Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies
Judy Rohrer, Director
program web page
Faculty
Core/Joint Faculty: Mimi Marinucci, Judy Rohrer, Jessi Willis.
Affiliated Faculty: Deidre Almeida, Kerryn Bell, Bipasha Biswas, Justin Bucciferro, Patricia Chantrill, Christina Torres Garcia, Catherine Girard, Kayleen Islam-Zwart, Kathryn Julyan, Ryan Parrey, Elizabeth Rognes, LaVona Reeves, Natalia Ruiz-Rubio, Julia Smith, Deborah Svoboda, Beth Torgerson.
Degrees
BA–Gender, Women's & Sexuality Studies
Minor–Sexuality & Queer Studies
Minor–Women’s & Gender Studies
Required courses in these programs of study may have prerequisites. Reference the course description section for clarification.
Undergraduate Programs
Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies (GWSS) is an interdisciplinary field that integrates theory and practice with the aim of transforming social relations, representations, knowledges, institutions, and policies. GWSS works toward these goals by producing and disseminating knowledge through research, teaching, and activism. The interdisciplinary field provides students with the skills to critically and actively engage with the world around them.
Mission Statement
The Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies program at Eastern Washington University generates opportunities for interdisciplinary feminist analysis and knowledge creation while fostering leadership in intersectional activism.
How We Achieve Our Mission
- Building awareness and understanding of difference, power, and privilege.
- Enhancing the experience and strengthening the qualifications of students as they prepare for careers in a wide range of fields.
- Supporting interdisciplinary feminist scholarship and creative works among faculty, students, and staff.
- Collaborating with campus and community partners that are focused on centering lived experiences of those who have been historically marginalized.
Our core values of equity, inclusivity, and justice are embedded in all that we do.
The Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies (GWSS) program offers a major, a minor in Women's & Gender Studies, and a minor in Sexuality & Queer Studies.
The GWSS major will fulfill partial requirements for a Bachelor of Arts degree. This interdisciplinary major is designed to foster personal and intellectual development, cultivate civic engagement, and provide a sound foundation relevant for employment in a variety of occupations within academia, the private sector, the professions, government, and the nonprofit sector. This 45-credit major requires the completion of a minor and provides students with the opportunity to choose a second major to enhance career or post-graduate study opportunities.
The GWSS Program works closely with the Women's and Gender Education (WAGE) Center on projects such as the Activist-In-Residence (AiR) Program. The Center maintains a lounge, a library and offers numerous presentations and events. GWSS and WAGE welcome participation by all members of the university community.
Gender, Women’s, & Sexuality Studies Courses
GWSS 101. INTRODUCTION TO GENDER, WOMEN'S AND SEXUALITY STUDIES. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: HUMN 101.
Satisfies: a BACR for humanities and arts.
This interdisciplinary course is designed to introduce you to the study of women, gender, feminism, and systems of oppression and privilege. We will draw upon a diverse collection of writing, classroom exercises, films, and discussions to better understand women’s experiences (primarily in the U.S.) both empirically and theoretically.
GWSS 150. GENDER, SEXUALITY AND POWER. 5 Credits.
Pre-requisites: GWSS 101.
This course focuses on sex, gender and sexuality in our lives and within social institutions. It builds on GWSS 101 delving deeper into intersectional feminist analyses in areas such as: health and reproductive justice, family systems, paid and unpaid labor, state law and social policy, and collective action.
GWSS 195. INTERNSHIP. 1-5 Credits.
Internship.
GWSS 196. EXPERIMENTAL. 1-5 Credits.
Experimental.
GWSS 197. WORKSHOP, SHORT COURSE, CONFERENCE, SEMINAR. 1-5 Credits.
Workshop.
GWSS 220. INTRODUCTION TO LGBTQ+STUDIES. 5 Credits.
Satisfies: a BACR for humanities and arts.
This course explores the interdisciplinary scholarship on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender identities and histories, as well as queer and emerging identities.
