Gender Studies

Since the 1960s, when the motto “the personal is political” became the rallying cry of the feminist movement, a growing body of research has challenged traditional hierarchies of race, class, and gender in the U.S. and worldwide, opening up the way for women and people of color to become allies in the quest for equality in education, the professions, family life, and the law. Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary program for students who wish to explore the complex questions raised by the intersecting analyses of feminist, queer, postcolonial, and critical race theory across academic fields as diverse as literature, sociology, psychology, history, anthropology, linguistics, law, cultural studies, and the arts, in American as well as global societies. Committed to the significance of women’s experiences, Gender Studies is at the same time inclusive of varied perspectives, including homosexual, transgender, and queer, and its goal is to produce an enriched conception of the human that appreciates the diversity of our experiences, behaviors, and cultural backgrounds. Through coursework, students develop expertise in areas such as feminist theory and activism, including civil and human rights; historical and cross-cultural understandings of the sexed body; women’s contributions to the arts and literature; and the intersection of gender with race, class, and sexual orientation in American and global contexts.

Students are encouraged to take their interest in Gender Studies out of the classroom onto the campus, working with the Simon’s Rock Women’s Center and other student groups to sponsor speakers, film screenings, workshops, and other events that raise awareness within the College community of women’s issues and the politics of gender. Students may choose to participate in the annual theatrical production of The Vagina Monologues; to edit or submit writing and artwork to the Women’s Center publication, Movement; to help organize annual events such as “Love Your Body Week,” “Consent Week,” or gender-themed film festivals; to develop gender-themed workshops for Diversity Week; or to create other opportunities for reflection and dialogue around gender issues on campus.

In addition, students are advised to undertake at least one Extended Campus Project as part of their concentration, to be designed in consultation with faculty in the program. Aimed at bridging feminist theory and practice, the ECP may take place in a variety of local Berkshire organizations, businesses, or institutions, or as part of a study abroad or study away program during the junior year. The ECP, as well as various extracurricular on-campus activities, allow students to explore career options that would dovetail with their work in Women’s and Gender Studies. Simon’s Rock graduates with concentrations in Gender Studies have gone on to graduate school and successful careers in law, business, human services, teaching, and journalism.

Curriculum

In consultation with their major advisors, students construct an interdisciplinary concentration consisting of 16 to 24 credits, building on introductory courses such as Women’s Studies 101 CP Introduction to Women’s Studies: An Unfinished Revolution and Gender Studies 101 Explorations in Gender, Culture, & Society, one of which should be taken in their first two years of study. At least two of the courses in the concentration must be at the 300 level. The list below is not exhaustive, but offers an idea of the courses appropriate for a Gender Studies concentration.

Courses

Anthropology 207 CP Gender Roles in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Art History 207 CP Women Artists
Art History 309m Lacan and Visual Pleasure
BA Seminar 399 Eros and Thanatos: A Study of Sexuality in the West
History 205 CP Women in Western Civilization: Halos, Harlots, and Heroines
Linguistics 218m Language and Gender
Literature 234 CP The Tradition of African-American Women Writers
Literature 270 CP Women, Writing, and Resistance in Latin America
Literature 272 Women Novelists
Psychology 209 Human Sexuality
Social Science 202 CP In and Out: Images of the Homosexual “Other” in American Film
Social Science 302 The Foucault Effect
Women’s Studies 213 Women/Writing/Activism: Changing the World
Women’s Studies 256 Film and Female Pleasure
Women’s Studies 303 CP Global Feminism
Women’s Studies 304 Doing Theory: Feminist, Postcolonial, Queer

Recent Senior Theses

“Using Boys: The Culture of Schoolplace Violence”
“‘I’m not a feminist but...’: An Exploratory Analysis of Women’s Resistance to the Feminist Label”
“What Makes a Man? Boyhood Gender Non-Conformity and Adult Homosexuality”
“(Bitching the Unbitchable): How Humor Allows Us to Express Feminist Sentiments in Polite Company”
“The Sociopolitical Movement of African-American Gay Men”
“Women and the Computer World: Why Role Models and Mentors are Necessary”
“Birth Politics and Body Image”
“The Subject of Culture and Discourse, 1875-1900: Language, Revolution, and Male Desire”
“Fags, Dykes, and Kids: a Guidebook for Daughters and Sons of Lesbian and Gay Parents”
“Freaks of Nature: Images of Women in Comedy”
“Representations of Female Desire”
“Creative Resistance: The Survival of South African Women”
“Women and Mathematics: Sexual Inequality in Numbers”
“Character Portraits: Deconstructing the Female Identity”
“Analyzing Experience: Women’s Status Among the Mapuche”
“Cross Examination: A Feminist Look at Law”
“Skirting the Issue: Theory, Practice, and Pleasure in Some Contemporary Women’s Art”
“Asexual Coupling: Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice”
“We are learning by heart what has never been taught: An Exploration of Global Feminisms and a United States Women’s Movement”
“Voicing the Caribbean: Breaking Silence, Breaking Boundaries”
“Nail Polish, Ponytails, and Hand Grenades: Women in the United States Military”

Faculty

Nancy Bonvillain, Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez, Virginia Brush, Joan DelPlato, Mileta Roe, Patricia Sharpe, Wendy Shifrin, Maryann Tebben, John Weinstein, Nancy Yanoshak
Faculty Contact: Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez