What kinds of courses are required?
5 interdisciplinary courses (min.)
• Philosophy of Feminism (PHIL 315)
• A minimum of four other approved courses
• Courses from at least three different departments must be included in the minimum of 15 total credit hours.
15 credit hours (min.)
For catalog details on the Women's & Gender Studies Minor—click here.
For a pdf of the full English curriculum, click here.
__________________________________________________________
Women's & Gender Studies Minor requirements are described below.
What specific courses are required?
WOMEN’S AND GENDER STUDIES
Dr. Roberta Rosenberg, Director
Ratcliffe Hall, Room 225
(757) 594-7149
rrosenb@cnu.edu
The Minor/Certificate Program in Women’s and
Gender Studies (15 credits, min.)
The Minor/Certificate Program in women’s and gender
studies brings together those courses offered by the University
which focus upon questions of gender, giving students
the opportunity to explore relationships among genders,
through concentrated study across several diverse fields.
Program Objectives:
1) To provide students with a multi-disciplinary perspective
regarding issues of gender (drawing upon
such fields as English, philosophy, anthropology,
sociology, social work, psychology, government,
and communications).
2) To offer a minor for students who wish to enrich
their major field of study through a study of gender
roles.
3) To offer a certificate program for students to emphasize
their concentrated study of these issues (for
use in career or graduate school goals).
Program Requirements:
1) A minimum of 15 credits in those courses deemed
part of the program (listed below) are required to
complete the minor and to obtain certification.
2) PHIL 315 or COMM 330 or equivalent is required
of all students in the program.
3) Courses from three different departments must be
represented in the minimum 15 credits.
4) Three courses must be taken from the program’s
core curriculum.
5) Two additional courses may be chosen from the
program’s core or elective curriculum (also listed
below).
6) Students should work with the Director to complete
the program.
THE CURRICULUM IN WOMEN’S AND
GENDER STUDIES
Courses focus one-third to three-fourths of their material
on women/gender issues:
The designation “MW” means that at least one-third
of the course reading involves works by minority
and women writers.
CLST 213. Women in Ancient Greece and Rome
(3-3-0) IIS
This course will introduce students to the highly structured
world of Greek and Roman women: wealthy and poor,
young and old, married and unmarried. Students will
examine literary representations of women – their goals
and strategies, motives and choices, personal and social
concerns – and evaluate their experiences within the
context of the historical documents of antiquity and in the
light of contemporary values. Topics for consideration
include: personal identity and social constructs, gender
and sexuality, religion and politics.
COMM 330. Gender Communication (3-3-0) IIS
Prerequisite: COMM 201, sophomore standing.
Fall and Spring.
This course includes both theory and practice. Subjects
include images and self-perceptions of men and women,
self-disclosure, language uses of the sexes, interpersonal
attraction, nonverbal codes, intimate and public contexts.
ENGL 320W. Studies in Women and Literature-WI
(3-3-0) (MW) GMP
Prerequisites: ENGL 123, ULLC 223.
Students will analyze the infl uence of gender on literary
texts by and about women. The focus will vary from
semester to semester and may include historical surveys,
major authors, genres and special topics including motherhood;
marriage and the family; sexuality; the nature
of work; religion and spirituality and literary theory on
women and gender. Partially satisfies the Writing Intensive
Requirement.
ENGL 412. Multicultural American Literature (3-3-0)
(MW)
Prerequisite: ENGL 308 with a minimum grade of C-.
Study of writers who have added their voices to Multi- cultural
American literature. Analysis of the works by writers
such as Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, August Wilson, Amy
Tan, Louise Erdrich, and others will illuminate the infl uence
of race, class, gender, and ethnicity upon the writer’s sense
of self, family, and community.
ENGL 425. Cultural Studies in World Literature
(3-3-0)
Prerequisite: ENGL 308W with a minimum grade of C-.
Intensive study of literature in the context of the culture
that produced it. Topics may include the effects of religion,
race, gender, religion, ethnicity, and class. Selections from
the following regions: Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin
America, United States, and Western Europe.
GOVT 382. Women and Politics (3-3-0)
Prerequisite: ULLC 223.
Spring.
