Women’s & Gender Studies

This is a special studies course involving an internship with a corporate, public, governmental, or private organization, arranged with the Study Center Director or Liaison Officer. Specific internships vary each term and are described on a special study project form for each student. A substantial paper or series of reports is required. Units vary depending on the contact hours and method of assessment. The internship may be taken during one or more terms but the units cannot exceed a total of 12.0 for the academic year.

This course examines the silencing of women and their exclusion from the canon of universal literature. It introduces the wide spectrum of gender studies and feminist theory in English-speaking countries since the 1960s, in order to analyze, assess, and re-assess novels, short-stories, poems, and other artistic expressions created by women from the end of the 19th century to today. This course discusses female authors who have fallen into oblivion and those who enjoy scholarly prestige and popular recognition. It explores the interaction between gender and feminism, as well as sexuality, sexual orientation, gender roles, the female body and mind, trauma, mental health, motherhood, ethnicity, social class, and women's civil rights during the 20th century.

This course explores the history of clothing and fashion from a gender perspective. It emphasizes the way constructions and norms on gender identities and roles determine what we consider appropriate or inconvenient, in terms of appearances.

The course gives an introduction to gender equality in the Nordic context. It provides an overview of how the concept of gender equality has developed, and how it is implemented. The focus is on the period after the 1970s. Central themes in the course include: gender equality as a concept; work-life balance; Nordic masculinities; gender equality in an intersectional perspective; gender equality and the military; gender-based violence; gender equality as nation branding; gender and sustainability.

This lecture analyzes the three basic factors that have influenced modern Jewish identity: enlightenement, anti-Semitism, and Zionism. It examines the changes of how Jewish identity is understood. A special focus is placed on the differentiation of cultural or national and religious identity with an emphasis on feminism and queerness. Gender relations are examined within their respective religious, cultural, and social contexts. Social history and the history of the common man is discussed and a special focus is placed on the active participation of Jewish women in society as well as the intellectual and artistic life within European nation states.

This course develops a critical framework for thinking about gender and sexuality, with special attention to issues of class, race, and ethnicity under different societies. The course is based on a participatory, active learning approach, with an emphasis on critical reflection and peer-to-peer learning. Participants do the required readings, weekly assignments, participate in group discussions and final group oral presentation.

This course is divided into three parts. Part one offers a history and introduction to literary theory that made possible the emergence of post-structuralism. Part two discusses Jacques Derrida, his foundational texts, and the theory of deconstruction. The final part of the course examines feminist theories in literature.

This course focuses on the role of women in five of the world’s major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It examines the traditional theological principles and the practical laws that have directly impacted, for better or for worse, upon the lives of women within these religious traditions. It also explores historical and contemporary challenges to doctrines and practices that are seen to undermine women’s equality and freedom. Rather than study each religion in serial fashion, the course adopts a comparative, thematic methodology, tracing key themes across the religions concerned. Those themes include femininity and divinity, historical founders’ attitudes to women, key scriptural texts and their interpretation, life-cycle rituals, marriage and divorce, sex and procreation, clothing and social freedom, worship and purity, and leadership and authority.