WOMS 150.  Workshop   (2).

An umbrella course created to explore a variety of subtopics differentiated by letter (e.g., 150A, 150B). Not all subtopics are offered each semester – see the course schedule for availability. Students enroll in the lettered courses with specific topics in the titles rather than in this root course. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 150A.  Women and Compassion Fatigue   (1).

Cross-listed as SCWK 150F. High turnover rates in fields associated with caregiving are often associated with burnout or compassion fatigue. Course examines factors that contribute to compassion fatigue, how to recognize it, the ways in which it may interfere with effectiveness, and strategies to combat it. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 150N.  Introduction to Domestic Violence   (1).

Cross-listed as SCWK 150N. Introductory course examines historical, personal, social and legal perspectives of domestic violence and intimate partner violence. Explores cultural images and messages related to intimate relationships in the media, and analyzes how those messages influence beliefs about relationships. Looks at the consequences of domestic violence, how the community responds to it, and what resources exist to provide assistance. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 150O.  Sexual Assault Issues   (1).

Cross-listed as SCWK 150D. Introductory course explores cultural myths and stereotypes about rape, law enforcement and legal system issues pertaining to sexual assault and abuse, community resources, providing help, and other related issues. These topics are explored through course readings, lecture, class discussion, films and guest discussions. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 180.  Special Topics   (1-3).

An umbrella course created to explore a variety of subtopics differentiated by letter (e.g., 180A, 180B). Not all subtopics are offered each semester – see the course schedule for availability. Students enroll in the lettered courses with specific topics in the titles rather than in this root course. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 180D.  Introduction to Women's Studies   (3).

Students analyze the varieties of women's experience in contemporary American society, consider how gender relations may be changing, and investigate the historical social, political, economic, and cultural forces that shape lives relative to gender. Feminist thinking within and across academic disciplines frames the exploration of these topics. Students explore relations of inequality organized along lines of race, ethnicity, nationality, class, sexuality, ability, appearance, age, and other categories of difference, in addition to gender. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 190.  Diverse Women in Popular Culture   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Examines how women of various races, classes and ethnicities are represented in a wide variety of popular media. Encourages the critical analysis of why and how these popular representations are politically and socially significant in shaping society's perceptions of women. Also explores women's popular genres. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 287.  Women in Society: Social Issues   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Examines women's efforts to claim their identities from historical, legal and social perspectives. Includes recent laws relating to women, contemporary issues (such as rape, day care, working women, the future of marriage), agencies for change, theories of social change, and the relationship of women's rights to human rights. Course includes diversity content. This is a Kansas Systemwide Transfer Course.

WOMS 306.  Introduction to Gender Studies   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Cross-listed as SOC 306. Introduces the sociology of gender. Explores how gender is socially constructed through culture, everyday interactions, the media, and institutions such as the family, education and work. Considers the consequences of gender for relationships, sexuality, economic opportunity and well-being, with a goal of connecting theory and research on gender to personal experiences. Examines how gender intersects with other forms of social inequality, including race, social class and sexual orientation. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 313.  Global Gender Politics   (3).

Cross-listed as POLS 313. Provides a survey of various global initiatives for closing the worldwide gender gap in political participation and educational and employment opportunities. Topics of discussion may include gender-sensitive policies of the United Nations, governments and nongovernmental organizations for promoting gender equality in political leadership and participation; transnational organizing against human trafficking; and equal accessibility to affordable education, healthcare, childcare and eldercare. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 316.  Men and Masculinities   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Cross-listed as SOC 316. Presents the sociological perspective on contemporary masculinities. Students are exposed to developmental changes in masculinity across the life course and such topics as: masculine socialization, race/ethnicity variations, work, relationships, sexualities, media, family and the men's movement. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 325.  Gender and Politics   (3).

Cross-listed as POLS 325. Examines the political process of policy making using policies of current interest concerning women. Explores the association of societal gender role expectations with existing and proposed public policies that pertain to women's lives. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 330.  Women's Personal Narrative   (3).

Explores the literary genre of the journal as practiced by both historical and modern women. Examines works by both well-known diarists and little-known notebook keepers. In-class writing and out-of-class assignments; students are encouraged to do daily work in a journal of their own. Course includes diversity content. Prerequisite(s): ENGL 101, 102.

