Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• CAS WR 415: Public Writing
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g. CASWR 120); Writing, Research, and Inquiry (e.g., CASWR 151, WR 152, or WR 153); and junior or senior standing. - Students learn about the growing call for scholars to communicate their research to the public, study and practice several public genres, and learn to "translate" academic knowledge for public audiences. Occasional evening events required. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Writing- Intensive Course, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
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  • Digital/Multimedia Expression
  • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS WS 101: Gender and Sexuality: An Interdisciplinary Introduction
  This course is the introduction to women's, gender, and sexuality studies, that considers the origins, diversity, and expression of sex and gender. Topics include the evolutionary origin of sexes; evolution, development, and social construction of sex, gender, and sexuality; sexual difference, similarities and diversity in gendered bodies, brains, and behavior. This interdisciplinary introduction is the foundation for the minor in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
  • Scientific Inquiry I
• CAS WS 200: Thinking Queerly: An Introduction to LGBTQ Studies
  Explores historical and contemporary debates regarding LGBTQ identity, community, and politics through the relevant interdisciplinary (and often, competing) theories and research. Students gain skills in digital/multimedia expression through the development of a collaborative LGBTQ online magazine. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Digital/Multimedia Expression.
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  • Digital/Multimedia Expression
  • The Individual in Community
• CAS WS 201: Introduction to Trans Studies
  This course introduces students to the field of trans studies alongside the increasing precarity and hypervisibility of trans bodies in public life. Students become familiar with intersectional issues of trans representation, healthcare, cissexism, bathroom legislation, book bans, and more. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Creativity/Innovation, Digital/Multimedia Expression, The Individual in Community.
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  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Digital/Multimedia Expression
  • The Individual in Community
• CAS WS 213: Resistance, Protest, and Empowerment: Global Women's Movements
  Explores how global expressions of sexism shape all of our lives, experiences, and life chances, with particular attention to how race, class, and sexuality intersect with gender to shape social inequalities. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS WS 233: The Evolutionary Biology of Human Variation
  Addresses human biological variation. An introduction to the fundamentals of comparative biology, evolutionary theory, and genetics and considers how research in these fields informs some of our most culturally-engaged identities: race, sex, gender, sexuality, and body type. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Scientific Inquiry I
• CAS WS 240: Sexuality and Social Life
  Introduction to sociological perspectives on sexuality. Historical and comparative analysis of sexuality, with a focus on the social and cultural institutions that shape sexuality in the contemporary U.S. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking, Digital/Multimedia Expression.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Digital/Multimedia Expression
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS WS 241: Sociology of Gender
  An introduction to the social construction of sex and gender with a focus on the economic, political, social, and cultural forces that shape gender relations. Examines gender as a social structure that patterns institutional inequalities and everyday interactions on society. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • The Individual in Community
  • Social Inquiry II
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• CAS WS 263: The Behavioral Biology of Women
  An exploration of female behavioral biology focusing on evolutionary, physiological, and biosocial aspects of women's lives from puberty through pregnancy, birth, lactation, menopause, and aging. Examples are drawn from traditional and industrialized societies, and data from nonhuman primates are considered. Effective Spring 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Scientific Inquiry I
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS WS 297: African American Women's History
  Survey of African American women's history from the slave trade to the present, investigating its critical role in shaping the meaning of race, gender, and sexuality during slavery, Jim Crow, and the civil rights era. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
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  • Digital/Multimedia Expression
  • Historical Consciousness
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS WS 302: WGS Topics in the Social Science
  Topics in women's, gender, and sexuality studies relevant to the social sciences. May be repeated for credit as topics change.
• CAS WS 305: Topics in Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies
  May be repeated for credit if topics are different.
• CAS WS 317: Gender and Crime
  Examines social forces shaping gender discrepancies in crime. Using a feminist lens, students explore how cultural ideologies about masculinity and femininity shape criminalization, victimization, and offending. Topics include the gendered contexts of crime and punishment, gender-based violence, and intimate labor. Effective Spring 2023 this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • The Individual in Community
  • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• CAS WS 319: Disability and Queerness in Speculative Fiction
  This course examines how LGBTQ2IA speculative fiction engages with disability and other intersecting frameworks of difference to present alternate, parallel, or invented worlds. This course provides opportunities for students to strengthen ethical reasoning, cultural analysis, and aesthetic exploration. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Ethical Reasoning.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Ethical Reasoning
• CAS WS 325: Bombs and Bombshells: Gender, Armed Conflict, and Political Violence
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: sophomore, junior, or senior standing. - Delve into the world of Black Widows and Demon Lovers. Using empirical research, case studies, and drama, this course separates fact from fiction to examine gender and its intersections between recruitment, motivations, and conditions under which women behave violently. Effective Summer 2025 fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• CAS WS 326: Arts of Gender
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: at least one prior literature course, or CASWS 101, or junior or senior standing. - Examines representations of gender and sexuality in diverse art forms, including drama, dance, film, and literature, and how art reflects historical constructions of gender. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, The Individual in Community.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • The Individual in Community
• CAS WS 327: Immigrant Women in Literature: Found in Translation'
  This course explores literature about migration created by women primarily from Eastern Europe. We read autobiographical narratives that focus on the shaping of transcultural identity with an eye to the problem of translation as a linguistic, cultural, and personal phenomenon. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Historical Consciousness
• CAS WS 329: LGBTQI Representation in Film
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: sophomore, junior, or senior standing. - Queer films challenge norms and undermine categories of gender and sex. Drawing on scholarship from a variety of disciplines the course explores sexual identity and representation in relation to history and other constituting experiences of race, class, gender, and nationality.
• CAS WS 330: Transforming Life: Anthropology of Gender and Medical Technologies
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120); recommend CAS AN1 01 and AN102 - Seminar anthropologically compares the role of science and medicine in society and troubles what is natural and moral, e.g., about gender, person hood, kinship, and community, using case studies of new reproductive technologies in Asia, the Middle East, and North America. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing- Intensive Course. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, The Individual in Community, Writing- Intensive Course.
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  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS WS 333: Queering Health
  This course is about the unique physical and mental health needs, health disparities, and resiliency within the LGBTQ community. Students will learn about the psychology of sexual orientation and gender diversity, intersectionality in LGBTQ communities, gender identity and sexual orientation development models, queer families and relationships, minority stress, hetero/cis-sexism, and other relevant topics. Students will also learn about LGBTQ affirming therapies, healthcare, public policy, and legislation. This course will take a constructively critical lens to medicalized/pathologizing constructions of sexual and gender diversity and examine topics within historical and modern social context. This course will explore strategies for advocacy, improving the healthcare experience of LGBTQ people, and addressing barriers to accessing healthcare from local, national, and global perspectives. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II.
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  • The Individual in Community
  • Social Inquiry II