|
|
2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Course Descriptions
|
|
|
Use the course filter below to search for active courses.
Course numbers followed by an ‘L’ are cross-listed with another department or program.
This catalog may contain course information that is out of date. Before registering for a course, always check the course information in WISER.
|
| |
University Sea-Based Skills |
| |
-
USEA 104 - Open Water SCUBA
1 Credit(s) | Laboratory |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course is designed to teach the fundamentals of SCUBA diving to those looking to explore the underwater world. Following successful completion of all course objectives, students will receive a basic Open Water Diver certification.
039718:1
|
| |
-
USEA 105 - Advanced Open Water & Rescue Diver Certification
1 Credit(s) | Laboratory |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course is the next step in scuba diver development. It is designed to teach the skills and knowledge needed to achieve both the Advanced Open Water Diver scuba certifications. The Advanced Open Water certification includes six different open water dives based on a variety of different specialties taught for the certification. Our program will include: UW Navigation, Night & Limited Visibility Diving, Deep Diving, dive computer use, search & recovery, and Boat Diving. Other topics may include techniques conducive to local dive conditions and class interest such as advanced bouncy techniques, underwater photography, dry suit diving and NITROX use.
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite: USEA 104
039720:1
|
| |
-
USEA 106 - Underwater Research Methods Using SCUBA
2 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course is designed to introduce SCUBA certified students to underwater research methods used primarily in the study of the biology, ecology and the physiology of subtidal organisms. Methods that apply to natural and cultural resource fieldwork are covered in lecture & readings. This course fulfills the american Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) scientific diver training requirements. Students will be trained in conducting Subtidal research with safety as a priority and will include diving emergency management per AAUS requirements under DAN (Divers Alert Network). A variety of current underwater research methods are taught and practiced in both the classroom and with regular underwater field exercises. Topics include: census methods & habitat surveys for subtidal research; sampling design & statistical analysis; underwater photography & video as research tool; diving emergency management including CPR & First Aid, AED use & Oxygen Administration and Diver rescue training; diving physics, physiology, decompression theory, & dive computers; diving safety, planning & logistics, fill station use, and SCUBA cylinder use & care.
040885:1
|
University Sea-Based Skills (non-credit) |
| |
-
USEA-NC 114 - Introduction to Sustainable Marine Aquaculture
3.6 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course provides an introductory overview of marine aquaculture with a specific focus on the principles of sustainability in the production and distribution of marine-sourced foods. Students will explore the culturing and rearing of marine invertebrates and plants. Building on a general overview of marine aquaculture, the course will cover the physical and chemical properties of the aquatic environment; site selection; aquatic engineering; bivalve culture; crustacean culture; seaweed culture; health and pathology; growth and nutrition; genetics and reproduction; legal, economic, social and environmental considerations. These topics will be covered with both a local and global perspective. The course is designed to familiarize students with the multi-disciplinary nature of sustainable marine aquaculture as a field. We will conclude with a brief overview of the legal, economic, and social considerations and we will look at some of the controversies surrounding marine aquaculture and environmental sustainability.
040661:1
|
| |
-
USEA-NC 124 - Aquaculture Production
0 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course is designed to provide an overview of animal production and associated environmental and regulatory aspects of the industry. The course also introduces aspects of business and market development for cultured products with special focus on marine aquaculture and shellfish.
040662:1
|
| |
-
USEA-NC 134 - The Business of Marine Aquaculture
0 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course will examine the elements of working in and managing a successful aquaculture operation. Aquaculture is currently the fastest growing segment of the food industry, with about half of what we eat from the ocean coming from aquaculture. This is an increasingly competitive space that suffers from a tradition of malpractice and misunderstanding as well as a regulatory culture that lags far behind an innovative rate. Site selection, gear, seed and feed procurement, marketing, and supply chain dynamics are all important elements of a successful aquaculture operation that demand an understanding of regulatory, financial, and marketing and entrepreneurial principles. This course is designed to introduce students to these challenges and equip them with the tools needed to engage within the industry on a sophisticated, successful level.
040663:1
|
Urban Planning and Community Development |
| |
|
| |
-
UPCD 130L - Sustainable Urban Development in Local Contexts Globally
Formerly CDVCTR 130L
3 Credit(s) | Lecture | Graded or pass/fail
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This survey course explores multiple dimensions of global sustainable urban development and provides strategies for planning, building, managing, and living in cities while protecting the environment. This survey of the contested nature of sustainable urbanization is accomplished through diverse topics which include but not limited to: the city and vulnerable populations; gender equal cities; strengthening resilience in cities to reduce the risk and the impact of disasters; the inter-connected crisis in infrastructure, urbanization, poverty, social injustice, and sustainable growth of smart cities. sustainable Urban Development in Local Contexts Globally will specifically and directly address race, gender, socio-economic class, and cultural (ethnicity and national origin) diversity as a central theme through a category of difference, as a system of relationality or intersectionality, and as a global/transnational system.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: Social & Behavioral Sciences | Diversity Area: International
041381:2
|
| |
-
UPCD 179GL - First-Year Seminar in the School for the Environment
Formerly CDVCRT 179GL
4 Credit(s) | Seminar |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This is a one semester four-credit version of the School for the Environment’s First-Year Seminar requirement. Course content will vary by instructor, but will focus on current issues in sustainable human, built, and natural systems of coastal New England. Using this approach, students will become increasingly familiar with the experienced in interdisciplinary discourse, the different ways of knowing, and the interplay between the arts, humanities, economic development, and natural and social sciences that comprise the study of sustainable human, built and natural systems. Successful completion of this course will fulfill the students First-Year Seminar requirement which focuses on the capabilities of careful reading, clear writing, critical thinking, information technology, oral presentation, teamwork, and academic self-assessment. CDVCTR 179GL and ENVSTY 179GL are the same course.
