School of Multidisciplinary Social Sciences and Humanities
113 Bowman
Kent Campus
https://www.kent.edu/multidisciplinary-studies
Undergraduate Programs
- Cybercriminology - B.S.
- Gender and Sexuality Studies - B.A.
- Integrative Studies - B.I.S.
- International Studies - B.A.
- Paralegal Studies - B.A.
Minors
- Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance Studies
- Jewish Studies
- Latin American Studies
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Studies
- Paralegal Studies
- Religion Studies
- Studies in Globalization, Identity and Space
- Women's Studies
- World Literature and Cultures
Graduate Programs
Undergraduate Certificates
School of Multidisciplinary Social Sciences and Humanities Faculty
- Barnes, Andrew S. (2001), Associate Professor, Ph.D., Princeton University, 1999
- Bartell, Denise S. (2022), Professor
- Holt, Suzanne L. (1984), Professor, Ph.D., Kent State University, 1994
- Kessler, Chaya (2009), Senior Lecturer, M.A., Youngstown State University, 2005
- Mazzei, Julie M. (2004), Associate Professor, Ph.D., American University, 2006
- Odell-Scott, David (1990), Professor, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, 1989
- Paar Conroy, Amanda M. (2013), Associate Professor, J.D., Cleveland State University, 2005
- Peterson, Mary S. (2016), Associate Professor, J.D., Bowling Green State University, 1987
- Stacher, Joshua A. (2008), Professor
- Vachon, Lauren (2012), Associate Professor, M.F.A., Kent State University, 2013
Arts and Sciences (AS)
AS 10010 SCIENCE EXPERIENCE 1 Credit Hour
(Repeatable for credit) Students gain experience in research methods via participation in mentored hands-on science research projects. Each student works on an individual basis in consultation with their assigned research mentor. Laboratory safety training is provided and required for the projects. Students must have completed or be co-enrolled in at least one college level (or advanced placement) class in a relevant STEM discipline.
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: Laboratory
Contact Hours: 3 lab
Grade Mode: Standard Letter-IP
AS 20010 SUCCESS IN A FLASH 1 Credit Hour
This course provides useful and timely academic resources to help students achieve academic success. Time prioritization, academic motivation, goal setting, mindset and various learning techniques are covered.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 1 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
AS 20095 SPECIAL TOPICS 1-4 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) This course, administered by the dean, is intended to encourage interdisciplinary study, to cover areas not treated adequately in traditional coursework and to make available promptly the new and significant experience of the faculty.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 1-4 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
AS 30092 INTERNSHIP (ELR) 1-12 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Students participate in internships under the direction of a faculty member.
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: Practical Experience
Contact Hours: 3-36 other
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory-IP
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
AS 30095 SPECIAL TOPICS 1-4 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) This course, administered by the dean, is intended to encourage interdisciplinary study to cover areas not treated adequately in traditional coursework and to make available promptly the new and significant experience of the faculty.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 1-4 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
AS 30189 STUDY ABROAD: SPECIAL TOPICS (DIVG) (ELR) 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) A Kent State faculty-led study abroad experience that integrates traditional classroom learning with experiential activities and site visits outside the United States.
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: International Experience
Contact Hours: 1-3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Global, Experiential Learning Requirement
AS 30196 INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) A student-initiated experience to pursue an area of interest not covered by a regular course offering, with the guidance of a Kent State faculty member.
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: Individual Investigation
Contact Hours: 3-9 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
AS 30290 STUDY AWAY: SPECIAL TOPICS (ELR) 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) A Kent State faculty-led out-of-classroom experience that integrates traditional classroom learning with experiential activities and site visits within the United States.
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: Study Away
Contact Hours: 1-3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
AS 30798 GENDER AND SEXUALITY RESEARCH FORUM (ELR) 3 Credit Hours
Allows students to do research in areas of gender and sexuality that connects to their own interests, which will be presented in public settings such as panels and presentations.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture, Research
Contact Hours: 1 lecture, 2 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
AS 41099 CAPSTONE IN GENDER AND SEXUALITY STUDIES (ELR) 3 Credit Hours
Students will be expected to design and implement an individualized exploration that demonstrates the interactions of theory and application, ideas and practice, and is reflective of the tenets of the interdisciplinary field of gender and sexuality.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture, Research
Contact Hours: 1 lecture, 2 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
AS 50095 SPECIAL TOPICS 1-4 Credit Hours
(Slashed with AS 70095) (Repeatable for credit) Topic to be announced in the schedule of classes.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing; and special approval.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 1-4 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
AS 50096 INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Pursuit of a subject matter beyond normal course coverage, supervised by a graduate faculty member.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing; and special approval.
Schedule Type: Individual Investigation
Contact Hours: 3-9 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
AS 60092 INTERNSHIP 1-6 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Students participate in internships under the direction of a faculty member.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing; and special approval.
Schedule Type: Practical Experience
Contact Hours: 3-18 other
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory-IP
AS 70095 SPECIAL TOPICS 1-4 Credit Hours
(Slashed with AS 50095) (Repeatable for credit) Topic to be announced in the schedule of classes.
Prerequisite: Doctoral standing; and special approval.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 1-4 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
AS 70096 INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Pursuit of a subject matter beyond normal course coverage, supervised by a graduate faculty member.
Prerequisite: Doctoral standing; and special approval.