WOMS 338.  Philosophy of Feminism   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Cross-listed as PHIL 338. Explores philosophical issues raised by the feminist movement emphasizing conceptual and ethical questions. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 340.  Human Sexuality   (3).

Cross-listed as SCWK 340. Provides a forum for information and discussion on topics relating to physical, psycho-social and cultural components of human sexuality. Includes female and male sexual attributes and roles, sexual problems, alternate lifestyles, birth control, values, sexuality and cultural components of sexuality. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 345.  Gender, Alcohol and Addictions   (3).

Provides information about women's dependencies and their relationship to constructions of gender. Examines dependencies on substances and processes (alcohol, street and prescription drugs, eating disorders, and dysfunctional relationships) in their social and personal context. Examines theories of treatment and recovery in relation to feminist theory and women's roles in codependency. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 361.  Gender, Work and Culture   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Examines the image and reality of women's employment from minimum wage work to corporate board rooms, as well as women's unpaid work. Explores the impact of cultural values, societal arrangements and public policy on occupations, wages and family life. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 365.  Gender and Digital Culture   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. The evolution of digital culture and society is transforming many social issues, including those related to gender and sexual orientation. An intersectional approach is used to explore the societal ramifications of digital technology in social media, digital economy, digital activism, Web TV, digital cinema, and computing cultures. Themes include digital materiality and virtually, social equality in the digital age, and science fiction as a form of social theory. Intended for students from multiple majors and disciplines, and satisfies requirements in the Women’s Studies Core Area II: Representation and Media. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 370.  Women in World Religions   (3).

Cross-listed as REL 370. Examines past and present roles and statuses of women in various religious traditions of the world, e.g., Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. Examines the portrayal of women's roles in various religious and philosophical texts, and the redefinition of women's roles in the modern age within the contexts of these belief systems. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 380.  Special Topics   (1-3).

An umbrella course created to explore a variety of subtopics differentiated by letter (e.g., 380A, 380B). Not all subtopics are offered each semester – see the course schedule for availability. Students enroll in the lettered courses with specific topics in the titles rather than in this root course. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 380AB.  Black Women in America   (3).

Focuses on African American women’s history in the United States with certain aspects of Black women’s activism and leadership covered within the African Diaspora. Students examine the ways in which these women engaged in local, national and international freedom struggles while simultaneously defining their identities as wives, mothers, leaders, citizens and workers. The course pays special attention to the diversity of Black women’s experiences and to the dominant images of Black women in America from Mumbet (the first enslaved Black woman to sue for her freedom and win) to contemporary issues of race, sex and class in the Age of (Michelle) Obama. Participants explore such questions as: What is Black women’s history? How does Black women’s history add to the understanding of American history? Where should Black women’s history go from here? Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 380AE.  Introduction to Black Women's Studies   (3).

Black women's history, lives, political thought and cultural practices. Compares black women's own self-perceptions and behaviors with the social norms and ideals about women within the Black community and in the larger society. Examines the racial/sexual politics of black women's lives. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 380AF.  Diversity, Human Rights and the Law   (3).

Examines the role of gender in shaping public policies, primarily in the United States. Looks at the historical context and processes shaping public policy in a number of areas, such as education, family, work, crime and health. Examines the nature of contemporary policy in these areas, the role of female activists in shaping these policies, and the impact of these policies on the lives of women. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 380J.  Hip Hop and Feminism   (1-3).

Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 380Q.  Women and Animal Rights   (3).

Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 381.  Special Topics   (1-3).

An umbrella course created to explore a variety of subtopics differentiated by letter (e.g., 381A, 381B). Not all subtopics are offered each semester – see the course schedule for availability. Students enroll in the lettered courses with specific topics in the titles rather than in this root course. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 381D.  Women and Social Action   (3).

Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 382.  Feminism and Girl Culture   (3).