Course Attribute(s):
First Year Seminar
Enrollment Requirements:
Degree students only with fewer than 30 credits when they entered UMass Boston
Students may complete only one 100G course (First Year Seminar)
040883:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 201 - History and Theory of Community Development
Formerly CDVCTR 201
3 Credit(s) | Lecture | Graded or pass/fail
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course is an introduction to Community Development. It traces the origins of community development as process and practice. It examines the way different social actors formulate solutions to ameliorate the impact market forces, private and public policies, and other forces have had on communities and neighborhoods. The course reviews the history and theories of community development by examining the way capital (industrial, real-estate, and financial), labor, and government interact, and how their interaction is recorded in space. The course takes as its central question poverty: How it is produced in the US; the way different sectors of society have analyzed and explained it; and the ideological apparatus framing solutions to ameliorate poverty and inequality in American Society. Thus Community Development incorporates ideas, concepts and theories from Social Work, Urban Planning, the Social Sciences, and Cultural Studies.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: Social & Behavioral Sciences | Diversity Area: United States
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisites: PCSCOR 200 and PCSCOR 220
038513:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 210 - Community Health and Environment
Formerly CDVCTR 210
3 Credit(s) | Lecture | Graded or pass/fail
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
American communities face many community health challenges, among them poverty and unemployment, substance abuse, inadequate housing, unhealthy environments, underfunded public schools and colleges, environmental contamination, inefficient and inadequate delivery of health care to residents, and natural and human-induced disasters. A variety of social, political and environmental forces - from free-market policies to unsustainable environmental practices - test the ability of communities, states, and the nation to deal with these and other challenges. This course focuses on the efforts by citizens, organizations, and governments to prevent disease, promote and maintain health, and protect the environment. It emphasizes concepts and principles of community health and their relationship to the physical, mental, and social well-being of a community, which incorporates individual, families, and groups. It also examines issues of power, class, and race, as well as larger political economic forces, as they affect a community’s ability to promote and sustain the health of its members.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: Social & Behavioral Sciences | Diversity Area: United States
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite: ENVSTY 101 or ENVSCI 122 or a minimum of 24 credits.
038529:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 280 - Lower Level Special Topics in Community Development
Formerly CDVCTR 280
1 - 6 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course covers a variety of areas in community development at the 100 or 200 level. The topic is announced during preregistration period.
040538:1
|
| |
|
| |
-
UPCD 303 - Quantitative Methods for Community Development
Formerly CDVCTR 303
3 Credit(s) | Lecture | Graded or pass/fail
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
The ability to read and understand statistics is important for many professions. Issues concerning the environment, housing, education, health, jobs, land use, revenue generation, organizational structures, transportation, and many others require understanding the logic and results of quantitative analyses. Planners, analysts, and researchers collect and use information to examine societal problems. Individuals concerned with planning and policy decisions rely on statistics to formulate agendas and make decisions. Organized quantitative information is central to understanding a community and to measuring the impact of community health and development strategies. Whether you choose to work in government, nonprofit organizations, business, or as a policy analyst, you will benefit from a good understanding of statistical analyses. This course builds upon knowledge of descriptive and inferential statistics and probability theory, and the application of statistics in social scientific research. This course has two main foci. The statistical focus includes understanding descriptive and inferential statistical concepts and the interpretation of statistical results. The second is applied quantitative data management and analysis in SPSS, a tool for the statistical analysis of data. It allows researchers to perform a wide variety of statistical procedures. A primary goal of the course is to provide students with a basic knowledge of the program in order to be able to use it in social research.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: Mathematics and Technology
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite: MATH 125 or equivalent or permission of instructor
038522:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 310 - Social Determinants of Health
Formerly CDVCTR 310
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course explores the concept of social determinants of health through study of several contemporary health problems. The root causes of differential health outcomes, their relationship to social and economic structures, and approaches to addressing these problems will be examined. The course provides an in-depth analysis of social power relationships as a major determinant of contemporary health problems. Some of the topics covered include: the international AIDS epidemic, health disparities - particularly in healthcare access and quality, and the health concerns related to increases in the incidence and prevalence of excessive weight gain and obesity in the U.S.
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite: UPCD 210
038530:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 321 - Fundamentals of Housing
Formerly CDVCTR 321
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course focuses on the relationship between housing and social structure in the United States using historical, sociological, and political-economic perspectives. Students will examine the actors and institutions involved in housing development and provision (builders, real estate and mortgage brokers, the federal government, welfare capitalists, architects, urban planners, politicians, etc.) and the ideas, events, policies, and programs that have resulted in contemporary housing and land use patterns. Students also will focus on the history of federal housing policy and explore the meaning and implication of the “American Dream”. Finally, students will examine various housing issues (affordability, discrimination, gentrification, homelessness) and attempts to address these issues. This course is intended for Community Development majors, but upper level student interested in urban social and/or economic issues are welcome.