Schedule Type: Individual Investigation
Contact Hours: 3-9 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Gender and Sexuality Studies (GSS)
GSS 10100 INTRODUCTION TO GENDER AND SEXUALITY STUDIES 3 Credit Hours
This course explores gender and sexuality studies from a multidisciplinary perspective. This course examines the cultural, social and biological constructs of sex and gender and interrogates the structures — governmental, familial, religious and social — that have informed historical and current thinking about sex and gender. This course includes global histories and definitions of gender and sexuality across time and place, and asks students to ponder: why is gender a primary organizing societal principle, and how do race, class, sexuality and disability status intersect with it?
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
GSS 30500 METHODOLOGIES AND PRAXIS IN GENDER AND SEXUALITY STUDIES 3 Credit Hours
This course provides an arena for individual and group inquiry as well as conversations on methodologies and practices in gender studies pedagogy and research with emphases on multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches. The topics reflect the crucial linkage between knowledge as we do knowledge, ethics as we embrace ethics, practices and traditions as they play and accrue within the real academic endeavors of the fields which converge and diverge in gender studies and its closely kindred variants. This course offers different methodological entrance points of use and value. At once, we study their deployment in actual practice. Moving beyond research practice, the course considers, too, the multifaceted praxes of scholars, teachers and cohorts of all kinds involved in the actional vision, mission, strategies, tactical planning and programmings, record-keeping, self-appraisals and archives at the heart of gender and sexuality studies.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
GSS 40450 GENDER AND SEXUALITY ROUNDTABLE 3 Credit Hours
This course takes an interdisciplinary approach in examining how gender and sexuality have been constructed through social, cultural, discursive and economic processes in hierarchizing social relations in society. The course is organized in a roundtable format that draws on the expertise of scholars and practitioners in the field who introduce students to contemporary issues and debates around gender and sexuality, both locally and globally, in a participatory forum. Students also gain insight on critical anti-racist, feminist and queer epistemologies and pedagogies in order to generate new knowledge and act in addressing gender and sexual inequality in their communities and wider society.
Prerequisite: GSS 10100.
Schedule Type: Seminar
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
GSS 40591 SEMINAR IN GENDER AND SEXUALITY STUDIES 3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) This course is required for all students in the Gender and Sexuality Studies major. The focus varies with instructor, providing students with advanced learning in gender and sexuality studies.
Prerequisite: GSS 10100.
Schedule Type: Seminar
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Integrative Studies (IGST)
IGST 40099 SENIOR PROJECT (ELR) (WIC) 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable twice for credit) Senior Project is a thesis or independent study done under the supervision of a faculty advisor. Students need written approval of faculty advisor, faculty member's unit, or director of the Center for Comparative and Integrative Programs in order to enroll in this course.
Prerequisite: Senior standing in a multidisciplinary program in the center for comparative and integrative programs; and special approval.
Schedule Type: Senior Project/Honors Thesis
Contact Hours: 1-3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter-IP
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement, Writing Intensive Course
IGST 40192 INTERNSHIP IN INTEGRATIVE STUDIES (ELR) 3-6 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Internship.
Prerequisite: Special approval from the director of the center for comparative and integrative programs.
Schedule Type: Practical Experience
Contact Hours: 9-18 other
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory-IP
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
International Studies (INTS)
INTS 10504 THE NEW PANGAEA: YOUR ROLE IN OUR GLOBAL COMMUNITY (DIVG) 3 Credit Hours
Introduces students to the myriad of ways in which they are individually and collectively connected to the global community. Looking specifically at ways in which people are interconnected as consumers, patients, donors and participants in discourse, the course introduces students to the concepts, institutions and dynamics of globalization. Through assignments that focus on important global issues and engage students directly with the global community, students (a) learn how to engage the global community as informed consumers of information, (b) understand the basic structure of the global political arena, (c) learn how to engage actively and consciously within that arena and (d) understand the ways in which their daily behavior impacts global trends.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Global
INTS 30001 "TRUE FACTS": MAKING SENSE OF YOUR WORLD 3 Credit Hours
How can you find a reliable answer to a question you are curious about? “Research methods” sometimes seems like an intimidating subject, but it is really just a chance to think about how to find good answers to important questions. Scholars use a wide variety of methods, and this course provides an introduction to many of them, preparing students to be informed, critical consumers of information; to succeed in future research projects; and to take additional methods courses with confidence if they choose.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
INTS 30101 WORLDS OF WEALTH AND POWER 3 Credit Hours
Students investigate a wide variety of real-world market activity, including the economics of war, the underground economies of the rich and poor and the role of illicit trade in the making of the United States. What is the everyday experience of economic life like in these and other conditions? What can that tell us about how markets work on the local, national and global levels?
