.

WMST 430 Gender Issues in Families (3 credits) Prerequisite: SOCY 100, SOCY 105, or PSYC 100. Also offered as FMSC 430. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: FMSC 430 or WMST 430. The development of historical, cultural, developmental and psychosocial aspects of masculinity and femininity within the context of contemporary families, and the implications for interpersonal relations.

WMST 436 The Legal Status of Women (3 credits) Prerequisite: GVPT 231. Also offered as GVPT 436. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: GVPT 436 or WMST 436. An examination of judicial interpretation and application of common, statutory, and constitutional law as these affect the status of women in American society.

WMST 444 Feminist Critical Theory (3 credits) Prerequisite: ENGL 250, WMST 200 or WMST 250. Also offered as ENGL 444. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ENGL 444 or WMST 444. Issues in contemporary feminist thought that have particular relevance to textual studies, such as theories of language, literature, culture, interpretation, and identity.

WMST 448 Literature by Women of Color (3 credits) Prerequisite: Two English courses in literature or permission of department. Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Also offered as ENGL 448. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ENGL 448 or WMST 448. Literature by women of color in the United States, Britain, and in colonial and post-colonial countries.

WMST 452 Women in the Media (3 credits) Also offered as JOUR 452. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: JOUR 452 or WMST 452. Participation and portrayal of women in the mass media from colonial to contemporary times.

WMST 453 Victorian Women in England, France, and the United States (3 credits) Also offered as HIST 493. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: HIST 493 or WMST 453. Examines the lives of middle and upper-class women in England, France, and the United States during the Victorian era. Topics include gender roles, work, domesticity, marriage, sexuality, double standards and women’s rights.

WMST 454 Women in Africa (3 credits) Also offered as HIST 494. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: HIST 494 or WMST 454. The place of women in African societies: the role and function of families; institutions such as marriage, birthing, and child rearing; ritual markers in women’s lives; women in the workplace; women’s associates; women’s health issues; measures designed to control women’s behavior; women and development.

WMST 455 Women in Medieval Culture and Society (3 credits) Also offered as HIST 495. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: HIST 495 or WMST 455. Medieval women’s identity and cultural roles: the condition, rank and rights of medieval women; their access to power; a study of women’s writings and the constraints of social constructs upon the female authorial voice; and contemporary assumptions about women.

WMST 456 Women and Society in the Middle East (3 credits) Recommended: prior coursework in Middle East studies or gender studies. Also offered as HIST 492. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: HIST 492 or WMST 456. Examines the customs, values and institutions that have shaped women’s experience in the Middle East in the past and in the contemporary Middle East.

WMST 457 Redefining Gender in the U.S., 1880-1935 (3 credits) Also offered as HIST 433. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: HIST 433 or WMST 457. Exploring changing perceptions of gender in the U.S., 1880-1935, and the impact of those changes on the day to day lives of men and women.

WMST 458 Literature by Women After 1800 (3 credits) Prerequisite: Two English courses in literature or permission of department. Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Also offered as ENGL 458. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ENGL 458 or WMST 458. Selected writings by women after 1800.

WMST 468 Feminist Cultural Studies (3 credits) Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Each version of this course focuses on one or several forms of popular culture — such as TV, music, film, cyber-culture, or genre fiction (for example, science fiction) — and demonstrates how feminists value, critique and explain such forms. Tools of feminist cultural studies include economic and social analyses of power, race, sexuality, gender, class, nationality, religion, technology, and globalization processes.

WMST 469 Study Abroad Special Topics IV (1-6 credits) Repeatable to 15 credits if content differs. Special topics course taken as part of an approved study abroad program.

WMST 471 Women’s Health (3 credits) Also offered as HLTH 471. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: HLTH 471 or WMST 471. The women’s health movement from the perspective of consumerism and feminism. The physician-patient relationship in the gynecological and other medical settings. The gynecological exam, gynecological problems, contraception, abortion, pregnancy, breast and cervical cancer and surgical procedures. Psychological aspects of gynecological concerns.

WMST 488 Senior Seminar (3 credits) Prerequisite: permission of department. Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Seminar for advanced majors in women’s studies or other students with appropriate preparation. Interdisciplinary topics will vary each semester.

WMST 491 Judaism and the Constuction of Gender (3 credits) Prerequisite: 1 course in JWST; or 1 course in LGBT; or 1 course in WMST. Also offered as JWST 491. Credit only granted for: JWST 419X, JWST 491, or WMST 491. The study of Jewish culture, religious practice, communal authority, and literature through the frame of such critical categories of analysis as gender, sexuality, masculinity, power, ethics, and the feminine.

WMST 493 Jewish Women in International Perspective (3 credits) Prerequisite: One course in Women’s Studies, preferably WMST 200 or WMST 250. Also offered as JWST 493. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: JWST 492, JWST 493, or WMST 493. Using memoirs, essays, poetry, short stories, films, music and the visual arts, course investigates what it means/has meant to define oneself as a Jewish woman across lines of difference. Focus is largely on the secular dimensions of Jewish women’s lives but will also explore the implications of Jewish law and religious practices for Jewish women. Our perspective will be international, including Ashkenazi and Sephardi women.

WMST 494 Lesbian Communities and Differences (3 credits) Prerequisite: One course in Women’s Studies, preferably WMST 200 or WMST 250. Also offered as LGBT 494. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: LGBT 494 or WMST 494. The meanings of lesbian communities across many lines of difference. Using lesbian-feminists of the 1970s as a starting point, we will look both back and forward in history, tracing changes and exploring the meanings of these in their social and historical contexts.

WMST 496 African-American Women Filmmakers (3 credits) Also offered as THET 496. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: THET 496 or WMST 496. Examines the cinematic artistry of African-American women filmmakers and the ways in which these films address the dual and inseparable roles of race and gender.

WMST 498 Advanced Special Topics in Women’s Studies (1-3 credits) Prerequisite: permission of department. Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs.

WMST 499 Independent Study (1-3 credits) Prerequisite: One course in women’s studies and permission of department. Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Research and writing or specific readings on a topic selected by the student and supervised by a faculty member of the Women’s Studies Department.

