Mar 29, 2024  
2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Courses


 

Women’s and Gender Studies

  
  • WGS 3400 Media Representation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgender


    Investigates the ideological functions of moving images (film/television/video), still images (photography/magazines), and aural images (music), of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgender created by mass media institutions to legitimatize discrimination and oppression in the United States. Explores images by independent producers/directors/artists to challenge and resist negative images and create transgressive images of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgender. Employs critical and theoretical methods from feminist-gender, psychoanalytic, and semiotic–theorists to interpret meaning in these representations.
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3440 Men and Masculinity


    This course examines the construction of masculinity as a product of certain socio-historical movements. Building on feminist theory, this course seeks to understand how gender is not a natural condition of any individual or group of individuals but rather an ideaology imposed on men for social, political, religious, and scientific reasons. The course will look at how different cultures in different historical moments defined masculinity and how this term is related to specific historical events. It will also attempt to link the historical construction of masculinity with contemporary views of what it means to be a man. Prerequisite(s): WGS 1100 
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3445 Gender, Art and Feminism


    This seminar course engages students in an exploration of the methods necessary to analyze visual images of/by women in their historical, racial, and class contexts, and to understand the status of women as producers, patrons, and audiences of art. We explore topics ranging from the analysis of the nude Venus type in Classical and Renaissance periods to the work of accomplished women artists across history such as Artemesia Gentileschi, Frida Kahlo, Ana Mendieta, Yayoi Kusama, and Kara Walker. Outcomes include: familiarity with feminist theory and deploying its frameworks in the analysis of a work of art; experience in academic research; and awareness of the development of feminist thought since the nineteen seventies. 

      Prerequisite(s): ARTH 1010  
    Credits: 3.0

  
  • WGS 3470 Sociology of Women


    This course examines the position of women in U.S. society from a sociological perspective. Following the ideas of C. Wright Mills, this class connects the “personal troubles” of individual women with the “social issues” pertaining to women as a minority/subordinate group in the United States. In doing so, it provides a sociological analysis of women in the major institutions in U.S. society. Throughout the semester, the course highlights the intersection of race, class, and gender and the unique manner in which sociologists research these interconnections and women in general. Prerequisite(s): SOC 1010 
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3480 Ecofeminism


    In this course students explore the connections between women and nature from an ecofeminist perspective. The course emcompasses the history, theory and praxis of ecofeminism, considers the variety of positions within ecofeminism, investigates political, social and developmental impacts of ecofeminism, and provides students with the opportunity for activism in their own lives.
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3500 Lesbian Issues


    This course assumes that sexuality is embedded in social structures and interconnected with various forms of structural injustice. Keeping in focus that lesbian women are a very diverse people, we review historical trends, consider issues of definition, and study relationships, family, and community, including a unit on lesbianism and religion. Prerequisite(s): WGS 1500  OR WGS 1100  OR AACS 1500 OR AACS 1550
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3530 NJ’s Immigrant Communities


    This course will use an interdisciplinary approach to examine the history of immigration in the United States. We will do this through the lens of our home state, New Jersey, because it is one of the top immigrant destinations in the United States. Although the United States is often described as a nation of immigrants, this description has been contested throughout its history. Nativist and xenophobic beliefs against immigrant communities have influenced and sometimes determined U.S. immigration policy and law. This course will examine the experience of New Jersey immigrant communities, intersectionality (such as gender, race, sexuality etc.) within these communities, and the impact of US policies of inclusion and exclusion. Community and Civic Engagement. This course fulfills UCC area 5.
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3560 Women and Gender in Modern South Asia


    This course examines the history of women and gender in modern South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka) during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will both analyze the historical processes that transformed women’s lives, and consider how women themselves negotiated or subverted these processes in their own interest. Major themes and topics include: the transformation of gender through colonialism and nationalism, the emergence of women’s movements, women’s labor and globalization, and gender in the South Asian diaspora.
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3580 Asian American Women: Gender Transformations


    This course focuses on the contemporary Asian immigration to the United States and examines its impact on immigrant women’s roles in the workplace, family, and the community. It addresses the importance of gender in immigrant adaptation and identity formation not only among the immigrants but also among their U.S. - born children. Discussion includes the ways in which ethnicity, class, age, citizenship, and sexuality intersect to shape various experiences of Asian American women in the context of work and life. The complexity of ethnicity, including multiracial / multiethnic identities and the phenomenon of intermarriages, is explored in connection with gender relations in the contemporary Asian American communities.
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3590 Gender and Islam


    This course examines the gendered histories and cultural politics of Islamic societies particularly in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. Beginning with an overview of the historical debates/events that shaped the lives of the people in Islamic societies, the course will interrogate our categories of analysis (gender, race, sexuality, poverty, religion, nation) and discuss the complexity of gender relations in production and reproduction, representations of femininities, masculinities and queerness, ideologies of secular and Islamic feminisms, the development of social and Islamist movements, and the impact of culture and politics on everyday life of people in these societies. This course is writing intensive.
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3600 Gender and Globalization


