Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies: Topic Courses

2023-2024 Fall/Winter

Fall

WGS337H5F: Special Topics in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies: Gender, Sexuality and Disability Studies (Instructor: D. Anderson)

This course offers an interdisciplinary and intersectional approach to the study of disability via gender, sexuality, and race. Drawing from scholarly and cultural texts in feminist, queer, crip, critical race, transnational, and environmental studies, this course explores complex issues of representation, embodiment, collective care, environmental entanglements, and debility. This course asks: What does a critical and expansive notion of disability offer to our theorizing of gender, sexuality, and race, and, overall, our conceptions of intimacy, kinship, and care; of desire, the senses, and pleasure; and of shared vulnerability and more just, livable futures?


Winter

WGS337H5S: Special Topics in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies: Middle Eastern Feminisms (Instructor: E. Kazanbas)

Through an interdisciplinary lens, this course examines the historical roots, contemporary challenges, and evolving dynamics of feminist movements in the Middle East. By analyzing key feminist theories, scholarly works, social movements, and political actions, students will gain a nuanced understanding of how Middle Eastern feminism(s) have navigated complex intersections of culture, religion, politics, and identity while pushing back against the Western and mainstream feminist discourses as well as the pivotal roles that feminist movements have played in shaping revolutions, uprisings, and social transformations. This course fosters critical thinking and cross-cultural awareness while shedding light on the global significance of Middle Eastern feminisms.