Undergraduate LGBTQ Course Descriptions

LGBT 200 Introduction to LGBTQ Studies.

(No Prerequisite.) An interdisciplinary study of the historical and social contexts of personal, cultural and political aspects of LGBTQ life. Sources from a variety of fields, such as anthropology, history, psychology, sociology, and women’s studies, focusing on writings by and about LGBTQ people. Required course for LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core SB & D. GenEd History and Social Sciences & Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media

(No Prerequisite.) Not open to students who have completed ENGL 265. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ENGL 265 or LGBT 265. An exploration of literary and cultural expressions of sexuality and gender. Study of a range of historical periods and literary genres, such as essay, poetry, novel, drama, film. Topics include sexual norms and dissidence, gender identity and expression, the relationship between aesthetic forms and sexual subjectivity. Interpretation of texts particularly through the lens of queer theory. Examination of how sex and gender intersect with other forms of difference, including race and class. This course fills the lower division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core HL & D. GenEd Humanities & Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 285 Homophobia in the New Millennium

(No Prerequisite. This is an “I” series course offering.) Not open to students who have completed LGBT 289I. Credit will be granted for only one one of the following: LGBT 285 or LGBT 289I. An interdisciplinary investigation of the evolving forms of homophobia that continue to thrive and grow in the contemporary U.S., despite historical gains. Special attention to manifestations of homophobia in U.S. social, cultural, political, and legal arenas such as: popular culture/media, religious and cultural/ethnic communities, state and federal legislation, and queer subcultures. Focus on students’ powers and responsibilities within struggles to end discrimination based on sexuality. Core SB & D. GenEd History and Social Sciences, Understanding Plural Societies, I-Series.

LGBT 291 International Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Studies

(No Prerequisite.) Also offered as CMLT 291. Not open to students who have completed CMLT 291. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: CMLT 291 or LGBT 291. Exploration of the construction and representation of sexualities in culture around the globe, with particular emphasis on literature and media. Core D.

LGBT 298 Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies

(No Prerequisite.) Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Study of particular themes and issues in LGBTQ studies. Past special topics courses have included: Queer American Cultures, and Sexuality and Gender in Popular Culture. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies

LGBT 298C Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Histories of “Deviant” Women: Crones, Comedians, and Criminals

(No Prerequisite.) Historical and contemporary examination of how, where, when, and for whom the category of “deviant woman” is produced and regulated. Possible units include the construction of sex, gender, and bodies; notions of criminality and comedy; and narratives of witchcraft. This course fills the lower division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 298D Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Digital Queers – Public Space, Art, and Performance in the Digital Age

(No Prerequisite.) Digital Queers is first and foremost about the creative exploration and practice of queer theory in everyday digital life. We will investigate public spaces and institutions using a range of approaches, from reading and discussion, to making art and performance. Most importantly, students will be experimenting with, and creating their own theoretical practice. There is no experience or skill required or needed; just an open mind and a willingness to try. Students will be introduced to a broad but considered range of topics, including queer theory, public space, digital media, art, and activism. We will use these texts to explore multiple methodologies and approaches, including games, psychogeography, time-based art (video, sound, installation), and performance. This course fills the lower division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 298L Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Introduction to Queer Latina/o Studies

(No Prerequisite.) Since the 1990s, LGBTQ and Queer histories and identities have emerged within academic discussions generating an influential theoretical field for the analysis of culture, identity, and politics. Simultaneously, Latina/o histories and identities have garnered questions, debates, and theories in response to immigration, labor, activism & politics, and cultural production. Together, LGBTQ and Latina/o cultures and identities open new pathways of research and analysis in areas of cultural studies. Using interdisciplinary methodologies and approaches and integrating a scope of different, yet intersecting, LGBTQ and Latina/o histories and identities, this course explores how Queer Latina/o cultures and identities together have engaged in art and literature to interact with space, politics, and activism or latinidad, testimonio, and activismo. By utilizing these analytic frameworks, this course explores the cultural production of Queer Latina/o cultures, primarily through art, literature, and other medias to underscore how engagement with politics, policies, and institutions are practiced. This course fills the lower division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 298Q Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Queers, Arts, and Culture

(No Prerequisite.) An interdisciplinary study of the historical and social contexts of LGBTQ contributions to art and culture. Sources from a variety of fields, including history, literature, visual arts, drama, film, crafts, and women’s studies, focusing on art by and about LGBTQ people. This course fills the lower division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 298R Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Digital Queers – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Art and Culture

(No Prerequisite.) LGBTQ Art and Culture examines lesbian’s, gay men’s, bisexual people’s and transgender people’s creative products in selected examples of music, film, art, drama, dance, poetry, fiction, memoir, and other literature, and it explores LGBTQ identities and communities in relation to families, religion, education, ethnicity, class, history, and sexuality, within cultural traditions shaped by LGBTQ people. We will consider the cultural productions of LGBTQ artists working in a variety of media and genres. Through the readings, discussions, and assignments, you will develop skills to analyze written and visual texts with particular attention to how sex, gender, race, class, sexuality, sexual orientation, and other systems of power shape people’s everyday lives. This course fills the lower division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 327 LGBTQ Film and Video

(Prerequisite: Junior standing.) Comparative analysis of forms, themes, and the politics of representation in film and video by and/or about LGBT people. This course begins from the premise that movies are designed to give us a variety of meaningful viewing experiences, sometimes pleasurable, sometimes not. The class teaches a range of analytical approaches for understanding how films create meanings and what those meanings may be. In this course, we will trace both the diversity and similarities between global and Western representations of what we call homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgender identities as represented in film and video. Film selections might include works directed by Lisa Cholodenko, Ang Lee, Cheryl Dunye, Marlon Riggs, Paul Verhoven, Deepa Mehta, Alfred Hitchcock, John Cameron Mitchell, and Kimberly Pierce. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Humanities and Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 350 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People and Communication

(Prerequisite: LGBT 200 & permission of the program.) Study of differences, stereotypes, and values distinguishing LGBTQ people and of effective means of communicating such differences to non-LGBTQ people. Emphasis on contemporary LGBTQ life and on the development of didactic skills. Preparation and presentation of forums on LGBTQ people; facilitation of workshops in various outreach locations (residence halls, Greek system, classes). This course fills the upper division personal, social, political, or historical requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. GenEd Scholarship in Practice and Cultural Competency.