040583:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 351L - Architecture and Human Built Environment Interactions
Formerly CDVCTR 351L
3 Credit(s) | Lecture | Graded or pass/fail
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course introduces students to the connections between architecture and human-made places and spaces and emphasizes student engagement and creative problem-solving. This course is a multidisciplinary and multilayered exploration of how architecture and urban design respond to, and interact with, the numerous forces, such as the culture and environmental contexts, that shape their development and uses case studies from the United States and around the world as examples. Moreover, a broad range of the works of socially-mined architects will be discussed for increasing the awareness of the built environment. Topics will include environmentally conscious architecture, regionalism in architecture, the critical role of architects in reconstruction the built environment after catastrophes, and, how architecture and urban design can foster healthy urban environments.
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite:
041426:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 353 - Community Economic Development in the United States
Formerly CDVCTR 353
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course provides a framework to understand and assess local economic development issues, as well as approaches and strategies to address them. The focus is on different types of community capital central to sustainable community economic development. These community resources include financial capital, business development, household asset accumulation, housing, education and workforce development, diverse population groups, and disaster recovery. The local economy development strategies involve different configurations of policies initiated at the federal, state, and local levels - engaging governmental, corporate, and community organizations. Students will have the opportunity to investigate in depth the evolution and results of a particular economic development strategy undertaken at the community level.
038525:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 355 - Global Community Economic Development
Formerly CDVCTR 355
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course examines community economic development in industrialized countries and emerging economies. Students will learn different forms and shapes of community economic development across the globe. Globalization and rapid economic growth in particular have significant impact on local communities in emerging economies. Local efforts may arise to bring about more optimal and sustainable community developments. While the best practice in one country may not be directly applicable to another setting, some general principles may be developed by studying the working of different approaches to community economic development across the globe.
038526:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 371 - Organizational Behavior for Public and Nonprofit Organizations
Formerly CDVCTR 371
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course introduces students to a systems approach to understanding human behavior and operations within organizations. Students will have an opportunity to acquire a deeper understanding of the work of non-profit organizations and public agencies. This is achieved through the study of goal-setting, organizational culture, formal and informal leadership, organizational structure, formal and informal communication, advanced technology, and strategic management. Students will be introduced to both resource dependency and population ecology approaches to public management. This course is intended for Community Development majors, but upper level students interested in social, economic, and/or management issues are welcome.
040584:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 380 - Upper Level Special Topics in Community Development
Formerly CDVCTR 380
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
The course covers a variety of upper level areas in community development. The topic is announced during preregistration period.
040539:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 401 - Comparative Models in Community Development
Formerly CDVCTR 401
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
Comparative Models in Community Development explores Community Development in societies beyond the US. To frame the comparison we terrace the idea of development and the way Community Development in the US integrated key ideas from Development Theories arising during the post-WWII period of decolonization mandated by the United Nations. During the same period Community Development in the US and other advanced industrial nations arose in response to economic, social, political, and cultural transformation(s) of post-industrial societies. Concentrating their “concern” on rising poverty in the midst of wealth, although not new, “poverty knowledge” (O’Connor 2001) gave rise to an “anti-poverty industry” with massive government involvement. New and unequal landscapes of prosperity (suburbanization) and decay (“inner-cities”); massive demographic displacements, from south-to-north (migration of African-Americans to northern cities); and increased migration(s) from the Caribbean, South and Central America, Asia, and other places, led to the idea that these communities presented equivalent “development gaps.” Through a series of city and/or national case studies, the course examines models in developed and developing nations. The study of best practices in Community, Economic, and Human Development across the Globe may provide a better understanding of a rapidly changing world.
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisites: PCSCOR 200 and PCSCOR 220
038523:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 410 - Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health
Formerly CDVCTR 410
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
The course explores the relationship between social and economic justice and public health. Focusing primarily on the U.S., the forces that either establish and exacerbate or prevent social inequities will be analyzed to understand the intricate links between social, behavioral, physical, and biological determinants of health. Several theoretical orientations will be reviewed in order to better understand how each frames research and public health strategies that have been used to address socioeconomic inequalities in health. Students will be able to competently articulate the relationships between social and health inequalities. They will be able to explain the strengths and limitations of different theoretical orientations to these issues and frame the policy needs to positively reduce health disparities.
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite: UPCD 310
038531:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 419 - Community Health Practicum
Formerly CDVCTR 419
3 - 6 Credit(s) | Practicum |
Course can be counted for credit up to 2 times/6 credits
Description:
This course is designed to serve as the capstone experience in students’ senior year in the community Health concentration of the Community Development major. Students will participate for a minimum of 80 hours in a community health practicum in the greater Boston area over two semesters During the practicum students will provide the community health organizations or program with their time, knowledge, and effort, and will, in return, gain experience in the organization, development, implementation, and/or evaluation of community health projects. An integral piece of this practicum or capstone experience is to demonstrate the integration of knowledge and skills present in the Community Development curriculum. There will be a seminar discussion of the relationship between the community experience and the theoretical an academic framework from which it is derived.