Focuses on the evolving area of feminist scholarship called "girls’ studies," and is informed by both the theory/criticism of the idea and the enactment of girlhood within the context of what has been understood as a subculture: girl culture. Girls' studies includes a focus on education, gender equity, psychological development socialization, identity formation, self-esteem, sexuality, political and social activism, and popular culture. Because popular culture greatly influences young girls’ processes of self-definition, students focus in large part on how media both shapes and reflects culture, and how current representations of female empowerment are attempting to navigate this supposed "postfeminist" age. Includes a film analysis component that makes it eligible for the film certificate requirement. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 385.  Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Studies   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Cross-listed as SCWK 385. Focuses on Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people, their history and culture, considering sexualities and genders as identities, social statuses, categories of knowledge, and as lenses to help us frame how we understand our world. Examines a broad range of contemporary gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender issues in various contexts including mass media, literary, sociological, political, racial, socioeconomic, biomedical and sexual. Students have the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills and practical academic skills vital to university success. Course includes books, articles, films, guest speakers. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 386.  Women and Sports   (3).

Examines the relationship of gender to definitions of athleticism as well as how women have negotiated the contradiction between the cultural equation of masculinity and athleticism. Special attention is given to Title IX and its role in increasing benefits and opportunities for U.S. women to play sports as well as the impact it has had on the development of intercollegiate women's athletics. Also considers the impact of homophobia on women's sports, the sexualization of women athletes, and new questions raised for sex-segregated sports by the fluidity of biological sex and transgendered athletes. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 387.  Women in Society: Cultural Images   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Examines the impact of cultural images and ideas in women's lives. Emphasis is on the intersection of gender and race in shaping social experience and political interest. Major topics include ideology as vehicle through which women come to belong to and negotiate society; privilege, intellectual origins of ideas about gender and race, and differences in status among women that impact their lives, their relations with men and with each other. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 389.  Gender, Science and Technology   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Using an intersectional approach, course explores how science, technology and gender have influenced one another throughout history and into the present. Students investigate science and technology’s social and cultural contexts, particularly in relation to gender, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic class, differing abilities, sexual orientation and geographic region. Themes include the history of scientific experimentation, changing understanding of nature, relationships between knowledge and embodiment, and science fiction as social theory. In addition to satisfying women’s studies requirements in Core Area III: Social Issues, this course is designed for STEM and business majors as well as for students majoring in social sciences and humanities. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 391.  Women's Global Issues   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Explores women's issues from a global perspective in relation to policies approved by the International Women's Decade conferences of the United Nations. Emphasizes understanding the impact of nationalism, race, class and cultural values in creating obstacles to women's full participation in society. Explores strategies for achieving full human rights for women. Course includes diversity content. Prerequisite(s): one course in women's studies and one course in history or political science.

WOMS 392.  Gender and Popular Music   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Highlights the global influence of African-American music, emphasizing the role of technology in the history and ongoing development of music. Students develop a variety of social issues related to popular music while foregrounding the crucial significance of women in popular music, especially women of color, LGBT women and working class women. Daily listening experience followed by guided discussion reveals the role of gender and sexualities in blues, country, rock and roll, soul/rhythm and blues, corridor, punk, hip hop and bounce, indie rock, and more. Students gain conceptual resource and precise vocabulary for describing music and its social, economic and political contexts. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 399.  Asian American Women and Men   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Cross-listed as ETHS 399. Examines the unity and diversity of historical and contemporary experiences among diverse groups of Asian Americans before and after the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1965. Analyzes the intersections of race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexual identities, citizenships and native born/immigrant status in shaping the lives of Asian Americans. Relationships between Asian American women and men and their participation in American society are also discussed. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 420.  Women and the Bible   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Cross-listed as REL 420. Examines the roles and statuses of women in biblical narrative, poetry and law, as well as the position of women in various Near Eastern societies. Attention may be given to the ways in which later theologians, novelists and artists have refashioned and re-evaluated the biblical portrayal of women in their works. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 481.  Cooperative Education   (1-4).

Provides a field placement that integrates theory with a planned and supervised professional experience designed to complement and enhance the student's academic program. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 481N.  Internship   (1-3).

Complements and enhances the student's academic program by providing an opportunity to apply and acquire knowledge in a workplace environment as an intern. Course includes diversity content. Prerequisite(s): departmental consent.

WOMS 508.  Women and the Environment   (3).

On completion of this course, students should be able to appreciate and understand: environmental challenges at a local, regional and global scale; gender and environment; the role of women in the environment; case studies of women's leadership and contribution to environmental custodianship; critical analysis and military-industrial discourse in relation to gender; relationships between environment and interactions with different types of global, illicit trade. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 510.  Hollywood Melodrama: The Woman's Film   (3).

