Director: Claire Sahlin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Telephone: (940) 898-2255

 
Location: Blagg-Huey Library 324
Telephone: (940) 898-2119
E-mail: womenstudies@twu.edu
Web site: www.twu.edu/as/ws/
Fax: 940-898-2101

Faculty: Associate Professor B. Phillips (Women’s Studies and Sociology); Visiting Assistant Professor A. Waters (Women's Studies); Assistant Professor V. May (Women’s Studies)- On leave during the TWU 2000-2001 academic year. Undergraduate and graduate courses are regularly taught by over thirty faculty from across the University.

The Women’s Studies Program offers a Master of Arts degree in Women’s Studies and an undergraduate minor. An undergraduate major is pending.

As an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural field, Women’s Studies establishes new scholarly and applied possibilities through expanding and questioning existing modes of knowledge.

At the undergraduate level, minors are required to take 2013: Women: Images and Perspectives and five other courses of their choice. Students generally elect to focus these five courses in an area that: (1) enhances their major; (2) provides depth to their major; or (3) allows the student to pursue an area of personal or professional interest. Most courses at the undergraduate level are cross-listed with other academic programs.

At the graduate level, the program offers the first freestanding Master of Arts Degree in Women’s Studies in the State of Texas (for further information, see the graduate catalog and visit the program’s web site - www.twu.edu/as/ws/).

Women’s Studies Undergraduate Courses

WS 1013. Women in Learning Communities. Interdisciplinary introduction to the acquisition, dissemination and preservation of knowledge from women’s perspectives. Centers on the intellectual creativity of various disciplines, women’s contributions to the disciplines, and career opportunities resulting from the disciplines. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 2013. Women: Images and Perspectives. An inter-disciplinary approach to the study of the status and role of women. Examines myths and realities of women’s experience across various socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, and cultural groupings. Focuses on women in relation to themselves, to others, to institutions, and to society. Emphasis on the self as an agent of social change. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 2023. Women and Leadership: theory and practice. Explores and challenges women’s relationships to nature and the environment through textual and experiential learning as influenced by a range of feminist perspectives. Uses critical thinking skills from both theoretical and practical perspectives, thus merging feminist theory and practice. Fosters leadership by connecting tangible, physical experiences in the outdoors to a thorough consideration of the existing literature. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 2053. The Role of Women in Engineering, Math and Science. Examination of reasons why women and minorities are traditionally underrepresented in the areas of engineering, mathematics and science and will include strategies, useful for any discipline, which emphasize solutions incorporating both current and emerging technologies. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 2093. Women as Citizens: Women and Community Activism. Same as HIST 2093. Interdisciplinary analysis of women’s roles in community building from colonial period to present and examination of current grassroots activism in the United States and worldwide. Emphasis on women leaders, interest groups, and movements impacting the political process. Required community service internship. Prerequisites: ENG 1013 and 1023; HIST 1013 and 1023 and either GOV 2013 or 2023. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 2803. Women in Business. Same as BUS 2803. The study of the status and roles of women working both inside and outside the domestic workforce. Examines myths and realities of women’s experiences across various socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, and cultural groupings. Surveys advances made by women in the workforce and coping techniques developed by practitioners to enable women to be valued in terms of professional competencies rather than gender stereotypes. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 3013. Gender and Education. An interdisciplinary examination of the relationship between gender and education in the U.S. Explores how gender relationships and created, maintained, enacted, and transformed through educational structures, practices and institutions. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 3063. Women in Politics. Same as GOV 3063. Impact of gender on power and influence in society; political socialization, participation and leadership of women; women’s political issues and movements. Prerequisite: Three hours of government or consent of instructor. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 3083. Ethics and Feminism. Same as PHIL 3083. A comprehensive study of the literature, principles and linguistic impact of contemporary ethics with special emphasis on the origins, authors and audiences related to feminist philosophy. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 3091. The Extended Classroom. Small groups will provide students an opportunity for discussion and exchange of ideas relating to topics or materials presented in organized classes. Concurrent enrollment in selected lecture topics in sociology and women’s studies. Pass-fail grade only. May be repeated for credit when concurrent enrollment varies. One seminar hour a week. Credit: One hour.

