Study of Women & Gender

Not every course that is cross-listed in the program or taught by SWG faculty will address all of these goals for the major in the Study of Women and Gender, but we expect that every graduating senior will have engaged these concepts and ways of thinking more than once during the course of the major. The goals of the major are to:

• Understand the social construction of familiar or naturalized categories, while also acknowledging that these social constructions have real effects in subordinating groups and in marking bodies.
• Understand and be able to apply the concept of intersectionality—a dynamic analysis of how the intersections of gender, race, class, sexuality, nationality, and other aspects of identity mutually and simultaneously constitute structures, social processes, ideologies and representations in the complex, multidimensional power hierarchies of society.
• Analyze social change and understand agency and resistance.
• Engage theory, read and write about theoretical texts, and recognize that theory emerges from different disciplinary locations.
• Examine historical periods and beliefs different from the current moment.
• Analyze forms of representation and discourse as they shape experience and shape our understanding of ourselves and of the world.
• Approach problems and questions from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.
• Engage in systemic analysis with attention to institutional and economic structures of power.
• Understand theories of transnational, postcolonial and diasporic studies.
• Understand feminist pedagogy and ethics of knowledge production.

Advisers

All members of the Program Committee for the Study of Women and Gender serve as advisers for the major and minor.

Requirements for the Major

The major requires the completion of 10 semester courses, including at least two 300-level seminars, totaling 40 credit hours. These courses shall comprise SWG prefix courses and department-based courses chosen from a list of possibilities compiled yearly by the Program for the Study of Women and Gender. These courses must include: 

1. SWG 150 Introduction to the Study of Women and Gender (normally taken in the first or second year; may not be elected S/U)
2. One course with a queer studies focus
3. One course with a race and ethnicity studies focus
4. One course with a transnational, postcolonial or diasporic studies focus
5. Four courses with the SWG prefix, including 150 and one 300-level seminar
6. Two 300-level courses (total)

A single course can be used to fill more than one of these requirements. Transfer students are expected to complete at least half of their major (or five courses) at Smith (or with approved Five College courses). Students with double majors may count a maximum of three courses toward both majors.

In the senior year, a student will complete a statement reflecting on the connections among the courses in their major. The senior statement and SWG advising checklist are due to the faculty adviser by the Friday prior to spring break.

Advising Checklist and Senior Statement

Advising Checklist and Senior Statement

Advisers

All members of the Program Committee for the Study of Women and Gender serve as advisers for the major and minor.

Requirements for the Minor

The minor requires the completion of six semester courses, totaling 24 credit hours from SWG-prefix courses or cross-listed courses. These courses must include:

1. SWG 150, Introduction to the Study of Women and Gender (normally taken in the first or second year, and which may not be elected S/U)
2. One course with a queer studies focus
3. One course with a race and ethnicity studies focus
4. One course with a transnational, postcolonial or diasporic studies focus

A single course can be used to fill more than one of these requirements.  Minors are strongly encouraged to elect at least one course at the 300 level.

Honors Requirements

A student may honor in SWG by completing an 8-credit, two-semester thesis in addition to the 10 courses in the major and fulfilling all the general requirements. Eligibility of students for honors work, and supervision and evaluation of the thesis, are determined by the Program Committee for the Study of Women and Gender.

SWG 430D Honors Project
An 8-credit, two-semester thesis in addition to the 10 courses that fulfill the major. Eligibility requirements for honors work, and supervision and evaluation of the thesis are determined by the Program Committee for the Study of Women and Gender.
Credits: 4
Members of the department
Normally offered each academic year

Special Studies

SWG 400 Special Studies 
For qualified juniors and seniors. Admission by permission of the instructor and director of the program. No more than 4 special studies credits may be taken in any academic year and no more than 8 special studies credits total may be applied toward the major. Credits: 1-4 
Members of the department 
Normally offered each academic year 

Fall 2023 SWG Courses

For more information, see the Smith College Course Search.