LGBT 359 Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Literatures

(Prerequisite: two lower-level English courses, at least one in literature.) Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Also offered as ENGL 359. Study of selected writers or particular themes in Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, and Transgender literatures. Past Special Topics courses have included: The Beginnings of Queer Identity, 1660-1900, Queer Film and Video, LGBTQ Writing in the U.S., Queer Poetics, or Gay is Very American, and Love, Sex, and Poetry in the Long 19th Century. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor.

LGBT 359A: Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Literatures: (Especially Queer) American Autobiographics

(Prerequisite: two lower-level English courses, at least one in literature.) Beginning with a review of captivity narratives, classic autobiographies such as that by Ben Franklin (though he called the unfinished record of his life Memoirs), we will then pursue questions of autobiographics through various, usually queer texts—narratives, poems, songs, films, and other modes of public expression. This intensive study of self-expression in a variety of media and across a couple of centuries examines writing of, on, about, through, around, over, and under “the self.” We will begin by examining the queerness of nineteenth-century poets Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson and will then turn to the productions and cultural reproductions of modern and contemporary poets and writers such as Elizabeth Bishop, H.D., Gertrude Stein, Judy Grahn, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, and Minnie Bruce Pratt, as well as Hart Crane, Allen Ginsberg, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Frank O’Hara, Essex Hemphill, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Nikki Finney, and Claudia Rankine. While we will probe ways in which LGBTQ expressions are inflected by issues of race, gender, class, and high/low culture, we will especially scrutinize ways in which the performances and receptions of writers identified (by themselves or others) as LGBTQ or queer or writing from a racially-imbued perspective may perpetuate, challenge, and modify cultural mythologies about sexualities, queernesses, and modes of being and writing in the Facebook age. Another central inquiry in our course of study, then, will be to investigate various implications of the fact that in the early 21st century, “25 Random Things About Me” and other online writing performed by individuals in group settings queer notions about social networking and autobiographical expression. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor.

LGBT 359B: Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Literatures: Queer Poetics, or Gay is Very American

(Prerequisite: two lower-level English courses, at least one in literature.) An intensive study of lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer inscriptions in American poetry, this course will examine the queerness of nineteenth-century poets Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson and will then turn to the poetic productions and cultural reproductions of poets such as Elizabeth Bishop, H.D., Gertrude Stein, Judy Grahn, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, and Minnie Bruce Pratt, as well as Hart Crane, Allen Ginsberg, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Essex Hemphill, Frank O’Hara, and Paul Monette. While we will probe ways in which LGBTQ or queer expressions are inflected by issues of race, gender, class, and high/low culture, we will especially scrutinize ways in which the performances and receptions of poets identified (by themselves or others) as LGBTQ or queer may perpetuate, challenge, and modify cultural mythologies about sexualities and their relevance to literary endeavors. Written assignments will be a short paper and a longer, more ambitious essay (10-15 pp.) exploring in depth some aspect raised by our course of study, as well as a reading journal (maintaining this journal will count as one of your exams). Collaborative writing endeavors are welcomed. Our meetings will often depend upon group work for leading discussions in the individual sessions, and each class member will participate in a group presentation. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor.

LGBT 359C Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Literatures: Queer Films and Videos

(Prerequisite: two lower-level English courses, at least one in literature.) This course charts the development of Queer Cinema from the late 1940s to the present day. Analyzing the work of directors including Kenneth Anger, Sadie Benning, John Waters, Todd Haynes, Cheryl Dunye, Rose Troche, Gregg Araki, John Cameron Mitchell, Marlon Riggs, Jennie Livingston, Isaac Julien, John Greyson, and Pedro Almodóvar, among others, this course will examine prevalent themes, conventions, aesthetics, narrative techniques, and cultural contribution of Queer filmmakers telling Queer stories through film and video. Some of the topics we will grapple with include positioning Race within Queer Cinema, multi-lingual and multi-national Queer Cinemas, Sex in Queer Film, and filming Queer bodies. Course Requirements: viewing films outside of class, short response papers, a larger final paper, occasional quizzes, active class participation, and a final exam. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor.

LGBT 359D Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Literatures: Queer Adaptations in Film, Fiction, and TV

(Prerequisite: two lower-level English courses, at least one in literature.) This course studies changes in LGBTQ characters, story lines, settings, and other issues when stories shift from one medium to another: from novel or play to film, from film to fan fiction, from TV to spinoff novel, etc. Some of these adaptations “straighten” the original text and mute or erase the queerness present there, while other adaptations highlight the presence of non-normative sexuality. Students’ purpose in the course will be to consider the possible reasons behind changes made in adapting stories for different media, including the intended audience, the historical and cultural situation, and other factors. The course also pays close attention to both the conventions of genre and to the limits and possibilities of different media on what kinds of stories get told in what kinds of ways. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor.

LGBT 359K Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Literatures: Sexual Poetics

(Prerequisite: two lower-level English courses, at least one in literature.) This team-taught course will explore the erotics of American and British poetry from the nineteenth century to the present day. Many of the “major,” most canonized poets in the American and British traditions are widely recognized as lesbian, gay, or queer (Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Amy Levy, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Elizabeth Bishop, Adrienne Rich, Marilyn Hacker, Essex Hemphill, the previous American poet laureate Kay Ryan, and the current British poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy), and many others foreground sex, gender, and desire as key dynamics of their work (John Keats, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Sylvia Plath, just to name a few). Our class will take a transatlantic approach to thinking about poetry, combining the expertise of one specialist in American poetry and one in the British tradition. While we will probe ways in which poetic erotics are inflected by issues of race, gender, class, and high/low culture, we will especially scrutinize ways in which the performances and receptions of poets identified (by themselves or others) as LGBTQ or queer may perpetuate, challenge, and modify cultural mythologies about sexualities and their relevance to national, literary, artistic, aesthetic, and political endeavors. Classwork will include two essays (5 pages), active participation, and a final exam. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor.