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
INTS 30301 HUMAN SECURITY 3 Credit Hours
For a century or more, leaders around the globe have defined “national security” narrowly, focusing nearly entirely on perceived threats of physical violence against the systems they led. A less state-centric and more person-centric conceptualization of security recognizes that the threats to human security include not only violence against a state or economic system. Food insecurity, for instance, whether caused by famine, poverty, maldistribution of resources or structural disparities in access (for instance, so called “food deserts”) undermines the security not only of individuals, but communities and, thereby, leadership. Climate change has caused land erosion and, thereby, resource evolution and depletion in various parts of the globe, leaving whole communities (and thereby states) economically and physically vulnerable. This course explores multiple dimensions of human (in)security, examines related policies and stretches analytic muscles in considering potential solutions to causes of insecurity.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
INTS 30501 ORDER AND RESISTANCE 3 Credit Hours
When the hierarchies of economic systems or state institutions are unresponsive to the needs of society, movements develop to resist the prevailing ruling order. Sometimes social movements seek to empower and include new members of society. Other times they mobilize on constructed grievances that seek to maintain untenable social exclusions. Whether demanding more equality or something else, these ordinary people in social movements enter a conversation with the people who govern them and have the full weight of the state apparatus behind them. This course reflects on this process of social struggle in order to understand the political, economic and social costs of supporting the continued exclusion of certain groups. It aims to understand political change and violence as a struggle played out between state authorities and social movements. After examining case studies of such state-society struggles from around the world, students are guided to consider what role they can each play to constructively contribute to the global society.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
INTS 30570 PALESTINE AND ISRAEL (DIVG) 3 Credit Hours
(Cross-listed with POL 30570) Course introduces students to academic approaches and theories that attempt to understand the situation in historic Palestine. The course is divided into four sections: (1) theories of settler colonialism and basic differences between Judaism, Zionism and Israeli society, as well as diversity within Palestinian society; (2) comparative studies of the establishment of the modern state of Israel, which Palestinians view in their collective experience as “the Catastrophe” or al-Nakba; (3) the occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, and how that system has changed over time; (4) pathways forward for Palestinians and Israelis.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Global
INTS 40089 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE (DIVG) (ELR) 3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Faculty-led study abroad programs.
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: International Experience
Contact Hours: 3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Global, Experiential Learning Requirement
INTS 40092 INTERNSHIP (ELR) 1-6 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) In consultation with a faculty member, the student arranges a substantive internship in a relevant area. The student also typically provides a journal of the experience, as well as a written analysis comparing the practice of the internship to an example of relevant scholarship in the area.
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: Practical Experience
Contact Hours: 3-18 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
INTS 40095 SPECIAL TOPICS IN INTERNATIONAL STUDIES 3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Analysis of significant and current issues in international studies not covered in regular courses. Offered when opportunities and resources permit; the topic is announced when the course is scheduled.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
INTS 40096 INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Individual investigation with a faculty member. Student typically develops a topic and reading list in consultation with the faculty member, discusses the material with the faculty member throughout the semester and produces a paper at the end of the course.
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: Individual Investigation
Contact Hours: 3-9 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
INTS 40560 HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE (DIVG) 3 Credit Hours
(Cross-listed with POL 40560) Examines the relationship between human rights and problems of the Third World in the civic, political, social and cultural arenas. Particular attention is placed on the struggle of women.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Global
INTS 40799 CAPSTONE IN INTERNATIONAL STUDIES (ELR) (WIC) 3 Credit Hours
In this course, students integrate and build on what they have learned throughout the major. The standard assignment is a research paper that (1) connects the electives the student has taken with the core courses in the major and (2) describes a future trajectory of learning and working (answering such questions as: What are you planning to do after graduation? What is the next step in your career? Where and how are you going to make a difference? How do you build on what you have done here in order to get there?). In consultation with the instructor, students may develop a different assignment, such as a paper on a different topic, a graduate school application essay and writing sample, a career application portfolio or part of an honors thesis.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Project or Capstone
Contact Hours: 3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement, Writing Intensive Course
Jewish Studies (JWST)
JWST 11001 INTRODUCTION TO JEWISH STUDIES 3 Credit Hours
Introductory exploration and examination of the diversity of Jewish life, culture, religion and society from antiquity to the present.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
JWST 20011 INTRODUCTION TO THE HEBREW BIBLE OR OLD TESTAMENT 3 Credit Hours
Introduces students to the modern study of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the history and religion of ancient Israel. Designed to help students to understand the development of the Hebrew Bible in its ancient context. The course approaches the Hebrew Bible from historical, comparative, literary, anthropological and archeological perspectives in an effort to illuminate the world of its authors. No prior knowledge of the Bible, Judaism or Christianity is required.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
JWST 30092 INTERNSHIP IN JEWISH STUDIES (ELR) 3-6 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Internship in Jewish studies.
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: Practical Experience
Contact Hours: 9-18 other
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory-IP
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
JWST 30100 JEWISH WOMEN IN THE MODERN WORLD 3 Credit Hours
Course explores the lives and experiences of Jewish women from diverse communities and traditions, in relation to a wide array of divergent cultural contexts within the modern world.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
JWST 30200 JEWS, BASEBALL AND AMERICAN SPORTS 3 Credit Hours
Chronicles the experience of Jewish players and performers in American sports. Course explores the issues of religious and ethnic prejudice that Jewish athletes endured, challenged and overcame.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
JWST 30300 CHILDREN OF THE HOLOCAUST: PERPETRATORS AND VICTIMS 3 Credit Hours
Examination of the children directly affected by the Holocaust (whether as victims, perpetrators, heroes, rescuers or survivors) and the impact these children had on the Holocaust and on history.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
JWST 30301 HOLLYWOOD AND THE HOLOCAUST 3 Credit Hours
This course will examine the history of how Hollywood, starting in the 1930s, dealt with the rise of Nazism and its impact on the Jews of Germany and of Europe. In addition, we will be dealing with the large numbers of Holocaust-related films that reached the movie houses starting in the late 1940s to the present.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture, 0 lab, 0 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
JWST 40089 STUDY ABROAD (DIVG) (ELR) 1-4 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) A Kent State study abroad experience led by Jewish Studies faculty that integrates traditional classroom learning with experiential activities and site visits outside the United States.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: International Experience
Contact Hours: 1-4 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Global, Experiential Learning Requirement
JWST 40090 STUDY AWAY (ELR) 1-4 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) A Kent State out-of-classroom experience led by Jewish Studies faculty that integrates traditional classroom learning with experiential activities and site visits within the United States.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Study Away
Contact Hours: 1-4 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
JWST 40095 SPECIAL TOPICS IN JEWISH STUDIES 3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Topics vary per course offering as published in the Schedule of Classes.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
JWST 40096 INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Student-initiated experience in an area of interest not covered by a regular course offering and with the guidance of a Kent State faculty member.