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite: UPCD 310
038532:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 457 - Internship in Community Development
Formerly CDVCTR 457
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
The internship requires a total of 135 hours with a minimum of 100 hours of service doing community development work with government, non-government, corporate, or other organizations. Most internships are found by students or faculty, but the program may assist students in finding appropriate internship placements. Each internship must be approved by the undergraduate program prior to signing up for credit by filling out the appropriate forms. Students are expected to conduct a series of assignments during the internship. Students will do a workplace culture assessment, will conduct a work culture interview, will keep a daily journal, will write a final reflective report, and will be evaluated at mid-term and at the end of the internship.
Enrollment Requirements:
Department consent
038527:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 459 - Capstone in Community Development
Formerly CDVCTR 459
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
The Capstone is the culminating research project in the Community Economic Development curriculum. It entails developing a substantive project that draws from the knowledge and skills accumulated through the UMB experience. During the course of studies in Community Development students have been exposed to an array of concepts, ideas, issues, and challenges impacting human communities across the US and globally. The capstone provides the opportunity to pursue an in-depth analysis of a topic chosen by the students. It requires students to sharpen their ability to assess different frameworks and approaches to a community economic development issue, formulate relevant questions, develop a coherent position, and be able to explain their knowledge to others.
Enrollment Requirements:
Department consent
038528:1
|
| |
-
UPCD 478 - Independent Study in Community Development
Formerly CDVCTR 478
1 - 6 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
Research or reading in a selected area of community development, guided by a faculty member.
Enrollment Requirements:
Instructor consent
040540:1
|
Vietnamese |
| |
-
VIET 101 - Elementary Vietnamese I
4 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
An introduction to Vietnamese language and culture. The course is designed for students with no or very little knowledge of Vietnamese. The course develops the foundation of students’ four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing through the interactive and communicative approach. It also provides a comprehensive and systematic survey of the fundamentals of Vietnamese phonetics, spelling rules, grammar and usage of vocabulary. In addition to the main textbook, supplementary materials taken from newspapers and magazines, films and TV programs in Vietnamese are used to enhance students’ language competency.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: World Languages
034686:1
|
| |
-
VIET 102 - Elementary Vietnamese II
4 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course is a continuation of VIET 101 . The course further develops the foundation of students’ four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing through the interactive and communicative approach. It also provides a comprehensive and systematic survey of the fundamentals of Vietnamese phonetics, spelling rules, grammar and usage of vocabulary. In addition to the main textbook, supplementary materials taken from newspapers and magazines, films and TV programs in Vietnamese are used to enhance students’ language competency.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: World Languages
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite: VIET 101 or equivalent
034687:1
|
| |
-
VIET 201 - Intermediate Vietnamese I
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
Intermediate Vietnamese I a continuation of VIET 102 . It is designed for students who have taken Elementary Vietnamese or have language competency equivalent to the outcomes from VIET 101 and VIET 102 . It provides students with further instruction in pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and the opportunity to practice the four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. It is also designed to help students build up their confidence about their communicative ability through an interactive communication-orientated approach.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: World Languages
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite: VIET 102 or equivalent
035616:1
|
| |
-
VIET 202 - Intermediate Vietnamese II
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
Intermediate Vietnamese II, is a continuation of VIET 201 . It is designed for students who have taken Intermediate Vietnamese I or have language competency equivalent to the outcomes of VIET 201 . It provides students with further instruction in pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and the opportunity to practice the four skills; speaking, listening, reading and writing. It is also designed to help students build up their confidence about their communicative ability through an interactive communication-orientation approach.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: World Languages
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite: VIET 201 or equivalent
035617:1
|
Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies |
| |
-
WGS 100 - Introduction to Women, Gender, and Sexualities in the United States
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This interdisciplinary course examines how social constructions of gender and sexuality shape our day-to-day interactions with a variety of social institutions, such as the family and workplace, and contribute to systems of power and privilege. Through a careful examination of texts, films and other materials, students will explore contemporary feminist challenges to long-standing assumptions about what constitutes diverse gendered identities and will relate these insights to their own lived experiences in productive ways.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: Social & Behavioral Sciences | Diversity Area: United States
000018:1
|
| |
-
WGS 110 - Gender in Global Context
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course is an introduction to studying women’s lives and the gender systems that shape them across cultures and countries, as it examines a variety of global processes and approaches, including patriarchy, colonialism, nationalism, and globalization. Students will consider issues of gender and sexuality by looking at the ways in which people are connected in a network of global flows of capital, ideas, and activism. Topics include: work, poverty, images of the body, violence, faith, and feminism.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: Social & Behavioral Sciences | Diversity Area: International
031768:1
|
| |
|
| |
-
WGS 150 - Women, Culture and Identity
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course explores cultural beliefs about women’s “nature” and role at different times and places, drawing on materials from literature, including fiction and autobiography, and from history and feminist analysis. Using a thematic rather than a chronological approach, the course will focus on the ways in which intersection of race, class and gender affects the lives and self-concepts of women, in the U.S. and in other societies in the world.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: Humanities
000017:1
|
| |
-
WGS 179GL - Sexuality in Nature and Culture
4 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course explores texts and film in order to expand, complicate, and challenge the way students think about diverse sexualities and genders. The course will ask where ideas about sexuality and gender come from, and question whether those ideas are rooted in nature or culture. Students will examine theories and concepts addressing cultural norms, systems of power, and the performance of the self. Students will become familiar with methods of analysis from a range of disciplines, including literature, women’s studies,, cultural studies, biology, psychology, philosophy and law. As the class investigates sexuality and gender, students will engage in self-evaluation, examine methods of reasoning, and ask questions about cultural values and inheritances. ENGL 179GL and WGS 179GL are the same course.
