Gender & Women's Studies at Kennesaw State University

Gender & Women’s Studies

Courses

Closed class and prerequisite overrides can be requested on this page.

A list of Spring 2010 courses that will count toward the GWST minor can be found here

Current Courses
Spring 2010
Fall 2009

Past Courses
Summer 2009
Spring 2009
Fall 2008
Summer 2008
Spring 2008
Fall 2007

Descriptions for all Kennesaw State University courses can be found here.

GWST Course Descriptions

GWST 3000. Introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies
Prerequisite: ENGL 1102.
A survey of the foundational figures, themes, and texts in the history of gender and women’s studies in an interdisciplinary and global context. Themes to be addressed include sameness vs. difference feminisms; the sex/gender distinction; internal and external critiques of Western feminisms; transnational and global feminisms; feminism’s relationship to critical race studies, postcolonialism, queer theory; and gender, transgender, and masculinity studies.

GWST 3010. Queer Theory & Sexuality
Prerequisite: ENGL 1102.
Queer Theory & Sexuality is an interdisciplinary course that considers the global emergence and significance of theories and practices that 1) refute and destabilize the notion of an essential, normative sexuality and gender and 2) suggest that sexuality is fluid and varied and is constructed by social, political, and economic factors. The course surveys a broad array of scholarship and other forms of print and non-print media and explores a range of topics that might broadly be identified as 1) practices, identities, and communities; 2) the cultural construction of gender and sexuality; 3) sexual citizenship and the nation-state.

GWST 3020. Black Feminisms
Prerequisite: ENGL 1102.
A survey of historical and contemporary black feminist traditions. Core themes could include the intersections of race and gender with class, sexuality, generation, and place; black feminist thought and its relationship to womanism and other feminisms; outsider-within positionality of black women; black feminist epistemologies; mediated representations of black women’s identities; black lesbian feminism; commodification of black women’s bodies; black women’s global resistance to racism and sexism.

GWST 3030. Gender in Popular Culture
Prerequisite: ENGL 1102.
An examination of gender as depicted in popular culture texts. Focusing on one medium (e.g., film, television, periodicals, music) or surveying a range of popular culture forms, students will critique depictions of gender; practice using theories and methods from gender and women’s studies to understand popular culture’s role in shaping gender identity; and do research on gender in the context of popular culture.

GWST 3040. Topics in Gender Studies
Prerequisite: ENGL 1102.
Examination of a topic or topics in gender studies that will introduce students to some key themes relevant to the field today, including approaches for doing their own exploratory research and learning to critique popular culture portrayals of gender and sexuality. Specific content may vary, so course may be repeated.

GWST 3050. Global Perspectives on Gender
Prerequisite: ENGL 1102.
This course offers global perspectives and contexts within which gender can be explored, analyzed, and critiqued. The course will be driven by cross-cultural and comparative study and may include analysis of the construction of gender in relation to social practices, the law, tradition, religion, institutional culture, economics, and popular culture. This course may be repeated for credit with prior approval.

CRS 3398. Internship
Prerequisite: GWST 3000 and approval by internship coordinator.
A structured off-campus experience in a supervised setting that is chosen in relation to student’s focus and interests. Practical experience is combined with a research approach that investigates issues relevant to the internship. Students will meet with the internship coordinator to develop an appropriate plan that will lead to the writing of a research-oriented paper or research project, a required part of the internship. Students should consult with the internship coordinator at the midpoint of the semester prior to the internship to choose from an approved list of internship sites, none of which may be with a current employer.

GWST 4499. Research in Gender and Women’s Studies
Prerequisite: GWST 3000 and completion of 60 credit hours.
A study of research models of scholarship in gender and women’s studies, combined with an opportunity for students to conduct a research project of their own. Students will read examples of outstanding research and survey discipline-based scholarship focusing on gender and women’s studies. Topics for studying methods could include debates regarding different methodologies, critiques of traditional research methodologies, integrating feminist theory with scholarship, and ethical questions associated with producing research in gender and women’s studies. This course should be taken as the final course of the GWST minor.

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