SWG 150 Introduction to the Study of Women and Gender    

An introduction to the interdisciplinary field of the study of women and gender through a critical examination of feminist histories, issues and practices. Focus on the U.S. with some attention to the global context. Primarily for first- and second-year students. Enrollment limited to 25. {H}{S} Credits: 4

Kelly P. Anderson    

SWG 222 Gender, Law and Policy  

This course explores the impact of gender on law and policy in the United States historically and today, focusing in the areas of constitutional equality, employment, education, reproduction, the family,  violence against women, and immigration. We study constitutional and statutory law as well as public policy. Some of the topics we will cover are sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination, pregnancy/caregiver discrimination, pay equity, sexual harassment, school athletics, marriage, sterilization, contraception and abortion, reproductive technologies, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and gender-based asylum. We will study feminist efforts to reform the law and examine how inequalities based on gender, race, class and sexuality shape the law. We also discuss and debate contemporary policy and future directions. {H}{S} Credits: 4

Carrie N. Baker

SWG 235 Colloquium: Black Feminism  

An in-depth discussion of the history, debates, theory, activism and poetics of Black Feminism. Students study the conversations, ruptures and connections produced in dominant feminist scholarship by black feminist theory. The class reads foundational and emergent work in the field. Students learn the history of those scholarly interventions and examine the pervasive ways of knowing that are being disrupted through black feminist scholarship. Students develop an understanding of the relationship between black feminism, feminism, women of color feminism and queer theory. Topics covered using theoretical texts, works of cinema and popular culture. Students examine cultural texts alongside theory to practice close reading as a methodological tool. Students finish with the analytical and methodological skills to identify and critique structures of power that govern everyday experiences of gender, the body, space, violence and modes of resistance. Prerequisite: SWG 150. Enrollment limited to 25. Credits: 4

Jennifer M. DeClue

SWG 237 Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism 

This practicum course is an academic complement to the work students interning with the Meridians journal as Praxis interns, Quigley Fellows, STRIDE Fellows, MMUF, Meridians interns, etc. are be doing. Run by the journal editor, the class will discuss the scholarly, creative, artistic, archival and artistic work published in Meridians and how it is informed by - and contributes to - intersectionality as a paradigm and practice. Students will also become familiarized with feminist journal production processes and ethics, promotion and marketing strategies, co-curricular events planning and archival research. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 5. Instructor permission required. Credits: 4

Ginetta E. B. Candelario

SWG 241 White Supremacy in the Age of Trump    

This course will analyze the history, prevalence, and current manifestations of the white supremacist movement by examining ideological components, tactics and strategies, and its relationship to mainstream politics. We will also research and discuss the relationship between white supremacy and white privilege, and explore how to build a human rights movement to counter the white supremacist movement in the U.S. Students will develop analytical writing and research skills, while engaging in multiple cultural perspectives. The overall goal is to develop the capacity to understand the range of possible responses to white supremacy, both its legal and extralegal forms. Enrollment limited to 50. {H}{S} Credits: 4

Loretta Ross  

SWG 245   Colloquium: Collective Organizing   

Offered as SWG 245 and CCX 245. This course introduces students to key concepts, debates and provocations that animate the world of community, labor and electoral organizing for social change. To better understand these movements’ visions, students develop an analysis of global and national inequalities, exploitation and oppression. The course explores a range of organizing skills to build an awareness of power dynamics and learn activists’ tools to bring people together towards common goals. A central aspect of this course is practicing community-based learning and research methods in dialogue with community-based activist partners. Enrollment limited to 18.{H}{S} Credits: 4

Ana Del Conde  

SWG 300js Seminar: Topics in the Study of Women and Gender—Justice and Security     

This course explores understandings of security and justice from a feminist perspective. It draws upon a trans-disciplinary range of social theories and materials from both the US and international contexts (mostly in the Global South), to critically explore how traditional practices of security authorize and protect specific interests while destabilizing and rendering vulnerable other populations. The course centers grassroots practices of security, peace and justice that challenge prevailing militarized and securitized assumptions and practices. At the heart of this course is a commitment to questioning our conceptions of how security works around the intersections of power and oppression (i.e.,gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, etc.). Enrollment limited to 12. Juniors and seniors only. Instructor permission required. {S} Credits: 4

Ana Del Conde  

SWG 300qt Seminar: Topics in the Study of Women and Gender—Building Queer and Trans Lives     

This seminar considers “building” as both metaphor and practice in queer and trans feminist epistemologies. What systems and institutions (e.g. white supremacy, settler colonialism, binary gender, ableism, late-stage capitalism, the carceral state) do queer and trans epistemologies slate for demolition or destruction? Should certain structures (e.g. medical, educational, political, scientific, housing) and relationships (e.g. platonic, romantic, sexual, caregiving, community) be repaired or renovated? What needs to be built from scratch or salvaged from existing resources to ensure sustainable, accessible, non-violent, joyful modes of living? We draw on queer, trans, Black feminist, critical disability and feminist science studies blueprints for world-building. Enrollment limited to 12. Juniors and seniors only. Instructor permission required. Credits: 4

