Interdisciplinary Programs
Faculty
Professors
Candice Shelby, PhD, Rice University
Associate Professors
Margaret Woodhull, PhD, University of Texas, Austin
Omar Swartz, JD, PhD, Purdue University
Assistant Professors
Lorna Hutchison, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Humanities (HUMN)
HUMN 5000 - 19th and 20th Century Continental Philosophy (3 Credits)
HUMN 5025 - Foundations and Theories of Interdisciplinary Humanities (3 Credits)
Exposes the beginning graduate student to exemplary works and methodologies of disciplines oriented to humanities and social sciences, such as philosophy, sociology, history, communication, fine arts, and literature. Cross-listed with SSCI 5025.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
HUMN 5100 - Social Justice Today (3 Credits)
This course aims to provide an interdisciplinary basis in social justice. Students will develop interdisciplinary knowledge of the systems that contribute to a number of today’s social disparities. Centering on young adults and children as both activists and a population that merits attention socio-politically and economically, we’ll frame our study with contemporary social justice theory and a practical exploration of some of the most creative and effective justice initiatives of our day. Equity and rights-based questions on diverse communities, social access, disability studies, and the environment form the context of our inquiry into today’s voices on equity and resistance. In a planning-intensive manner, students work on the final project in stages while also cultivating wellness awareness. Cross-listed with IDST 4100, IDST 5100, SJUS 4100, SJUS 5100, HUMN 4100, SSCI 4100, SSCI 5100.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
HUMN 5101 - Pragmatism: Classical American Philosophy (3 Credits)
The most significant philosophical tradition born in the United States is pragmatism. Examines several of the most important classical works of this tradition, the influence of thinkers who have helped pragmatism, and the contemporary relevance of this tradition. Figures who may be included in this course are: Emerson, Pierce, Royce, James, Dewey, Mead, Rorty. Cross-listed with PHIL 4101, 5101, SSCI 5101.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
HUMN 5220 - Art, Beauty, and Aesthetic Criticism: Philosophy of Art (3 Credits)
What makes something a work of “art”? How should art be interpreted or evaluated? Can we really debate about “taste” or beauty? Why do we call some people "artists" or some experiences “aesthetic"? Where does creativity come from? This course investigates such questions, offering a range of historical and contemporary answers, and examines the social, political, and philosophical roles of art in contemporary society. Methods of engaging these questions may include multimedia technologies as well as individual and group field trips to local art venues. Cross-listed with PHIL 4220 and PHIL 5220.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
HUMN 5242 - Medicine, Health Care, and Justice: Bioethics (3 Credits)
Anyone entering a medical profession must confront tough ethical issues and dilemmas. These often arise suddenly, so practitioners best preparation is to think ahead about what will likely occur. This course introduces students to a variety of cases and philosophical theories useful to healthcare careers. For example, What is “health” and who determines it? Is there a right to health care? How should medical scarcity (vital organs, vaccines, supplies, etc.) be addressed? What duties are owed to patients by healthcare providers, and why? On what grounds may medical treatment be demanded — or refused? The goal of the class is to train students to be nimble and imaginative in how they reason about the difficult cases they will face in their career. Suggested prerequisite one or two previous courses in philosophy, and a minimum grade of C in each course are strongly recommended; if the student lacks this coursework, consult with the professor prior to registration. Cross-listed with PHIL 4242, PHIL 5242, SSCI 5242.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
HUMN 5251 - Introduction to Legal Studies (3 Credits)
A survey of the United States legal system, including lawmaking powers, jurisdiction, court procedures, professional ethics and major principles of business law, contracts, estates and probate, family law, property and torts. Cross-listed with HUMN 4251/SSCI 4251/SSCI 5251.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
HUMN 5325 - First Amendment: Theory and Context (3 Credits)
First Amendment jurisprudence including free speech/responsibility, sedition/seditious libel/dissent, prior restraints, time/place/manner restrictions, hate/intimidating speech, defamation, privacy/security tensions, intellectual property/public good, advertising, corporate speech, sexual expression, and public status of religion. Cross-listed with HUMN 4325, SSCI 4325, SSCI 5325, PSCI 4325 and PSCI 5325.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
HUMN 5430 - How to think green: Environmental Ethics (3 Credits)
Is it wrong to extinguish a species? What makes cruelty to animals wrong? Do trees have rights? Is the earth a resource we can use any way we want? Is vegetarianism a more ethical way to live — or just another lifestyle choice? As citizens of the world, we are bombarded by such questions. Understanding what is fundamental clarifies thinking and coordinates action. This course introduces ethical theories relevant to problems such as animal and species welfare, deforestation, pollution, climate change, and the sustainability of the planet. By examining multiple perspectives, students gain confidence judging which issues and data are significant and deciding what kind of world we should create with our actions and inactions. Cross-listed with PHIL 3430, PHIL 5430 and SSCI 5430.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
HUMN 5540 - Law, Diversity and Community in United States History (3 Credits)
Engaging extensive primary and secondary source material, course applies an interdisciplinary approach to diversity and conflict that often surrounds the quest for economic, moral and social inclusion in the United States. Cross-listed with SSCI 5540.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
HUMN 5600 - Questioning Religious Belief and Practice: Introduction to Philosophy of Religion (3 Credits)
Does God exist? Can the existence of God be proved? When is believing on faith acceptable? How or why is there a “problem of evil”? What are the attributes of a "god" and how can they be known, if at all? What is the relation of God to the world we experience? How does morality relate to religious belief and practice? The goal of the course is to broaden and deepen our understanding of key philosophical debates within religious traditions as we study prominent thinkers in the history of philosophy. Cross-listed with PHIL 4600, PHIL 5600, RLST 4060, RLST 5060, PHIL 5060, and SSCI 5600.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Summer.