Course Attribute(s):
First Year Seminar
Enrollment Requirements:
Degree students only with fewer than 30 credits when they entered UMass Boston.
Students may complete only one 100G course (First Year Seminar).
039490:2
|
| |
-
WGS 200 - Twentieth Century Women Writers: A Feminist Perspective
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
An intermediate-level course which examines the ways women writers in this century have dealt with some important themes of contemporary feminism. Novels, short stories, some analytical essays and autobiographies are used.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: The Arts | Diversity Area: United States
029643:1
|
| |
-
WGS 201 - Introduction to Sexuality Studies
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This introductory course approaches the study of sexuality from a social perspective. Rather than studying sexuality as something that human beings are born with, for example, the course focuses on the ways that issues of desire, pleasure, identity, norms of sexual behavior, and intimate arrangements are deeply shaped by a range of historically specific social forces. Focusing on the U.S., a “social constructionist” framework guides the course. Family, religion, and social media will be studied as important social sites where struggles around sexualities and their meanings are played out.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: Social & Behavioral Sciences | Diversity Area: United States
040372:1
|
| |
-
WGS 207L - Queer Visual Culture: Sexuality, Gender, and Visual Representation
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course explores visual representations of gender and sexuality and the socio-historical contexts of their production. Non-heteronormative viewpoints area a specific focus, as are the scholarly frameworks of feminism, LGBT, (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Studies, and Queer Theory.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: The Arts | Diversity Area: United States
039204:2
|
| |
|
| |
-
WGS 215L - Gender & Communication
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course explores a variety of topics and concepts related to gender, sex, and communication using an intersectional, feminist approach. Specifically, this course examines the ways that individuals and society create, reinforce, and challenge the meaning of gender. This course will discuss and examine how we develop gender identities (and how these identities differ from biological sex), how this identity is shaped through the messages we receive from a number of communication systems (family, education, media, etc.), and how our gender identities in turn influence our communication patterns. As we go through the course, we’ll examine various masculine and feminine roles and stereotypes, and the impact of gender stereotypes on communication. We will also consider the limitations of gender binaries, and explore a diverse array of gender identification and expression.
040915:2
|
| |
-
WGS 220 - Women and the Media
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course explores how the historical evolution and commercial orientation of mass communications media have helped shape the depiction of women and gender in advertising, entertainment, and news. Students learn to analyze visual imagery for its conceptual and emotional messages; to distinguish stereotypes from more complex characterizations in TV fictions; and to monitor the representations of women and gender in the print and broadcast news.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: Humanities
029612:1
|
| |
-
WGS 225 - Latinas in the United States
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course provides an overview of the experiences of Latina women in the United States, focusing on the three themes of migration, the settlement process, and the question of identity. The course explores the contexts of family, employment, community organizing, and gender roles.
Course Attribute(s):
Diversity Area: United States
000565:1
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
-
WGS 240 - Educating Women
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course studies the lives and ideas of women in the U.S. who have been educators and activists in struggles for equality in, and transformation of, education. Central themes include how women learn; education as a means of self-realization and empowerment for women in different ethnic, race, and class contexts; how gender affects experience in educational institutions.
Course Attribute(s):
Diversity Area: United States
029654:1
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
-
WGS 260 - Women’s Health Care
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course focuses on women’s concerns in relation to health. Topics include health issues unique to women (such as birth control, pregnancy, childbearing); nutrition; occupational health; health and aging; women as health workers; and the history, activities, and influence of the women’s health movement.
029553:1
|
| |
-
WGS 268 - Global Bodies: Sex, Families, and Reproductive Rights in Transnational Perspective
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
Globalization is drawing increasing numbers of women (and men) into cross-border transactions in which the reproductive and sexual body is the desired object of exchange. These global markets raise important questions about what it means for human dignity when body parts and services are treated as commercially available. Do these transactions commodify women (particularly those from the Global South) by treating them as disposable, fragmentary bodies for the benefit of wealthy customers? Or do they offer new pathways out of poverty, by enabling women to assert control over this productive resource? Using a transnational feminist and human rights lens, this course examines these issues, with a particular focus on sex tourism/trafficking and gestational surrogacy. The course also looks at a very different type of cross-border travel - namely, the flight of persons in conflict zones for the purpose of escaping political violence rather than to seek or sell an intimate service. Specifically, we consider the unique challenges that refugees and internally displaced persons confront when seeking to access reproductive health services, including abortion.
Course Attribute(s):
Diversity Area: International
040275:1
|
| |
-
WGS 270 - Native American Women in North America
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course focuses on the lives of native North American women, in traditional societies and in contemporary life, as revealed through their life histories, the recounting of tribal history, legends and myths, art, and contemporary poetry and fiction. There is no prerequisite, but WGS 100 or 150 is recommended.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: World Cultures | Diversity Area: United States
029617:1
|
| |
-
WGS 280 - Special Topics in Women’s Studies (Intermediate)
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
Selected special topics in women’s studies at the intermediate level, taught by program faculty and visiting instructors.
