Critical Gender Studies  

[ program | faculty ]

All courses, faculty listings, and curricular and degree requirements described herein are subject to change or deletion without notice. Updates may be found on the Academic Senate website: http://senate.ucsd.edu/catalog-copy/approved-updates/.

Courses

For course descriptions not found in the UC San Diego General Catalog, 2015–16, please contact the department for more information.

Lower Division

CGS 2A. Introduction to Critical Gender Studies: Social Movements (4)

The role of social movements in contesting rights and representation in comparative and historical contexts. Historical examples in the U.S. and other locations, including civil rights, men’s movements, antiracist feminism, women’s movements, AIDS activism, transgenderism, immigrant rights, and the labor movement in the U.S.

CGS 2B. Introduction to Critical Gender Studies: Gender and Institutions (4)

This course examines how gender organizes and is organized by institutions. Domains of inquiry may include family, education, medicine, technology, law, media, the workplace, immigration, and citizenship.

CGS 87. Critical Gender Studies Freshman Seminar (1)

The Freshman Seminar Program is designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small, seminar setting. Freshman Seminars are offered in all campus departments and undergraduate colleges, and topics vary from quarter to quarter. Enrollment is limited to fifteen to twenty students, with preference given to entering freshmen.

Upper Division

CGS 100. Conceptualizing Gender: Theories and Methods (4)

This course will compare the uses of gender as a category of analysis across academic disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences with particular attention to research methodologies.

CGS 101. Gender, Modernity, and Globalization (4)

The global effects of modernity, modernization, and globalization on men and women. Topics: international consumer culture; international divisions of labor; construction of sexuality and gender within global movements; the migrations of people, capital, and culture. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.

CGS 102. Selected Topics in Critical Gender Studies (4)

An interdisciplinary course focusing on one of a variety of topics in gender studies, such as gender and science, the body, reproductive technologies, public policy. May be taken for credit three times when topics vary. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.

CGS 103. Feminist Theory (4)

An interdisciplinary course in feminist theory. Topics may range from a general survey of feminist theory in a variety of disciplines to a more focused interdisciplinary theoretical topic such as postmodernism and feminism. May be taken for credit three times when topics vary. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.

CGS 104. Advanced Topics in Comparative Perspectives (4)

Focuses on the relationship between gender and culture from a multiplicity of perspectives. Possible topics could include gender and ethnicity, gender across class, and other topics to be examined in a cross-cultural framework. May be taken for credit two times when topics vary. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.

CGS 105. Queer Theory (4)

Examines the different methodologies and disciplinary histories that together constitute the interdisciplinary project called queer studies. Of particular interest will be how these different methodologies and history construe and construct the relations between gender, race, class, and nation. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.

CGS 106. Gender Equality and the Law (4)

Explores the legal treatment of discrimination on the basis of gender, including equal protection doctrine and some statutory law such as Title VII. Topics include the meaning of gender equality in such areas as single-sex education, military service, sexual harassment, discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, and other current issues. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.

CGS 111. Gender and the Body (4)

Various approaches to the study of gendered bodies. Possible topics to include masculinities/feminities; lifecycles; biology, culture, and identity; medical discourses; and health issues. May be taken for credit three times when topics vary. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.

CGS 112. Sexuality and Nation (4)

(Cross-listed with ETHN 127.) This course explores the nexus of sex, race, ethnicity, gender, and nation and considers their influence on identity; sexuality; migration movement and borders; and other social, cultural, and political issues that these constructs affect. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.

CGS 113. Gender and Sexuality in the Arts (4)

Examines gender and sexuality in artistic practices: music, theatre, dance, performance, visual arts, and new media. Topics may include study of specific artists, historical moments, genres, cross-cultural analyses, and multiculturalism. May be taken three times when topics vary. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.

CGS 114. Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Class (4)

(Cross-listed with ETHN 183.) Gender is often neglected in studies of ethnic/racial politics. This course explores the relationship of race, ethnicity, class, and gender by examining the participation of working class women of color in community politics and how they challenge mainstream political theory.

CGS 115. Latina/o Sexualities (4)

(Cross-listed with ETHN 187.) The construction and articulation of Latina/o sexualities will be explored in this course through interdisciplinary and comparative perspectives. We will discuss how immigration, class, and norms of ethnicity, race, and gender determine the construction, expression, and reframing of Latina/o sexualities.

CGS 116. Girls and Sexuality: Moral Panics, Perils, and Pleasures (4)

Explores how girls' sexualities are shaped by gender, race, class, educational and penal institutions, and sexual norms. Engages with interdisciplinary scholarship that examines how and why the topic of girls and sexuality has become a volatile subject of public debate, and the manner in which girls' sexualities are represented in various media, particularly film.

CGS 147. Black Feminisms, Past and Present (4)

(Cross-listed with ETHN 147.) An advanced introduction to historical and contemporary black feminisms in the United States and transnationally. Students will explore the theory and practice of black feminists/womanists and analyze the significance of black feminism to contemporary understandings of race, class, gender, and sexuality.

CGS 150. Visuality, Sexuality, and Race (4)

(Cross-listed with ETHN 150.) Examines the role of the visual in power relations; the production of what we see regarding race and sexuality; the interconnected history of the caste system, plantation slavery, visuality and contemporary society; decolonial and queer counternarratives to visuality. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

CGS 165. Sex and Gender in African American Communities (4)

(Cross-listed with ETHN 165.) This course will investigate the changing constructions of sex, gender, and sexuality in African American communities defined by historical period, region, and class. Topics will include the sexual division of labor, myths of black sexuality, the rise of black feminism, black masculinity, and queer politics.

CGS 190. Honors Seminar (4)

Interdisciplinary readings in feminist theory and research methodology to prepare students for writing an honors thesis. Open to critical gender studies majors who have been admitted to Critical Gender Studies Honors Program. May be applied toward primary concentration in critical gender studies major. Prerequisites: admission to Critical Gender Studies Honors Program and department preauthorization required.

CGS 192: Senior Seminar in Critical Gender Studies (1)

The Senior Seminar is designed to allow senior undergraduates to meet with faculty members in a small group setting to explore an intellectual topic in critical gender studies (at the upper-division level). Topics will vary from quarter to quarter. Senior Seminars may be taken for credit up to four times with a change in topic and permission of the department. Enrollment is limited to twenty students, with preference given to seniors. Prerequisites: upper-division standing; department stamp and/or consent of instructor.

CGS 196A. Critical Gender Studies Honors Research (4)

A program of independent study providing candidates for critical gender studies honors to develop, in consultation with an adviser, a preliminary proposal for the honors thesis. An IP grade will be awarded at the end of this quarter. A final grade for both quarters will be given upon completion of Critical Gender Studies 196B. Prerequisites: consent of instructor and department preauthorization required.

CGS 196B. Honors Thesis (4)

Honors thesis research and writing for students who have completed Critical Gender Studies 190 and 196A. A letter grade for both Critical Gender Studies 196A and 196B will be given at the completion of this quarter. Prerequisites: consent of instructor and department preauthorization required.

CGS 198. Directed Group Study (4)

Directed group study on a topic not generally included in the critical gender studies curriculum. Prerequisites: consent of instructor and director of Critical Gender Studies Program and department stamp required.

CGS 199. Independent Study (4)

Tutorial; independent study on a topic not generally included in the curriculum. Prerequisites: consent of instructor and director of Critical Gender Studies Program and department stamp required.

CGS 500. Apprentice Teaching in Critical Gender Studies (4)

Consideration of pedagogical methods appropriate to undergraduate teaching in critical gender studies courses under supervision of instructor of course. Instructor will define apprentice’s responsibilities in preparing class presentations, directing student discussions, evaluating and grading students’ work, and maintaining productive association with students.