HUMN 5660 - Visual Arts: Its Past, Present, and Interpretations (3 Credits)
Provides graduate-level interdisciplinary study in the historiography, methodologies, and theories used to understand how visual arts, including painting, sculpture, photography, film and performance art influence the making of culture. Students gain critical skills for analyzing a variety of visual and aesthetic products of culture. Cross-listed with HUMN 4660, IDST 4660, IDST 5660.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
HUMN 5720 - Sex, Gender, and Visual Representation (3 Credits)
Studies sexuality, gender and identity representation from classical antiquity through the present in the visual arts. Uses the literature of visuality, feminism, race and queer theory. Explores representations of femininity, masculinity and androgyny and their reinforcement and challenge to gender-identity norms. Cross-listed with HUMN 4720, IDST 4720, IDST 5720, WGST 4720, WGST 5720.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
HUMN 5770 - Viewing Empire: The Art of Imperial and Colonial Propaganda (3 Credits)
Western empires disseminate political, social, economic & cultural practices through complex interplay of cultural practices. Visual production is a complex site for meaning making within imperialism. Examines how visual discourses operated to create meaning for audiences, through focus on postcolonial critique. Cross-listed with HUMN 4770, IDST 4770, IDST 5770, SSCI 4770, SSCI 5770, WGST 5770, WGST 4770, SJUS 4770, SJUS 5770.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
HUMN 5833 - Existentialism (3 Credits)
Examines one of the most influential movements in recent European thought, beginning with existentialism's 19th century roots, and continuing on to the existentialist philosophers of the 20th century. Figures covered may include Dostoyevsky, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre and de Beauvoir. Cross-listed with PHIL 3833, PHIL 5833, and SSCI 5833.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
HUMN 5840 - Independent Study: HUMN (1-3 Credits)
Note: Students must submit a special processing form completely filled out and signed by the student and faculty member, describing the course expectations, assignments and outcomes, to the Graduate School for approval. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
HUMN 5880 - Directed Research (1-6 Credits)
Students will engage in original research projects supervised and mentored by faculty. Students must work with faculty prior to registration to develop a proposal for their project and receive permission to take this course. Note: Students must submit a special processing form completely filled out and signed by the student and faculty member, describing the course expectations, assignments and outcomes, to the CLAS Graduate Academic Services Coordinator for approval. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 6.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
HUMN 5920 - Philosophy of Media and Technology (3 Credits)
A philosophical examination of interrelationships between contemporary media, technology, and their impacts upon character of contemporary life and values. Topics may include ethics, epistemology, democracy, advertising, media literacy and criticism. Cross-listed with PHIL 4920, 5920, SSCI 5920.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
HUMN 5933 - Philosophy of Eros (3 Credits)
What does it mean to understand philosophy as an erotic activity? This question will be examined, first by studying Plato's dialogues-such as Lysis, Symposium and Republic-and then by reading texts from Sigmund Freud, Michael Foucault and others. Cross-listed with PHIL 4933, WGST 4933/5933 and SSCI 5933.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
HUMN 5939 - Internship (1-6 Credits)
Note: Students must submit a special processing form completely filled out and signed by the student and faculty member, describing the course expectations, assignments and outcomes, to the CLAS Graduate Academic Services Coordinator for approval. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
HUMN 5950 - Master's Thesis (1-8 Credits)
Note: Students must submit a special processing form completely filled out and signed by the student and faculty member, describing the course expectations, assignments and outcomes, to the CLAS Graduate Academic Services Coordinator for approval. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade with IP
Repeatable. Max Credits: 8.
Additional Information: Report as Full Time.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
HUMN 5960 - Master's Project (1-8 Credits)
Note: Students must submit a special processing form completely filled out and signed by the student and faculty member, describing the course expectations, assignments and outcomes, to the CLAS Graduate Academic Services Coordinator for approval. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade with IP
Repeatable. Max Credits: 8.
Additional Information: Report as Full Time.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
HUMN 5984 - Topics: Interdisciplinary Humanities (3 Credits)
Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
HUMN 6010 - Methods and Theories of Feminism and Gender (3 Credits)
This course provides graduate-level interdisciplinary study in historiography, methodologies and theories of women's, gender, and sexuality studies and considers how culture is constructed around these categories. Cross-listed with WGST and SSCI 6010.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
Interdisciplinary Studies (IDST)
IDST 5000 - Special Topics (1-3 Credits)
Cross-listed with IDST 4000. Note: May be taken more than once for credit when topics vary. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.
IDST 5010 - Foundations of STEM Communication (3 Credits)
This course will provide students with an introduction to STEM communication and offer opportunities for developing STEM content for a variety of audiences across multiple formats. These formats span written, oral, digital, and social media communication. Through classroom exercises and assignments, students will understand the role of communication in shaping perceptions, knowledge, decisions and ultimately realities vis-a-vis STEM. They will also learn to provide critical analysis of popular mainstream STEM communication and be able to identify basic expectations and constraints of STEM communication across audience and context. The class will explore approaches to communicating concepts in STEM disciplines to a variety of audiences through practice. Ultimately, the students will develop the skills and resources necessary to enable effective communication of complex STEM ideas to a wide range of audiences. Note: Students may not earn credit if they have already received credit for IDST topics courses with a similar title. Cross-listed with IDST 4010.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
IDST 5013 - Methods and Practices of Graduate Interdisciplinary Studies (3 Credits)
The second of three required Master of Humanities core courses, this course introduces beginning graduate students to methodologies and intellectual frameworks for gathering, organizing, and developing interdisciplinary research. Focus is on the application of theories and methods of research, interpretation and analysis in humanistic research through readings that explore philosophical and cultural discourses have altered theory and method. Course note: Students must repeat this course if they earn a C+ or lower and must have permission from the instructor to repeat the course. Students will only earn 3 credits for this course, even if they must repeat it.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Graduate level students.