Evangeline Heiliger  

SWG 303 Seminar: Queer of Color Critique  

Students in this course gain a thorough and sustained understanding of queer of color critique by tracking this theoretical framework from its emergence in women of color feminism through the contemporary moment using historical and canonical texts along with the most cutting-edge scholarship being produced in the field. The exploration of this critical framework engages with independent films, novels and short stories, popular music, as well as television and digital media platforms such as Netflix and Amazon. We discuss what is ruptured and what is generated at the intersection of race, gender, class and sexuality. Prerequisites: SWG 150. Enrollment limited to 12. Juniors and seniors only. Instructor permission required. {A}{S} Credits: 4

Jennifer M. DeClue

Fall 2023 Cross-Listed Courses

For more information, see the Smith College Course Search.

AFR 155 Introduction to Black Women’s Studies
Traci-Ann Wint

AFR 201 Colloquium: Methods of Inquiry in African Studies
Karla Zelaya

AMS 245 Femiist & Indigenous Science
Evangeline Heiliger

ANT 352eu Seminar: Topics in Anthropology-Eugenics at Smith College
Fernando Armstrong-Fumero

CCX 245 Colloquium: Collective Organizing
Ana Del Conde

EAL 273 Colloquium: Women and Narration in Modern Korea
Irhe Sohn

EAL 273 F Colloquium: Film Screening: Women and Narration in Modern Korea
Irhe Sohn

FMS 261 Video Games and the Politics of Play
Jennifer C. Malkowski

FRN 230bl Colloquium: Topics in French Studies—Banlieue Lit
Mehammed A. Mack

FYS 112 #FlipTheScript: Hot Topics in African Feminism(s) Today
Kuukuwa Andam

FYS 132 Girls Leaving Home
Ambreen Hai

FYS 179 Rebellious Women
Kelly Anderson

GOV 266 Contemporary Political Theory
Nathan DuFord

GOV 367qs Seminar: Topics in Political Theory—Queering the State
Nathan DuFord

HST 276rj Colloquium: Topics-Historians Read the News-Race, Democracy and Reproductive Right 
Jeffrey S. Ahlman

HST 371rs Seminar: Topics in 19th Century United States History—Remembering Slavery: A Gendered
Reading of the WPA Interviews
Elizabeth S. Pryor

JUD 227 Women and Gender in Jewish History
Sari Fein

LAS 201ql Colloquium: Topics in Latin American Studies-Queer Latine Embodiments: Affect, Race and Aesthetics
Vicente Carrillo

MES 213 Colloquium: Sex and Power in the Middle East
Susanna Ferguson

MUS 217 Colloquiun: Feminism and Music Theory
Maeve Sterbenz

MUS 330 Seminar: Music and Democracy
Andrea Moore

PSY 266 Colloquium: Psychology of Women and Gender
Lauren E. Duncan

PSY 364 Research Seminar: Intergroup Relationships
Randi Garcia

PSY 375 Research Seminar: Political Psychology
Lauren E. Duncan

REL 238 Mary: Images and Cults
Vera Shevzov

SAS 201 Mother-Goddess-Wife-Whore: Female Sexuality and Nationalism in South Asian Cinema
Syeda Rubaiyat Hossain

SDS 364 Research Seminar: Intergroup Relationships
Randi Garcia

SOC 216 Social Movements
Nancy E. Whittier

SOC 229 Sex and Gender in American Society
Nancy E. Whittier

SOC 243 Race, Gender and Mass Incarceration
Erica Banks

SOC 327 Seminar: Global Migration in the 21st Century
Payal Banerjee

SPN 250sm Topics in Iberian Cultural History—Sex and the Medieval City
Ibtissam Bouachrine

SPP 373rw Seminar: Topics in Cultural Movements in Spanish America—Radical Words: Latin
American Women and the Struggle for Livable Worlds Michelle Joffroy

WLT 100cw Introduction to World Literatures—Cannibals, Witches, Virgins
Katwiwa Mule

WLT 205 Contemporary African Literature and Film
Katwiwa Mule

WRT 118lg Colloquium: Topics in Writing—Language and Gender
Miranda K. McCarvel

Five College SWG courses