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: Individual Investigation
Contact Hours: 3-9 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
LGBTQ Studies (LGBT)
LGBT 20020 INTRODUCTION TO LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND QUEER STUDIES 3 Credit Hours
Introduction to the field of LGBTQ Studies as well as an introduction to critical issues in LGBTQ lives.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
LGBT 30095 SPECIAL TOPICS IN LGBTQ STUDIES 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Study of special topics related to LGBTQ studies.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 1-3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
LGBT 30120 LGBTQ RIGHTS AND CONTEMPORARY ISSUES 3 Credit Hours
This course will explore the current political, legal, and social climate in the United States for LGBTQ individuals. The main objective of this course will be to provide students with the skills and tools to engage intelligently in discourse about LGBTQ issues, rights, history, activism, and lives.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture, 0 lab, 0 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
LGBT 30135 LGBTQ REPRESENTATIONS IN POPULAR CULTURE 3 Credit Hours
This course will explore the representations or portrayals of LGBTQ people in popular culture. Popular culture includes pulp fiction, television, news media, social media, films, and other media.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture, 0 lab, 0 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
LGBT 30196 INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION IN LGBTQ STUDIES 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Individual investigation in areas of interest not covered in courses.
Prerequisite: Junior standing; and special approval.
Schedule Type: Individual Investigation
Contact Hours: 3-9 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
LGBT 31138 LGBTQ RESEARCH METHODS (ELR) 3 Credit Hours
Explores different qualitative and quantitative methodologies through applied research on LGBTQ-related topics.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
LGBT 40095 SPECIAL TOPICS IN LGBTQ STUDIES 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) This course will provide new and emerging topics for students to study.
Prerequisite: LGBT 20020 or LGBT 31138.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 1-3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
LGBT 40192 PRACTICUM IN LGBTQ STUDIES (ELR) 3-6 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Guided study of various aspects of the LGBTQ experience through involvement in the community, government agencies, non-profits, educational institutions, and other areas.
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: Practical Experience
Contact Hours: 8-18 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
LGBT 40201 TRANSGENDER STUDIES 3 Credit Hours
Explores transgender studies, which addresses theories, practices, laws and other cultural expressions of sexed embodiments, gender identity and gender expression.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
LGBT 40202 QUEER THEORY 3 Credit Hours
Explores theories related to sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Liberal Studies (LSTU)
LSTU 60092 INTERNSHIP 1-6 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Students participate in internships under the direction of a faculty member.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing; and special approval.
Schedule Type: Practical Experience
Contact Hours: 3-18 other
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory-IP
LSTU 61091 LIBERAL STUDIES RESEARCH PAPER 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Students learn how to write a graduate-level research paper.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing; and special approval.
Schedule Type: Seminar
Contact Hours: 1-3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter-IP
LSTU 61098 LIBERAL STUDIES ESSAY 3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) The preparation of an essay of approximately 50 pages on a topic related to the student's program of study for the Master of Liberal Studies degree.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing; and special approval.
Schedule Type: Research
Contact Hours: 9 other
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory-IP
Multidisciplinary Social Sciences and Humanities (MSSH)
MSSH 20071 INTRODUCTION TO GENDER AND SEXUALITY STUDIES 3 Credit Hours
Provides an introduction to the interdisciplinary study of gender and sexuality, with particular focus on the tenants of the field (e.g., intersectionality, anti-oppression, social justice).
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
MSSH 30171 THEORIES OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY 3 Credit Hours
Provides students the opportunity to explore in finer detail the theories and approaches used in the study of gender and sexuality (including feminisms, queer theory, critical theories, intersectionality, anti-oppression, social justice), and to address the influence of such theoretical approaches in further research on the subjects of gender and sexuality and by informing social change and deliberations by individuals and movements concerning gender and sexuality.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
MSSH 40089 STUDY ABROAD (DIVG) (ELR) 1-4 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) A Kent State faculty-led study abroad experience that integrates traditional classroom learning with experiential activities and site visits outside the United States.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: International Experience
Contact Hours: 1-4 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Global, Experiential Learning Requirement
MSSH 40090 STUDY AWAY (ELR) 1-4 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Faculty-led and other study away opportunities in the School of Multidisciplinary Social Sciences and Humanities.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Study Away
Contact Hours: 1-4 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
MSSH 40092 INTERNSHIP (ELR) 1-6 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) In consultation with a faculty member, the student arranges a substantive internship in a relevant area. The student also typically provides a journal of the experience, as well as a written analysis comparing the practice of the internship to an example of relevant scholarship in the area.
