Gender and Women's Studies

Winter 2009 Courses

GWST 2700

Special Topics in GWST: GEISHA: Myths and Realities

2:00 p.m.-5:50 p.m., Wednesdays, 4 credits, Elizabeth Owen

This course examines the myths and realities of Geisha in history and in contemporary popular culture.  We will employ a variety of interdisciplinary approaches, including art historical visual analysis, material culture studies, historical, sociological, and gender studies, among other disciplines, as we attempt to understand the complex changing nature of Geisha.  First, we will focus on historical images of Geisha and carefully examine the visual arts and their role in spreading information and satisfying varied curiosities about Geisha to Japanese and non-Japanese audiences. Next, we will consider the continuing legacy of Geisha as icons of feminine beauty and cultural constructs in popular culture, the collective consciousness, and contemporary imagination of American audiences as we continue to explore issues of “Japanese-ness” from an American perspective. In addition, we will analyze Hollywood’s accurate and sometimes inaccurate portrayals of Geisha for modern audiences. By assessing gender and identity issues as well as recent contributions to the continually-changing images of Geisha, we may better understand the multiple and bi-national perspectives that still perpetuate accurate or fictional accounts of Geisha. This is an intensive reading, research, and in-class discussion course. It is designed to allow participants to concentrate, individually, on research techniques as well as verbal and written presentations of their work.

GWST 2982 

section 1

Colloquium in GWST: Transition to Adulthood

2:00p.m.-3;50 p.m., Tuesdays, 2 credits, Jennifer Karas

Ben Jonson (1572/3-1637) and Katherine Philips (1631-64) were among the most accomplished and influential writers of seventeenth-century England.  Although they probably share more differences than similarities, both writers were deeply concerned with crafting dynamic relationships between their poetry and current historical discourses.  This colloquium will investigate a robust selection of Jonson's and Philips's poems with special attention paid to each writer's gendering of time and history.  That comparative study will also be conducted within and against related contexts of early modern cultural documents and recent works in scholarship and theory.

GWST 3985

Gender and Women's Studies Internship
Arranged, Staff 

GWST 3991

Independent Study
Arranged, Staff
Prereq: Independent Study Form - available in Registrar's Office

GWST 3998

Gender and Women’s Studies Honors Thesis
Arranged, Staff

GWST 4991

Graduate Independent Study
Arranged, Staff 
Prereq: Graduate Independent Study Form – available in Graduate Dean's Office