GWSS 250. GENDER, REPRESENTATION AND POPULAR CULTURE. 5 Credits.
Satisfies: a BACR for humanities and arts.
Students will apply a critical lens on the representation of gender in popular cultural mediums including film, TV, music, the Internet, social media, video games, and magazines. Employing intersectional theory, other social categories are considered including but not limited to, sexuality, race, ability, and class.
GWSS 266. GENDER, HEALTH AND MARGINALIZATION. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: DSST 266, ANTR 266.
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201 or equivalent.
Satisfies: a BACR for social sciences.
This interdisciplinary course explores personal, social, and political concerns regarding gender and health, including public health practice, epidemiological research, health policy, and access to health services. It includes discussion of health and reproductive justice activism.
GWSS 296. EXPERIMENTAL. 1-5 Credits.
Experimental.
GWSS 299. DIRECTED STUDY. 1-5 Credits.
Directed Study.
GWSS 303. THE BODY IN ART. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: ART 314, HONS 303.
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201 and junior standing.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–diversity.
Many ideas about race, gender, and sexuality originate in representations of the body. This theme-based survey explores how figurative art has contributed, since prehistory, to shape today’s views. Emphasis in on applying contemporary issues, such as consent and identity, to the study of historical artworks. Includes class discussions and weekly writing assignments about art historical and critical texts that examine the production and perpetuation of cultural attitudes about the body.
GWSS 314. GENDER AND COMMUNICATION. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: CMST 314.
Pre-requisites: sophomore standing.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–diversity.
This course examines current research on the interactions among language, gender and communication in contemporary social and cultural contexts.
GWSS 316. HISTORY OF WOMEN IN SCIENCE. 4 Credits.
Cross-listed: HONS 316.
Pre-requisites: Mathematic and English proficiency.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–diversity.
An introduction to the history of women in the STEM fields. Students will evaluate the factors that led to women being underrepresented in the STEM fields and the existing science gender data gaps. Prominent women scientists will also be highlighted.
GWSS 321. CARE AND CUSTODY OF FEMALE OFFENDERS. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: PSYC 321.
Pre-requisites: junior standing.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–diversity.
This course explores the care and custody of female offenders in the criminal justice system, with particular focus on psychological factors and mental health treatment.
GWSS 324. ECONOMICS OF POVERTY AND DISCRIMINATION. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: AAST 324, ECON 324.
Notes: ECON 100, or ECON 200, or ECON 201 can be substituted for the junior standing prerequisite with instructor approval.
Pre-requisites: junior standing.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–diversity.
Causes of poverty and evaluation of anti-poverty programs. Examines economic theories of discrimination from different perspectives with a particular focus on issues of gender and race.
GWSS 326. BODIES, SOCIALIZATION AND CULTURE. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: CDST 326, DSST 326.
Notes: CDST students only: CDST 300.
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201 or equivalent.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–diversity.
This course examines cultural beliefs about gender, sex, sexuality, and the body. Experiences throughout our lifetimes impact ways that we learn to embody gender, express sexuality, and live in our bodies. We use intersectional feminist approaches to consider the variety of lived, embodied experiences and social effects of categorizing bodies.
GWSS 331. PSYCHOLOGY OF WOMEN. 4 Credits.
Cross-listed: PSYC 331.
Pre-requisites: English proficiency (ENGL 201 or equivalent).
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–diversity.
The psychology of women and gender in terms of history, bodies, socialization, personality, affiliation, achievement, motivation, mental health, and personal growth needs.
GWSS 332. ANTHROPOLOGY OF GENDER. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: ANTR 332.
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201 or equivalent.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–diversity.
This course examines notions of sex and gender from a cross-cultural perspective. Material covered includes understandings of gender, third genders, human sexuality and the gendered nature of activities in both non-Western and Western societies.
GWSS 339. TOPICS: ISSUES IN GENDER. 2-5 Credits.
Notes: may be repeated with different topics.
Pre-requisites: GWSS 101.