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: Practical Experience
Contact Hours: 3-18 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
MSSH 40095 SPECIAL TOPICS 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Topics vary depending on instructor and current interest.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 1-3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Paralegal Studies (PLST)
PLST 18000 INTRODUCTION TO PARALEGAL STUDIES AND PROFESSIONAL ETHICS 3 Credit Hours
An overview of the legal system and the role of a paralegal professional. Includes legal terminology, types of laws, research, litigation, interviewing and office management.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 28001 LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING 3 Credit Hours
In-depth analysis of the legal research process, development of legal writing skills, opportunities to utilize research and writing skills are integrated into the course.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 28003 FAMILY LAW AND PROCEDURE 3 Credit Hours
Designed to acquaint the student with family law substance and practice. Covers definitions, terminology, topical areas and the philosophy underlying family law practice.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 28004 CIVIL PROCEDURE 3 Credit Hours
Provides an introduction to the rules of civil procedure, statutes of limitation and discovery. Included in this course is a discussion of the role of the paralegal in preparation for litigation.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 28007 ESTATE AND PROBATE ADMINISTRATION 3 Credit Hours
A study of legal principles applicable to wills, organization and jurisdiction of probate court, estate administration in probate and tax considerations in estate administration.
Prerequisite: PLST 18000.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 30000 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION REGULATIONS AND ASSESSMENT 3 Credit Hours
The Federal and State environmental regulations including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, Solid and Hazardous Waste regulations (RCRA) and the Superfund Legislation require the utilization of trained environmental professionals to conduct Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs). The focus of this course is to introduce students to the methods and approaches for conducting environmental research and study of industrial sites with respect to environmental policies and regulations. The enforcement of regulations utilize environmental professionals who serve in governmental agencies, work in private environmental companies that provide assessments and consultations for industries, and who are employed by industries that seek qualified employees to conduct assessments, and provide professional guidance for industrial regulatory compliance.
Prerequisite: Junior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 35001 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOR PARALEGALS 3 Credit Hours
Acquaints the student with the various federal and state statutes, administrative rules and case law that govern environmental regulation. International environmental law is also studied.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 35003 HEALTH LAW 3 Credit Hours
Makes the student familiar with legal topics in the field of health care including federal and state statutes governing the health care industry in the United States. Specific topics include insurance, privacy, malpractice, fraud, Medicare, Medicaid, health records, labor law-related issues and clinical research.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 35005 LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW FOR PARALEGALS 3 Credit Hours
Provides a foundation in the areas of labor law, employment law, and employment discrimination law. Requires in-depth study of constitutional, statutory, administrative, and case law at both the federal and state level.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 35007 ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES LAW 3 Credit Hours
Acquaints the student with the various sources of law that govern energy production and the harvesting of natural resources in the United States. Statutory, administrative, and case law at the federal and state levels are explored.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 36001 LAW OFFICE TECHNOLOGY 3 Credit Hours
This course introduces students to computer hardware and software that apply to the legal environment. Students learn Microsoft Office components including Teams, Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint and Outlook, and the Windows operating system as they are used in the day-to-day life of paralegals. Students also explore legal specific software including TrialDirector, Clio, NetDocuments, Workshare, iManage and Concordance.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 36792 INTERNSHIP IN PARALEGAL (ELR) 3-12 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Work experience under the direction of supervising faculty members in the following entities: private law firms, legal service/legal aid offices, law departments or corporations and government agencies.
Prerequisite: PLST 18000 and PLST 28001 and PLST 28004.
Schedule Type: Practical Experience
Contact Hours: 21-84 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter-IP
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
PLST 38003 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW AND PROCESS 3 Credit Hours
The substantive and procedural aspects of administrative law are covered in this course. Specific topics include the regulation of public utilities, transportation agencies, employment, food and drugs and the environment.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 38005 TORT LAW 3 Credit Hours
Focus is on tort and personal injury law. Specific topics include intentional torts, negligent torts, strict liability, vicarious liability, product liability and business torts. Defenses to tort and product liability are also discussed.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 38006 APPLIED LEGAL RESEARCH AND LITIGATION (WIC) 3 Credit Hours
Provides for intense case analysis and preparation of argumentative memorandum, including writing of factual memoranda, file summaries and advocacy letters.
Prerequisite: PLST 28001.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Writing Intensive Course
PLST 40095 SPECIAL TOPICS IN PARALEGAL STUDIES 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Topics vary depending on instructor and current legal issues in the area of paralegal studies and the law.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 1-3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 42701 EVIDENCE AND E-DISCOVERY 3 Credit Hours
Addresses the various issues concerning the use of evidence in the pre-trial, trial, and post-trial phases of litigation. The course will address the traditional rules and issues associated with litigation practice as well as the new issues concerning electronic discovery of evidence and the use of that evidence.
Prerequisite: PLST 28001 and PLST 28004.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 42705 BANKRUPTCY LAW I: BASIC FUNDAMENTALS 3 Credit Hours
Provides an outlay of the fundamentals of bankruptcy law including the basic rules of the Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13 forms of bankruptcy. This course will also cover other topics such as the bankruptcy petition, the role of the bankruptcy trustee, and discharge from bankruptcy.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 42706 BANKRUPTCY LAW II: CREDITOR-DEBTOR RELATIONS 3 Credit Hours
Addresses issues not addressed in PLST 42705 including Chapter 9, Chapter 12, and Chapter 15 bankruptcy as well as the problems associated with gaining and collecting on a judgment. International bankruptcy issues will also be addressed.
