". . . if I wish to define myself, I must first of all say: 'I am a woman': on this truth must be based all further discussion."
- Simone de Beauvoir, 1949
Women's Studies is an approach to knowledge that places women at the center of analysis.
Born out of the "feminist" movements of the 1960s, Women's Studies involves a reappraisal of the lives of women. The core concepts of the women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s that seem like common sense today were radical in their time: the idea that sisterhood matters, that any separation between the public and private spheres is a false one, that women have been and continue to be oppressed, that women are diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, class, age, etc. These same notions continue to inform the contemporary discipline of Women's Studies.
As an interdisciplinary field, Women's Studies both identifies and examines gender issues that are embedded in everyday life, including such spheres as family, work, education, religion, popular culture, and media. In addition, it considers the role and study of women in the humanities, the social sciences, and the sciences.
The central goal of a Women' Studies Program is to provide students of both genders and all ages, races, ethnicities, religions, and sexual identities a context that examines the ideas of the past, that enables them to consider their experiences now, and that prepares them to participate in informed and creative ways in the future.
Why do we need Women's Studies?
Because too often historically accepted theories and explanations, indeed, the very methods of inquiry and study, have been characterized by prejudice towards, and misinformation and misunderstandings about, women.
In the past, the study of women was carried on almost exclusively by men working together in institutions and disciplines closed to women. Women's Studies programs seek to restore balance and to advocate tolerance and cooperation both in the methodology and interpretation of academic study and discourse.
Women's Studies programs and courses seek to provide students with the language, terminology, and concepts necessary to analyze and discuss the roles of women and men in the world. Through study and discourse inside and outside the classroom and across the disciplines, Women's Studies programs seek to suggest new goals, new values, and new visions for society and to ensure that all individuals have access to the centers of policy and power in science, art, industry, and communication.
". . . a movement seeking the reorganization of the world upon a basis of sex-equality in all human relations; a movement which would reject every differentiation between individuals upon the ground of sex, would abolish all sex privileges and sex burdens, and would strive to set up recognition of the common humanity of woman and man as the foundation of law and custom." --Theresa Billington-Greig, 1911
"Feminism means finally that we renounce our obedience to the fathers and recognize that the world they have described is not the whole world." --Adrienne Rich, 1976
"A method of analysis as well as a discovery of new material. It asks new questions as well as coming up with new answers. Its central concern is with this social distinction, with its meanings, and with its causes and consequences." --Juliet Mitchell and Anne Oakley, 1976
"Is a mode of analysis, a method of approaching life and politics, a way of asking questions and searching for answers, rather than a set of political conclusions about the oppression of women." --Nancy Hartsock, 1979
"Is a commitment to eradicating the ideology of domination that permeates Western Culture on various levels--sex, race, and class, to name a few--and a commitment to reorganizing U.S. society, so that the self-development of people can take precedence over imperialism, economic expansion, and material desires." --Bell Hooks, 1981
The Women's Studies Minor Program
The Women's Studies Minor requires 18 hours of coursework.
Required Courses:
* WOMN 2301: Introduction to Women's Studies (3 cr)
* WOMN 4302: Senior Seminar in Women's Studies (3 cr)
The remaining 12 hours are to be selected from a range of electives, a sampling of which are below.
Sample Elective Courses:
* CRIJ/SOCI 4320 Women in Criminal Justice
x ENGL 3329 Studies in a Genre of American Literature
* ENGL 4335 Chicano/a Literature
* ENGL 4338 Minority Voices
* ENGL 4306 Studies in a Genre of English Literature
* ENGL 4321 American Dialects
* HIST 3310 Women's History
* HIST 4391 Problems in World History
* MAN 4399 Special Issues in Management
* NURS 4399 Current Topics
* PSCI 4321 Special Studies in Political Science
* PSYC 4311 Marriage and Family System
* PSYC 4310 Psychology of Human Sexuality
* SOCI 4311 Marriage and the Family
x SOCI 4325 Sociology of Gender Roles
BIOL 3366 History of Women in Science
HIST 3310 U.S. Intellectual History
HIST 4364 Old South
HIST 4366 Building Modern America 1877-W.W. I
SOCI 4310 Women in Criminal Justice
SOCI 4370 Medical Sociology
PSCI 4350 Ethnic Politics
PSYC 3301 Social Psychology
PSYC 4303 Abnormal Psychology
PSYC 4315 Alcohol, Drugs, & Human Behavior
Some semesters the Following Courses MAY BE Offered with a Focus on Women or Women's Issues. Always check with the instructor or with a Women's Studies Adviser
ENGL 3323 Children's Literature
ENGL 3310 Young Adult LiteraTure
SOCI 1301 Introduction to Sociology
A complete Women's Studies Minor Program guide is available through a Women's Studies Adviser. For further information please contact Dr. Jeri Kraver jkraver@ tamiu.edu or call 326-2630.