Typically Offered: Spring.
IDST 5020 - Foundations and Theories of Interdisciplinary Studies (3 Credits)
The first of the Master of Social Science core courses, this course exposes beginning graduate student to critical , key analytic models, and their application in disciplines that comprise the social sciences (classical anthropology, sociology, sociology of religion, philosophy of history, political theory, classical psychology, etc.) for the purpose of graduate-level interdisciplinary social science research. Course note: Students must repeat this course if they earn a C+ or lower and must have permission from the instructor to repeat the course. Students will only earn 3 credits for this course, even if they must repeat it.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
IDST 5023 - Research Perspectives in Interdisciplinary Studies (3 Credits)
Introduces interdisciplinary social research through a critical examination of various methodological approaches. Each student formulates a research proposal which includes a research question, a review of the literature, and methods of study.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
IDST 5100 - Social Justice Today (3 Credits)
This course aims to provide an interdisciplinary basis in social justice. Students will develop interdisciplinary knowledge of the systems that contribute to a number of today’s social disparities. Centering on young adults and children as both activists and a population that merits attention socio-politically and economically, we’ll frame our study with contemporary social justice theory and a practical exploration of some of the most creative and effective justice initiatives of our day. Equity and rights-based questions on diverse communities, social access, disability studies, and the environment form the context of our inquiry into today’s voices on equity and resistance. In a planning-intensive manner, students work on the final project in stages while also cultivating wellness awareness. Cross-listed with IDST 4100, SJUS 4100, SJUS 5100, HUMN 4100, HUMN 5100, SSCI 4100, SSCI 5100.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
IDST 5660 - Visual Arts: Its Past, Present, and Interpretations (3 Credits)
Provides graduate-level interdisciplinary study in the historiography, methodologies, and theories used to understand how visual arts, including painting, sculpture, photography, film and performance art influence the making of culture. Students gain critical skills for analyzing a variety of visual and aesthetic products of culture. Cross-listed with HUMN 5660, IDST 4660, HUMN 4660.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
IDST 5720 - Sex, Gender, and Visual Representation (3 Credits)
Studies sexuality, gender and identity representation from classical antiquity through the present in the visual arts. Uses the literature of visuality, feminism, race and queer theory. Explores representations of femininity, masculinity and androgyny and their reinforcement and challenge to gender-identity norms. Cross-listed with HUMN 5720, HUMN 4720, IDST 4720, WGST 5720, WGST 4720.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
IDST 5770 - Viewing Empire: The Art of Imperial and Colonial Propaganda (3 Credits)
Western empires disseminate political, social, economic & cultural practices through complex interplay of cultural practices. Visual production is a complex site for meaning making within imperialism. Examines how visual discourses operated to create meaning for audiences, through focus on postcolonial critique. Cross-listed with SJUS 4770, SJUS 5770, HUMN 4770, HUMN 5770, IDST 4770, SSCI 4770, SSCI 5770, WGST 5770, WGST 4770.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
IDST 5924 - Research Perspectives in Graduating Interdisciplinary Humanities and Social Sciences (3 Credits)
The first of the Master of Humanities core courses, this course provides beginning graduate students grounding in critical theorists, key analytic models, and their application in disciplines which comprise the humanities (philosophy, literature, art history, visual studies, history, communication) for the purpose of graduate-level, interdisciplinary humanities research. Examines questions about reality, knowledge, ethics that affect research and writing in the humanities. Course note: Students must repeat this course if they earn a C+ or lower and must have permission from the instructor to repeat the course. Students will only earn 3 credits for this course, even if they must repeat it.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
Religious Studies (RLST)
RLST 5010 - Comparative Religious Systems (3 Credits)
A cross-cultural analysis of religious belief and behavior. Emphasis is placed on religions found among non-Western cultural groups and includes consideration of how major religions of the world are manifested on local levels. Cross-listed with ANTH 4130, 5130, RLST 4010.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
RLST 5020 - Sociology of Religion (3 Credits)
This course introduces students to the nature and functions of religion in society, emphasizing western religions in the U.S. Students will develop and apply an understanding of classic and modern sociological theories of religion to current events and disciplinary developments. Cross-listed with SOCY 4610, SOCY 5610, RLST 4020.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
RLST 5030 - Race, Religion and Belonging in the United States (3 Credits)
Race/ethnicity and religion are conconstitutive social and cultural formations that have played a fundamental part in determining the boundaries of belonging of the United States. In this course, students will interrogate when, why and how race/ethnicity and religion have been used to delineate borders, determine citizenship, navigate legal classifications, dictate social mobility, and regulate economic possibilities. We will analyze both primary sources ‐such as sermons, reality TV shows, court cases and graphic images‐as well as scholarly writing to explore how formations of race and religion have shaped notions of belonging in the US nation‐state, thereby constructing the boundaries of the state itself. Cross-listed with ETST 4030, ETST 5030, RLST 4030, HIST 4209 and HIST 5029.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
RLST 5040 - Psychology of Religion (3 Credits)
Examines the theories developed by some of the great names in the field of psychology and their approaches to religion. Questions addressed include why people become religious, how religion functions in their lives, religious experience and assessment of the validity of religious claims. Key theorists studied include: William James, Sigmund Freud, Carl G. Jung, Abraham Maslow and Erich Fromm. Cross-listed with RLST 4040.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
RLST 5060 - Questioning Religious Belief and Practice: Introduction to Philosophy of Religion (3 Credits)
Does God exist? Can the existence of God be proved? When is believing on faith acceptable? How or why is there a “problem of evil”? What are the attributes of a "god" and how can they be known, if at all? What is the relation of God to the world we experience? How does morality relate to religious belief and practice? The goal of the course is to broaden and deepen our understanding of key philosophical debates within religious traditions as we study prominent thinkers in the history of philosophy. Cross-listed with HUMN 5600, PHIL 4600, PHIL 5600, RLST 4060, and SSCI 5600.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Summer.