LGBT 359M: Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Literatures: Queer Comedy

(Prerequisite: two lower-level English courses, at least one in literature.) Comedy is always queer, challenging conventional perspectives, turning our attentions to the unexpected, and turning the expected and accepted on its head, as it were. In this course, though we will make extensive use of the world wide web, the WWW stands for Witty Women Writers—bold, wry, playful, challenging “women” (both actual females and males in drag) who use humor to facilitate more full expression. Humor serves a wide variety of purposes. Comic relief can liven the tiresome mundane, ease great pain, inflect unbearable news or information so that it is bearable and can be received. Especially important for our course of study is that queers, women, and other groups traditionally regarded as minorities or disfranchised have long used humor to contest rigid and repressive orthodoxies in the hope of resituating their own relationship to society as a whole and thus transform society, or at least their relation to and status in society. Such use of humor will center our critical inquiry. We will explore by reading and rereading, from the page and from screens (of computer, cinema, and television), selected works from centuries of transatlantic literature and artistic performance. Though they are not quite like Wanda Sykes or Margaret Cho (whom we will examine), we will read writers such as Jane Austen (!), Emily Dickinson, Gertrude Stein, Allen Ginsberg, Essex Hemphill, as well as examine the work of a number of gay comedians, and Whoopi Goldberg, Lucille Ball, Mary Tyler Moore (!), Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner, and Ellen Degeneres as we rethink customary divisions between high and low, public and private art and artistic performance. Queer cartoonists such as Alison Bechdel and Howard Cruse are also likely to be part of our “mystery ride” through queer comedy. Issues of race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and class will inform our critical inquiry. If you don’t see a comic or writer on this list whom you’d really like to study, email me and make a suggestion. Two papers, an oral presentation, a final, and an appreciation for the importance of having fun required. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor.

LGBT 386 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Organization Internship

(Prerequisite: 9 credits in LGBTQ Studies & permission of the program.) Supervised internship experience with a community organization that expressly serves lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Students will be expected to relate course material to experience in an analysis of an organization’s activities. Students in the LGBTQ Certificate or Minor program can use LGBT 386 to fill the Capstone Course requirement. GenEd Cultural Competency.

LGBT 398A Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: The Queer Child

Why do many assume that a feminine boy will be gay, but think that a seven-year old is too young to self-identify as a lesbian? What is it like to navigate elementary school as a six-year old trans This interdisciplinary course draws on psychology, literature, history, trans studies, queer theory, and childhood studies, to examine how we think about children’s gender and sexuality, paying particular attention to the lives of transgender, gender-nonconforming, gender-creative and gay children. This course fills the upper division personal, social, political, or historical requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 398C Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Queer and Trans Collaborations

(Prerequisite: Junior standing; LGBT 200 or permission of the program.) An interdisciplinary investigation of queer social theory, with particular attention to discussions of assimilationist and radical politics within queer and trans communities. Topics explored include same-sex marriage, capitalism, and consumerism. Focus on students’ participation as informed, conscientious, and responsible citizens in the struggle for social justice for all. This course fills the upper division personal, social, political, or historical requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor.

LGBT 398L Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: LGBTQ Stories: Page, Stage, and Screen

(Prerequisite: Junior standing; LGBT 200 or permission of the program.) In LGBTQ Stories: Page, Stage, and Screen, students examine a series of texts that tell stories about LGBTQ people during the twentieth century. Together, these texts invite us to ask questions about LGBTQ experiences during the twentieth century including, What do stories about LGBTQ people tell us? How do these narratives support and challenge contemporary histories of LGBTQ people? What can we learn today from LGBTQ stories from the past? In addition, the texts in this course raise questions about the different media through which artists tell stories. Students will discuss questions related to medium such as, How are stories constructed? How does the medium—novels, poetry, films, plays, critical writing—change how stories stories are told? The course will culminate with students researching and telling stories of their own choosing designed for the page, stage, or screen. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 398Q Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Applied Contextual Leadership: Facilitation and Leadership Skills in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, or Ally Organizations

(Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.) Also offered as EDCP 318Q. Interested students must determine an instructor-approved leadership or facilitation project before signing up. Students will hone skills in a wide range of areas, including facilitation, interpersonal communication, organization building, and organizing for social change. Students will apply evidence-based leadership practices in an LGBTQA organizational context, and will be expected to analyze their learning and demonstrate growth. Contact Nicholas Sakurai for more information and permission to register. Approved LGBTQ elective. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 407 Gay and Lesbian Philosophy

Also offered as PHIL 407. Not open to students who have completed PHIL 407. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: PHIL 407 or LGBT 407. An examination in historical and social context of personal, cultural, and political aspects of gay and lesbian life, paying particular attention to conceptual, ontological, epistemological, and social justice issues. This course fills the upper division personal, social, political, or historical requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D.

LGBT 448 Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies

(Prerequisite: Junior standing; LGBT 200 or permission of the program.) Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Not open to students who have completed CMLT 498Y. Formerly CMLT 498Y. Developments in theories and methods of LGBTQ Studies, with emphasis upon interaction between the humanities and the social sciences in the elaboration of this interdisciplinary area of scholarship. Past special topics courses have included: Law and Identities, LGBTQ Families, Asian American Sexualities, and Sex and the City. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448A Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: HIV/AIDS: Politics, Culture, and Science

(Prerequisite: Junior standing; LGBT 200 or permission of the program.) This course introduces the political, social, cultural, and medical constructions of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Drawing upon diverse interdisciplinary texts, we will investigate the pandemic’s historical epidemiology; state, medical, and grassroots responses to AIDS; and evolving media representations of AIDS. We will explore both continuities and changes in these dynamics from local, national, and transnational perspectives. To do so, we will focus primarily on examples from the United States and the Global South. This course fills the upper division personal, social, political, or historical requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448B Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Queer Space and Media Cultures

(Prerequisite: Junior standing; LGBT 200 or permission of the program.) Examines how the lives of sexual minorities have been shaped by media technologies and material geographies. Possible topics include: public sex and pornography; queer gentrification, race, and visual culture; medical tourism and body modification; transnational migration and global queer cinema. This course fills the upper division personal, social, political, or historical requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448C Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Sex and the City

