The courses included in the concentration in Politics, Justice and Policy are drawn mainly from the social sciences, in particular, Economics, Sociology and Political Science. This concentration allows students to understand how our socioeconomic and political worlds are gendered and to examine the effects of this on women’s lives in both the public sphere and in the home. Women continue to be clustered into low-paying, low-status “women’s” jobs and to be socialized into traditional roles. In spite of gains, women’s presence in political institutions also continues to be quite small. In addition to many other economic, social and political phenomena relevant to gender, students are encouraged to explore connections among these areas of life. For example, does women’s persistent under-representation in politics help to account for recent policies that have been economically and socially detrimental to women (and children)? Along these lines, women’s modest numeric gains in politics give rise to additional areas of inquiry. What happens when women enter conventional political arenas? Do they become socialized to existing norms and procedures that are inevitably masculine, so that feminist perspectives are doomed? Alternatively, where there is a critical mass of women, do they move their male colleagues, decision-making processes and ultimately policy developments in a feminist direction?
The following courses will form the area of concentration in Politics, Justice and Policy. In some cases a course may count in two areas of concentration, but may only be taken for credit in one.
100-level Courses:
- WGS 103 (ECO 103): Cities, Minorities, and Poverty
- WGS 111 (ECO 111): Jobs and Discrimination
200-level Courses:
- WGS 200: Special Topics in Women’s Studies
- WGS 207 (NUR 207): Women’s Health Issues
- WGS 208: Global Perspectives of Women
- WGS 206 (PSC 206): Politics of Welfare Reform
300-level Courses:
- WGS 300: Topics in Women’s Studies
- WGS 302: Global Feminism (when not taken as core) (3)
- WGS 305: Contemporary Feminist Theory and Practice (when not taken as core)
- WGS 306: Third Wave Feminism (when not taken as core)
- WGS 307: Ecofeminism: Philosophy and Practice (when not taken as core)
- WGS 310 (HST 310): America’s Working Women
- WGS 324 (SOC/ANT 324): Women in Contemporary Society
- WGS 332 (PSC 332): Sex Roles and Politics
- WGS 336 (SOC/ANT 336): Women and Social Policy
- WGS 339 (PSC 339): Women and Public Policy
- WGS 343: Teaching and Learning About Women (1)
- WGS 350 (SOC/ANT 350): Readings in Sociological and Anthropological Literature I
- WGS 365 (SOC/CJS 365): Female Crime and Deviance
- WGS 399: Internship in Women's Studies
400-level Courses:
- WGS 408 (SOC 408): Social Service Internship
- WGS 490: Advanced Special Topic in Women’s Studies
- WGS 495: Independent Study
(1) May also be taken for the concentration in Gender Studies
(3) May also be taken for the concentration in Cross-Cultural Inquiry
