This course is an introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies from a humanities perspective. We will explore the ways identity is constructed in various types of media and popular culture, and will pay particular attention to categories like race, class, and sexuality. Most important to our study is representations of gender. What sort of stories do music videos, movies, television, advertisements, and social media tell about what it means to be a man or a woman? 

 

In GWS 201, we will explore a variety of “texts” through different lenses that recognize the social systems that privilege some and disadvantage others based on one’s identities. This course will give you an opportunity to develop your communication, writing, and research skills, but most of all, will challenge you as a critical thinker. This course satisfies the UK Core, Intellectual Inquiry in the Humanities requirement, and will count towards requirements for undergraduate GWS majors, minors, and topical majors.