(Prerequisite: Junior standing; LGBT 200 or permission of the program.) This class will adopt an interdisciplinary approach to the study of gender, race, sexuality, and geography. The class will include an expansive understanding of marginalized sexualities to include those outside of dominant racialized concepts of heterosexuality. Possible units include Progressive-era city reforms, sub-cultural studies of the Chicago School, the history of pre-Stonewall sexual minority communities, “slumming” and sex tourism, the Moynihan Report and “culture of poverty” debates, race-, gender-, and sexuality-based social movements, theories of the public versus private sphere, accessibility and the built environment, theories of race, gender, and sexual migration, public sex, gentrification, street safety and the politics of violence, new transnational human rights and development models, and the language of space in counter-publics and cultural production. This course fills the upper division personal, social, political, or historical requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448E Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Asian American Sexualities

(Prerequisite: Junior standing; LGBT 200 or permission of the program.) Grounded in interdisciplinary approaches, this course investigates Asian American Sexualities from multiple conceptual and methodological angles. Paying close attention to historical, cultural, political, and social constructions of sexual knowledge and identities, the central purpose of this course is to broadly examine the multiple meanings of sexuality to Asian Americans, a diverse group defined by limitless differences. Approved LGBTQ elective. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448F Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: LGBT Families

(Prerequisite: Junior standing; LGBT 200 or permission of the program.) In this course, we examine the shifting meanings and practices of families within LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) communities and vis-à-vis notions of “the family” in the United States more broadly. We consider the myriad configurations of family created by LGBTQ-identified people, and how these have intersected with, assimilated into, and deconstructed the very notion of “the family” in the U.S. national imaginary. We explore the ways in which both the concept of family and actual families are deployed as “proof” of authenticity by advocates and opponents of LGBTQ family formations. We reflect on how the increasing visibility of LGBTQ families has changed the face and direction of LGBTQ organizations and the legal regulation of LGBTQ families. We conclude by examining what it means to re-conceptualize “families” both formally and informally in ways that are more inclusive. This course fills the upper division personal, social, political, or historical requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448G Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Where the Wilde Things Are: Queer Identities in Drama and Performance

(Prerequisite: Junior standing.) The AIDS crisis of the 1980s brought gay lives into the forefront of cultural discussion. Yet, throughout the twentieth century, theatre presented a range of dramatic representations of queer lives, and it has been integral in shaping the public’s perceptions about sexuality and sexual identity as well as in influencing the ways queer communities think about and define themselves. This course looks at representations of queer identity in American theatre, starting with the rippling affect of the English plays of Oscar Wilde and his groundbreaking trial for “gross indecency” and ending with contemporary representations of queer identity in drama, performance art, and culture. The course will include a range of dramatic representation of queer identities, including the tortured characters of playwrights such as Lillian Hellman and Tennessee Williams, post-Stonewall assertions of gay pride in the plays of Mart Crowley, the politically-engaged response to AIDS crisis in the plays of Larry Kramer and Tony Kushner, and queer culture’s appropriation of “camp” in the works of John Cameron Mitchell, Tim Miller, and Holly Hughes. The course will also consider performative aspects of gay and lesbian culture off the traditional theatrical stage – from performance artists like Holly Hughes, to gay pride parades, to the performance of drag kings and queens. Approved LGBTQ elective. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448J Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: International LGBT Issues

(Prerequisite: Junior standing.) Investigation of sex, sexuality, and gender that focuses on specific political, social, and historical contexts of various countries and cultures. In particular, an examination of how non-normative sexualities and genders have been shaped by and have responded to histories of colonialism, transnational media, international non-governmental organizations, and the politics of the “global gay.” This course fills the upper division personal, social, political, or historical requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448K Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Human Rights

(Prerequisite: Junior standing.) In an increasingly interconnected world, recent human rights violations against LGBTQ people have drawn unprecedented attention from the global community. In this course, we will explore how LGBTQ people and their allies have staked claims to inclusion in the international human rights system developed in the aftermath of World War II; the resistance to recognizing sexual orientation and gender identity/expression as protected categories under human rights law; and how LGBTQ human rights are intertwined with other critical issues in civil society. This course fills the upper division personal, social, political, or historical requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448L Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Law and Identities 

(Prerequisite: Junior standing; LGBT 200 or permission of the program.) This course is designed to allow students to explore the complex and contested interactions between the law and the construction of group and individual identities. Students will study theories of identity and community including racial, gender, religious, national, and sexual, and will focus on how the law has been central in defining, rewarding, and punishing difference. After a general examination of how diverse communities define themselves and their legal and contemporary problems, the class will engage with the current research of faculty and outside speakers. Approved LGBTQ elective. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448M Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Advanced Study of Queer Latina/o Cultures: Migration and Sexuality

(Prerequisite: Junior standing; LGBT 200 or permission of the program.) With a focus on LGBTQ Latina/o sexuality and migration, this course introduces students to the operation of “queer” as seen through various artistic, legal, historic, scholarly, and popular discourses relating to LGBTQ Latina/o cultures and identities. We will examine the conventional and unconventional ways LGBTQ Latina/o sexualities “move” through these discourses and determine how migrations (or movements) alter the expression, representation, and production of LGBTQ Latina/o cultures and identities. The expression, representation, and cultural production of LGBTQ Latina/o cultures and identities will be examined through a wide-range of both primary and secondary sources, which will be used by students to develop an original research project. Students will be introduced to the theoretical frameworks used when examining the shifting categories of race, sexuality, and other identities, and we will integrate campus resources, events, and speakers into our discussions to illuminate these frameworks. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBT Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448N Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Art and Sexuality in Latin America

(Prerequisite: Junior standing; LGBT 200 or permission of the program.) Latin Americans have historically used transgressive art and literature to critique and resist gender and sexual norms. Focusing on Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, and Nicaragua, this interdisciplinary course will examine contemporary and historical portrayals of sexuality and non-normative gender through the lenses of film, visual art, literature, and music. This course fills the upper division literature, art, culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448Q Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Queer Citizenship: Perspectives on Bodies, Sexualities, and Performances

