UM Catalog - Women's Studies Program

Women's Studies Program

Page 132-133

Bari Burke (Professor, Law), Interim Director

Women's Studies, as an interdisciplinary academic discipline, focuses on women's experience in the analysis of human culture, examines the contributions and status of women, and explores the dynamics of sex roles and gender ideals--past and present. The curriculum provides options for studying women's cultural, historical, and contemporary lives through a range of courses crosslisted with other departments, such as anthropology, communications, English, foreign languages and literatures, history, Native American studies, philosophy, psychology, sociology and others. Women's Studies explore topics such as the experience of women and gender relations in various periods of history and cultures; women and artistic expressions; the impact of race, ethnicity, class, age, and sexual orientation on women's lives; sex roles and differences in political, economic, legal, and social status; and biological, sociological and psychological influences on women and gender.

The program is administered by the director in consultation with the Women's Studies Steering Committee, an interdisciplinary group of faculty with teaching and research interests in women. Students may choose an emphasis in Women's Studies within the Liberal Studies major (see Liberal Studies). To be admitted to the program, students register with the Women's Studies advisor, who will explain emphasis requirements and supervise their program. The following requirements must be met (not necessarily in sequence):

1) Completion of Liberal Studies core curriculum.

2) Completion of Phil 109H.

3) A minimum of 32 credits of course work in relevant, advisor-approved courses numbered above 299. At least 18 of those credits must be from Group I, "focus" courses; the other 14 credits may be from Group II, "significant content" courses. Each semester a list of ten to fifteen cognate "focus" and "content" courses is published at pre-registration, from which students may choose. Typical choices are listed below, but may vary from year to year.

Group I: Focus Courses

Anth 327S-Anthropology of Gender

Comm 495*-Gender and Communication

Enlt 324*-Contemporary Women's Literature

Enlt 422*-American Women Writers

Enlt 520*-Seminar in Virginia Woolf

FLLG 522*-The Women's Movement and Literature in Germany

LS 395*-Women and Antiquity

LS 461*/Enlt 421*-Feminist Criticism

NAS 342H-Native American Women

Phil 329E-Feminist Ethics

Phil/Hist 379H-Women in America: The Historical Perspective

Phil 504*-Ecofeminism

Psyc 355-Psychology of Sex Roles

RS 370*-Mysticism: Women Mystics

SW 395*-Domestic Violence; Women and the Politics of Welfare

Group II: Significant Component Courses

Anth 430-Social Anthropology

Enlt 324*-The Literary West and Historical Consciousness

Fren 311L-French Literature: Medieval, Renaissance, and 17th Century

Hist 395*-Families in Early America

Hist 387-Iran Between Two Revolutions

LS 395*-Evolution of the African-American Family

Phil 502-Philosophy of Law

PSc 355-Politics and Culture

SW 410E-Ethics and the Helping Professions

Soc 370-Sociology of International Development

*These are generic courses. The specific course focus must be on women, as listed here. Check with the Women's Studies advisor before enrolling.

Other courses not listed here may be applied toward the emphasis if approved by the Women's Studies advisor.

Women's Studies Steering Committee

Professors

Mary Birch, M.S.W., Columbia University, 1966 (Social Work)

Bari Burke, J.D., University of California, Davis, 1979 (Law)

Juliette Crump, M.A., George Washington University, 1975 (Dance)

Maureen Cheney Curnow, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, 1975 (French)

Kay Unger, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 1974

Lois Welch, Ph.D., Occidental College, 1966 (English)

Associate Professors

Betsy Bach, Ph.D., University of Washington, 1985 (Communication Studies)

Jill Belsky, Ph.D., Cornell University, 1991 (Sociology)

Deborah Slicer, Ph.D., University of Virginia, 1989 (Philosophy)

Julia Watson, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine, 1979 (Liberal Studies/Women's Studies)

Assistant Professors

Elizabeth Ametsbichler, Ph.D., University of Maryland at College Park, 1992 (German)

Barbara Andrew, Ph.D. State University of New York at Stonybrook, 1995 (Philiosphy)

Janet Finn, Ph.D., University of Michigan

Christine Fiore, Ph.D., University of Rhode Island, 1990 (Psychology)

Linda Rutland Gillison, Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1975 (Classics and Liberal Studies, Visiting)

Rita Sommers-Flanagan, Ph.D., The University of Montana, 1989 (Guidance and Counseling)

Veronica Stewart, Ph.D., State University of New York (Stony Brook), 1990 (English)

Jennifer Waltz, University of Washington, 1993 (Psychology)

G.G. Weix, Ph.D., Cornell University, 1990 (Anthropology)

95-96 UM Undergraduate Catalog