029747:1
|
| |
-
WGS 290 - The Legal Rights of Women
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
Beginning with a historical overview, this course examines women’s evolving legal status in the US. Discussions focus on women and work, including sexual harassment; reproductive rights; and women in the family, with an emphasis on domestic violence. Participants also consider whether equality is best achieved by treating men and women identically or by taking into account such differences as women’s reproductive capacity.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: Humanities
029666:1
|
| |
-
WGS 291 - Family Law
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course examines how the traditional legal concept of family is rapidly changing in response to new social developments. It considers contemporary debates about no-fault divorce and joint custody, as well as legal developments that challenge settled notions of family (such as the recognition of two-mother families).
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: Social & Behavioral Sciences | Diversity Area: United States
000016:1
|
| |
-
WGS 292 - Family Law Practice
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
Hands-on learning about court procedure and legal drafting techniques in this course focusing on two areas of Massachusetts family law: divorce law and domestic violence law. In addition to representing a client in a mock divorce and preparing the necessary court papers, students learn about the protections available under the state’s abuse prevention act, as well as the required procedures for seeking relief.
029667:1
|
| |
-
WGS 295L - Introduction to Human Rights
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This is a collaboratively taught interdisciplinary course on a variety of issues related to Human Rights as discourse and practice. It covers the emergence and institutionalization of human rights discourse in the 20th century, and examines its transformations and extensions into various social, economic, political and cultural realms globally. Topics include critique of Western and normative human rights, policies of indigenous people and women’s rights, and cognitive and practical implementations of human rights. ANTH 295L and WGS 295L are the same course.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: World Cultures | Diversity Area: International
032283:2
|
| |
-
WGS 300L - Women in African Cultures
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course challenges stereotypical constructions of Africa and African woman in mainstream media by considering internal and external historical relationships that have shaped and redefined the cultures, ideas, institutions, politics, and social relations of several specific groups of African women. Through a multi-disciplinary approach, the course addresses issues and challenges of contemporary Africa, and explores many of the themes and concerns that have run throughout Africa’s gendered, complex, and changing history. Popular culture sources, as well as scholarly studies and activist writing, will be employed to help illuminate the lived experiences and perspectives of contemporary women living in various African societies. AFRSTY 300L and WGS 300L are the same course.
Course Attribute(s):
Diversity Area: International
029677:1
|
| |
-
WGS 302L - Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identities
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course will address current issues related to psychology of sexual orientation and gender identities. These concerns include research and theory on queer theory, affirmative counseling/therapy, identity development models, heterosexism, family and relationship issues, intersectionality in GLBTQI communities, developmental issues, minority stress, as well as positive psychology, well-being and resiliency found in GLBTQI communities.
Course Attribute(s):
Diversity Area: United States
039499:2
|
| |
-
WGS 308L - Feminist Histories: Renaissance France and Beyond
3 Credit(s) | Lecture | Graded or pass/fail
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
Students will study one important branch of the history of global feminism: women’s writing in medieval and Renaissance France. In addition to literature, we will also consider the social history of these women, as well as the impact of their feminist thinking on the rest of Europe and beyond, through to our contemporary world.
040746:2
|
| |
|
| |
-
WGS 311L - American Oral History
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course explores oral history interviewing, texts, and films, within the context of efforts to create a fully representative social and cultural history of the US. Students design individual or group oral history projects, to capture the experiences and perspectives of people formerly regarded as “unhistorical”-in particular, women, working class people, immigrants, people of color, and gays and lesbians. (Satisfies the research requirement for women’s studies majors.) AMST 311L and WGS 311L are the same course.
000012:2
|
| |
-
WGS 317L - Women in Medieval and Early Modern Europe
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course is designed to introduce students to the study of European women in the medieval and early modern eras and, more generally, to the challenges and rewards of women’s and gender history. Through in-class discussions and writing assignments, the course hones students’ ability to analyze, critique, and compare primary and secondary sources. Topics include women’s work, writing, religious lives, and relationships. HIST 317L and WGS 317L are the same course.
039493:2
|
| |
-
WGS 325L - Sexual Identities in American Culture
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course studies the history of sexual identities in the twentieth-century United States, with a particular emphasis upon the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender identities, through the study of cultural texts such as novels, songs, films, and poems. Topics covered in the course include homosexuality in the turn-of-the-century United States, sex in the Harlem Renaissance, sexual politics in the Depression years, purges of gay women and men in federal employment during the cold war and sexual liberation in the 1960s and 1970s. AMST 325L and WGS 325L are the same course.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: Humanities
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisites: ENGL 102 and a minimum of 30 credits or permission of instructor
036818:2
|
| |
|
| |
-
WGS 341L - Gender and Film: Multidisciplinary Perspectives
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course is designed to encourage multidisciplinary analysis of gender, cultural representations, and film in the 20th and early 21st century. Among the topics that students will explore are: ethnographic film and gendered practices in ethnographic filmmaking; how ideologies of gender, “race,” and class are constructed, disseminated, and normalized through film (documentary as well as “popular” film); Indigenous women and filmmaking in North America; femininities, masculinities, and power in the “horror film” genre; human rights film and filmmaking as activism. Students will view films made in diverse locations and reflecting multiple historical, political, and cultural perspectives and will explore the intellectual, political and social significance of film in their own lives. ENGL 341L and WGS 341L and CINE 341L are the same course.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: World Cultures
000010:2
|
| |
-
WGS 345 - Gender, Religion and Politics in South Asia
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course explores the relationship of gender to religious politics in South Asia particularly in the context of liberation movements of the past and current modernization, development and globalization schemes. It examines how ideal images of masculinity, femininity and religious practice are reworked by various actors in the service of anti-colonialist, nationalist, and community struggles. The course highlights the complex ways religious and nationalist politics have created opportunities for women’s activism while simultaneously undermining their autonomy.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: World Cultures | Diversity Area: International
034679:1
|
| |
-
WGS 350 - Beyond Heterosexuality: Approaches to Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
An interdisciplinary approach to lesbian, bisexual and selected aspects of transgender studies. Through readings, visual materials, speakers, and student projects, the course explores problems of theorizing differences and identities; lesbian/bisexual/transgender histories; contemporary issues (homophobia, coming out, relationships, families and communities, law, employment); political and cultural representations, and resistance. Students have an opportunity to propose topics and projects.
