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As of March 15, this course has moved online. We understand that the transition is complicated but we are working hard to build a new, supportive space that is conducive for everyone's learning. This website has been updated to reflect the new context. All the changes to the course are described here.
WS 240 & AC 240: Introduction to Women's Studies
Lectures are now available through video. Please click the links in the syllabus to see each lecture recording.
Professor Allison Alexy
aalexy[at]umich.edu
Office: 2128 Lane Hall
Office hours: Thursdays 9 to 11:30am, and by appointment. Please sign up via Google Calendar.
Please sign up for an appointment and then join this BlueJeans meeting at your scheduled time.
This course examines how gender, gendered identities, and gender norms are represented, experienced, and contested in various cultural contexts. A fundamental premise for the course is that it is impossible to think of "gender" without broad attention to how power and difference are constructed in any given society. Thus, in our explorations, we will investigate how social difference is constructed through masculinity and femininity, as well as other intersecting characteristics such as race, class, ability, and sexual orientation. Throughout the course, we will employ analytical lenses from many disciplines to question the work that gender does, and how it shapes people's lives - in short, what we can do with gender, and what can be done to us. We will focus on topics including families, marriage, colonialism, activism, bodies, intimacy and romance, sex work, capitalism, neoliberalism, violence, and law. This course has no prerequisites and includes opportunities for students to explore their own interests in course assignments. This course fulfills the Race & Ethnicity requirement.
This twitter feed links to news articles relevant to course topics.