Course Descriptions

An introduction to the history and culture of ancient Greece and Rome through a consideration of the role and status of women in the classical world. Lectures with slides will be supplemented by readings of ancient texts in translation, in addition to textbook assignments.

Crosslisted as CLSC 1030

This course will explore the history and meanings of Southern masculinities and femininities, manhood and womanhood, that appear in popular culture, media, and historical memory. Students will critically look at the history of these images and the purposes they have served across time and in the present.

Crosslisted as SSTU 1070

Women’s power in the ancient world was compromised from the outset, and we explore the root causes and consequences of this social inequality. How did women negotiate their limited leadership roles? Were they able to rule "behind the throne" so to speak? How are we to find a woman’s power when it was so habitually cloaked by a man’s dominance? This class will use bioarchaeological evidence to address those questions and examine the breadth of women’s roles and agency in past societies.

Crosslisted as ANTH 1120

Exploration of the growing body of research available from many disciplines (humanities, social sciences, sciences) for the study of women and men in the United States and abroad. Investigation of femininity and masculinity and the intersection of gender with other categories of identity.

This introductory class will examine and complicate gender and sexuality as categories of identity.

The American family as an institution and a group of interacting persons; the nature and problems of courtship, husband-wife, and parent-child relationships.

Crosslisted as SOCY 3010

A study of gender roles within traditional and popular culture. The specific content of the course may vary in different semesters. Possible emphases might include women in the arts, women in film, women in the media, and women in popular culture. May be repeated once for credit.

This class examines environmental issues through the lens of gender and its intersections with race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, and nationality.

This interdisciplinary course analyzes theories in gender studies. The specific content of the course may vary. May be repeated once for credit with permission of the director.

This course considers how issues of gender play out in the unique cultural institutions of fraternities and sororities, including the history and current nature of the Greek system, and considers how how these institutions address sexual orientation, hazing, body image, and sexual assault.

Students examine issues of feminity, masculinity, and sexuality within racial and national identity as represented in mainstream or independent films.

This course teaches students to examine and analyze how representations of gender and sexuality have or have not changed over time. This exploration will include theoretical readings and analysis of television, film, music & music videos, broadcast and print journalism, magazines, advertising, social media, comic books, graphic novels, anime, user-generated online content, and online gaming.

Students complete approved coursework at a foreign university or through Study USA.. May be repeated with permission of the director.

Content varies. May be repeated once for credit with permission of the director.

This course examines the social meanings of masculinity and men's lives. Students will study men's movements as well as the "crisis of masculinity" and the costs and benefits of patriarchy for men.

Crosslisted as SOCY 3240

Examines the social and cultural construction of gender differences in contemporary U.S. society, focusing on the social history of gender roles and gender inequality in current cultural and institutional practices.

Crosslisted as SOCY 3250

This course first examines ideals of sanctitas: what is ‘holiness" and how does that connect with sexuality and gender performance in early and medieval Chrisitanity? We begin with Roman gender constructions and consider how these informed the lives of the martyrs, hermits and monastics featured in early Christian literature. We then trace famous 'witches' and 'whores' across the Middle Ages, ending with the scandalous mystical unions between human lovers and the divine Beloved in contemplative texts.

Crosslisted as RELG 3440

Exploration of the roles of women as victims of gender abuse and sexual violence and as perpetrators of violence in modern ethnic genocides.

Crosslisted as SOCY 3270

Exploration of the micro-level and institutional intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality as articulated by African-American women intellectuals from the 19th century to present with particular emphasis on social scientific theory and methodology. Topics include early black feminist thought; comparisons of black and white women's feminisms; third-wave black feminist thought; sexuality, the body, and hip-hop.

Crosslisted as AAST 3280, SOCY 3280

An exploration of LGBTQ-related plays and their influence on American culture.

Crosslisted as THEA 3290

This course explores and analyzes the rhetorical strategies of queer communities in the United States.

Crosslisted as RHET 3300

Students will study the ways in which the South has been constructed through depictions of sexuality, especially forms of sexuality deemed marginal, perverse, and dangerous.

Crosslisted as SSTU 3500

An analysis of women's political roles. May be taught with focus on United States or with comparative focus.

Crosslisted as POLS 3700

This course will provide a history of female rulers in Europe, 900-1600.

Crosslisted as HIST 3480

An exploration of the changing roles of European women and men since the French Revolution in 1789.

Crosslisted as HIST 3490

Study of the development of feminist thought in the Americas through translations of works by women writers from North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean.

Crosslisted as MLLL 3520

This course will examine the development of Rabbinic Judaism with particular emphasis on how it has shaped the lives of women.

A study of the experience of women in the South as revealed primarily through their writings and other expressions.