RLST 5152 - Religion & Communication (3 Credits)
This course focuses on the dynamics between religion, culture, and communication and how these have led to intercultural peace, centuries of war, and/or different visions of belonging. This class addresses these dynamics to improve intercultural dialogue and conflict resolution processes, foregrounding the search for justice. Cross-listed with COMM 4152, INTS 4152, RLST 4152, COMM 5152, and INTS 5152.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
RLST 5160 - Mysticism (3 Credits)
Explores the mystical strains within the world's great religious traditions. Jewish, Christian, and Islamic mystics did not always express the same beliefs and attitudes as mainstream adherents. When mystics are placed side-by-side, amazing similarities appear. One cannot always tell whether a given mystical statement is Hindu, Jewish, Sufi, or Christian. This class examines these mystical traditions, East and West. Cross-listed with RLST 4160.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
RLST 5300 - Myth and Symbol (3 Credits)
Approaches the field of classical Greek mythology and religion from the perspective of Jungian archetypal theory. The deities of the ancient Greeks are presented as archetypal patterns with universal correlates elsewhere in world religions. A foundation in C. G. Jung's archetypal theory will be offered to ground the course material. Cross-listed with RLST 4300.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
RLST 5360 - Freudian and Jungian Perspectives in Dream Analysis (3 Credits)
Focuses on the phenomenon of dreams in a way that differs distinctly from the traditional approach to the subject in the field of psychology. "Spiritual" approaches to dreams are examined, as well as some major theorists on dreams, especially the work of Sigmund Freud and C. G. Jung. Cross-listed with RLST 4360.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
RLST 5400 - Differing Concepts of God (3 Credits)
God, Gods, and Goddesses have been imagined in many different modes, forms, aspects, and guises throughout human history. This course investigates Paleolithic models of God, the Great Goddess of the Neolithic era, the Gods of mythological traditions, Biblical God, the abstract God of the philosophers, the God of the pantheists, the deists, and the God of the mystics. Cross-listed with RLST 4400, PHIL 4650 and 5655.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
RLST 5420 - Goddess Traditions (3 Credits)
Explores the many forms which Goddesses have assumed through history, including the Neolithic Great Mother and her heiresses in the ancient Mediterranean cultures, such as: Isis, Ishtar, Demeter, Hecate, Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena and others, and their parallels in India. Goddess traditions have encompassed a full spectrum from virgins to Great Mothers to dark underworld Goddesses of death and destruction. Cross-listed with RLST 4420 and WGST 4420/5420.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
RLST 5440 - Concepts of the Soul (3 Credits)
Asks the questions: What is the nature of the human being? What makes us "human?" Do humans have a "soul?" What is its nature? Is it different from the "spirit?" What is its ultimate fate? Examines the various theories put forward by philosophers of both Eastern and Western traditions. Cross-listed with RLST 4440 and PHIL 4470, 5470.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
RLST 5460 - Death and Concepts of Afterlife (3 Credits)
Examines how the major religious traditions approach the issue of death. Where the Egyptians were fascinated by death, their Mesopotamian and Hebrew neighbors saw no kind of experience continuing after death. Concepts of the Final Judgment Day and the end of the world follow in Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam, while Indian religions developed a sophisticated theory of reincarnation and the "art of dying." Finally, we will turn to Chinese belief in ancestral spirits. Cross-listed with RLST 4460.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
RLST 5462 - Islam in Modern History (3 Credits)
This course studies Islamic thought and practice over the last two centuries in terms of major historical processes that have operated at local, national, and global scales. Cross-listed with RLST 4462, HIST 4462, HIST 5462.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
RLST 5480 - Perspectives on Good and Evil (3 Credits)
Examines "problem of evil" as formulated in the philosophical tradition. Presents classical formulation of the problem, traditional solutions & classical critiques of each answer. Considers perspectives of various religious orientations, which deal differently with the question of suffering. Cross-listed with PHIL 4480/5480, RLST 4480.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
RLST 5500 - Religion and Politics (3 Credits)
Exploration of: (1) theoretical perspectives on the relationship between religion and politics; (2) causes of and justifications for the historical development of the Western separation of "church and state;" (3) contemporary responses to and analyses of this separation; and (4) several current debates about public policy in America that reveal tensions between these two spheres. Cross-listed with PSCI 4057, 5057 and RLST 4500.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
RLST 5710 - Women and Religion (3 Credits)
A sociological exploration of the contemporary roles of women in religion. Course examines American and world religious groups with an eye to women's involvement. Considers how women have changed these traditions as they take on leadership roles and discusses the tensions that arise within these traditions as a result of their expanded participation. Cross-listed with HUMN 5710, SSCI 4710/5710, WGST 4710/5710, RLST 4710.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
RLST 5730 - Whores and Saints: Medieval Women (3 Credits)
Studies how women are presented in texts, as well as works by women. Investigates the roles open to women and societal attitudes toward women, who were considered seductresses, saints, scholars and warriors in the middle ages. Cross-listed with ENGL 4510/5510, RLST 4730 and WGST 4510/5510.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
RLST 5880 - Directed Research (1-6 Credits)
Students will engage in original research projects supervised and mentored by faculty. Students must work with faculty prior to registration to develop a proposal for their project and receive permission to take this course. Note: Students must submit a special processing form completely filled out and signed by the student and faculty member, describing the course expectations, assignments and outcomes, to the CLAS Graduate Academic Services Coordinator for approval. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 6.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
Social Justice (SJUS)
SJUS 5050 - Special Topics: Social Justice (3 Credits)
Special Topics in Social Justice will be covered. Cross-listed with SJUS 4050. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 12.
