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.
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CAS WS 559: Feminist Killjoys & Cynical Queers: Intersectional Theories of Affect
Prerequisite: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or 120). - This class examines the affective turn, which has been marked by a shift towards bodily sensation, structures of feeling, and modes of relationality. We pay particular attention to cultural constructions of emotion such as happiness, shame, anger, and fear. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following BU HUB areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Research and Information Literacy, Writing Intensive. -
CAS WS 594: Advanced Feminist Theory
This course explores themes in advanced feminist theory. Specific themes vary by semester. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings. -
CAS WS 617: 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 Fall 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. -
CAS WS 620: Queer Theory
Surveys major texts and arguments in queer theory from Butler's Gender Trouble to contemporary discussions of cisnormativity, homonationalism, affect, pinkwashing, crip theory, and queer-of-color critique. Explores different uses of queer theory in legal debates, literary analysis, and cultural criticism. Effective Spring 2026, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Critical Thinking. -
CAS WS 631: Seminar: Genders, Sexualities, and Youth Cultures
Investigates the social construction of gender and sexuality in adolescence. Engaging critical approaches to youth cultures, the course examines the structural conditions that shape gender and sexuality norms, and the ways youth navigate and redefine their social worlds. Effective Fall 2023 this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy. -
CAS WS 635: Women, Gender, and Islam
Undergraduate prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or 120). - Investigates the way Muslim religious discourse, norms, and practices create and sustain gender and hierarchy in religious, social, and familial life. Looks at historical and contemporary challenges posed to these structures. - Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, The Individual in Community, Research and Information Literacy. -
CAS WS 640: The Quran
The emergence of the Quran as a major religious text, its structure and literary features, its principle themes and places within the religious and intellectual life of the Muslim community. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Research and Information Literacy. -
CAS WS 645: Shariah Law
Shariah Law looks behind the stereotypes and headlines--despotic rulers, barbaric punishments, women's oppression--to understand the origins, history, and structure of Islamic law. Explores its implementation in various times and places, modern transformations, and contemporary debates over legal reform. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Ethical Reasoning, Research and Information Literacy. -
CAS WS 658: The Nonbinary Nineteenth Century
Undergraduate prerequisite: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120). - Examines fictional and non fictional works from nineteenth-century France on themes of sexual and gender identity, contextualized through contemporary queer, trans, and feminist theory. Effective Spring 2026, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course. -
CAS WS 660: Topics in LGBTQ History
Undergrad prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CAS WR100 or WR120). - Seminar examines topics in the history of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) people and cultural or political movements. May be repeated for credit if topics vary. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Oral and Signed Communication, Research and Information Literacy. -
CAS WS 665: Intersectionalities: Theories, Methods, and Praxis
Undergraduate pre-requisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - "Intersectionality," is one of the prominent contributions made by critical race feminist scholars that now broadly extend across disciplines. This course takes stock of the multiple ways that intersectional scholars and activists conceptualize intersectionality in relation to sociological theory, research problems, design, and praxis. -
CAS WS 679: Fatal Women and Dangerous Bodies
Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120). - Examines depictions of the femme fatale and fears of female sexuality in realist, naturalist and decadent French fictions. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course. -
CAS WS 700: Directed Study Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies
Directed study in Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. -
CAS WS 801: Theories and Methods in Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies
Explores the variety and complexity of theories and methods in the interdisciplinary fields of women's, gender, and sexuality studies. Provides a forum for assessing research strategies used by gender and sexuality scholars. Required for the WGS Program Graduate Certificate. -
CAS WS 812: Critical Death Studies
Prerequisite: junior standing and above for undergraduate students. - This course examines how death reveals social inequalities, colonial legacies, and geopolitical forces. It analyzes the conditions shaping mourning and the creative, cultural, and political responses that follow, while drawing on interdisciplinary, academic, and popular materials from diverse geographic contexts. Effective Spring 2027, this course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following BU Hub areas: Research and Information Literacy, Social Inquiry 2, Writing-Intensive Course.