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite: One WGS course or permission of instructor
029679:1
|
| |
|
| |
-
WGS 356L - Faiths & Feminisms: Women, Gender, Sexuality & Religion in the U.S.
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course explores feminisms and theologies - or varieties of “God-talk” - as resources for each other. The course engages key questions raised by students and non-students alike: what does it mean to have feminist politics and belong to a faith community? Can this be done? Is it desirable? What are the consequences? Starting from these personal-political questions, the course attends to the history of women and religion in colonial America and the United States. Selected feminist and womanist engagements with and challenges to aspects of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in the contemporary United States are examined. The course explores women’s - and transpeople’s - experiences of religion and spirituality, both their leadership and their struggles within various faith communities. The professor and students analyze the ways that ideas about gender, racial/ethnic, economic, and sexual hierarchies are deeply entwined in theologies that oppress as well as those that seek to liberate. The course also investigates contemporary queer theologies and current thinking about feminism, secularism, and humanism. Student experiences and questions help guide the study of feminist scholarly research and writing in the fields of history, theology, criticism of sacred texts, politics, and literature. RELSTY 356L and WGS 356L.
Course Attribute(s):
Diversity Area: United States
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite: One WGS or RELSTY course
000006:2
|
| |
-
WGS 357L - Women in South Asian Religions: Gender Ideology and Practice in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course examines women in South Asian history through the intersections of women’s lives with three major faith traditions of the subcontinent - Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. Using historical, literary, and anthropological lenses the course will consider how various institutions of authority - patriarchy, religion, and the state - have shaped and reshaped gender ideology in South Asia, and how women, throughout South Asia’s history, have, in turn, interpreted and negotiated their position in society.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: World Cultures | Diversity Area: International
038176:2
|
| |
-
WGS 359L - Women in Modern China
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course examines the social and cultural roles of Chinese women, and their changes over time. Emphasis is given to twentieth-century China, especially the People’s Republic period. ASIAN 359L and HIST 359L are the same course.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: World Cultures | Diversity Area: International
000004:2
|
| |
-
WGS 360 - Gender, Culture, and Power
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
Feminist and other critical approaches in anthropology have challenged prevailing Western assumptions about the categories for woman and man. Such studies reveal that power infuses gender identities and gender relations in profound ways. This course provides an overview of anthropological studies of gender, cultural, and power, with special attention to the construction and contestation of gender in varied cultural contexts.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: World Cultures
009832:1
|
| |
-
WGS 370 - Research Seminar in Women’s Studies
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
Through readings, guest lectures, discussions, and small-scale projects, students learn to use and to evaluate critically some basic research tools in the humanities and social sciences, as they can be applied to the interdisciplinary study of women and gender. Consideration is given to new research approaches being developed by feminist researchers, as well as to the relationship between research and the political movement for women’s rights.
000015:1
|
| |
-
WGS 376L - Women of Color
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course offers interdisciplinary and cross-cultural perspectives on a variety of theories, themes, and issues related to the experiences of women of color in both U.S. and global contexts. It examines the genealogies, practices, and agendas of women of color “feminisms,” and promotes a dialogue about the interactive impact of race, class, and gender on women’s lives. AMST 376L and WGS 376L are the same course.
000003:2
|
| |
-
WGS 392 - Feminist Activism
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course explores the conceptual foundations, analytical lenses and practical tools from the vast and growing body of interdisciplinary social movements literature to describe, theorize and prescribe feminist activism in diverse sites across the globe. Informed by this literature, students will critique contemporary activist work brought to their attention in the readings, selected films, and several in-class presentation by local activists while construction a team-designed strategic activist plan around a selected issue.
029686:1
|
| |
-
WGS 394L - Women in US Social Movements
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
A selective survey of the motivations, strategies, experiences, and accomplishments of US women who have been activists in a variety of social movements during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Students have the opportunity to do a research project on an activist in any of several movements, including, among others, anti-slavery, birth control, civil rights, gay and lesbian liberation, labor, peace, socialism, suffrage, temperance, and women’s liberation. AMST 394L and WGS 394L are the same course.
Course Attribute(s):
Diversity Area: United States
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite: A minimum of 30 credits or permission of instructor
000002:1
|
| |
-
WGS 400 - Feminist Thought
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
The ideas and writings of prominent and influential contemporary feminist thinkers are analyzed. Specific topics areas vary from semester to semester. The course is taught as an upper level seminar for majors and minors.