SJUS 5100 - Social Justice Today (3 Credits)
This course aims to provide an interdisciplinary basis in social justice. Students will develop interdisciplinary knowledge of the systems that contribute to a number of today’s social disparities. Centering on young adults and children as both activists and a population that merits attention socio-politically and economically, we’ll frame our study with contemporary social justice theory and a practical exploration of some of the most creative and effective justice initiatives of our day. Equity and rights-based questions on diverse communities, social access, disability studies, and the environment form the context of our inquiry into today’s voices on equity and resistance. In a planning-intensive manner, students work on the final project in stages while also cultivating wellness awareness. Cross-listed with IDST 4100, IDST 5100, SJUS 4100, HUMN 4100, HUMN 5100, SSCI 4100, SSCI 5100.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
SJUS 5770 - Viewing Empire: The Art of Imperial and Colonial Propaganda (3 Credits)
Western empires disseminate political, social, economic & cultural practices through complex interplay of cultural practices. Visual production is a complex site for meaning making within imperialism. Examines how visual discourses operated to create meaning for audiences, through focus on postcolonial critique. Cross-listed with HUMN 5770, SSCI 5770, WGST 5770, HUMN 4770, SJUS 4770, SSCI 4770, WGST 4770, IDST 4770, IDST 5770.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
SJUS 5880 - Directed Research (1-6 Credits)
Students will engage in original research projects supervised and mentored by faculty. Students must work with faculty prior to registration to develop a proposal for their project and receive permission to take this course. Note: Students must submit a special processing form completely filled out and signed by the student and faculty member, describing the course expectations, assignments and outcomes, to the CLAS Graduate Academic Services Coordinator for approval. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 6.
Social Sciences (SSCI)
SSCI 5000 - 19th and 20th Century Continental Philosophy (3 Credits)
A seminar on key problems and thinkers in the nineteenth & twentieth century continental philosophical traditions and their contemporary significance. PHIL 3002 or PHIL 3022 are strongly recommended preparation for optimal student success. Cross-listed with PHIL 4000/5000 and HUMN 5000.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
SSCI 5025 - Foundations and Theories of Interdisciplinary Humanities (3 Credits)
Exposes the beginning graduate student to exemplary works and methodologies of disciplines oriented to humanities and social sciences, such as philosophy, sociology, history, communication, fine arts, and literature. Cross-listed with HUMN 5025.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
SSCI 5050 - Topics in Social Science (1-3 Credits)
These topic seminars are concerned with specialized aspects of the social sciences from various theoretical and research perspectives. These courses are interdisciplinary and serve as a forum for discussion of individual projects and theses. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 3.
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
SSCI 5100 - Social Justice Today (3 Credits)
This course aims to provide an interdisciplinary basis in social justice. Students will develop interdisciplinary knowledge of the systems that contribute to a number of today’s social disparities. Centering on young adults and children as both activists and a population that merits attention socio-politically and economically, we’ll frame our study with contemporary social justice theory and a practical exploration of some of the most creative and effective justice initiatives of our day. Equity and rights-based questions on diverse communities, social access, disability studies, and the environment form the context of our inquiry into today’s voices on equity and resistance. In a planning-intensive manner, students work on the final project in stages while also cultivating wellness awareness. Cross-listed with IDST 4100, IDST 5100, SJUS 4100, SJUS 5100, HUMN 4100, HUMN 5100, SSCI 4100.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
SSCI 5101 - Pragmatism: Classical American Philosophy (3 Credits)
The most significant philosophical tradition born in the United States is pragmatism. Examines several of the most important classical works of this tradition, the influence of thinkers who have helped pragmatism, and the contemporary relevance of this tradition. Figures who may be included in this course are: Emerson, Pierce, Royce, James, Dewey, Mead, Rorty. An introductory course in philosophy is strongly recommended for optimal success. Cross-listed with PHIL 4101, 5101, HUMN 5101.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
SSCI 5242 - Medicine, Health Care, and Justice: Bioethics (3 Credits)
Anyone entering a medical profession must confront tough ethical issues and dilemmas. These often arise suddenly, so practitioners best preparation is to think ahead about what will likely occur. This course introduces students to a variety of cases and philosophical theories useful to healthcare careers. For example, What is “health” and who determines it? Is there a right to health care? How should medical scarcity (vital organs, vaccines, supplies, etc.) be addressed? What duties are owed to patients by healthcare providers, and why? On what grounds may medical treatment be demanded — or refused? The goal of the class is to train students to be nimble and imaginative in how they reason about the difficult cases they will face in their career. Suggested prerequisite one or two previous courses in philosophy, and a minimum grade of C in each course are strongly recommended; if the student lacks this coursework, consult with the professor prior to registration. Cross-listed with PHIL 4242, PHIL 5242, HUMN 5242.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
SSCI 5251 - Introduction to Legal Studies (3 Credits)
A survey of the United States legal system, including lawmaking powers, jurisdiction, court procedures, professional ethics and major principles of business law, contracts, estates and probate, family law, property and torts. Cross-listed with SSCI 4251/HUMN 4251/HUMN 5251.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
SSCI 5325 - First Amendment: Theory and Context (3 Credits)
First Amendment jurisprudence including free speech/responsibility, sedition/seditious libel/dissent, prior restraints, time/place/manner restrictions, hate/intimidating speech, defamation, privacy/security tensions, intellectual property/public good, advertising, corporate speech, sexual expression, and public status of religion. Cross-listed with HUMN 4325, HUMN 5325, SSCI 4325, PSCI 4325 and PSCI 5325.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
SSCI 5430 - How to think green: Environmental Ethics (3 Credits)