    Over the last half century, the economic, political and the cultural dimensions of globalization has fundamentally transformed the lived experience of work and labor, families, governance and welfare, community and nation. This course will use an interdisciplinary approach to interrogate the contemporary process of globalization as it impacts communities, gender relations, and sexualities across cultural ad geographical regions of the world. Emphasizing a transnational feminist perspective that explores the linkages and connections between the global South and North, the course will focus on key issues of migration, global conflict, environment, helath and violence and the collective responses and social movements resisting globalization.
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3606 Women and Political Leadership


    This course focuses on three major questions: Do women have an identifiably different way of leading? How does this leadership manifest itself? Why does women’s political leadership matter? This course analyzes debates about gender differences in political discourse, gendered construction of “politics,” historical struggles for women’s representation, different kinds of women’s political participation, and the barriers to political leadership faced by women. Case studies of women political leaders in different socio-political contexts, impacts of new social movements on policy development to ensure women’s representation across different societies will be the basis for developing a comparative perspective.
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3680 Women and War


    This course will look at how war and the preparation for war have affected the lives, hopes, and images of women around the world. It will examine roles of women in war, military service, and militarism in societal development in world history primarily since the eighteenth centruy with these questions central: What roles have women played in war? Are women victims of conflict alone or are they active participants as well? And how has war helped shape females roles, gender stereotypes, and national mythologies? A broad comparative framework, exploring “Western” and “non-Western” societal experience and analytical approaches, will be adoped throughout.
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3700 Feminist Theory


    This course provides an overview of feminist theory from World War II to the present with particular attention to three questions: What are the fundamental assumptions of contemporary feminist theory? How does a feminist analysis influence our understanding of sociopolitical processes? What are the political issues and strategies that emerge from feminist theory?
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3730 Politics Sexual Violence


    What is it like to be female in a mail-dominated society? This course critically examines the sociopolitical construction of patriarchy and the conscious and non-conscious, intentional and unintentional ways in which male supremacy is reproduced in contemproary society. Particular emphasis is placed on the mechanisms of social control designed to limit women’s participation in society and to ensure the perpetuation of male dominance.
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3760 Life/Writing Indigenous Women


    This course studies the richness of the culture and literatures of women from indigenous communities, and the systemic oppression that they have been/are subject to due to race, caste, gender, and class. The communities include Native American, Australian Aborigine, and Dalit women from India. The traditional and historical status of these women in relation to their social, economic, and political status today is studied in individual stores, memoirs, songs, poetry, and fiction. Significant texts in translated literary forms and works are used as primary resources.
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3820 Gender and Global Migration


    In the past fifty years global migration has emerged as one of the most significant social processes of our time. This course provides a general overview of contemporary global patterns of migration and examines the various social, cultural, and political contexts that shape the trends and characteristics of migratory flows. The main analytical focus of the course is the gendered patterns of migration, and its intersection with race, and other forms of social inequalities as they shape the experiences, treatment, and practices of inclusion and exclusion of immigrants in various countries around the world. Students will study how immigrant women and men experience work, the family, and communities, and how policies and political mobilization affect immigrants in various receiving contexts. This is a writing intensive course.

    Prerequisites:SOC 1010  or SOC 1020  and WGS 1800  
    Credits: 3.0

  
  • WGS 3980 Women in the City


    This course explores the impact of urban environments in the United States on women from 1890 to the present. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which cities facilitate and constrain opportunities and roles for women
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 3990 Selected Topics


    Courses that are newly developed are often presented as “selected topics” before becoming “permanent courses.” Some selected topics are offered by visiting professors. Prerequisite(s): WGS 1100  Minimum Grade of D OR WS 110 Minimum Grade of D OR WGS 1500  Minimum Grade of D OR WS 150 Minimum Grade of D
    Credits: 1.0 - 6.0
  
  • WGS 4100 Capstone Course in Women’s Studies


    This senior level course focuses on theories of gender and issues relating to women’s diversity. As a writing intensive course, students will use and develop their research and writing process skills to complete a major research paper in order to engage in feminist research. This is a writing intensive course, Prerequisite(s): WGS 2100  AND WGS 2720 /POL 2720  AND WGS 3100  
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 4200 Global Perspectives of Women’s Lives


    This course addresses the social, sexual reproductive, economic, political, and cultural dimensions of women’s lives from a global perspective. The course scrutinizes the status of women and girls, identifying the consequences of globalization for life in socieites, in communities, and of individuals. Particular attention is given to finding ways to connect activism at the local level to activism at the national and global levels. Prerequisite(s): WGS 1100  OR WGS 1500  OR AWS 1500  OR AWS 1550  
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 4650 Internship in Women’s Studies


    Students work in an off-campus field placement for eight - ten hours each week. This course gives students the opportunity to get involved with programs which affect women’s lives directly, applying the theories, principles, and empirical findings in the area of women’s students.
    Credits: 3.0
  
  • WGS 4990 Independent Study


    As approved and to be arranged.
    Credits: 1.0 - 6.0

William Paterson Success

  
  • WPS 1010 Will. Power. 101


    The WPS 1010 is an academic orientation provided to first year college students to help them develop the fundamental skills essential for academic success. This workshop anchors a cluster of common classes offered to incoming freshmen cohorts. In addition to academic orientation topics, there will be discussions and lab components related to themes and task completion of university-wide programs.
 

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