This seminar course will focus in-depth on specific topics in feminism and/or Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies. Topics may range from historical to contemporary, across time and cultures. Topic selection will vary by instructor; may be repeated for credit.
GWSS 340. TRANSNATIONAL FEMINISMS. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: INST 340.
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201 or equivalent.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–global studies.
This class challenges notions of “global sisterhood” by centering decolonial, Indigenous, post-colonial, queer of color, immigrant, and anti-imperialist feminist activism and theorizing. We employ a gendered lens to global politics, exploring transnational themes such as nationalism, fundamentalism, migration, neoliberalism, representation, “development” and global economies, war and militarism, human rights, and solidarity.
GWSS 351. GENDER AND WAR IN THE 20TH CENTURY. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: HIST 351.
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201 or permission of instructor.
This course explores the relationship between social constructions of gender and the history of war in the 20th century. Topics include how gender is used to justify war and the use of gender ideologies in pacifist movements. The course also looks at ways that individual men and women experienced war and war’s effects on the social, sexual, psychological, political and economic aspects of individuals’ lives.
GWSS 360. WOMEN IN PRISON. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: CRIM 360.
In this course, we examine the socio-structural relationships between women’s lives and women’s crimes and explore how race, class and gender assumptions shape the experiences of female correctional officers and female inmates. In addition, we analyze how the prison rules and regulations that girls and women have to abide by are deeply gendered. Since the 1980s, the number of women and girls incarcerated has increased drastically. Yet, we know very little about female criminality.
GWSS 376. CONTEMPORARY INDIGENOUS WOMEN. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: IDST 376.
Pre-requisites: sophomore standing or permission from the instructor.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–global studies.
This course is designed to introduce students to the role of Indigenous women in the struggles for national self determination from a historical/cultural/spiritual/political context. Historically, Indigenous women have always played a very prominent and powerful role within all spheres of Indigenous social/political/cultural and economic issues affecting indigenous nations from a contemporary context.
GWSS 383. WOMEN IN AMERICAN HISTORY. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: HIST 383.
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201 or permission of instructor.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–diversity.
Students will study women’s experiences in American history from pre-colonial society to the 21st century. Students will reconsider traditional timelines and motivations in the development of the United States, while analyzing how women’s experiences have been shaped not just by their gender identity, but also by their racial, ethnic, sexual, cultural and class identities. Students will evaluate the distinct and unique roles of women in national events and major transitions in American society.
GWSS 386. CHILDREN AND THE FAMILY. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: CDST 386.
Pre-requisites: CDST 300 or instructor approval.
This course examines children’s roles in the family and the dynamic relationship between the family and other social institutions (e.g. health care system, legal system, economy, education). This course uses various theoretical frameworks (e.g., structural functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism, feminist theory, family systems, social learning theory) to understand families.
GWSS 389. WOMEN, LITERATURE AND SOCIAL CHANGE. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: ENGL 389.
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–diversity.
Examines fictional images of women as these images reflect the changing roles and status of women from Greece to the present, focusing on the 19th and 20th centuries.
GWSS 396. EXPERIMENTAL. 1-5 Credits.
Experimental.
GWSS 397. WORKSHOP, SHORT COURSE, CONFERENCE, SEMINAR. 1-5 Credits.
Workshop.
GWSS 398. SEMINAR. 1-5 Credits.
Seminar.
GWSS 399. DIRECTED STUDY. 1-5 Credits.
Directed Study.
GWSS 413. GENDER AND YOUTH CULTURE. 5 Credits.
Pre-requisites: HUMN 101, GWSS 101, or permission of instructor.
This course investigates the shaping of gender generationally, culturally and historically. A specific focus on girl culture invites critical considerations of the ways that masculinity and femininity change over time and simultaneously interact with socially imposed dichotomies of “girlhood / boyhood.”
GWSS 414. GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN GLOBAL CINEMA. 5 Credits.
Pre-requisites: HUMN 101, GWSS 101, or permission of instructor.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–global studies.