Is it wrong to extinguish a species? What makes cruelty to animals wrong? Do trees have rights? Is the earth a resource we can use any way we want? Is vegetarianism a more ethical way to live — or just another lifestyle choice? As citizens of the world, we are bombarded by such questions. Understanding what is fundamental clarifies thinking and coordinates action. This course introduces ethical theories relevant to problems such as animal and species welfare, deforestation, pollution, climate change, and the sustainability of the planet. By examining multiple perspectives, students gain confidence judging which issues and data are significant and deciding what kind of world we should create with our actions and inactions. Cross-listed with PHIL 3430, PHIL 5430 and HUMN 5430.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
SSCI 5530 - Social Construction of the Self (3 Credits)
Investigates theories that address the construction of self and how that construction is constrained by culture, politics, society and historical moment.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
SSCI 5540 - Law, Diversity and Community in United States History (3 Credits)
Engaging extensive primary and secondary source material, course applies an interdisciplinary approach to diversity and conflict that often surrounds the quest for economic, moral and social inclusion in the United States. Cross-listed with HUMN 5540.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
SSCI 5600 - Questioning Religious Belief and Practice: Introduction to Philosophy of Religion (3 Credits)
Does God exist? Can the existence of God be proved? When is believing on faith acceptable? How or why is there a “problem of evil”? What are the attributes of a "god" and how can they be known, if at all? What is the relation of God to the world we experience? How does morality relate to religious belief and practice? The goal of the course is to broaden and deepen our understanding of key philosophical debates within religious traditions as we study prominent thinkers in the history of philosophy. Cross-listed with HUMN 5600, PHIL 4600, PHIL 5600, RLST 4060, and RLST 5060.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Summer.
SSCI 5650 - Reflections on Modernity (3 Credits)
Explores modernity as a historical epoch and a theoretical space, looking at the commentaries and reflections of influential 20th century thinkers including Adorno, Arendt, Levinas, Merleau-Ponty, Habermas and Foucault. Examines how the theoretical inclinations of modernity were influenced by politics, art, literature and culture. Cross-listed with HUMN 5650 and PHIL 5650.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
SSCI 5770 - Viewing Empire: The Art of Imperial and Colonial Propaganda (3 Credits)
Western empires disseminate political, social, economic & cultural practices through complex interplay of cultural practices. Visual production is a complex site for meaning making within imperialism. Examines how visual discourses operated to create meaning for audiences, through focus on postcolonial critique. Cross-listed with HUMN 4770, HUMN 5770, IDST 5770, IDST 4770, SSCI 4770, WGST 5770, WGST 4770, SJUS 4770, SJUS 5570.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
SSCI 5833 - Existentialism (3 Credits)
Examines one of the most influential movements in recent European thought, beginning with existentialism's 19th century roots, and continuing on to the existentialist philosophers of the 20th century. Figures covered may include Dostoyevsky, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre and de Beauvoir. Cross-listed with PHIL 3833, PHIL 5833, and HUMN 5833.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
SSCI 5840 - Independent Study: SSCI (1-3 Credits)
Note: Students must submit a special processing form completely filled out and signed by the student and faculty member, describing the course expectations, assignments and outcomes, to the CLAS Graduate Academic Services Coordinator for approval. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
SSCI 5880 - Directed Research (1-6 Credits)
Students will engage in original research projects supervised and mentored by faculty. Students must work with faculty prior to registration to develop a proposal for their project and receive permission to take this course. Note: Students must submit a special processing form completely filled out and signed by the student and faculty member, describing the course expectations, assignments and outcomes, to the CLAS Graduate Academic Services Coordinator for approval. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 6.
SSCI 5920 - Philosophy of Media and Technology (3 Credits)
A philosophical examination of interrelationships between contemporary media, technology, and their impacts upon character of contemporary life and values. Topics may include ethics, epistemology, democracy, advertising, media literacy and criticism. Cross-listed with PHIL 4920, 5920, HUMN 5920.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
SSCI 5933 - Philosophy of Eros (3 Credits)
What does it mean to understand philosophy as an erotic activity? This question will be examined, first by studying Plato's dialogues-such as Lysis, Symposium and Republic-and then by reading texts from Sigmund Freud, Michael Foucault and others. Cross-listed with PHIL 4933, WGST 4933/5933 and HUMN 5933.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
SSCI 5939 - Internship (1-6 Credits)
Note: Students must submit a special processing form completely filled out and signed by the student and faculty member, describing the course expectations, assignments and outcomes, to the CLAS Graduate Academic Services Coordinator for approval. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
SSCI 6010 - Methods and Theories of Feminism and Gender Studies (3 Credits)
Provides graduate-level interdisciplinary study in historiography, methodologies and theories of women's, gender and sexuality studies and considers how culture is constructed around these categories. Cross-listed with WGST 6010 and HUMN 6010.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
SSCI 6950 - Master's Thesis (1-8 Credits)
Note: Students must submit a special processing form completely filled out and signed by the student and faculty member, describing the course expectations, assignments and outcomes, to the CLAS Graduate Academic Services Coordinator for approval. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade with IP
Repeatable. Max Credits: 8.
Additional Information: Report as Full Time.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
SSCI 6960 - Master's Project or Report (1-6 Credits)
Research which may be based on field work. Note: Students must submit a special processing form completely filled out and signed by the student and faculty member, describing the course expectations, assignments and outcomes, to the CLAS Graduate Academic Services Coordinator for approval. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade with IP
Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.
Additional Information: Report as Full Time.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
Sustainability(SUST)
SUST 5880 - Directed Research (1-6 Credits)
Students will engage in original research projects supervised and mentored by faculty. Students must work with faculty prior to registration to develop a proposal for their project and receive permission to take this course. Note: Students must submit a special processing form completely filled out and signed by the student and faculty member, describing the course expectations, assignments and outcomes, to the CLAS Graduate Academic Services Coordinator for approval.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 6.