Melodrama, as a "woman's genre," is important to the development of feminist film criticism, which interrogates the contradictory meanings of motherhood and family within this culture. Through readings and films, this course provides a stylistic, literary and cultural/historical background for this 19th-century form with a specific focus on the woman's film and the family melodrama which highlight woman's position within the home. Uses textual analysis and some psychoanalytic criticism to explore and critique the fantasies and desires expressed in the visual excesses of film melodrama. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 511.  Women in Early America, 1600-1830   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Cross-listed as HIST 511. Focuses on women and gender in U.S. history between 1600 and 1830 by examining the lives, experiences, and interactions with social, political and economic systems of women. Students read articles, books and primary documents that examine women’s experiences from the first colonial contact with Native Americans to the dawn of the first women’s movement in the 19th century. Focuses specifically on colonization, regionalism, the roles of race and ethnicity in the construction of gender, women in religious life, the impact of the American Revolution, Republican Motherhood, and women’s contributions to the public sphere and market economy. In the end, students should walk away with an understanding of women in early U.S. history and of the major historical debates concerning women’s and gender history. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 513.  Issues and Perspectives on African Women and Globalism   (3).

General education humanities course. Cross-listed as ETHS 381AC. For those whose primary notions of Africa derive from little or unconfirmed information. Uses research, writing and other expressions by African women to present women dealing with their postcolonial and globalized national contexts. When possible, a teleconference with an author is arranged for a more global learning experience. Learning through local African communities, dramatic/artistic expressions and group projects is encouraged. Aims to help students develop critical and independent thinking about Africa, African women and their global engagement. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 530.  The American Woman in History   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Cross-listed as HIST 530. Examines the history, status and changing role of women in American society. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 534.  Psychology of Women   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Cross-listed as PSY 534. Psychological assumptions, research and theories of the roles, behavior and potential of women in contemporary society. Course includes diversity content. Prerequisite(s): PSY 111.

WOMS 536.  Writing by Women   (3).

Cross-listed as ENGL 536. Explores various themes in critical approaches to literature composed by women writers, especially those whose works have been underrepresented in the literary canon. Genres and time periods covered, critical theories explored, and specific authors studied vary in different semesters. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 541.  Women, Children and Poverty   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Cross-listed as SCWK 541. Addresses the problem of poverty among women in the U.S. today, and examines existing and proposed public policies designed to alleviate the problem. Explores theoretical models of poverty policy analysis and the role of values in their formulation and implementation. Discusses issues of age, race and family; special attention is given to poverty among Kansas families. Course includes diversity content. Prerequisite(s): 6 credit hours of social science.

WOMS 542.  Women in Other Cultures   (3).

Cross-listed as ANTH 542. Deals with the place of women globally from an anthropological perspective. It examines women and gender roles and relations in various aspects of culture: political, economic, social, psychological and religious. This course compares and contrasts societies in order to see how different kinds of roles for women are related to different kinds of societies. This course also examines how culture shapes individual and social understandings of gender differences focusing on status and power issues. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 570.  Directed Readings   (1-3).

For students who wish to pursue special reading or research projects not covered in coursework. Course includes diversity content. Prerequisite(s): instructor's consent.

WOMS 571.  Contemporary Issues and Perspectives: LGBTQ   (3).

General education social and behavioral sciences course. Cross-listed as SCWK 571. Explores contemporary issues within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities. Explores personal attitudes regarding the social context for LGBTQ persons as well as other issues which have emerged as matters of concern and celebration with LGBTQ individuals and communities. Empowerment principles are employed and used to highlight a positive and affirming framework of the LGBTQ community. Students acquire basic skills in understanding issues of diversity and other contemporary conditions of life and culture. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 579.  Asian Women in Modern History   (3).

Cross-listed as ETHS 579. Examines women's historical and contemporary experiences in Asian America and eight major countries in modern Asia. Covers topics on Asian women's activism in relation to nationalism and women's rights. Investigates Asian women's roles and statuses in the family and society and their educational attainment and contributions to the export-oriented industrialization of the Asia-Pacific region. Examines the intra-regional migration of female guest workers among various countries in Asia. Traces the ways in which the changes in immigration laws during the 20th century affect patterns of Asian women's migration to the United States. Introduces writing that integrates Asian women's lives and Asian American experiences into the discourses on ethnicity, national origin, class, gender and sexual orientation in the United States and the Asia-Pacific region. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 580.  Special Topics   (1-3).

