Program: B.A., Gender and Women’s Studies
Overview
The Gender and Women’s Studies Department emphasizes interdisciplinary, cross-cultural and transnational studies with a focus on the intersectionality of gender, race, class and sexuality. It includes coursework in feminist theories, women and social movements, transnational feminisms, women of color feminisms, postcolonial feminism, women’s economic conditions in the context of globalization and development, productions of women in the media and literature, women and religion, queer studies, women’s health and masculinity studies.
The Gender and Women’s Studies Department teaches students to view the world with a critical analytical approach grounded in a social justice framework. The Department adheres to a disciplinary practice that centers on an integrative, intersectional framing of issues concerning gender, race, class, sexuality, nationality, ethnicity, age and the differently abled.
Program Requirements
1. Lower Division Required Courses (3 units)
GWS 100 Introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies (3)
or GWS 110 Women, Work and the Family (3)
(Either course serves as a preparatory course for GWS 300.)
2. Upper Division Required Courses (15 units)
GWS 300 Women as Agents of Change (3)
GWS 301 Feminist Theories (3)
GWS 302 Feminist Methods (3)
GWS 305CS Gender and Women’s Studies Community Service (3)
GWS 400 Senior Seminar in Gender and Women’s Studies (3)
3. Upper Division Electives (15 units)
Select 15 units of electives from the list below. No more than 12 units of electives can be from Experimental and Selected Topics courses.
GWS 320 Women and Urban Life/Urban Space (3)
GWS 340 Women, Gender and Global Development (3)
GWS 350 Gender, Race, Class and Sexuality (3)
GWS 360 Feminist Ethics (3)
GWS 370 Women and Violence (3)
GWS 380 Sexual and Reproductive Health (3)
GWS 396A-Z Experimental Topics (3)
GWS 410 Sex, Lies and Media (3)
GWS 420 Women and Gender in Islamic Societies (3)
GWS 430 Global Sexualities (3)
GWS 495A-Z Selected Topics (3)
Concentration
All students must also complete a 12-unit Concentration from the list below, or may design a Concentration in consultation with the Department Chair or Advisor of Gender and Women’s Studies. Students may, with approval of Department Chair or advisor, substitute Gender and Women’s Studies electives with experimental and selected topics courses for concentration requirements, when appropriate. Students may, with the approval of the Gender and Women’s Studies Department Chair or advisor, receive credit for up to 3 units of Independent Study, which may be counted as a concentration in the major. Each course may be counted in only one category. For example, a course that is counted as an Upper Division elective may not be counted again as a Concentration course.
Race and Ethnicity (12 units)
AAS 340 Asian American Women (3)
AFRS 324 The Black Woman in Contemporary Times (3)
CAS 365 Changing Roles of Central American Women (3)
CHS 246 Contemporary Issues of the Chicana (3)
CHS 346 History of the Chicana/Mexicana (3)
CHS 365 Third World Women and the Chicana (3)
GWS 350 Gender, Race, Class and Sexuality (3)
GWS 420 Women and Gender in Islamic Societies (3)
JS 330 Women in the Jewish Experience (3)
RTM 330 Women, Leisure and Ethnicity in the United States (3)
Philosophy and Religion (12 units)
ANTH 308 Women, Sex Roles and Culture (3)
COMS 360 Communication and the Sexes (3)
COMS 435 Rhetoric of Women (3)
CTVA 413 Women as Filmmakers (3)
or ART 468 Women in the Visual Arts (3)
GWS 410 Sex, Lies and Media (3)
GWS 420 Women and Gender in Islamic Societies (3)
Communication and Media (12 units)
JOUR 371 Women, Men and Media (3)
JOUR 372 Diversity and the Media (3)
JS 330 Women in the Jewish Experience (3)
PHIL 338 Philosophy of Religion (3)
PHIL 348 Philosophy and Feminism (3)
RS 304 Women and Religion (3)
Law and Public Policy (12 units)
BLAW 391 Women and the Law (3)
HIST 349 Women in American History (3)
POLS 350 Great Questions in Politics (3)
POLS 361 Introduction to Public Policy (3)
POLS 448 Women and Politics in the United States and the World (3)
Social Work and Welfare (12 units)
FCS 340 Marriage and Family Relations (3)
HSCI 231 Women and Health (3)
SOC 324 Sociology of Sex and Gender (3)
SOC 325 Sex Roles and Work (3)
SOC 357 Introduction to Social Work Practice (3)
Criminology (12 units)
BLAW 391 Women and the Law (3)
SOC 304 Sociology of Deviance (3)
SOC 324 Sociology of Sex Roles (3)
SOC 355 Criminology (3)
SOC 418 Gender and Crime (3)
Literature (12 units)
ENGL 431 Images of Women in Literature (3)
ENGL 433 Women Authors (3)
ENGL 434 19th Century Women Novelists (3)
Choose two courses from the following list:
AFRS 346 Contemporary Black Female Writers (3)
CHS 381 Contemporary Chicana Literature (3)
ENGL 369 Lesbian Writers (3)
FLIT 455 Women Writers of Asia (3)
GWS 310 Latin American Women Writers (3)
Total Units: 42-45
General Education Units: 17-20
Additional Units: 48
Total Units for the B.A. Degree: 120
Contact
Chair: R. Dianne Bartlow
Staff: Janaki Bowerman, Molly Nguyen
Jerome Richfield Hall (JR) 340
(818) 677-3110
www.csun.edu/gws
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students investigate the gender dimension of social, economic, cultural, historical and political processes on women and men in U.S. and global contexts.
- Students will have a level of proficiency in the discipline of Gender and Women’s Studies, including knowledge of women’s movements, feminist theories, feminist research methods and women’s contributions to the production of different knowledges.
- Students will demonstrate the ability to critically analyze matrices of power like gender, race, class and sexuality in ways that lay the groundwork for constructive social change.
- Students will develop a sense of agency grounded in the development of their skills in oral and written communication, critical thinking, media literacy, information competence and leadership.