Women's and Gender Studies (WGST)
WGST 5010 - Special Topics in Women's and Gender Studies (1-3 Credits)
Examines current topics in the field of Women’s studies and Gender studies. Topics vary from term to term. May be repeated as long as the topic is distinct and different from courses student has already received credit for. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5225 - Urban America (3 Credits)
This course will explore how Americans experienced their rapidly growing and changing cities during the past two hundred years. This course will cover a wide range of urban themes, including segregation and gentrification, self-invention and policing, ethnic gangs and race riots, skyscrapers and suburbia, and commercial sex and Hollywood. The course will ultimately chart how a range of Americans - including immigrants, teenagers, laborers, women, LGBTQ+ people, and people of color – all fought for their own "right to the city". Cross-listed with HIST 4225, HIST 5225, WGST 5225, GEOG 4625.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5230 - Women in the West (3 Credits)
Focuses on ways in which women, from the mid-19th century through the mid-20th century, of different races, classes, and ethnic background, have interacted and been active participants in the development of the Western states. Cross-listed with WGST 4230 and HIST 4230/5230.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5248 - Gender, Development and Globalization (3 Credits)
Examining the cost and impact of globalization; not only on women and gender but economic equality, human movement and displacement, sustainable development and the environment. Highlighting the complexities of a higher interconnected world and intersectional nature of a globalized world, answering the question: Who Wins? Who Loses? Cross-listed with WGST 4248, PSCI 4248 and PSCI 5245.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5270 - Social Meanings of Reproduction (3 Credits)
Reproduction involves more than biological processes, assuming symbolic, political, and ideological meanings. This course examines contested meanings of reproduction, including how people experience reproduction, controversies over who should reproduce (and under what circumstances), and how public policy mediates these conflicts. Cross-listed with SOCY 4270, SOCY 5270 and WGST 4270.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5303 - Sex and Gender in Modern Britain (3 Credits)
Examines modern British history by focusing on sex and gender as central aspects in people's lives. Considers the ways gender shapes the realms of politics, economics, society and culture in Britain from the 18th century to present. Cross-listed with WGST 4303 and HIST 4303/5303.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5305 - Women of Color Feminisms (3 Credits)
This course is an overview of women of color feminist theorizing (thinking) and praxis (practice) in the U.S. We will explore these feminisms through the writing, art, and organizing efforts of women and trans, femme, and non-binary people of color with a focus on key themes and concepts including identity, difference, oppression, intersectionality, representation, violence, resistance, empowerment, solidarity, and coalition. Texts for the course highlight key issues in the feminist theorizing and praxis of Black, Latina/x, Chicana/x, Asian (American), Pacific Islander, Indigenous, and Arab (American) women and trans, femme, and non-binary people of color, especially the politics of identity and representation; structural oppressions and violences; and practices of survival, resistance, and activism. Not only will we examine how these feminists have critiqued oppression(s) based on race, class, gender, sexuality, nationality, and religion, (as well as how these systems of domination intersect), but what kinds of approaches, strategies, and changes these thinkers and activists have organized for and promoted. Cross-listed with WGST 4305, ETST 4305 and ETST 5305.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
WGST 5306 - Survey of Feminist Thought (3 Credits)
Examines changes and continuities in feminist thought from the 18th century to the present, using historical and literary materials. Explores the ways that women's characteristics, experiences, and capabilities have been understood and challenged. Cross-listed with ENGL 4306, 5306, HIST 4306, 5306, WGST 4306.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5307 - History of Sexuality (3 Credits)
Explores the relationships between gender and norms, sexual practice, and ideas about sexuality in Europe and the United States. Examines how sex and sexuality have changed over time and how those changes relate to social, cultural, political and economic history. Cross-listed with WGST 4307 and HIST 4307/5307.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5308 - Contemporary Feminist Thought (3 Credits)
This course explores contemporary feminist thought in philosophy and literature in the 20th and 21st centuries. Topics include lesbianism, black feminism, Chicana feminism, transgender identity, women and work and others. Cross-listed with ENGL 4308, ENGL 5308, PHIL 4308, PHIL 5308, WGST 4308.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
WGST 5343 - Women & Gender in US History (3 Credits)
This course will explore women and gender as drivers of US history. From politics to popular culture, jobs to sexual empowerment, civil rights to economic restructuring, we will use gender as a lens to re-envision familiar stories about American history. Cross-listed with WGST 3343, HIST 3343, and HIST 5343.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5345 - Gender, Science and Medicine: 1600 to the Present (3 Credits)
Examines the ways science and medicine have both shaped and been shaped by ideas about gender. Pays particular attention to the relationship between scientific/medical ideas about the sexes and the social organization of gender. Cross-listed with WGST 4345 and HIST 4345/5345.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5420 - Goddess Traditions (3 Credits)
Explores the many forms which Goddesses have assumed through history, including the Neolithic Great Mother and her heiresses in the ancient Mediterranean cultures, such as: Isis, Ishtar, Demeter, Hecate, Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena and others, and their parallels in India. Goddess traditions have encompassed a full spectrum from virgins to Great Mothers to dark underworld Goddesses of death and destruction. Cross-listed with WGST 4420 and RLST 4420/5420.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
WGST 5494 - Red and Blue America: U.S. History, 1973-Present (3 Credits)
This course explores American history during a period of immense cultural and political polarization. After 1973, the United States experienced the rise of the New Right, changing attitudes towards sexual "permissiveness," and rapid advancements in technology. Both "law-and-order" politics and the rights campaigns led by immigrants, women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ peoples all reshaped democracy. These developments in the United States, meanwhile, influenced and were shaped by the nation's "hot" and "cold" conflicts in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and the rest of the globe. Cross-listed with WGST 4494, HIST 4494, and HIST 5494.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to degree-granting graduate programs
Typically Offered: Fall.