(Prerequisite: Junior standing) What does it mean to “queer” citizenship? In this class, we will examine the processes and practices of citizenship in everyday life with a specific focus on LGBTQ cultures and identities. Beginning with Thomas Marshall’s concept of citizenship, we will examine the history of citizenship in the U.S. with a “queer” lens and identify how exclusion and inclusion operate within citizenship formations of “minority” groups. We will examine the mobilizations and political and cultural affiliations of LGBTQ communities to understand the changing historical and material contexts of citizenship that produce new forms of identity and new forms of belonging. Citizenship is neither stable nor fixed, but rather, a set of processes performed through the body. We will examine how bodies activate different cultural expressions to perform citizenship. Citizenship statuses are continually redefined, negotiated, and debated as they come to be articulated within different forms of nationalist discourses and cultural traditions.

This course seeks to understand how marginalized or “minority” LGBTQ groups resist, negotiate, and/or incorporate issues of citizenship in their everyday lives primarily through various artistic expressions. Going beyond legal frameworks of citizenship, but without ignoring them, this course reframes citizenship to highlight the cultural aspects of identity that have been excluded from legal discourse to underscore the expressive, communal, and artistic frames that create different forms of membership illustrating LGBTQ self-making and self-determination. Finally, we will examine how LGBTQ cultures, sexualities, and identities have changed, disrupted, or modified early conventions of citizenship and theorize the potentials for a 21st-Century “queer” citizenship. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448R Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: From Ricky Ricardo to Jennifer Lopez: Exploring Latina/o Gender and Sexuality in Popular Culture

(Prerequisite: Junior standing) The objective of this course is to examine how race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class are constructed by and in relation to Latin@s in US popular culture. Using the theory of intersectionality, we explore popular culture in the forms of television, film, music, and literature. Specifically, this course considers themes of hypersexuality, femininities/masculinities, identity across borders, assimilation, and Latin@ queerness. Approved LGBTQ elective. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448RR Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Queer Mags and Rags: Studies in 20th Century LGBT Print Culture

(Prerequisite: Junior standing; LGBT 200 or permission of the program.) Throughout the 20th century, LGBTQ people produced, distributed, and read books, journal, magazines and newspapers. This printed material was central to LGBTQ identity formation and a variety of forms of activism. This course offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of LGBTQ communities through publishing in the 20th century. Students will read original materials published by LGBTQ activists with scholarly analyses about the meanings of these printed artifacts. The class will explore these questions: what role does printed material have in LGBTQ identity formations? How are race, gender, and sexuality represented in LGBTQ printed material? How does print culture mobilize LGBTQ activism? What communications circuits do LGBTQ publishers use and create? How have they changed since the advent of the internet?

Particularly in the short but intense summer session, this is an intensive, but rewarding reading and research course. In addition to daily writing, students will complete a final project either individually or in a group that analyzes some aspect of historical or contemporary LGBTQ print culture. Approved LGBTQ elective. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448W Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Sex, Gender, and Jewish Identity”

(Prerequisite: Junior standing) This is a course about Jewish bodies and how they are represented and interpreted in the construction of cultural meaning. Our work this semester will think in terms of gendered bodies and sexual bodies, feminine and masculine bodies in conflict and confluence, bodies that bleed and bodies that reproduce. We will ask how social norms contribute to individual identity and how individuals make sense of social categories.

Although the class is not necessarily “theory-driven,” we will take advantage of theoretical scholarship to ask new questions about sex, gender, sexuality, and social location. In addition to rethinking the factors that distinguish these categories, we will attempt to resist their simple bifurcation into the subsets male and female. Instead, we will make an effort to explore the complexities that become visible when those categories are queried, queered, or transgressed.

For our work in an upper-level Jewish Studies class, we will need to expect some basic familiarity with Jewish history, halakha, sacred texts, and the like. These concepts will be introduced on the first day of class, and students with less background in basic Judaism may wish to do some follow-up reading. Students with more background in this area should prepare for a surprise or two. This course fills the upper division personal, social, political, or historical requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 448Y: Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Erotics, Dickinson, and American Women Poets

(Prerequisite: two lower-level English courses, at least one in literature.) Never married, so selective about whose company she kept that she has been called “reclusive” and even “nun-like,” Emily Dickinson has nevertheless been the subject of endless erotic speculation—heterosexual, queer, lesbian—most recently in a film featuring Sex in the City star Cynthia Nixon. Described as fiery and fun by all who actually knew her, Dickinson wrote poetry and letters that are infused with the erotic. This course explores the archives of her queer lives and queer status in American literary history, the 21st-century digital archives and editions produced about her work and lives, the physical archives of her work that one finds in special collections of libraries, the erotic archives of women poets who followed her, and the archives of our attentions as readers. An intensive study of lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer inscriptions by Dickinson, this course also examines inscriptions in the legacies of American poetry and culture that she has inspired, especially in contemporary poetry—Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Gwendolyn Brooks, Marilyn Hacker and others. Probing how her work and legacies are evident in poetic heirs, as well as how they have been translated into different media (films, TV shows, drama, multimedia performances, rock & roll) and are inflected by issues of race, gender, class, and high/low culture, we will scrutinize ways in which the performances and receptions of this icon of American literary history may perpetuate, challenge, and modify national and international cultural mythologies. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor. Core D. GenEd Understanding Plural Societies.

LGBT 459 Selected Topics in Sexuality and Literature

(Prerequisite: two lower-level English courses, at least one in literature.) Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Also offered as ENGL 459. Detailed study of sexuality as an aspect of literary and cultural expression. Past courses have included: Trans Literature. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor.

