GNDS 101 - Introduction to Gender Studies

A multicultural, interdisciplinary introduction to the study of gender in contemporary society. Readings, films, and discussions explore how gender matters in a person’s daily life; how that impact is socially constructed both historically and cross-culturally; and how gender permeates institutions in societies, operating as a system of power and reinforcing distinctions that contribute to inequality. This course investigates gender as it intersects with race-ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, class, age, and ability to shape diverse femininities and masculinities. In learning how gender is not something innate or static-that it is created and that it has changed and it can change (gender is both a process and a performance)-and by reflecting on their unique location within power structures, students will be encouraged to believe that change for equality is possible and to assume more engaged forms of citizenship. PRE- or COREQUISITE(S): ENGL 101 /ENGL 101A or consent of Women’s and Gender Studies Program Coordinator. Three hours each week.

3 semester hours

Course Outcomes:
Upon completion of this course a student will be able to:

Demonstrate an awareness of gender studies as an interdisciplinary academic approach.
Define and explain core feminist terms and concepts applicable to gender studies
Demonstrate comprehension of the field by using appropriate terminology, theoretical frameworks, and methodologies in class activities and written work
Discuss and write analytically about gender as a socially diverse and continually shifting concept
Identify intersecting dimensions of power and analyze how constructions of gender, race-ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, class, age, and ability impact contemporary men’s and women’s experiences and lives
Demonstrate an understanding of the complexity of contemporary gendered, raced, and classed identity formations
Apply an intersectional feminist analysis to various texts, films, performances, and cultural artifacts
Explain strategies of resistance to oppression and models of change for social justice and equality

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