WGST 5500 - Feminist Philosophy (3 Credits)
Seminar on key debates & figures in historical & contemporary feminist philosophy. Topics may include: rights, embodiment, gender, sexuality, race, reason, & violence. Figures may include: Wollstonecraft, Stanton, Beauvoir, Judith Butler, and bell hooks. Cross-listed with WGST 4500, PHIL 4500 & 5500.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5510 - Whores and Saints: Medieval Women (3 Credits)
Studies how women are presented in texts, as well as works by women. Investigates the roles open to women and societal attitudes toward women, who were considered seductresses, saints, scholars and warriors in the middle ages. Cross-listed with WGST 4510, ENGL 4510/5510 and RLST 4730/5730.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
WGST 5511 - French Women Writers (3 Credits)
Designed to explore writings by French and Francophone women from the Middle Ages to the present. Addresses the question of what it means to be a woman and want to write. The selections include a wide variety of genres: autobiographical writings, stories, poems, manifestos, letters, political and historical documents. Note: This course assumes that students have passed FREN 3112 or 3122 or an equivalent course, plus one other 3000 level course in French. Cross-listed with WGST 4511 and FREN 4510/5510.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
WGST 5540 - Race, Class and Gender in Spanish Golden Age Literature (3 Credits)
Explores works of various genres in relation to their social and political contexts in 16th and 17th century Spain, emphasizing the cultural attitudes toward race, class, and gender that inform them. Cross-listed with WGST 4540 and SPAN 4340/5340.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5555 - International Women's Resistance (3 Credits)
Examines local and international struggles of women to build peace and justice by resisting systems of inequality such as colonialism, racism, patriarchy, globalization, and religious intolerance. Cross-listed with WGST 4555, ETST 4555 and PSCI 4555/5555.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5660 - Queer Media Studies (3 Credits)
Queer Media Studies, a discussion-based seminar, investigates the history of a variety of LGBTQ+ media — including news, film, television, comics, games, music, and the Internet. Students engage in a variety of media projects to explore LGBTQ+ histories, queer aspects of media production, reception, and media messages. Cross-listed with COMM 4660, COMM 5660, WGST 4660.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
WGST 5710 - Women and Religion (3 Credits)
A sociological exploration of the contemporary roles of women in religion. Course examines American and world religious groups with an eye to women's involvement. Considers how women have changed these traditions as they take on leadership roles and discusses the tensions that arise within these traditions as a result of their expanded participation. Cross-listed with HUMN 5710, SSCI 4710/5710, WGST 4710, RLST 4710/5710.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5720 - Sex, Gender, and Visual Representation (3 Credits)
Studies sexuality, gender and identity representation from classical antiquity through the present in the visual arts. Uses the literature of visuality, feminism, race and queer theory. Explores representations of femininity, masculinity and androgyny and their reinforcement and challenge to gender-identity norms. Cross-listed with HUMN 5720, HUMN 4720, IDST 5720, IDST 4720, WGST 4720
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
WGST 5770 - Viewing Empire: The Art of Imperial and Colonial Propaganda (3 Credits)
Western empires disseminate political, social, economic & cultural practices through complex interplay of cultural practices. Visual production is a complex site for meaning making within imperialism. Examines how visual discourses operated to create meaning for audiences, through focus on postcolonial critique. Cross-listed with HUMN 4770, HUMN 5770, IDST 5770, IDST 4770, SSCI 4770, SSCI 5770, WGST 4770, SJUS 4770, SJUS 5770.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
WGST 5780 - Violence in Relationships (3 Credits)
Course focuses on the study of violence among individuals involved in intimate relationships; factors in society such as norms, laws and institutions that are related to creating violence among intimates; and social policies, prevention, intervention and treatment programs. Cross-listed with SOCY 4780, SOCY 5780 and WGST 4780.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5840 - Independent Study (1-3 Credits)
Note: Students must submit a special processing form completely filled out and signed by the student and faculty member, describing the course expectations, assignments and outcomes, to the CLAS Graduate Academic Services Coordinator for approval. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 12.
WGST 5880 - Directed Research (1-6 Credits)
Students will engage in original research projects supervised and mentored by faculty. Students must work with faculty prior to registration to develop a proposal for their project and receive permission to take this course. Note: Students must submit a special processing form completely filled out and signed by the student and faculty member, describing the course expectations, assignments and outcomes, to the CLAS Graduate Academic Services Coordinator for approval. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 6.
WGST 5900 - Smart Girl Coaching Training and Practicum (3 Credits)
Course provides training (lecture and role-playing) in coaching and mentoring which will be applied to support near-peer guides in delivering the Smart Girl curriculum in school settings. Following the completion of the training, students work as coaches for teams of near-peer mentors and groups of teenage girls in the Denver Community, and apply the skills learned in their training. Repeatable.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 6.
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 5933 - Philosophy of Eros (3 Credits)
What does it mean to understand philosophy as an erotic activity? This question will be examined, first by studying Plato's dialogues-such as Lysis, Symposium and Republic-and then by reading texts from Sigmund Freud, Michael Foucault and others. Cross-listed with PHIL 4933/5933, WGST 4933, SSCI 5933 and HUMN 5933.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
WGST 6010 - Methods and Theories of Feminism and Gender Studies (3 Credits)
Provides graduate-level interdisciplinary study in historiography, methodologies and theories of women's, gender and sexuality studies and considers how culture is constructed around these categories. Cross-listed with SSCI 6010 and HUMN 6010.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors