Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS)

The Program in Women’s and Gender Studies is an academic program that bridges existing disciplines; that is based in sound, scholarly theory; and that is quintessentially interdisciplinary. The goal is to expand the areas of traditional focus, thereby providing students with a fresh perspective. Students from all majors are exposed to literature of gender and feminism and are prepared to return to their major courses of study ready to contribute differently. Students gain a new perspective into their various disciplines of study and a new view of their world, while acquiring knowledge of a flourishing area of scholarship.

A minor in Women’s and Gender Studies is available. While only certain regular courses are listed below as meeting the requirements of the minor, many other courses across the curriculum study women within the context of the various disciplines and in interdisciplinary ways. Students may petition the program committee to include other relevant courses in the program requirements.

Program Head: Robin Le Blanc

Core Faculty

First date is the year in which the faculty member began service as regular faculty at the University. Second date is the year of appointment to the present rank.

N. Melina Bell, Ph.D.—(2005)-2011
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania

Alexandra R. Brown, Ph.D.—(1987)-2001
Jessie Ball DuPont Professor of Religion
Ph.D., Columbia University

Jenefer M. Davies, M.F.S., M.A.L.S.—(2006)-2011
Assistant Professor of Dance
M.F.A., George Washington University
M.A.L.S., Hollins University

Megan Fulcher, Ph.D.—(2004)-2012
Associate Professor of Psychology
Ph.D., University of Virginia

Genelle C. Gertz, Ph.D.—(2003)-2010
Associate Professor of English
Ph.D., Princeton University

Sascha L. Goluboff, Ph.D.—(1999)-2013
Professor of Cultural Anthropology
Ph.D., University of Illinois

Wan-Chuan Kao, Ph.D.—(2013)-2013
Assistant Professor of English
Ph.D., City University of New York

Robin Le Blanc, Ph.D.—(1998)-2008
Darrold and Kay Cannan Term Professor of Politics
Ph.D., University of Oklahoma

Ellen C. Mayock, Ph.D.—(1997)-2008
Ernest Williams II Professor of Romance Languages
Ph.D., University of Texas

Deborah Miranda, Ph.D.—(2004)-2013
Professor of English
Ph.D., University of Washington

David Robert Novack, Ph.D.—(1976)-1988
Professor of Sociology
Ph.D., New York University

Domnica V. Radulescu, Ph.D.—(1992)-2003
Edwin A. Morris Professor of Romance Languages
Ph.D., University of Chicago

Roberta H. Senechal, Ph.D.—(1988)-2007
Professor of History
Ph.D., University of Virginia

Florentien Verhage, Ph.D.—(2008)-2008
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Ph.D., McGill University

Lesley M. Wheeler, Ph.D.—(1994)-2006
Professor of English
Ph.D., Princeton University

Julie A. Woodzicka, Ph.D.—(2000)-2012
Professor of Psychology
Ph.D., Boston College

Women’s and Gender Studies Courses

Courses relevant to the Program in Women’s and Gender Studies are as follows:

• BIOL 255 - Reproductive Physiology
    
• ENGL 261 - Reading Gender
    
• ENGL 312 - Gender, Love, and Marriage in the Middle Ages  
• ENGL 313 - Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales
    
• ENGL 320 - Shakespearean Genres
    
• ENGL 358 - Literature by Women Before 1800
    
• ENGL 359 - Literature by Women of Color
   
• HIST 206 - Women and Gender in Modern Europe  
• HIST 228 - Women in Russian History  
• HIST 257 - History of Women in America, 1609-1870
    
• HIST 258 - History of Women in America, 1870 to the Present
    
• HIST 285 - Seminar: The Yin and Yang of Gender in Late Imperial China (10th-19th centuries)
    
• PHIL 235 - Beauvoir and The Second Sex  
• PHIL 242 - Social Inequality and Fair Opportunity
    
• PHIL 244 - Feminist Social and Political Philosophy
    
• PHIL 246 - Philosophy of Sex
    
• PHIL 254 - Philosophy of the Family: Beyond Tradition  
• PHIL 285 - The Unruly Body: Philosophy, Science, and Culture  
• POL 251 - Social Movements
    
• POL 255 - Gender and Politics
    
• PSYC 215 - Seminar in Evolutionary Psychology
    
• PSYC 262 - Gender-Role Development
    
• PSYC 269 - Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination
    
• REL 132 - God and Goddess in Hinduism
    
• REL 215 - Female and Male in Western Religious Traditions
    
• REL 284 - Gender, Sexuality, and Islam  
• SOAN 251 - Social Movements
    
• SOAN 275 - Feminist Anthropology
    
• SOAN 280 - Gender and Sexuality
    
• SPAN 323 - Golden Age Spanish Women Writers  
• THTR 250 - Women in Contemporary Theater
    
• WGS 120 - Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies and Feminist Theory
    
• WGS 150 - Women in Sport
    
• WGS 295 - Humanities Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies
    
• WGS 296 - Social Science Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies
    
• WGS 396 - Advanced Seminar in Women’s and Gender Studies
    
•  

The following courses may also meet program requirements when the topic is appropriate:

• ENGL 250 - Medieval and Early Modern British Literature  
• ENGL 291 - Seminar  
• ENGL 293 - Topics in American Literature  
• ENGL 380 - Advanced Seminar
    
• FREN 331 - Etudes thématiques
    
• FREN 343 - La France à travers les siècles  
• FREN 397 - Séminaire avancé
    
• HIST 395 - Advanced Seminar  
• LATN 326 - The Poetry of Ovid
    
• LIT 220 - Modern Chinese Literature in Translation
    
• LIT 295 - Special Topics in Literature in Translation  
• POL 292 - Topics in Politics and Film  
• SOAN 291 - Special Topics in Anthropology  
• SPAN 295 - Special Topics in Conversation  
• SPAN 397 - Peninsular Seminar
    
• SPAN 398 - Spanish-American Seminar
    
•  

Degrees/Majors/Minors

Interdisciplinary Minor

• •  Women’s and Gender Studies minor

Courses

• •  WGS 120 - Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies and Feminist Theory
• •  WGS 150 - Women in Sport
• •  WGS 295 - Humanities Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies
• •  WGS 296 - Social Science Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies
• •  WGS 396 - Advanced Seminar in Women’s and Gender Studies