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WGSS 101. Gender, Race, Sexuality, and the Body (3 Units) Introduction to the rapidly expanding body of literature ideas related to the gendered aspects of health and sexuality with an emphasis on women.

WGSS 102. Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Societies (3 Units) Introduction to some of the basic questions raised by feminist movements and writings in response to the socio-political subordination of women emergent through the organization of race, class, gender and sexuality in contemporary societies.

WGSS 205. Introduction to Queer Studies (3 Units) Introduction to the interdisciplinary field of queer studies. Focus is on the relationship between gender and sexualities. Prepares students for further study in gender and sexuality studies.

WGSS 216. Hollywood and Beyond: Gender, Race, and Sex in the Movies (3 Units) Explores ideologies of gender, race, sexuality, and class in mainstream and independent films. Focus is on learning to critically evaluate representations of identity and their social and political significance, including hegemonic and alternative representations.

WGSS 250. Intersectionality: Critical Feminist Analysis and Beyond (3 Units) Intersectionality is a framework for understanding privilege, subjugation, and how instiutional conditions interact with personal experience. This course highlights these issues along with efforts to transform systems of inequality. Topics include critical research, theory, policy, current controversies, and political activism.

WGSS 300. Feminist Theory (3 Units) Prerequisites: ENGL 100B or GE English Composition (Area 1A) and upper division standing or consent of instructor. Introduction to principles of feminist history, thought, theory, methodology, and current issues that emphasizes but is not limited to the United States.

WGSS 301. Feminist Research Methods (3 Units) Prerequisites: Upper division standing and the completion of at least one other WGSS course.
Examines how feminist scholars frame and conduct research. Students explore feminist adaptations and critiques of traditional academic disciplines and design and conduct a research project using a range of bibliographic and research tools.

WGSS 305. Feminist and Queer Arts and Culture (3 Units)[G.E.] Explores specific cultural and/or artistic expressions created by and for feminist and queer communities in both historical and contemporary contexts. Writing intensive.

WGSS 307. U.S Women and the Economy (3 Units) History of women’s experience under the law; constitutional law; 19th amendment and ERA; equal protection issues; discrimination in employment; marriage and family law.

WGSS 308. Gender, Sex, and the Law (3 Units) History of women’s experience under the law; constitutional law; 19th amendment and ERA; equal protection issues; discrimination in employment; marriage and family law.

WGSS 314. Women Narrate Their Lives (3 Units) Study of lives of a cross‑section of women in U.S. from colonial era to present based on biographical and autobiographical sources.

WGSS 315. Black Women in America (3 Units) Prerequisites: ENGL 100B or GE Written Communication (Area A2).
Examination of American black women from eighteenth century to present. Taught from interdisciplinary perspective and presented in their own voices.

WGSS 318. Fierce Struggle: U.S Women of Color- History and Thought (3 Units) Prerequisites: ENGL 100B or GE English Composition (Area 1A) and upper division standing. Examines condition, position, experiences and accomplishments of U.S. women of color. Covers historical and contemporary issues using theoretical essays, personal narratives, historical documents, literature, and media images.

WGSS 320. Latina Women in the US (3 Units) Prerequisite: Junior standing or consent of instructor.
Examines cultural, political, economic, and sexual forces that mold Latina women. Focus on cultural stereotypes, class, gender identity, sexuality, and politics of race.

WGSS 330. Feminist Politics of Rage (3 Units) Prerequisite/Corequisite: Completion of at least 60 units or with the consent of the instructor.
Is rage always destructive? How has feminist rage shaped uprisings, revolutions, and movements? This course traces the intellectual and political genealogy of feminist rage to reconsider rage as a cultural source of agency that, when harnessed, reimagines feminist futurity.

WGSS 339. Transnational Feminisms: Context, Conflicts, and Solidarities (3 Units) Prerequisites: GE Foundations
What kind of feminist movement is possible when women across the globe have such different visions of what it means to thrive? This course examines the lives, activism, and movements these different visions engender, arguing for solidarity across diversity.

WGSS 356. Lesbian Histories and Culture (3 Units) Examination of lesbianism from psychological and historical perspectives; includes discussions of lesbianism in literature, representations of lesbianism in various media; the place of lesbianism in the politics of the women’s movement and in gay liberation, and the development of “queer theory.”