This course investigates various constructions of sexuality and nationality within global cinematic representations of intimacy, desire and the body. Students will develop media literacy skills for critically engaging with diverse cultural stories and images that communicate internationally diverse understandings of sexuality, gender, class, race and nation.
GWSS 415. FEMINIST THEORIES. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: HUMN 415, PHIL 415.
Pre-requisites: GWSS 101 or upper level GWSS or PHIL course.
Feminist theories developed to explain women’s subordinate position in society and current trends in feminist thought. Includes psychoanalytic feminism, feminist literary criticism and cross-cultural views of feminism.
GWSS 416. GENDER AND MEDIA. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: CMST 416.
Pre-requisites: junior standing.
This course examines some of the relationships between media in the U.S. and social constructions of gender and sexuality.
GWSS 417. WOMEN AND ETHICS. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: PHIL 417.
Pre-requisites: one of the following: GWSS 101, PHIL 211, PHIL 212.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–diversity.
The course will begin with a brief examination of the treatment of women within traditional ethics. We will then address the views of early women philosophers, followed by a close analysis of contemporary feminist approaches to ethics.
GWSS 418. DISABILITY AS DIVERSITY. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: DSST 410.
Notes: may be stacked with DSST 510.
Pre-requisites: junior standing or instructor permission required.
This course teaches students to recognize, analyze, and comprehend disability, and disabled persons, as part of the rich tapestry of human experience; including disability intersections with other diverse identities and groups in society. Working through interdisciplinary scholarship, cultural artifacts, and first-person accounts, students will learn how disability compliments and also complicate existing identity categories and notions of diversity.
GWSS 419. SEX, SEXUALITY AND COMMUNICATION. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: CMST 419.
Pre-requisites: one WMST course or CMST course.
This seminar examines the construction of sexuality and sexual identity through communication, with a focus on the relationship between public policy and private sexuality.
GWSS 420. QUEER THEORY. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: PHIL 420.
Pre-requisites: any upper division GWSS or PHIL course.
This course examines the emerging field of queer theory. Queer theory questions the stability of various identity categories, suggesting instead that all performances of sex, gender, and sexuality are influenced by cultural, historical and political factors.
GWSS 425. FAMILY VIOLENCE. 4 Credits.
Cross-listed: SOWK 425.
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201.
This interdisciplinary course addresses contemporary concerns about family violence and discusses feminist perspectives on violence in the family. Theories about the historical and socio-cultural context of family violence and other explanatory theories provide frameworks for understanding personal and societal responses to family violence. Discussions include dynamics of trauma and recovery and all forms of family violence. Treatment approaches are discussed.
GWSS 427. ECONOMICS OF WOMEN AND WORK. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: ECON 427.
Pre-requisites: junior standing.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–diversity.
Economic impact of the increasing participation of women in the paid labor force of the United States. Economic theories of labor force participation, discrimination and occupational segregation. Current issues such as comparable worth, affirmative action, nontraditional careers, corporate policies, sexual harassment, child care and social welfare programs.
GWSS 429. WOMEN AND MEN IN THE U.S. ECONOMY. 1 Credit.
Cross-listed: ECON 429.
In the course we examine the economic activity and labor force participation of women and men in the United States. Employment issues, such as labor market discrimination, affirmative action and comparable worth will be discussed. Other topics include income distribution, poverty, welfare programs and the tax system.
GWSS 430. AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN'S HISTORY. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: AAST 430
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201.
This course examines historical writings by and about Black women, discussing slavery, lynching, combating prejudices and encouraging racial pride to provide a framework that will deepen understanding of the topic.
GWSS 440. WOMEN AND PHILOSOPHY. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: PHIL 440.
Pre-requisites: at least 4 credits in WMST and/or PHIL.
The course offers an examination of the treatment of concepts relating to women and femininity, both by traditional philosophers and by more recent feminist philosophers. The course will address key issues within philosophy while simultaneously exploring the role of gender in the production of philosophical knowledge.
GWSS 442. WOMEN IN THE WEST. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: HIST 442.