Crosslisted as ENGL 3570

A survey of behavioral, psychological, and physiological research on human sexuality.

Crosslisted as PSYC 3602

Historical and ethnographic examination of gender in Latin America, with an emphasis on kinship, family structure, and identity.

Crosslisted as INST 3630

This course examines sexuality in the biblical corpus, analyzes the biblical writers’ construction of gender, and explores feminist-critical and masculinist-critical readings of biblical texts.

Crosslisted as RELG 3660

An exploration of the commonalitities and differences in feminist issues, strategies and methodologies across a number of religious traditions. Readings from a variety of contemporary feminist religious scholars.

Crosslisted as RELG 3680

This course is an introduction to the theory, scholarship, and critical approaches to the study of gender and sexuality studies.

Crosslisted as ENGL 3820

May be repeated once for credit if topic varies.

Crosslisted as ENGL 3830

A study of the theoretical perspective involved in the analysis of gay and lesbian representations in literature and other media.

Crosslisted as ENGL 3840

This course is a study of the images of women in British and American literature. Content will vary.

Crosslisted as ENGL 3850

Students examine issues of femininity, masculinity, and sexuality within racial and national identity as represented in mainstream or independent films.

Crosslisted as ENGL 3860

This course investigates ongoing theoretical and cultural issues in queer studies. Focuses of the course may include theories of embodiment, the relationship of gender to sexuality, the politics of transgender identity, and issues of normativity as they relate to gay and lesbian assimilation. Students will apply these theories to cultural phenomena in the culture at large.

This course explores the significance of race, place, and space to modern identity formation. Through a multiple-disciplinary exploration, we will analyze the influence of social, political, cultural, and historical factors on the development of real and perceived "racialized places and spaces," identities, and experiences in America, with special emphasis on gender and the American South.

Crosslisted as AAST 4140, SSTU 3140, SOCY 4140

Internship in approved work settings under professional supervision. May be repeated once for a cumulative total of 3 hours of credit. Z grade.

Content varies. May be repeated once for credit with permission of director.

An introduction to African American women's history, exploring the epistemology and the scholarship of the field.

Crosslisted as AAST 3620, HIST 4180

Students will study the development, expression, ideology, and praxis of the politics African American women have developed to simultaneously counter both racism and sexism.

Crosslisted as AAST 4210

This course explores the history of enterprising African American women and their political and social activism from the early 19th century through the late 20th century.

Crosslisted as AAST 4210, HIST 4190

This course uses a sociological approach to study how religion is used to organize, control, and change gender and sexual norms.

Crosslisted as SOCY 4250

History of the struggle for equality in U.S. politics and culture.

Crosslisted as HIST 4280

An analysis of changing views of the masculine and the feminine in American culture since 1607. Class, racial, and ethnic differences will be emphasized.

Crosslisted as HIST 4290

This course surveys how liberal, black, post-colonial, and queer feminist theorists conceptualize gender oppression and resistance and problematizes taken-for-granted beliefs about the naturalness of sex and sexuality.

Crosslisted as SOCY 4330

Students will study the relationship among language, gender, and sexuality from local and global perspectives.

Crosslisted as LING 5150, TESL 5380

A historical survey of Southern women with an emphasis on research through documentary sources and oral history.

Crosslisted as HIST 4540

This course will trace major movements in the development of queer theory from the 1970s to the present.

Crosslisted as ENGL 4900

Images of women and men in literature by women and men, the special role of the woman writer, recurrent formal and contextual convention in literature written by women, and feminist critical theory. Content varies; may be repeated for credit.

Crosslisted as ENGL 4910

Through readings, discussions, and writing workshops, students will focus on the methodology of gender studies, the specificity of language, and the structure of an academic essay in a variety of disciplines.

Content varies. May be repeated once for credit with permission of director.

Study of works from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Crosslisted as ENG 482

May be repeated once for credit if topic varies.

Crosslisted as ENGL 4880

Critical, interdisciplinary examination of identity as related to sex, race, and class and as imbricated in knowledge and power, through a study of literary, cultural, and intellectual history. Taught in English.

Crosslisted as ENGL 4890, MLLL 4890

Investigation of the psychological and physiological determinants of gender differences and similarities in behavior, covering topics such as cognitive functioning, social relationships, mental health, and the work place.

Crosslisted as PSYC 5101

This interdisciplinary course focuses on Queer Mississippi lives, communities, and movements from a historical and sociological perspective. It trains students how to conduct qualitative research on LGBTQ+ individuals, analyze materials from the Queer Mississippi archive, and execute public-facing scholarship.

Crosslisted as SOCY/HIST 5460

Content varies. May be repeated once for credit with permission of director.