029687:1
|
| |
-
WGS 401 - Advanced Topics in Human Rights
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This seminar aims to provide students with a deeper knowledge of human rights as both an intellectual discourse and a realm of political action. The first part of the course deals with the emergence and institutionalization of human rights in the 20th century. Beginning with an overview of its roots in political theory, moving to the first and second generation of rights, to debates over universality and cultural relativism and ending with exploration of human rights frameworks’ applicability and implications across nations and cultures, the course offers an in-depth interdisciplinary understanding of the field and its practices. Topics of study include torture, genocide, race gender and law, visual culture, humanitarian intervention, and protection.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: World Cultures | Diversity Area: International
039357:1
|
| |
-
WGS 411 - Transnational Feminisms: Contexts, Conflicts, and Solidarity
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
Feminism as an analytic lens, identity and movement for social transformation continues to be a hotly contested subject. This course introduces perspectives in feminist theory and practice from domestic U.S. and global contexts in order to ask: how do the contributions of women of color in the U.S. and of feminist movements in the “Third World” radically reshape the form and content of feminist politics? The objective of this class is to locate transnational feminism in relation to histories of colonialism and postcolonialism, and theories of nationalism and globalization. Students will examine topics such as gender and development; race, gender, and cultural politics; gendered violence; war, sexuality and orientalism; solidarity and alliance across cultures to examine how feminist struggles are shaped and transformed in diverse circumstances.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: World Cultures | Diversity Area: International
039212:1
|
| |
-
WGS 412L - Gender, Human Rights, and Global Cinema
3 Credit(s) | Lecture | Graded or pass/fail
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This course examines cinematic narratives of social injustices, across the world, with a special focus on gender and feminism. We study the stylistic, generic, and artistic choices made by filmmakers across geographic regions to understand how, rather than a neutral medium, cinema is often ideologically constructed to reinforce imperialistic and gendered power relations. Further, we study how cinema can be a powerful mode of dissent and advocacy. We engage with the central question, How do we determine a feminist impulse, narration and motivation in cinematic production about human rights struggles, and what difference does that make? Students will examine cinema from critical interdisciplinary and intersectional perspectives on human rights, aesthetics and gender. This is a hands-on, interactive course designed with the support of the Mellon Foundation.
Course Attribute(s):
Distribution Area: Humanities | Diversity Area: International
Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite: ENGL 101 or ENGL 102 or permission of instructor
041517:2
|
| |
-
WGS 478 - Independent Study
1 - 3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
Open to a limited number of students each semester. A written prospectus must be formulated with the instructor.
Enrollment Requirements:
Department consent
029693:1
|
| |
-
WGS 479 - Independent Study
1 - 3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
Study of a particular area of this subject under the supervision of a faculty member. Students wishing to register must do so through the department.
Enrollment Requirements:
Department consent
029697:1
|
| |
-
WGS 490 - Internship in Women’s Studies
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
A seminar which must be taken concurrently with WGS 491 . Internship students apply their theoretical understandings in women’s studies to practical experiences in supervised volunteer work. Topics include theoretical issues relevant to placements in a human service agency or social change organization; evaluation of basic skills learned in field work; and career development exercises. An oral presentation and two papers are required. Topics are integrated with discussions of students’ on-site work.
Enrollment Requirements:
Corequisite: WGS 491
029721:1
|
| |
-
WGS 491 - Internship Placement
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
For eight to fifteen hours each week, students participate, usually on a volunteer basis, in a supervised field placement with a women”s organization, alternative institution, or an agency offering services to women and the family. Students must secure their placement one month prior to the beginning of the semester in which they plan to enroll in the course. Graded on a pass/fail basis. Open to a maximum of 12 students each semester.
Enrollment Requirements:
Corequisite: WGS 490
029722:1
|
| |
-
WGS 498 - Honors Research Tutorial
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
An intensive exploration of a selected research topic under the supervision of a faculty advisor. The tutorial includes a literature review and a survey of appropriate theory and research methods relevant for exploring the topic. Applicants for the honors tutorial should consult the program director.
Enrollment Requirements:
Department consent
029724:1
|
| |
-
WGS 499 - Honors Paper Tutorial
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
A continuation of WGS 498 . The honors student works on writing the honors paper under the supervision of a faculty advisor. The student receives a grade for each semester of work, but honors in women’s studies will be awarded only to those who have written and presented an extended honors paper of high distinction (as evaluated by the honors committee). WGS 499 is open to students who have successfully completed WGS 498 .
Enrollment Requirements:
Department consent
029725:1
|
Youth Work Center |
| |
-
YTHCTR 320 - Models of Practice in Youth Work: Models of Practice with Urban Youth
3 Credit(s) | Lecture |
Course can be counted for credit once
Description:
This service-learning class is intended to foster your knowledge of yourself, participatory models of practice with youth, positive youth development, community, diversity, and your own civic engagement. Students will acquire the knowledge and skills to work with individuals and groups in youth work settings. Participation in the class will encourage you to think about communities and the issues youth and communities face. Students will analyze the concepts of social difference and structural inequality and their application to youth work practice.
029784:1
|
| |
Page: 1 <- Back 10 … 14
| 15
| 16
| 17
| 18
| 19
| 20
| 21
| 22
| 23
| 24
|
|
|
