Graduate Courses

26:988:532 Feminist Theory and History (3) This core course will introduce students to the intellectual history and defining theoretical discussions that have occurred in the fields of feminist theory and women and gender studies. It will examine a series of historical periods and situations that highlight the interconnections of these theoretical discussions, and illustrate a history of changes within feminist theory itself. This course will address the complex dynamic of the history of women and men as it intersects with gendered social and cultural formations. Theories that emerge from nondominant contexts will also be used to decenter feminist theory's own intellectual history: for example, woman of color theory within the United States, debates around feminism and women's development from global perspectives, as well as LGBT or queer theory.

26:988:570 Feminist Research Methods (3) This is an interdisciplinary study of approaches to research and research methodologies used by feminist scholars across the disciplines to study issues related to women, gender, and sexuality. The course is designed to expand the graduate student's knowledge of feminist theories and methods in both the humanities and the social sciences, and to encourage discussion and critical thinking about contemporary debates among feminist and gender studies scholars. The course will also provide the graduate student with basic tools to apply feminist research methods in the student's disciplinary research. The course will cover the relationship between feminist theory and research practice, feminist critiques of science, and the development of feminist epistemologies; it will also provide an overview of feminist research/interpretive methods and key debates among feminist scholars regarding feminist research and methodology. It will familiarize students with a variety of qualitative and quantitative research methods for giving voice to women's experiences and making visible the frequently invisible and undercounted aspects of women's lives. The course will provide students with hands-on experiences with research, including using the internet and electronic databases in research, critically interpreting data from secondary sources, designing and conducting an interview, giving an oral presentation of research results, working with a collaborative research team, and preparing a research proposal.

Because students in the course will come from different disciplinary traditions and approaches, students will, with the guidance of the professor, determine which methods are most appropriate for their work and how to apply feminist theories and methods to their own research.