An umbrella course created to explore a variety of subtopics differentiated by letter (e.g., 580A, 580B). Not all subtopics are offered each semester – see the course schedule for availability. Students enroll in the lettered courses with specific topics in the titles rather than in this root course. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 580J.  Domestic Violence   (3).

Cross-listed as CJ 522, SCWK 590. Deals with the roots of domestic violence embedded in family roles, legal systems, religious beliefs, and the psychology of women, children and men. Also covers the consequences and prevention of family abuse. Includes discussion of literature and films. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 580M.  Coloring Outside the Lines: Exploring Intersections of Race, Gender and Ethnicity   (3).

Reviews historical events and contemporary headlines and engages students in courageous conversations as a means of inspiring them to think critically about race and its role in society. Though the course discusses the popular yet controversial Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement that inspires its title, the course spends more time looking at BLM as a statement that describes the sentiment of many Blacks that their lives are insignificant in the eyes of mainstream America. With respect to research connecting academic and professional success with identity, this course also encourages students to reflect and discuss their personal identities as they relate to the discrimination and oppression of Black people in America. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 580T.  Women and Aging   (3).

Cross-listed as PHS 515. Introduces students to issues in aging that are unique to women, to women's diverse developmental patterns, and to research methods appropriate for studying aging women and their life experiences. Topics include physical change, role transitions and adaptation from a life span perspective. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 580Z.  Dangerous Women in Film   (3).

The cinematic body of the woman has long been the central focus for theories of spectatorship and psychoanalytic film theory as well as feminist media and cultural studies. As such it provides rich material for an interdisciplinary conversation not only about socio-cultural and psychological constructions of gender, sexualities, and power; but also on the disparate (oftentimes simultaneously depicted) images of woman as both positively empowering and negatively demeaning. By focusing on the role of empowered female iconography expressed visually and thematically, this course explores various filmic representations of “dangerous” women, and examines how and why these representations are politically, socially, and theoretically significant. We apply various critical methods of analysis (psychoanalysis, ideology critique, close textual analysis, narrative) to approach women’s representation, in particular, the Femme Fatale (dark lady, evil seductress) and the Fighting F-toy (action chick, latex killer) to examine the influential role of the male/ spectator gaze on the creation of the empowered female icon. Because this course is for both new and experienced film students, the curriculum includes both introductory and advanced content. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 587.  Theories of Feminism   (3).

Because feminism is not a single ideological stance or perspective, course examines a variety of ideas underlying feminist cultural critiques and visions for social change. Discusses the contribution of women's studies to various academic disciplines. Course includes diversity content. Prerequisite(s): WOMS 287, 387, or 6 hours of women's studies courses, or instructor's consent.

WOMS 588.  Gender, Race and the West/East Divide   (3).

General education social behavioral sciences course. Examines critically the role of gender and race in the making of a supposed essential divide between the West and the East. Students are introduced to Edward Said's concept of Orientalism and the field of critique that targets how Europe and the U.S. craft an identity the West via its other, called variously, the Orient, Islam, the Muslim world, and the Arab world. Questions explored include: What is Orientalism? What is the relationship between colonialism/imperialism and the representation of the Orient or the East? How, for whom, and for what purposes do gender and race matter in this construct of a divide between West and East? These questions are examined across genres and media — i.e., in travel accounts, film, literature, policy making and news reportage. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 599.  WEIS Capstone: Women-Ethnicity-Intersectionality   (3).

Allows students to research and apply their knowledge of women, ethnicity and intersectionality. Provides students a way to delve into their developed interests within the major, conduct research, and apply learning through written and oral communication skills that reflect the previous stages of their acquired knowledge. Students are highly encouraged to use the opportunity of the Diverse Women’s Summit to apply their learning. Course includes diversity content.

WOMS 701.  Selected Topics in Women's Studies   (3).

An umbrella course created to explore a variety of subtopics differentiated by letter (e.g., 701A, 701B). Not all subtopics are offered each semester – see the course schedule for availability. Students enroll in the lettered courses with specific topics in the titles rather than in this root course. Course includes diversity content. Prerequisite(s): departmental consent.