WGSS 365. Pop Culture: Seeing Sex and Gender (3 Units) Prerequisites: GE Foundation requirements, one or more Explorations courses, and upper division standing. Analyzes the construction of images of women in popular culture. Discussion of theories of culture, gender and ideology. Analysis of film, advertising, magazines and popular fiction.

WGSS 370. Masculinities (3 Units) Prerequisite: Upper-division status. This course focuses on understanding contemporary social and political issues in relation to masculinity. Thematic areas include: the social construction of masculinity, militarism, men and violence, sexuality, sports, work, media and masculinity, men and feminism, and possibilities for change. Writing intensive.

WGSS 375. Reproductive Justice (3 Units) Explores how race, class and sexuality intersect with political and socio-economic forces in shaping women’s reproductive lives. Highlights how women have contested these forces to control their own reproductive lives.

WGSS 401. Bodies and Borders: Feminism and Globalization (3 Units) Prerequisites: GE Foundation requirements, one or more Explorations courses, and upper division standing. Covers feminist perspectives on contemporary globalization. Examines how we might imagine a more equitable world and why feminism should be concerned with global perspectives. Topics include colonialism, tourism, food production, women’s labor, migration, militarism, and social movements.

WGSS 410. Women, Religion, and Spirituality (3 Units) Prerequisites: ENGL 100B or GE English Composition (Area 1A) and upper division standing, or consent of instructor. Study of women as spiritual and religious beings responding to and coping with largely patriarchal religious doctrine. Examines socioreligious construction of women and women’s religious experience from prehistory to present day. Focus on feminist transformations of religious traditions.

WGSS 415. Feminist Debates (3 Units) Prerequisites: WGSS 300 or consent of instructor.
Examines a variety of contemporary feminist theoretical perspectives, including liberal, radical, Marxist/socialist, psychoanalytic, existentialist and postmodernist, woman of color feminism, and ecofeminism. We highlight intersectional issues of gender and sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, and nationality.

WGSS 416. Queering Gender (3 Units) Prerequisite: Upper division standing.
Explores intellectual debates in the emergent field of queer theory, particularly as it connects to women’s experiences and the politics of gender. Focuses on the intervention that queer theory seeks to make into heteronormative culture on all levels of social life.

WGSS 420. Mothers and Daughters (3 Units) Analyzes how mothering is “reproduced” in daughters, and why/ how patriarchal culture regulates the mother/daughter bond. Course materials include novels, film, and interdisciplinary theoretical works. Special emphasis on the mother/daughter relationship in a range of historical, racial, class and sexual contexts.

WGSS 424. Gendering Environmental Justice (3 Units) Prerequisites: GE Foundation requirements and upper division standing.
Examines environmental issues through a feminist environmental justice lens, critically analyzing the ways in which gender, race, and class shape environmental injustices as well as alternatives for an environmentally just future. Local and global environmental issues are explored.

WGSS 430. Women and Violence (3 Units) Women as victims and survivors of physical, psychological, and philosophical violence. Problems of rape, woman battering, incest, pornography and sexual harassment; examination of legal, religious and philosophical issues and alternatives for change.

WGSS 490. Selected Topics in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (1-3 Units)  Topics of current interest in women’s studies, selected for intensive study. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 units with different topics. Topics announced in the Schedule of Classes.

WGSS 495. Senior Capstone Seminar (3 Units) Prerequisite: WGSS 301.
Capstone course intended to integrate the multidisciplinary body of knowledge accumulated in the major or minor.

WGSS 496. Internship (3 Units) Prerequisites: Upper division standing and two prior women’s studies courses, or consent of instructor.
Allows students opportunity to practice theories and knowledge gained as a result of studying women’s issues. Students will work in community with agencies addressing women’s issues.

WGSS 499. Directed Studies (1-3 Units) Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
Independent work in areas of special interest to student and instructor.

WGSS 303. Queer Spirit (3 Units) Queer written analysis of the integrated spiritual, psychological, social and physiological aspects of Abrahamic, Eastern, Indigenous, Neo-pagan, secular, and race/class/gender/nation/ sexuality-defined spiritual and religious traditions. Same Course as R/ST 303.