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201 or permission of instructor.
Students will study the history of women in the American West from pre-colonial society to the 21st century. Students will reconsider traditional timelines and motivations in western expansion while analyzing how women’s experiences have been shaped not just by their gender identity, but also by their racial, ethnic, sexual, cultural, and class identities. Students will evaluate the distinct and unique roles of women in both regional and national events.
GWSS 452. GENDER AND SEXUAL ASSAULT. 4 Credits.
Cross-listed: SOWK 452.
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201.
This course addresses contemporary concerns about sexual assault, primarily, but not exclusively, against women. Feminist perspectives on gender socialization and sexual violence provide frameworks for understanding personal and societal responses to sexual violence. Dynamics of trauma and recovery, treatment, prevention and change strategies will be discussed.
GWSS 456. THE OLDER WOMAN. 4 Credits.
Cross-listed: AGST 456, SOWK 456.
Pre-requisites: junior standing.
This course examines the research and practice knowledge on the social, economic and health problems confronting older women. Older women’s needs and potential for change are considered. The course explores U.S. social policy and program alternatives that work to improve the status and quality of life for a growing and diverse population of older women.
GWSS 471. HUMAN RIGHTS AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS. 4 Credits.
Cross-listed: SOWK 471.
Pre-requisites: junior standing.
The course examines the history of human rights and dignity using the declaration of rights by the United Nations, research and initiatives by the World Health Organization and other international human rights groups. The course covers topics on the human rights of women and children including health, food insecurity, economic status, housing, education, violence, war crimes and residency/citizenship status. It examines strategies for furthering human rights on the global stage.
GWSS 475. HISPANIC WOMEN WRITERS. 4 Credits.
Cross-listed: SPAN 475.
Pre-requisites: SPAN 310 or SPAN 312 and SPAN 321 or HIST 365.
This is a panoramic course that covers a wide, but representative array of Hispanic writers writings in Spanish from Latin America, Spain, Africa and the United States. Literary readings will be paired with other media in order to discuss issues of wars, revolutions, dictatorships, exile, migrations, race, class, gender, education and identity.
GWSS 482. GENDER, COMMUNICATION AND POLITICS. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: CMST 482.
Notes: may be stacked with CMST 582.
Pre-requisites: junior standing.
This seminar examines communication, sexuality, and gender dynamics at work in several domains of the American political system, including the mass public, electoral politics, the U.S. Congress, state legislatures, parties and social movements and the policy-making process. We also examine global trends for political participation. We analyze differences in conceptualizing politics and engaging in public discourse.
GWSS 489. LGBTQ+ WRITERS AND THEIR WORKS. 5 Credits.
Cross-listed: ENGL 489.
Pre-requisites: ENGL 270, HUMN 101, GWSS 101, HUMN 410 or GWSS 410.
This course examines the lives and works of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) writers and the historical/social contexts of their writing. Genres may include LGBT fiction, nonfiction, auto-ethnography, letters, diaries, film, critical accounts of authors’ work, social networks and other artifacts. The readings focus on the lived experiences of the writers and their characters.
GWSS 490. SENIOR CAPSTONE. 5 Credits.
Pre-requisites: declared GWSS major or permission of instructor.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–senior capstone.
The advanced student of GWSS consolidates and synthesizes feminist scholarship in the seminar. Working collaboratively, instructor and students draw together scholars and their work in numerous disciplines, relating them and drawing conclusions about the nature of society and feminist reality.
GWSS 495. INTERNSHIP. 1-5 Credits.
Pre-requisites: permission of the instructor, department chair and college dean.
Internship.
GWSS 496. EXPERIMENTAL. 1-5 Credits.
Experimental.
GWSS 497. WORKSHOP, SHORT COURSE, CONFERENCE, SEMINAR. 1-5 Credits.
Workshop.
GWSS 498. SEMINAR. 1-5 Credits.
Seminar.
GWSS 499. DIRECTED STUDY. 1-12 Credits.
Directed Study.