Prerequisite: PLST 42705.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 42708 REAL ESTATE LAW 3 Credit Hours
Provides a general outlay of real estate law in the United States. Students will learn the substantive and procedural aspects of gaining and protecting property rights. Real estate contracts, financing, zoning, and landlord-tenant issues will also be covered.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 48002 CONTRACT LAW 3 Credit Hours
Intended to provide the student with an in-depth analysis of basic contract law as such related to contact information, performance and remedies. Also intended to familiarize the student with the sources of law that define contracts with an emphasis on reading and understanding case law. The student also develops a vocabulary of legal terms so that the student may assist the legal practitioner in the representation of clients in business transactions and in disputes.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 48300 LAW OF CORPORATIONS AND OTHER ASSOCIATIONS 3 Credit Hours
Covers the formation, operation and dissolution of various kinds of business organizations. Subjects covered include sole proprietorships, corporations, partnerships, the law of agency and employment agreements.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 48401 PATENT LAW 3 Credit Hours
Provides the student with an in-depth analysis of the law pertaining to patents, stressing the ability of the owner to protect their rights through filing, registration and use. International issues concerning registration, use, and trade agreements are also covered.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 48403 PATENT PROSECUTION 3 Credit Hours
Students learn to craft patent claims in various types of patent applications that would be submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Students also learn the mechanics of various types of patent applications including traditional applications, provisional applications, divisional applications and continuing applications. Students also gain an understanding of the various post-grant proceedings.
Prerequisite: PLST 48401; and sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 48404 COPYRIGHT LAW I 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with PLST 58404) Intended to provide the student with an in-depth analysis of the foundations of the law pertaining to copyrights. Stresses the ability of the owner to protect such rights through use and registration. Also discusses the links to patent law, trademark law and the law of trade secrets.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 48407 TRADEMARK LAW 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with PLST 58407) Intended to provide the student with an in-depth analysis of the law pertaining to trademarks and trade secrets. Stresses the ability of the owner to protect such rights through use and registration. Also discusses the links to patent law and copyright law.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 48408 TRADEMARK PROSECUTION 3 Credit Hours
Covers the substantive and procedural aspects of trademark prosecution at the state, federal, and international levels. Special attention will be paid to the topics of drafting the trademark application and conducting searches of existing trademarks in the United States and abroad.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 58404 COPYRIGHT LAW I 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with PLST 48404) Intended to provide the student with an in-depth analysis of the foundations of the law pertaining to copyrights. Stress the ability of the owner to protect such rights through use and registration. Also discusses the links to patent law, trademark law and the law of trade secrets.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
PLST 58407 TRADEMARK LAW 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with PLST 48407) Intended to provide the student with an in-depth analysis of the law pertaining to trademarks and trade secrets. The course will stress the ability of the owner to protect such rights through use and registration. The course will also discuss the links to patent law and copyright law.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Religion (REL)
REL 11020 INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGIONS (DIVG) (ELR) (KHUM) 3 Credit Hours
A study of the religious impulse as it manifests itself in the plurality of beliefs, practices and institutions of the world religions.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Global, Experiential Learning Requirement, Kent Core Humanities, Transfer Module Humanities
REL 12020 INTRODUCTION TO NEW TESTAMENT LITERATURE 3 Credit Hours
Course introduces students to the literature of the New Testament and to the early Christian communities in which the works were formulated. Of focused interest is the critical study of the content of the texts, with close consideration of the historical and literary influences on the composition and reception of the gospel traditions as regards their presentations of the life, ministry and person of Jesus, and the letters of Paul. The post-Pauline pastoral epistles, and various later works included in the collection are briefly examined.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
REL 21021 MOSES, JESUS AND MOHAMMAD (DIVG) (ELR) (KHUM) 3 Credit Hours
An in-depth exploration of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, considering the circumstances of each tradition's beginnings, the influence of the identified founder, and the cultural diversities evident in the history of each of the distinctive religious traditions, as well as the inter-connectedness and influence of each of three religions upon the others. Course concludes with a consideration of the contemporary situations faced by the traditions, including their engagements with modernity and one another as global historic traditions in a changing world.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Global, Experiential Learning Requirement, Kent Core Humanities, Transfer Module Humanities
REL 31065 COMPARATIVE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE 3 Credit Hours
Examination of the phenomena of religious experience, its structure, ramifications and expression in myth and ritual.
Prerequisite: REL 11020 or REL 21021.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
REL 31075 RELIGION AND WOMEN 3 Credit Hours
Course serves to provide students with an opportunity to examine the status of women as concerns authoritative texts, politics, doctrines and institutions through the critical study of the history, texts and artifacts of selected traditional religions with the use of multidisciplinary and cross-cultural approaches concerning the experience, contributions, topics and status of women – both historically and in contemporary contexts.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
REL 40095 SPECIAL TOPICS IN RELIGION STUDIES 3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Special topics seminar in religion studies.
Prerequisite: Junior standing.
Schedule Type: Seminar
Contact Hours: 3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
REL 40096 INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Individual investigation in religion studies.
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: Individual Investigation
Contact Hours: 3-9 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
REL 41010 RELIGION, VIOLENCE AND TERROR 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with REL 51010) Course explores a variety of religions focusing on the themes of violence and terror. The examination employs different academic approaches to selected historic examples and their underlying causes.