LGBT 459A: Special Topics in Sexuality and Literature: Trans Literature

(Prerequisite: two lower-level English courses, at least one in literature.) For the purposes of this course, the term “trans literature” will describe literary and cinematic representations of a broad range of gender variance and ambiguity, from gender queerness and transitivity to hormonally and surgically defined transsexualism. Our study of novels, memoirs, autobiographies, and film will be supplemented by theoretical interventions by Judith Halberstam, Jay Prosser, Sandy Stone, Susan Stryker, and others who have recently brought trans issues to the forefront of LGBTQ and queer studies. Throughout, we will be interested in questions of embodiment; the role of medical and legal authorities in the construction of trans identities and of trans subjects challenging those constructions; issues of safety, risk, visibility, and passing; debates about whether the “proper” ending of trans stories is a sense of being “at home” in a male or female body or of being “in-between” genders. We will also give careful consideration to the ethics of producing and consuming trans stories. Work for the course will include response papers, a group oral presentation, a 12-15 page essay, and a final exam. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor.

LGBT 459M: Special Topics in Sexuality and Literature: American Poetry: Beginning to the Present (American Sexual Poetics Revisited)

(Prerequisite: two lower-level English courses, at least one in literature.) Many of the “major,” most canonized poets in American traditions are widely recognized as lesbian, gay, or queer (Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Hart Crane), and the various sexual dynamics of American literary history will contextualize our study as we begin by focusing on Dickinson and Whitman.

An intensive study of lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer inscriptions in American poetry, this course will then examine the poetic productions and cultural reproductions of poets such as the diverse group collected into the Masquerade anthology, including these names you might well recognize: W. H. Auden, Elizabeth Bishop, Willa Cather, Hart Crane, Countee Cullen, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, H.D., Angeline Weld Grimké, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Langston Hughes, Sarah Orne Jewett, Amy Lowell, Mina Loy, Claude McKay, Herman Melville, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Richard Bruce Nugent, Muriel Rukeyser, George Santayana, May Sarton, Gertrude Stein, Henry David Thoreau. Besides those, we will read Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Judy Grahn, and Minnie Bruce Pratt, Allen Ginsberg, James Baldwin, Essex Hemphill, Frank O’Hara, Paul Monette, May Swenson, and current poet laureate, Kay Ryan. While we will probe ways in which LGBTQ or queer expressions are inflected by issues of race, gender, class, and high/low culture, we will especially scrutinize ways in which the performances and receptions of poets identified (by themselves or others) as LGBTQ or queer may perpetuate, challenge, and modify cultural mythologies about sexualities and their relevance to national, literary, artistic, aesthetic, and political endeavors.

Written assignments will be a response paper, a short (2-3 pp.) paper and a longer, more ambitious essay (7-10 pp.) exploring in depth some aspect raised by our course of study, as well as regular participation in the discussion boards (this will count as one of your exams). Collaborative writing endeavors are welcomed. Our meetings will often depend upon group work for leading discussions in the individual sessions, and each class member will participate in a group presentation. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor.

LGBT 465 Theories of Sexuality and Literature

(Prerequisite: two lower-level English courses, at least one in literature.) Also offered as ENG L465. Not open to students who have completed ENGL 465. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ENGL 465 or LGBT 465. An in-depth study of the ways in which sexuality and sexual difference create or confound the conditions of meaning in the production of literary texts. Attention to psychoanalysis, history of sexuality, feminist theory, and other accounts of sexual identity. This course fills the upper division literature, art, or culture requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor.

LGBT 488 Seminar in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies

(Prerequisites: 9 credits in LGBTQ Studies and permission of program.) Recommended: LGBT 200 and LGBT 265 or CMLT 291. Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Not open to students who have completed CMLT 498Y. Formerly CMLT 498Y. Developments in theories and methods of LGBTQ Studies, with emphasis upon interaction between the humanities and the social sciences in the elaboration of this interdisciplinary area of scholarship. Past seminar topics have included: LGBTQ Politics and Social Movements, Race, Sexuality and the Transnational, Queering Citizenship. Students in the LGBTQ Certificate or Minor program can use LGBT 488 to fill the Capstone Course requirement.

LGBT 488A Seminar in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Race, Sexuality, and the Transnational

(Prerequisites: 9 credits in LGBTQ Studies and permission of program.) Recommended: LGBT 200 and LGBT 265 or CMLT 291. Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Not open to students who have completed CMLT 498Y. Formerly CMLT 498Y. This class adopts an historical and contemporary lens to investigate how racial and sexual difference have been produced and regulated–and systems of subjugation resisted–within “national” and “transnational” frames. Putting postcolonial, critical race, and queer theory into conversation, this class not only looks at those moments in which the construction of difference has been paired with structures of dominance, but also examines different epistemologies for understanding identity and strategies for routing power. Topics include colonial histories, postcolonial politics, diaspora, immigration, translation, globalization, human rights, neoliberalism, and nationalism. Interdisciplinary in scope, readings will draw from across the social sciences and humanities. Students in the LGBTQ Certificate or Minor program can use LGBT 488 to fill the Capstone Course requirement.

LGBT 488D Seminar in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Queer Theory and the Politics of Death

(Prerequisites: 9 credits in LGBTQ Studies and permission of program.) Recommended: LGBT 200 and LGBT 265. Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Examines debates in queer theory that address the relationship of sex, eroticism, non-normativity, and death. Possible topics include: the death drive; HIV/AIDS; sadomasochism; anti-queer violence; sex, war, and terror. Students in the LGBTQ Certificate or Minor program can use LGBT 488 to fill the Capstone Course requirement.

LGBT 488F Seminar in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies: Queer Futures

(Prerequisites: 9 credits in LGBTQ Studies and permission of program.) Recommended: LGBT 200 and LGBT 265 or CMLT 291. Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Not open to students who have completed CMLT 498Y. Formerly CMLT 498Y. The world of LGBTQ cultures and politics is a rapidly changing one. In this course, we’ll read scholarship and engage with fiction, art, and media whose focus has been on the meaning and possibility of a queerer future – one that would create transformative change in the structures of gender, sexuality, empire, race, and/or disability. Texts for discussion are likely to include writings by J. Jack Halberstam, Sara Ahmed, Fred Moten and Stefano Harney, Dean Spade, Mel Chen, Samuel R. Delany, and Octavia Butler, and the films Jubilee (1978) and Born in Flames (1984). These works, which describe diverse possibilities for refusing the status quo and/or imagining a different world, will provide a springboard for students’ own research into – and creation of – possible futures for LGBTQ culture, art, and activism. Students in the LGBTQ Certificate or Minor program can use LGBT 488F to fill the Capstone Course requirement.

