Brock University Undergraduate Calendar

Women's Studies Courses

WISE 1F90

Introduction to Women's Studies

Gendered character of society and culture from women's perspectives within a variety of feminist theoretical frameworks. Includes issues of violence, equity, class, race, body, sexuality and diversity. May examine religion and science, legal systems, work, health, history, education and popular culture.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

WISE 2P21

The Family

(also offered as SOCI 2P21)

Family patterns including gender roles and the dynamics of family change and development. Topics include marriage and family issues, gender role socialization and change, dual careers, alternative lifestyles, gender roles in cross-cultural perspective and marital and family relationships past, present and future.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE and SOCI (single or combined) majors until date specified in the BIRT guide.

Prerequisite: SOCI 1F90 or WISE 1F90 or permission of the instructor.

Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in CHYS (CHST) 3P38.

WISE 2P61

Women in the Ancient World

(also offered as CLAS 2P61)

Problems and issues of particular relevance to women in Greek and Roman society. Topics include social, political and legal rights, prostitution, religious duties, marriage and children, birth control and abortion.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

WISE 2P62

The Politics of Gender in Archaic and Classical Greece

(also offered as CLAS 2P62)

Social issues of ancient Greece as viewed from a modern perspective. Topics include familial bonding, female and male identity, domestic and civil violence, sexuality and social status, power dynamics within the family and the city-state.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

WISE 2P86

Women in the Economy

(also offered as ECON 2P86, LABR 2P86 and SOCI 2P86)

Women in the Canadian labour market. Topics include the allocation of time between the household and the labour market, gender segregation in the work place, how earnings are determined, causes of occupational and earning difference by gender - the role of investment in education and discrimination, recent developments in the labour market and their impact on women and men, selected policy issues.

Lectures, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE majors until date specified in the BIRT guide. Students must have a minimum of 4.0 overall credits.

WISE 2P90

Women's Issues: Sexuality, Class, Ethnicity

(also offered as SOCI 2P90)

Diverse theoretical perspectives on the intersecting locations of women in terms of sexuality, class, ethnicity and other expressions of social inequality. Classic feminist perspectives as applied to these issues and related social policies.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE majors until date specified in BIRT guide. On and after that date open to WISE and SOCI (single or combined) majors until date specified in BIRT guide.

Prerequisite: WISE 1F90 or permission of the instructor.

Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in WISE 2F90.

WISE 2P91

The Status of Women: Historical Perspectives

Status of women within Western societies from Neolithic times to 20th-century traditional histories. Feminist and postcolonial perspectives on the development of feminist consciousness through analysis of lives and literary remains.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Prerequisite: WISE 1F90 or permission of the instructor.

WISE 2P92

Women in World Literature

Feminist perspectives on representations of women throughout Western literature by men and women. Barriers to women's writings and analyses of current writings in English by women from diverse, often marginalized backgrounds.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Prerequisite: WISE 1F90 or permission of the instructor.

WISE 2P93

Psychology of Women

(also offered as PSYC 2P93)

Social, personal and political implications of gender. Topics include theoretical perspectives on the study of gender differences, stereotypes, sexuality, biological influences, as well as issues related to achievement, intimacy, mental and physical health, power and justice.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to PSYC (single or combined) and WISE majors until date specified in BIRT guide.

Prerequisite: PSYC 1F90 or WISE 1F90

WISE 2P94

Women Writers to 1900

(also offered as ENGL 2P94)

Prose, poetry and drama by women from the 17th to the 19th century including Anne Bradstreet, Katherine Philips, Lucy Hutchinson, Aphra Behn, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley and Charlotte Brontë.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Prerequisite: one ENGL credit numbered 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99 or permission of the instructor.

WISE 2P95

Modern Women Writers

(also offered as ENGL 2P95)

Prose, poetry and drama by women from the mid 19th-century to the present.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Prerequisite: one ENGL credit numbered 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99 or permission of the instructor.

WISE 2P96

Global Issues for Women in Under-Resourced Nations

(also offered as SOCI 2P96)

Diverse experiences of women and girls in under-resourced nations. Selection of social, political, economic and cultural issues varies. Topics may include war zones, sustainable economies, family planning, global restructuring, legacy of colonial traditions, activist movements and socio-cultural traditions, resistance strategies and policy proposals.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE majors until date specified in BIRT guide. On and after that date open to WISE and SOCI (single or combined) majors until date specified in BIRT guide

Prerequisite: WISE 2P90 or permission of the instructor.

Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in WISE 2F90.

WISE 2P97

The Mythical Woman in Legend and Religion

Status of women and representations of females within Western myth and mainstream religion from Neolithic to contemporary times. Links between culture, law, education and tradition. Feminist critiques of religious symbolism.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Prerequisite: WISE 1F90 or permission of the instructor.

Note: students are required to demonstrate scholarship using feminist frameworks and methodologies.

WISE 2P99

Canadian Women in a Global Context

(also offered as SOCI 2P99)

Social, political, economic and cultural issues. Topics may include rights of Aboriginal women, reproductive rights and ethics, marginalization of immigrant women, activist movements and the impact and inadequacy of government policy.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE majors until date specified in BIRT guide. On and after that date open to WISE and SOCI (single or combined) majors until date specified in BIRT guide.

Prerequisite: WISE 2P90 or permission of the instructor.

Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in WISE 2F90.

WISE 2Q95

Women in North America

(also offered as HIST 2Q95)

Major themes in the history of women in Canada and the United States: native and European women in New France and British North America; women in the American Revolution; the lives of enslaved women; women and industrialization; women in the West; suffrage and social reform; women and the two World Wars; and feminism in the 1960s and 1970s.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

WISE 2V90-2V99

Selected Topics in Women's Studies

Topics selected on the basis of faculty expertise.

Seminar, 3 hours per week.

Prerequisite: WISE 1F90.

WISE 2V99

2001-2002: Mothering and Motherhood: Images, Issues and Patterns

(also offered as SOCI 2V99)

Motherhood as it is theorized/analyzed in interdisciplinary feminist scholarship and portrayed in women's fictional or autobiographical writings and art forms. The historical, socio-cultural, psychological, political and racial differences of mothering and motherhood roles, class, cultural and racial differences in mothering and motherhood.

Prerequisite: WISE 1F90 or SOCI 1F90.

WISE 3M00-3M10

Special Topics in Women's Studies

Topics selected on the basis of faculty expertise.

Prerequisite: WISE 2P90 (2F90) or permission of the instructor.

WISE 3P30

Sociology of Women and Work

(also offered as LABR 3P30 and SOCI 3P30)

Quantitative and qualitative research exploring the societal significance and implications of the change in women's participation in paid employment and domestic labour in this century. Topics include the ghettoization of the female labour force, women in professional and non-traditional occupations, microtechnology, part-time work and unionization.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE, LABR and SOCI (single or combined) majors until date specified in the BIRT guide.

Prerequisite: one of WISE 1F90, LABR 1P91 and 1P92, SOCI 1F90 or permission of the instructor.

WISE 3P33

Law and Society

(also offered as SOCI 3P33)

Sociological theories of law, Canada's legal institutions, and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, feminist jurisprudence and critical race studies. Relationships between Canadian law and Canada's social structure and institutions.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE and SOCI (single or combined) majors until date specified in the BIRT guide.

Prerequisite: WISE 1F90 or SOCI 1F90 or permission of the instructor.

WISE 3P41

Directed Studies I

Guided readings on a topic that is not covered in the program's regular course offerings.

Restriction: consult the Director regarding permission to register. Students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.

Note: topics must be chosen in consultation with a faculty member willing to supervise the tutorial. A faculty supervisor must be confirmed prior to registration.

WISE 3P42

Directed Studies II

Guided readings on a topic that is not covered in the program's regular course offerings.

Restriction: consult the Director regarding permission to register. Students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.

Note: topics must be chosen in consultation with a faculty member willing to supervise the tutorial. A faculty supervisor must be confirmed prior to registration.

WISE 3P43

Women and Leisure

(also offered as RECL 3P43)

Feminist critique of leisure theory. Women's leisure explored from an ecological perspective. The ways that women's leisure influences and is influenced by the various domains of their environments (social, political, cultural, physical, historical, psychological and biological).

Lectures, 3 hours per week.

Prerequisite: RECL 2P11 or permission of the instruction.

WISE 3P49

Gender and Environment

(also offered as ENVI 3P49 and TOUR 3P49)

Intersection between gender and the environment. Theoretical perspectives on feminism and ecophilosophies such as ecofeminism, deep ecology and social ecology. Implications for local, national and global policy.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE, ENVI (ENVP) (single or combined) and TOUR majors and ENVI (ENVP) certificate students.

Prerequisite: one of WISE 2P90 (2F90), 2P91, ENVI (ENVP) 1P90, 1P91 or permission of the instructor.

WISE 3P51

Gender and Society

(also offered as SOCI 3P51)

Gender as an organizing principle in society. The social construction of masculinity and femininity will be addressed from historical and cross-cultural perspectives. Focus on gender in principal institutions of Canadian society: economy, state, family, education and military. Issues include men and women in non-traditional occupations, women in the military, gender and power.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE and SOCI (single or combined) majors until date specified in the BIRT guide.

Prerequisite: WISE 1F90 or SOCI 1F90 or permission of the instructor.

WISE 3P60

Gender Issues in Teaching and Learning

(also offered as EDUC 3P60)

Theoretical and practical aspects of feminist engagement with pedagogic processes within/against both traditional and alternative educational contexts.

Lectures, seminar 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE majors until date specified in the BIRT guide. Students must have a minimum of 6.0 overall credits.

WISE 3P65

Health Issues for Women and Girls

Feminist analysis of definitions and dimensions of "health", socio-cultural influences on perceptions of health, and sites of cognitive and social control regarding health.

Lectures, seminar 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE majors until date specified in the BIRT guide. Students must have a minimum of 6.0 overall credits.

WISE 3P71

Gender and Politics

(also offered as POLI 3P71)

Theoretical and practical issues in the relationships among gender, sex and politics, such as sexual equality and its nature and implications for public and private life.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Prerequisite: WISE 1F90 or one POLI credit numbered 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99 or permission of the instructor.

WISE 3P72

Women in Politics

(also offered as POLI 3P72)

Women's participation and influence in the political institutions, processes and policies of modern states, with an emphasis on contemporary Canada.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Prerequisite: WISE 1F90 or one POLI credit numbered 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99 or permission of the instructor.

WISE 3P74

Geography and Gender

(also offered as COMM 3P74 and GEOG 3P74)

The work of feminist geographers. The relationship between gender and space with respect to the organization of the city, architecture of the home, design of the shopping mall, the media, fear, homelessness, gentrification and employment.

Lectures, seminar, 4 hours per week.

Prerequisites: one of WISE 2P90 (2F90), 2P91, COMM 2P20 and 2P21, GEOG 2P02, 2P03, 2P06 or permission of the instructor.

WISE 3P86

Women Writers of France

(also offered as FREN 3P86)

Texts chosen from various genres. Authors may include M. de France, M. de Navarre, Sévigné, Sand, Colette, de Beauvoir, Duras, Yourcenar.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Prerequisites: FREN 2F00 and 2F03.

WISE 3P90

Contemporary Feminist Thought

Intersections of contemporary and feminist theories as applied to the critical analysis of such issues as pornography, sexuality, humour, work, social inequities, intimacy and identity politics. Controversies and debates among feminists around the world.

Seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE majors until date specified in BIRT guide.

Prerequisite: WISE 2P90 (2F90) or permission of the instructor.

Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in WISE 3F91.

WISE 3P91

Contemporary Feminist Research Methods

Influence of various feminist and contemporary theoretical orientations on methodologies of cultural, political and rhetorical analysis and critique. The relationships between theory and research methods and the intersections of feminist theories with traditional practices in the process of developing potential research projects.

Seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE majors until date specified in BIRT guide.

Prerequisite: WISE 3P90 or permission of the instructor.

Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in WISE 3F91.

WISE 3P92

Gender and Sexuality in Childhood and Adolescence

(also offered as CHYS 3P92 and SOCI 3P92)

Historical, cross cultural and sociological approaches to the development of gender identities and sexuality amongst children and adolescents. Topics include the role of families, schools, peers and state policies.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE, CHYS (CHST) (single or combined), SOCI (single or combined) and CHYS BA/BEd majors until date specified in the BIRT guide. Students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.

Prerequisite: one of WISE 2P90 (2F90), 2P91, CHYS (CHST) 2P38, SOCI 2P11 and 2P13 (2F10).

Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in CHST 3P92.

WISE 3P93

Gender and Language

(also offered as LING 3P93)

Survey of major dedates concerning language, gender and power in the 20th century.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

WISE 3P95

Experiential Learning in Women's Studies

Co-ordinated and theoretically grounded work relating to the participation in and reflection on practical experiences.

Seminar, 3 hours per week; community placements.

Prerequisite: WISE 2P90 (2F90) or permission of the instructor.

WISE 3P96

Women, Men and the Body

(also offered as PHED 3P96)

Critical and reflective examination of historical, philosophical, socio-cultural and religious influences on the body from a variety of feminist perspectives.

Lectures, tutorial, lab, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to students with a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.

Prerequisite: WISE 1F90 or PHED 1P93.

Note: Experiential work (somatic, movement, expressive) is part of the course experience.

WISE 3P97

Gender and Film

(also offered as COMM 3P97 and FILM 3P97)

Critical study of gendered narratives in classical Hollywood cinema to the late 1950's, with emphasis on film constructions of femininity and masculinity, and the implications of spectatorship and ideology within classical film.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week, plus weekly film lab.

Prerequisite: one of FILM 2F90, FILM 2P20 and 2P21, WISE 1F90 and 2P91 or permission of the instructor.

Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in FILM 3F97.

WISE 3P98

Screened Woman

(also offered as COMM 3P98 and FILM 3P98)

Critical study of woman-centred films, from early to contemporary cinema, by women directors from different countries, contextualized in issues of feminist film theory and paradigm shifts in female representations, ideology and spectatorships.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week, plus weekly film lab.

Prerequisite: one of FILM 2F90, FILM 2P20 and 2P21, WISE 1F90 and 2P91 or permission of the instructor.

Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in FILM 3F97.

WISE 3V90-3V99

Special Topics in Women's Studies

Topics selected on the basis of faculty expertise.

Prerequisite: WISE 2P90 (2F90).

WISE 4F90

Honours Thesis

Independent research project under the supervision of a faculty adviser. Directed studies tutorial.

Restriction: open to WISE majors with approval to year 4 (honours).

Prerequisite: WISE 3P90 and 3P91.
Co-requisite: WISE 4P91.

Note: provisional registration only. Students contemplating a thesis should consult with the Director at the end of year 3 and must submit a detailed proposal in writing before May 15, prior to entering year 4.

WISE 4P01

Latin American Women's Perspectives

(also offered as SPAN 4P01)

Cultural constructions of women in Latin American society through such media as testimonial writing, oral history, narrative, drama, poetry, visual arts, and music. Innovations in popular and literary culture enabling women to rearticulate relationships of power and voice desires relating to individual and communitarian freedom. Includes authors such as Poniatowska, Kahlo, Menchu, Lispector, Navaro, Parra.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Prerequisite: WISE 1F90 or SPAN 2F00 or permission of the instructor.

Note: given in English. Spanish majors complete written assignments and exams in Spanish.

WISE 4P32

Advanced Seminar in the Sociology of Work

(also offered as LABR 4P32 and SOCI 4P32)

Theoretical and research developments in the sociology of work. Topics may include the impact of technological innovation on the labour process, reconceptualizations of work and leisure, changes in the gendered nature of work, the role of the contemporary labour movement and international perspectives on labour and the labour force.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE, LABR and SOCI (single or combined) majors until date specified in the BIRT guide. Students must have approval to year 4 (honours).

Prerequisites: two LABR or SOCI credits or permission of the instructor.

Note: SOCI 2P32 recommended.

WISE 4P33

Advanced Seminar in Law and Society

(also offered as SOCI 4P33)

Specific relationships between Canada's legal institutions and social structure and institutions; law and Aboriginal peoples, family and gender issues, environment, work and technology, feminist critique of legal theory and practice.

Seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE and SOCI (single or combined) majors until date specified in the BIRT guide. Students must have approval to year 4 (honours).

Prerequisite: WISE 3P33 or permission of the instructor.

WISE 4P41

Directed Studies III

Guided readings on a topic that is not covered in the program's regular course offerings.

Restriction: consult the Director regarding permission to register. Students must have a minimum of 12.0 overall credits.

Note: topics must be chosen in consultation with a faculty member willing to supervise the tutorial. A faculty supervisor must be confirmed prior to registration.

WISE 4P42

Directed Studies IV

Guided readings on a topic that is not covered in the program's regular course offerings.

Restriction: consult the Director regarding permission to register. Students must have a minimum of 12.0 overall credits.

Note: topics must be chosen in consultation with a faculty member willing to supervise the tutorial. A faculty supervisor must be confirmed prior to registration.

WISE 4P51

Advanced Seminar in Gender and Society

(also offered as SOCI 4P51)

Selected issues in gender and society. Topics may include feminist theories, work, family, state, popular culture, race, militarism and violence.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE and SOCI (single or combined) majors until date specified in the BIRT guide. Students must have approval to year 4 (honours).

Prerequisites: two SOCI or WISE credits or permission of the instructor.

Note: WISE 3P51 recommended.

WISE 4P91

Honours Seminar

Facilitation of individual thesis proposals including the development of a research question, review of relevant literature and integration of theoretical orientations with methodological applications.

Prerequisite: WISE 3P90 and 3P91.
Co-requisite: WISE 4F90.

Note: consult the Director regarding permission to register.

WISE 4P95

Women and Sport

(also offered as PHED 4P95 and SPMA 4P95)

Historical and current issues relating to women's participation in sport. The influence of physiological, psychological and sociological factors on performance.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to WISE, PHED and SPMA majors with a minimum of 12.0 overall credits.

WISE 4V20-4V29

Selected Topics in Women's Studies

Topics selected on the basis of faculty expertise.

Prerequisite: WISE 1F90.