Course Descriptions - NJCU :: Women's and Gender Studies

WGST 103* Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies (3)
This course is an introduction to Gender Studies. It examines traditional gender roles and considers how these have changed over time.

WGST 100* Women’s Lives (3)
This course is an introduction to the field of Women’s Studies. It explores the different experiences of womanhood in the United States and around the world, with an emphasis on roles throughout the life cycle and the importance of race, class, sexuality and culture in shaping gender roles.

WGST 108* Women and Power (3)
This course explores the history of women’s struggles to acquire and wield power in professional, political, cultural, and personal spheres and considers contemporary theories and understanding of the nature of power in controlling one’s destiny and shaping one’s world.

WGST 141 Men’s Lives (3)
This course explores the gendered nature of male experience and behavior by examining the social construction of masculinity. Attention is paid to the diversity of men’s lives and their options as friends, lovers, parents, and workers.

WGST 190* Introduction to Lesbian and Gay Studies (3)
This course offers an interdisciplinary introduction to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies. It explores the history of same sex-desire in Western and non-Western cultures and examines the political, psychological and artistic cultures of contemporary lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.

WGST 202* Women and Work (3)
This course explores the condition of women as paid and unpaid workers in the United States and around the world. It considers the history of women’s work and the effect of the global economy on traditional and non-traditional occupations for women.

WGST 203 Growing Older: Women at Mid-Life and After (3)
This course examines significant events in the lives of mature and aging women by exploring shifting situations, self-images, aspirations, anxieties and values.

WGST 204 The Female Body: Cultural Perspectives (3)
This course considers the social construction of images, ideas and values attached to the female body. It examines the body from a variety of perspectives including as artifact and creative instrument, as object of both celebration and violence, and as object exploited for profit. Previous completion of WGST 100 is recommended.

WGST 208 Sex: Power, Pleasure and Politics (3)
Beginning with some basic work on the history of sexuality, this course explores a variety of topics: heterosexuality as an historical institution; pornography; prostitution; date rape and sexual harassment; rape and sexual violence; race, sex, and miscegenation; sex and disease; and sex and pleasure. The course analyzes each of these topics by placing them in their political, economic, social, and ideological contexts. Previous completion of WGST 100 is recommended.

WGST 210 Black Womanhood (3)
This course examines the impact of racism and sexism on Black women and explores various representations of Black womanhood focusing on their implications for feminist thought. Perspectives from sociology, history and literary criticism are included.

WGST 400 Independent Study (3)
This course offers opportunities for students to do independent research under faculty guidance.