WS 3093. Women’s Health Issues in the Workplace. Same as NURS 3093 and OT 3093. Examines health issues impacting women in the work place. Analyzes historical and current factors influencing the well-being of women at work, incorporating views of feminist theorists. Studies cultural influences on choice of occupation and balance of work and home responsibilities. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 3133. Perspectives on Women’s Health. Same as HS 3133 and NURS 3133. Feminist theory provides framework for exploration of women’s health care issues throughout the life span. Examines roles of women as providers and consumers of health care. Emphasizes the interface of gender, socio-economic and minority status, and medicalization of women’s health. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 3213. Women’s Roles. Same as SOCI 3213. Women’s roles are examined in the context of social institutions such as the family, the economy and the government. Implications of sexual inequality, changing gender roles, and diversity by race, ethnicity, class and age. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 3393. Law for Women. Same as BUS 3393 and GOV 3393. Impact of gender on legal status: evolution of the current legal environment, with an emphasis on parallels between racial and gender discrimination; substantive law regarding working conditions, compensation, education, the family, reproductive rights and criminal law; feminist perspectives on legal reforms to improve the professional and personal lives of women and men. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 3703. Women in Music. An examination of music from the historical, cultural, and contemporary perspectives of women. Topics will include women as composers and performers, and the cultural values that have affected women’s participation in musical life. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 3733. Psychology of Women. Same as PSY 3733. Issues in the development and behavior of women, including theoretical perspectives, male-female differences, achievement, motivation, stereotypes, androgyny, sexuality, career choices, mental health and disorder, psychotherapy, life-span and special sub-groups. Prerequisites: PSY 1013 and junior standing or permission of the instructor. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 3903. Political Communication and Women of Color. Examines the rhetorical strategies and the cultural-historical differences and similarities of women of color in the U.S. Focuses on race/ethnicity, class and gender as socially and politically constructed and the influences of various media used for political discourse and identity. Three lectures hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 4013. Texts, Trends and Issues in Women’s Studies. Focuses on contemporary women’s issues ; a body of research or scholarly work relevant to women’ or topics of a specialized nature such as women and health, women and leadership, women and work, or women of color. May be repeated for credit. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 4113. The Family. Same as SOCI 4013. A sociological and feminist analysis of the family as an institution and of the processes and dynamics of the interpersonal relations of marriage and family life. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 4203. Family Violence. Examines the various forms of family violence and sexual assault with an emphasis on women as victims and as survivors. Theoretical explanations, research literature, treatment, and prevention will be studied in relation to child abuse, battering, incest, and sexual assault. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 4393. American Women and Literature. Same as ENG 4393. Emphasis on the changing images of major female characters and on the contributions of major female writers from the colonial period to the present. Focus may be on fiction or on poetry and drama. Prerequisite: 12 hours of English. May be repeated for credit when topic varies. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 4493. Feminist Theory. Explores the diversity of feminist theory and its applications to the social, political, and intellectual contexts of women’s lives. Includes consideration of historical context for the development of the theoretical perspectives and critiques their analytical strengths and weaknesses. Attention also give to particular theorists. Foundation course in women’s studies. Prerequisite: WS 2013. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 4863. The Female Experience in American History. Same as HIST 4863. Focus on the changing role of women in America, on a comparsion of the differences and similarities between male and female experiences, and on society’s changing attitudes towards women. Special emphasis on the health sciences, textiles, education, and politics. Prerequisite: Three hours of history. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.

WS 4903. The Evolving Woman. Emphasizes the physiological, psychological, socio-cultural, and developmental evolution of the female from conception to death. Focuses on issues of each age group from a feminist perspective. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: Three hours.
 

Women’s Studies Graduate Courses

WS 5013. Emerging Issues and Perspectives.

WS 5343. Feminist Theories.

WS 5353. Feminist Pedagogy.

WS 5363. Feminist Epistemology.

WS 5463. Women of Color.

WS 5663. Women’s Studies Seminar.

WS 5913. Individual Study.

WS 5973. Professional Paper.

WS 5983. Thesis.

WS 5993. Thesis.