LGBT 494 Lesbian Communities and Differences

(Prerequisite: One course in Women’s Studies, preferably WMST 200.) Also offered as WMST 494. Not open to students who have completed WMST 494. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: WMST 494 or LGBT 494. The meanings of lesbian communities across many lines of difference. Using lesbian feminists of the 1970s as a starting point, we will look both back and forward in history, tracing changes and exploring the meanings of these in their social and historical contexts. This course fills the upper division personal, social, political, or historical requirement for the LGBTQ Studies Certificate or Minor.

LGBT 499 Independent Study

(Prerequisite: LGBT200 and permission of department.) Individual Instruction course: contact department or instructor to obtain section number. Senior standing. Repeatable to 6 credits if content differs. Directed research and analysis in LGBTQ Studies on a topic selected by the student.

Undergraduate Courses by General Education Category

A list of frequently taught courses that fulfill general education requirements:

History and Social Sciences (DSHS)

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to LGBTQ Studies
  • WMST 200 Women and Society
  • WMST 211 Love, Labor, and Citizenship: Women In America Since 1880 (HIST 211)
  • WMST 265 Constructions of Manhood and Womanhood in the Black Community
  • WMST 298D Women’s Bodies in Contention
  • WMST 298N History of Sexuality (HIST 213)
  • WMST 336 Psychology of Women (PYSC 336)
  • WMST 498Y Dickinson, Whitman, Erotics, and American Poetry  (ENGL 439D, LGBT 448Y)

Humanities (DSHU)

  • LGBT 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media (ENGL 265)
  • LGBT 327 LGBTQ Film & Video (ENGL 359F)
  • WMST 250 Women, Art, and Culture
  • WMST 255 Reading Women Writing (ENGL 250)
  • WMST 275 World Literature by Women (CMLT 275)
  • WMST 320 Women in Classical Antiquity (CLAS 320, HIST 328W)

Scholarship in Practice (DSSP)

  • LGBT 350 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender People and Communication
  • WMST 298N Racialized Gender and Rebel Media

Diversity, Understanding Plural Societies (DVUP)

  • LGBT 200 Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies
  • LGBT 265 LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media (ENGL 265)
  • LGBT 448O Queer & Feminist Thought in Latina/o America (USLT 498O)
  • LGBT 398Q Queer History of Classics
  • LGBT 448L Black Queer Studies
  • LGBT 448Y Dickinson, Whitman, Erotics, and American Poetry (ENGL 439D)
  • WMST 200 Women and Society
  • WMST 211 Love, Labor, and Citizenship: Women in America Since 1880 (HIST 211)
  • WMST 250 Women, Art, and Culture
  • WMST 255 Reading Women Writing (ENGL 250)
  • WMST 265/ AASP298B Constructions of Manhood and Womanhood in the Black Community
  • WMST 275 World Literature by Women (CMLT 275)
  • WMST 298D Women’s Bodies in Contention
  • WMST 452 Women in the Media (JOUR 452)
  • WMST 498Y Dickinson, Whitman, Erotics, and American Poetry (ENGL 439D)

I-Series (SCIS)

  • LGBT 285 Homophobia in the New Millennium
  • WMST 298D Bodies in Contention

Graduate Course Descriptions

WMST 601 Approaches to Women’s Studies I (3 credits) This course examines two fundamental concepts in Women’s Studies: Intersectionality and Interdisciplinarity. It looks at how feminisms have shaped and been shaped by the processes of knowledge-production within and across disciplinary boundaries, cultures, and paradigms. The course works to develop an appreciation of intersectional theory as a critical research tool and as a set of responses to issues of power, domination, oppression and other loci of difference.

WMST 602 Approaches to Women’s Studies II (3 credits) A continued examination of two fundamental concepts in Women’s Studies: Intersectionality and Interdisciplinarity. It looks at how feminisms have shaped and been shaped by the processes of knowledge-production within and across disciplinary boundaries, cultures, and paradigms. The course works to develop an appreciation of intersectional theory as a critical research tool and as a set of responses to issues of power, domination, oppression and other loci of difference.

WMST 618 Feminist Pedagogy (3 credits) This course is designed to train students to teach in the women’s studies classroom. Students work as apprentices within a course taught by a full-time faculty member, learn to lead discussion sections, prepare and present class sessions, develop a syllabus, and problem-solve about pedagogical issues.

WMST 619 Supervised Teaching (3 credits) This course provides Women’s Studies graduate teaching assistants with ongoing regular faculty supervision during the semesters the students are teaching WMST courses. Students meet several times during the semester for group discussion about progress and problems. Faculty provide written evaluations of students’ work in the classroom near the beginning and conclusion of their assistantships.

WMST 621 Feminist Theories and Women’s Movements: Genealogies (3 credits) This course will examine the various theories that feminists have offered to explain the matrix of domination from the nineteenth century to the present. It is structured so that students will learn the key debates that produced new insights and shifted the ground of subsequent feminist theorizing within multi-racial feminisms and to examine those debates within global perspectives. We will also examine how dominant theoretical frameworks have been developed at specific historical moments, question their purpose in the moment of that construction and their current usefulness.

WMST 628 Women’s Studies Colloquium (1 credit) The colloquium is designed to introduce students to the women’s studies community both on and off campus and to facilitate their transition into the doctoral program and the profession through providing professional development. As a result, the seminar is designed to help students deepen their understanding of women’s studies as an intellectual concern, an academic enterprise, a profession and a social movement and to begin the process of locating themselves within it. The content of the course seeks to create opportunities in which students can reflect upon and process their experiences in the classroom, interact with WMST and affiliate faculty and with one another.

WMST 799 Master’s Research Supervision (1-6 credits)

WMST 899 Doctoral Dissertation Research Supervision (1-8 credits)

Program Manager

Gwen Warman

Academic Program Manager, The Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Director of Graduate Studies

Alexis Lothian

Associate Professor, The Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies