Course Description
Research and theories of gender equality and inequality in America and other cultures. Topics include gender stratification in public and private domains, and the intersection of gender with race, ethnicity, social class, and sexual orientation.
Athena Title
SEMNR GENDER STRAT
Prerequisite
SOCI 6280 or WMST 8010 or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered every even-numbered year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course explores theories of origins of gender stratification and inequality, methodological issues in stratification research, gender inequality in private and public life in contemporary society, and movements to eliminate gender inequality. The primary emphasis is on the United States and other Western societies, but students may in independent work explore gender stratification in other contexts. Each student will conduct original research on a topic related to the course, producing an oral report to be presented to the seminar and a major written paper at the end of the term.
Topical Outline
I. Theories of gender stratification Biological-based theories and their critiques Micro-interactional theories Macro-structural theories Intersectionality and multiracial feminist theories II. Methodological issues in the analysis of gender stratification III. Gender, Power, and Sexuality in Private/Intimate contexts Socialization of inequality Family and the construction of gender The social organization and regulation of sexuality Sexual minority communities Sexual and domestic violence Work-family conflicts IV: Gender Stratification in the Public Arena Gender inequality in the workplace Gender inequality in education Media and the production/disruption of gender inequality Gender and Culture Gender, politics, and the state Welfare and welfare reform Gender inequality among the aged Intersections of race, class and gender V. Gender and Social Change Feminist movements in the U.S. and the global context Liberal reform movements Socialist-Feminist reform movements Radical movements