Prerequisite: Junior or Senior Standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
REL 41091 SEMINAR IN ADVANCED COMPARATIVE RELIGION 3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) (Slashed with REL 51091) Variable content course that is an advanced examination of pivotal issues, schools and theorists in the study of religion and the future of comparative studies.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Seminar
Contact Hours: 3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
REL 42091 RELIGION IN THE MODERN WORLD 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with REL 52091) (Repeatable for credit) An inquiry into the influences of modernity in the conception, valuation and-or interpretation of religious convictions, beliefs, symbolizations, institutions and artifacts (including texts). The study of Religion in the Modern World is a complex undertaking offering multiple foci with multiple attending disciplines and approaches to the inquiry. Given the plurality of foci and approaches, instructors may choose to address any number of the common topics associated with the evolution of religions in the modern world. Examples include: religion and science -- from cosmology (Gallio, Newton, to black holes) to the origins and evolution of the human species (Darwin), or religion and society, or religion and the modern state, or religion and industrial society, or religion in a modern world of pluralism and multicultural societies as well as the religious reactions against science, modern multicultural societies, the modern state and the changing legal status of women, minorities, and children, and the rise of fundamentalism.
Prerequisite: Junior or Senior standing.
Schedule Type: Seminar
Contact Hours: 3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
REL 51010 RELIGION, VIOLENCE AND TERROR 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with REL 41010) Course explores a variety of religions focusing on the themes of violence and terror. The examination employs different academic approaches to selected historic examples and their underlying causes.
Prerequisite: Graduate studies.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
REL 51091 SEMINAR IN ADVANCED COMPARATIVE RELIGION 3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) (Slashed with REL 41091) Variable content course that is an advanced examination of pivotal issues, schools and theorists in the study of religion and the future of comparative studies.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Seminar
Contact Hours: 3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
REL 52091 RELIGION IN THE MODERN WORLD 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with REL 42091) (Repeatable for credit) An inquiry into the influences of modernity in the conception, valuation and-or interpretation of religious convictions, beliefs, symbolizations, institutions and artifacts (including texts). The study of Religion in the Modern World is a complex undertaking offering multiple foci with multiple attending disciplines and approaches to the inquiry. Given the plurality of foci and approaches, instructors may choose to address any number of the common topics associated with the evolution of religions in the modern world. Examples include: religion and science -- from cosmology (Gallio, Newton, to black holes) to the origins and evolution of the human species (Darwin), or religion and society, or religion and the modern state, or religion and industrial society, or religion in a modern world of pluralism and multicultural societies as well as the religious reactions against science, modern multicultural societies, the modern state and the changing legal status of women, minorities, and children, and the rise of fundamentalism.
Prerequisite: Graduate studies.
Schedule Type: Seminar
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Women's Studies (WMST)
WMST 20101 INTRODUCTION TO WOMEN’S STUDIES: TRADITIONS, TRAJECTORIES, TROUBLES 3 Credit Hours
The course introduces students to Women's Studies - what it studies, how it came into being, what happened next. In focus are its traditions, its consequential contexts of struggle and protest, its pioneers, the multiple fields from which they came to this fresh-born academic hub. The course examines worldwide spread of WMST programs, their variant, evolving interests and work, the hounding, keenly felt disruptions and conflicts. We sample key scholarship with staying power; we peruse pieces across an interdisciplinary range; we visit early ideas now fallen out of favor, relegated to archives and/or bins. We also, importantly, consider how rifts and various troubles led to crucial metamorphoses as well as new fields.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
WMST 30001 ARENAS FOR FEMINIST THOUGHT: TOUCHY SUBJECTS, UNSETTLED MATTERS AND FEMINIST RESPONSE-ABILITY 3 Credit Hours
A multi-layered inquiry into the substantial discursive project initially undertaken by feminists to break the hold of dominant theory and begin to articulate theory from new standpoints expressed in new language. This course opens an arena within which to study real engagements of thinkers, theorists, their thoughts, theories, arguments, critical appraisals, etc. as they have emerged, developed and contended. The course coheres in a sense of feminist thinkers as profoundly responsive to their contexts, situated in times, places and atmospheres powerfully infused with settled and unsettled meanings.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
WMST 30002 FEMINIST RESEARCH METHODS 3 Credit Hours
Explores different qualitative and quantitative methodologies through applied research on WMST-related topics as well as on topics informed by feminist standpoints and thought/theory. Provides sturdy foundation for undergraduate students whose aims include undergraduate research, graduate school, and/or actual fieldwork.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
WMST 30091 KEY CONVERSATIONS THROUGH WOMEN'S STUDIES (DIVD) 3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) A critical investigation of the position and category of women from a cross-cultural, historical and interdisciplinary perspective, with special emphasis on major themes and issues in women's studies. Issues including race, ethnicity and sexuality may also be addressed.
Prerequisite: Junior standing.
Schedule Type: Seminar
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Domestic
WMST 30095 SPECIAL TOPICS IN WOMEN'S STUDIES 1-4 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Study of selected topics in women's studies organized around historical and theoretical issues and movements. This includes contemporary feminist theory, suffragist movement and third wave feminism.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 1-4 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
WMST 30100 HISTORY OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES 3 Credit Hours
(Cross-listed with HIST 31075) An exploration of the political, economic, social, intellectual and cultural forces that have shaped women's lives, women's thought, perceptions of womanhood and feminism, from 1607 to the present in what is now the United States.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
WMST 30196 WOMEN STUDIES INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) The design and completion of a scholarly research project related to women's studies, and the presentation of findings at the end of the term. Arrangements must be made in the semester prior to registration.