WGSS 313. American Indian Genders and Sexualities (3 Units) Analysis of popular, feminist, queer and tribally specific theories and representations of American Indian genders and sexualities with a focus on literatures by American Indian women, men and two-spirit peoples. Same course as AIS 313. 

WGSS 316. Women in the History of U.S Film (3 Units) History of women as they are represented, presented as images, or constructed in the development of U.S. film. Theory and analysis of film from a feminist perspective. Same course as CINE 317.

WGSS 317. Queer Law (3 Units) Study of the intersection of law and the state regulation of gender identities and sexualities. Topics include the criminalization of sexuality, same-sex marriage, discrimination, and trans rights. Same course as POSC 317.

WGSS 325. Sociology of Gender (3 Units) Prerequisite(s): SOC 100 
A sociological analysis of social, political and economic status of women. Examines history of women’s roles and status; gender conflicts and social movements; and societal attitudes towards women in society. Same course SOC 325.

WGSS 366. Queer Literature and Queer Reading (3 Units) Prerequisite(s)/Corequisite(s): GE foundations and completion of at least 60 units.
Study of queer and trans literature and reading practices, with an emphasis on questions surrounding language, gender, sexuality, and identity. Same course as ENGL 366.

WGSS 382. Women and Literature (3 Units) Prerequisites: GE Foundation requirements.
Survey of literature by women authors writing in English, across a range of historical periods; examination of works in various genres that present complexity of women’s lives and challenges of female authorship; exploration of feminist critical approaches. Same Course as ENGL 382.

WGSS 402. Feminist Political Theory (3 Units) Prerequisite: Upper-division status; completion of GE foundation. Study of the evolution of feminist arguments in Western political thought and the process by which gender has come to be regarded as a critical category equal in importance to race, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and religion. Same course as POSC 401.

WGSS 442. Sexing Chicana Literature (3 Units) Prerequisites: ENGL 100B or GE English Composition (Area 1A) and upper division standing or consent of instructor. Analyzes how Chicana authors explore race, class, and gender. Focuses on use of sexuality, particularly with regard to cultural and literary stereotypes vs. experience and aesthetic practice. Themes will include desire, identity, empowerment through “traditional” roles, and violence and the body. Same course as ENGL 442. 

WGSS 445A. Latinas and Revolution: Central America and Late 20th Century Mexico (3 Units) Prerequisite/Corequisite: ENGL 100B or GE English Composition (Area 1A) and upper division standing or consent of instructor. Examines how war and struggles for democracy shape the social consciousness and political activism of Latinas. Uses literature, film, history, and political theory to examine the role of violence in women’s lives, community organizing, and the conceptualization of a pan-Latina feminist movement. Same course as CHLS 445.

WGSS 455. Philosophical Perspectives on Sex and Love (3 Units) Prerequisite: Six units of philosophy or consent of instructor.
Philosophical perspectives on sex and love explores philosophical issues concerning sex, gender and love through readings and discussion of classical and contemporary philosophical sources. Topics such as sexual perversion, romantic love and gender discrimination are examined. Same course as PHIL 455.

WGSS 462. Gender, Place, and Culture (3 Units) Prerequisite: GEOG 360 or WGSS 300 recommended. 
A human geography approach to examining intersections of gender, place and culture. Topics include: body spaces; geographies of sexualities; emotion, care and health; migration; environmental and social justice; feminist post-structural theories and philosophies; and feminist methodological approaches to geographic research. Same course as GEOG 462. 

WGSS 475. Language and Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective (3 Units) Analysis of men’s and women’s communication in its social and cultural context; role of gender in interpreting conversational interactions in the U.S. and elsewhere; acquisition of gender differences; cultural dimensions or perceptions and stereotypes and their effect on communication. Same course as ANTH 475 and LING 470.

WGSS 485B. History of Women in the US Since 1850 (3 Units) Changing roles and status of women in economic and social change; suffrage movement; women in union movement and WW II; the decade of the sixties and the “second wave” of feminism. Same course as HIST 485B.