This course introduces students to the various roles of
women in American politics. It covers a wide range of
topics from the history of women’s involvement in politics
in America to the future of women in politics. Other topics
covered include: feminist theories, women’s political participation,
and contemporary public policies of particular
interest to women. Overall, the course investigates the
role women have played in shaping the American political
system and the significant political accomplishments
of women.
PHIL 315. Philosophy of Gender (3-3-0) IIS
Prerequisite: ULLC 223.
Course will focus upon recent literature in the philosophy of
Feminism. Feminist critiques of knowledge, metaphysics,
history, morality, philosophical anthropology, and social
institutions will be examined and discussed. Course will
deal with such topics as ideals of masculinity and femininity,
feminine and masculine paradigms, the social construction
of reality, human nature, reason, sex and gender,
ego and self, autonomy, caring and maternal thinking, the
implications of feminist thought for concepts of language,
authorship, literature, and the feminist claims concerning
the epistemological role of theory, practice and experience.
The philosophy of non-Western cultures will be considered
in the light of the feminist critique.
PHIL 319. Philosophy of Love and Sexuality (3-3-0) IIS
Prerequisite: ULLC 223.
Alternate years.
This course will trace the development of the concept of
Eros (sexual love, desire) through selected readings from
the Western philosophical tradition. Topics to be covered
include the attainability of “true love,” the ethical imperatives
of faithfulness and monogamy, the roles of masculinity
and femininity, and the categorization of “normal” and
“abnormal” sexual behavior. This course will focus upon
several issues: 1) why the question of Eros is fundamentally
a question of human existence; 2) why certain sexual
values have become privileged in our culture; and 3) if
these values are conducive to living a good life. Authors to
be studied include Plato, Augustine, Freud, Jung, Kristeva,
Sartre, deBeauvoir, and Merleau-Ponty.
PSYC 420. Human Sexuality (3-3-0) IIS
Prerequisite: PSYC 201-202.
The area of human sexuality includes subject matter
from several disciplines and this course will deal with
various aspects of the multidisciplinary nature of Human
Sexuality. The course will explore the cultural and
cross-cultural treatment of one of the most fundamental
aspects of human nature, but an aspect long repressed by
many conservative institutions of Western Civilization.
An important goal of this course is to help the student
communicate easily, accurately, and comfortably when
discussing sexually related topics. Another major goal
of this course is the recognition and understanding of
sexual variation and dysfunction. Finally, this course will
examine the importance of developmental processes in our
understanding of normal sexual expression.
SOCL 303. The Family in Transition (3-3-0)
Prerequisite: any SOCL or ANTH 200 level course.
Fall and Spring.
The application of sociological theory and research to U.S.
marriage and family issues from a social change perspective.
Emphasis is placed on changing gender roles and
diversity in families. Variations in norms by social class,
race, ethnicity, and family structure are presented.
SOCL 395. Special Topics (Credits vary)
Prerequisite: any SOCL or ANTH 200 level course.
Topics vary, determined by the special interests and needs
of students and the expertise of faculty.
ANTH 377. Women , Gender, and Culture (3-3-0)
[Same as SOCL 377]
Prerequisite: any SOCL or ANTH 200 level course.
This course introduces the socio-cultural construction of
gender within a globalizing economic and political environment.
A variety of feminist perspectives will be studied
to illustrate the diversities of women’s, experiences that
shape their knowledge and behavior. Recurrent themes in
women’s studies, women’s movements, and women’s lives
will be examined, as will be the processes through which
the voices of women in dominant countries, classes and
cultures have been heard over those of women of lesser
privilege.
SOWK 395. Special Topics (Credits vary)
Prerequisite: SOWK 260, junior standing or consent of
department.
Topics vary, determined by the special interests and needs
of students and the expertise of faculty.
Elective Curriculum
Courses focus one-half to two-thirds of their material
on Women/Gender issues: ENGL 314W, 315; GOVT
375; PHIL 383, 386; PSYC 309, 340; SOCL 361; SOWK
369, 406W.
Special Topics courses will also be developed for
this minor. See Dr. Rosenberg if you would like to have
another course considered for the minor.