Advisors for the Women's Studies Minor
Cantu, Norma E. (Ph.D. University of Nebraska at Lincoln) , Professor of English.
Carroll, Alicia (Ph.D. City of University of New York, Graduate Center, CUNY), Assistant Professor of English.
Coppock, Marjorie (Ph.D. Texas A&M University), Assistant Professor of Sociology.
Hardman, Peggy (Ph.D. Texas Tech University), Visiting Assistant Professor of History.
Jewett, Jeri (Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin), Assistant Professor of Biology.
Kraver, Jeri (Ph.D. University of Kentucky), Assistant Professor of English.
Pletsch de Garcia, Kati (Ph.D. Purdue University), Assistant Professor of English and Spanish.
Waters, Frances Carol (Ph.D. Texas Tech University), Assistant Professor of Political Science.
WOMN 2301 INTRODUCTION TO WOMEN'S STUDIES Dr. Norma Cantu
MW: 4:30 - 5:45
This survey of the interdisciplinary field of Women's Studies will present a variety of perspectives on women as individuals and on their roles in society and culture.
ARTS 1303 ART HISTORY I Mr. Kenny Mencher
No description available (yet). For more information please contact Kenny Mencher. And, check back to this page at a later date!
ENGL 4338 MINORITY VOICES: The Search for Identity Dr. Norma Cantu
M: 6:00 - 8:30
Designed to help students attain, through wide, relevant reading, an understanding of the United States culture as one of many peoples and ways of life; and literature itself as a device for securing equality among them.
ENGL 4336 BRITISH NOVEL Dr. Alicia Carroll
MW: 6:00 - 7:15
This course will study the continuum of novelistic tradition in Britain. The works of such authors as Richardson, Fielding, Austen, the Bronte sisters, Eliot, Dickens, Hardy, Woolf, etc. may be surveyed as reflections of sociopolitical, theological, and sexual aspects of British life.
HIST 4366 BUILDING MODERN AMERICA 1877-W.W. I Dr. Peg Hardman
MWF: 12:00 - 12:50
No course description available (yet!). Please check back, or contact Dr. Peg Hardman.
PSYC 3301 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Dr. Susan Perry
MW: 6:00 - 7:15
Explores the theory and phenomena of social psychology, the nature and type of social variables and the mthods used to study them, and the effect of social variables upon the behavior of individuals.
PSYC 4303 ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY Dr. Susan Perry
TR: 5:00 - 6:15
Presents neuroses, psychoses, organic disorders, mental deficiency, alcoholism, epilepsy, and description and discussion of possible causes, symptoms, and treatment modes.
PSYC 4315 ALCOHOL, DRUGS, & HUMAN BEHAVIOR Dr. Susan Perry
MW: 7:30 - 8:45
Reviews the social, psychological, and physiological effects of alsohol and all the major therapeutic and recreational drugs, historical and current definitions of alcohol and drug use and abuse, and sociocultural aspects of alcohol / drug use and abuse will be studied to develop effective strategies for prevention of alcholo and drug dependency.
SOCI 1301 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Dr. Judy Warner
TR: 9:30 -10:45
A scientific approach to the study of the cultural and social basis for human behavior, including the impact of societal groups and organizations on personal identity, feelings, and behavior. Topics for special focus include the individual impact of ethnicity, social class, gender, religion, family structure, peer groups, complex organizations, mass media, and educational, political, and economic systems.
SOCI 3351 INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Dr. Michael Yoder MWF: 9:00 - 9:50
An introduction to major aspects of culture (social organization, economics, religion, etc.); cultural patterns and sociocultural change; prehistory of humans and the development of variant cultures.
SOCI 4320 WOMEN IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM Dr. Judy Warner
TR: 12:30 - 1:45
Analysis of incidence studies and examination of theories about women's criminality. The study of mass media stereotypes of women criminals and victims; female victimology; issues concerning women who work in police, court, and correctional facilities; and criminal justic system processing of women offenders.
SOCI 4370 MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY Dr. Cecilia Garza
M: 6:00 - 8:30
The role of social and cultural factors in the distribution and causes of disease; doctor patient relationships; beliefs about health, illness, treatment and recovery; access to health institutions and the organization of health care systems.
This page is maintained by Kati Pletsch de Garcia. If you have any comments, suggestions, etc., please send them to kdegarcia@tamiu.edu