Spring 2026

Spring 2026 Core Courses

 

 

WGS 101W: Introduction to Women and Gender Studies

  • This course explores the core concepts underlying the interdisciplinary field of Women and Gender Studies, introducing the ways in which the study of women and sex/gender as social categories transforms our understanding of culture, history and society. Topics include the social construction of gender, the gender division of labor, production and reproduction, intersections of gender, race, class and ethnicity, and the varieties of sexual experience. This course is the required introduction to the Women and Gender Studies major and minor, and has no prerequisites. It fulfills the US and its Diversity Flexible Core requirement under Pathways.
    • Sections:
      • Tues., 1:40PM – 4:30PM – Instructor: Carol Giardina
      • Tues., 5PM – 7:30 PM – Instructor: Carol Giardina
      • Tues/ Thurs., 10:45AM – 12PM – Instructor: Karen Weingarten
      • Mon/Wed., 3:10PM – 4:25PM (hybrid) – Instructor: Kayla Reece
      • Mon/Wed., 10:45AM – 12PM – Instructor: Kate Schnur

 

WGS 104: Introduction to LGBTQ Studies – Thurs 5PM – 6:15PM (online synchronous on Thurs./ asynchronous for 1.5 hours/ week)

  • Instructor: Gabriel San Emeterio
  • Students will explore the field of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) studies. Students will learn to use the norms of LGBTQ studies as a tool for understanding U.S. history, power formations, culture, and artistic productions. Pathways Flexible Core: Individual & Society (IS).​

 

WGS 204: Queer Theories – Thurs 10:45AM – 12PM (in person on Thurs.,/ asynchronous for 1.5 hours/ week)

  • Instructor: James Lowry
  • A study of the core texts and key debates that have shaped queer theory, considering the work in feminism, critical race studies, gay and lesbian studies, and post structuralism out of which queer theory developed; emphasizing how queer theory provides a broad framework that designates non-normative modes of knowledge, cultural practices, and political activism; and examining the ways in which queer theory has recently been challenged to move in new directions. Students will encounter the classics of queer theory and also other more recent thinkers who were inspired by these earlier works. Students will examine how, for instance, Judith Butler’s ideas about gender performativity have been reshaped by recent transgender and intersectional theorists.

 

WGS 250: Global Feminisms – Mon/Wed. 10:45AM – 12 pm (online synchronous)

  • Instructor: Basuli Deb
  • Exploration of global issues in contemporary feminism from Western and non-Western perspectives, focusing on questions involving religion, ethnicity, sexuality, class, and race. Looking at women and gender from a variety of perspectives, countries, and cultures, we will cover a variety of topics, including religious fundamentalism; reproductive freedom; sex work and trafficking; politics; lesbian, gay, and transgender rights; and violence against women.

 

WGS 210W: Women in Modern World Literature – Tue/Th 1:40PM – 2:55 PM

  • Instructor: Caroline Rupprecht
  • The representation of women in literary texts by female and male writers, with attention to the relationship between women’s social and cultural status and their image in literature. The thematic focus of this course (e.g. Women and War; Women in Non-Western Literature) and the works studied vary each semester. Students may repeat this course more than once if the topic and works studied are different.
    • Cross-listed with Comparative Literature 229.W: Women in Modern World Literature

 

WGS 210: Korean Women’s Writing – Thurs. 5- 6:15 PM

  • Instructor: Ji Young Kim
  • An exploration of literature by Korean women writers, from a memoir of a crown princess in the eighteenth century Choson dynasty to the contemporary, international award-winning novel by Han Kang. The course examines the various manifestations of the female image, the construction of gender identity and the change of women’s social role, women’s colonial and war experience, and how women writers have engaged with the social and political transformation of modern Korea—challenging and adapting to the longstanding Confucian tradition. All readings are available in English translation, and no previous knowledge of Korean language is necessary.
    • Cross-listed with East Asian Studies 252: Korean Women’s Writing

 

 

 

Spring 2026 Courses in Other Departments

Courses that Count Toward the WGS major/ minor and LGBTQ Minor in Spring 2026*

  • FNES 147 – Family Relations
    • Dept: Family and Consumer Sci
  1. Section: 45HB
    1. Prof: Kate Reece
    2. Th 5:00 PM 7:50 PM
  2. Section: 49HB
    1. Prof: Laura Lombardi
    2. Th 9:10 AM 12:00 PM
  3. Section: ASYN
    1. Prof: Kate Reece
  4. Section: SEEK
    1. Prof: Laura Lombardi
    2. Fr 9:00 AM 12:00 PM
  5. Section: WINA
    1. Prof: Melissa Lovitz
  • FNES 256 – Counseling Sexuality
    • Dept: Family and Consumer Sci
  1. Section: 3910
    1. Prof: Melissa Lovitz
    2. We 9:10 AM 12:00 PM
  • MEDST 320W – Gender, Sexuality, and Media
    • Dept: Media Studies
  1. Section: 001
    1. Prof: Amy Herzog
    2. We 1:40 PM 4:30 PM
  • PSYCH 353 – The Psychology of Sex & Gender
    • Dept: Psychology
  1. Section: EVE1
    1. No instructor
    2. Mo and We 8:00 PM 9:15 PM
  • SOC 214 – The Family
    • Dept: Sociology
  1. Section: 1
    1. Prof: Katerina Hantzandreou
    2. Tu and Th 1:40 PM 2:55 PM
  • SOC 246 – Sociology of Human Sexuality
    • Dept: Sociology
  1. Section: 1
    1. Prof: Michael Bourgoin
    2. Su 12:30 PM 4:00 PM
  • SOC 271 – The Black Family
    • Dept: Sociology
  1. Section: 1
    1. Prof: Carmien Couloute
    2. Mo 5:00 PM 7:50 PM
  • URBST 114 – Sex and The City
    • Dept: Urban Studies
      1. Section: 001
        1. Prof: Jessie Stein
        2. Mo and We 1:40 PM 2:55 PM
      2. Section: 002
        1. Prof Jessie Stein
        2. Mo and We 3:10 PM 4:25 PM
  • URBST 238 – Women and Health
    • Dept: Urban Studies
      1. Section: 001
        1. Prof: Dana-Ain Davis
        2. Tu 4:30PM 7:00 PM

 

*Please email Professor Weingarten, Director of WGS, if you have any questions about how these courses count toward your degree. If you’re enrolled in another course that you think might count toward the degree, please don’t hesitate to reach out to ask.