 |
 |
Go to Fall 2008-2009 Courses
Go to Main Course page
All seminars offer 4 credits unless otherwise noted (click on course name for full description). Please verify with home departments for any prerequisites/changes to all cross-listed courses. Course offerings may change prior to Fall semester. The official Smith College Catalog should be considered the definitive source for up-to-date information prior to registering for the course.
SWG 312 Queer Resistances: Identities, Communities, and Social Movements
AAS 366 Seminar: Contemporary Topics in Afro-American Studies: Black Feminisms
ESS 340 Women's Health: Current Topics
HST 355 Seminar: Modern Europe Topic: The Smith College Relief Unit
HST 372 Seminar: Problems in American History: Women's Activism and Oral History
ITL 344 Italian Women Writers: Women in Italian Society Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
SOC 323 Seminar: Gender and Social Change
SWG 312 Queer Resistances: Identities, Communities, and Social Movements
R 1:00-2:50
Nancy Whittier
How do we know what it means to identify as lesbian, gay, queer, bisexual, or transgender? Why do these terms mean different things to different people and in different contexts? How does claiming or refusing to claim a sexual identity affect community formation or social change? This seminar will explore constructions of queer collective identities, communities, and social protest. We will pay explicit attention to how queer identities, communities, and movements are racialized, shaped by class, gendered, and contextual. Drawing on historical, theoretical, narrative, and ethnographic sources, we will examine multiple sites of queer resistance including local communities, academic institutions, media, the state, social movement organizations, and the Internet. We will examine the consequences of various theories of gender, sexuality, and resistance for how we interpret the shapes that queer, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender identity, community, and social movements take. Prerequisites: SWG 150, one additional course in the major and permission of the instructor.
AAS 366 Seminar: Contemporary Topics in Afro-American Studies: Black Feminist Theories
T 1:00-2:50
Riché Barnes
This course will examine historical, critical and theoretical perspectives on the development of Black feminist theory/praxis. The course will draw from the 19th century to the present, but will focus on the contemporary Black feminist intellectual tradition that achieved notoriety in the 1970s and initiated a global debate on “western” and global feminisms. Central to our exploration will be the analysis of the intersectional relationship between theory and practice and between race, gender and class. We will conclude the course with the exploration of various expressions of contemporary Black feminist thought around the globe as a way of broadening our knowledge of feminist theory.
ESS 340 Women's Health: Current Topics
Barbara Brehm-Curtis
T 1:00-2:50
A seminar focusing on current research papers in women's health. Recent topics have included reproductive health issues, eating disorders, heart disease, depression, autoimmune disorders and breast cancer. Prerequisites: 140 or a strong biological sciences background, and permission of the instructor. Open to juniors and seniors. Enrollment limited to 14. This course may not be taken for S/U grading option.
GOV 347 Seminar in International Politics and Comparative Politics: North Africa in the International System
T 1:00-2:50
Gregory White
This seminar examines the history and political economy of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria - the Maghreb - focusing on the post-independence era. Where relevant, Mauritania and Libya will be treated. The seminar sets Maghrebi politics in the broader context of its regional situation within the Mediterranean (Europe and the Middle East), as well as its relationship to sub-Saharan Africa and North America. Study is devoted to: 1) the independence struggle; 2) the colonial legacy; 3) contemporary political economy; and 4) post-colonial politics and society. Special attention will be devoted to the politics of Islam, the “status” of women, and democratization.
HST 355 Seminar: Topics in Social History: Women and World War I: The Smith College Relief Unit
Jennifer Hall-Witt
T 3:00-4:50
Students undertake archival research in the papers of the Smith College Relief Unit to explore relationships between women and the Great War. Between 1917 and the late 1920s, forty-seven Smith alumnae led reconstruction efforts in the Somme valley in France, one of the areas most devastated by the war. Drawing on materials in the Sophia Smith Collection--diaries, letters, photograph albums, newspaper clippings, and financial records--the class compares this first women's college relief unit with other Americans and Europeans who contributed to the war effort.
HST 372 Seminar: Problems in American History: Women's Activism and Oral History
Kelly Anderson
T 1:00-2:50
Women's activism over the past fifty years, with an emphasis on second-wave feminisms. Texts include secondary literature as well as primary sources from the Sophia Smith Collection, including oral histories. Students are introduced to the techniques of oral history, and conduct, transcribe, edit and analyze their own interviews for their final projects.
ITL 344 Italian Women Writers: Women in Italian Society Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
T R 10:30-11:50
Giovanna Bellesia
This course provides an in-depth look at the changing role of women in Italian society. Authors studied include Sibilla Aleramo, Elsa Morante, Natalia Ginzburg, and Dacia Maraini. A portion of the course is dedicated to the new multicultural and multiethnic Italian reality with a selection of texts written during the last ten to fifteen years by contemporary women immigrants. Limited enrollment, permission of the instructor required. Conducted in Italian.
SOC 323 Seminar: Gender and Social Change
Nancy Whittier
T 3:00-4:50
Theory and research on the construction of and change in gender categories in the United States, with particular attention to social movements that seek to change gender definitions and stratification, including both feminist and anti-feminist movements. Theoretical frameworks are drawn from feminist theory and social movement theory. Readings examine historical shifts in gender relations and norms, changing definitions of gender in contemporary everyday life, and politicized struggles over gender definitions. Themes throughout the course include the social construction of both femininity and masculinity, the intersection of race, class, and sexual orientation with gender, and the growth of a politics of identity. Case studies include feminist, lesbian and gay, right-wing, self help, anti-abortion, and pro-choice movements.