Prerequisite: Special approval by instructor.
Schedule Type: Individual Investigation
Contact Hours: 3-9 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
WMST 30201 WITCHES: THE MONSTROUS FEMININE 3 Credit Hours
This course counterbalances student inquiry with lectures and materials at once grounded in women's and gender/sexuality studies and reliant on a range of interdisciplinary sources. The course centers two key touchstones: witch and monstrous feminine. Course trajectories traverse history, culture, religion, politics and academic and popular renderings to locate keys: hunts, trials, dynamics of allegation, guilt and innocence. The course aims to 'correct' traditions of objectification and typecasting by interrogating real subjectivities and the dimensionality of feminine, monstrous and witch.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
WMST 30202 FEMINIST HUMOR: DISARMING LAUGHTER, DISRUPTIVE DISCOURSE 3 Credit Hours
This course utilizes four key terms to set its directions of inquiry: humor, laughter, discourse and feminist. The most fundamental pursuits are inductive in nature, grounding studies in actual discursive practice, the realities of women's politically-charged and personally-resonant humor, laughter and feminisms as they converge in contexts both private and public, mediated and live/face-to-face. Scholarship on feminist humor provides our final framing.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
WMST 30301 REPRESENTATIONS OF WOMEN AND FEMINISM IN POPULAR CULTURE 3 Credit Hours
The basic challenge of this course is that it requires the study of two things simultaneously: 'women' and 'women as represented' in popular culture. From the classic object of woman sexed and gendered, feminist study has evolved to also consider woman the subject, the autonomous person with agency within her environment. The course covers much ground: dominant narratives; the often-overlapping contexts of media, politics, morality and religion; the signs inherent in language and imagery; and the power asymmetry and embattled definitions of “woman.” Throughout the course, we employ varied approaches that resist any one right answer, easy dogmatic conclusion or evaluation of the narratives.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
WMST 30302 GLOBAL FEMINISMS: A WORLD AND CENTURY OF WOMEN'S ACTIVISM 3 Credit Hours
This course explores real and diverse circumstances where feminisms have emerged. Over the semester, we examine feminist movements and their respective contexts; feminists’ distinct directions of thought and action; individuals, groups and organizations that have participated in defining feminism; and finally, the connectivity that makes transnational feminist work possible. The course is grounded in sites of 'agonizing and organizing,' as well as in those feminist narratives that search for cohesion even where there is tension. Finally, throughout the course, we embrace and explore complexities of unresolved issues: none more basic than the still controversial claim that women's rights are human rights.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
WMST 32323 RAPE CULTURE: RETHINKING DANGER, POWER, SEX AND FEMINIST FRAMINGS 3 Credit Hours
Nothing is simple, incontrovertible or 'cool' in 'rape culture.' The subject, act and discourse surrounding rape is embedded in culture and confounded by culture: by opinions, standpoints, simplistic arguments and personal and political interests. Feminist framings of 'rape culture' invite different inquiry: into mythology, ideology, theory and alternative interpretations of bodies in a given context. Famed feminist Andrea Dworkin interrogates rape culture's center: powers practically guaranteed, moreover "exercised… [and] protected… by religion … by universities … [even] by [poets and artists], the unacknowledged legislators of the world." This course utilizes multiple approaches to study and interrogate 'rape culture,' each of which illuminates this inherently dark subject in new light.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
WMST 40992 PRACTICUM IN WOMEN'S STUDIES (ELR) 3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) An assignment at a private, public or nonprofit organization that centers on women's issues such as education health and policy making. Arrangements must be made in the semester prior to registration.
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: Practical Experience
Contact Hours: 9 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
WMST 41199 CAPSTONE IN WOMEN'S STUDIES (ELR) 3 Credit Hours
The capstone project is a guided undertaking that serves as culmination of students’ experiences. The emphasis is 'putting it all together,' integrating the Women’s Studies minor into 'the bigger picture': major(s), other concentrations, research, envisioned graduate study and/or vocation. WMST Capstone can be taken junior or senior year, contrived/structured by students in consultation with faculty advisor(s), ideally advisors from major and minor. Net outcome may be paper--senior thesis for students who desire such--presentation, curated portfolio of prior academic work.
Prerequisite: Junior Standing.
Schedule Type: Project or Capstone
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
WMST 44321 PIVOTAL PRAXIS: EXPERIMENTS IN ACTIONABLE FEMINISM 3 Credit Hours
This course engages students at the pumping heart of the whole feminist story: its actual work. For feminists on the ground, pivotal praxis is feminism: getting the vote, demanding equality, wrangling through contentious issues, women’s marches and campaigns. In a word: practice. Experiments in practical, actional feminism. Our study probes ideas that hit streets as well as ideas born of “done things.” Under scrutiny are scenes: socio-political, cultural spaces wherein women enact change, determine outcomes recognized as feminist. These include but are not limited to the realpolitik of suffrage vs. anti-suffrage, consciousness-raising, the famed national women’s convention in Houston, internet activism, transversal coalition-building across boundaries/borders. The course provides opportunity for students’ own experiments and exercises in feminist praxis.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter