In this course we will consider
gender as a powerful idea that shapes the way we see others, and others see us.
Social and cultural conceptions of gender at home and around the world have led
to significant disparities in economic status, education, health, legal rights
and other cultural indices of success. It has been used to justify such
violence as sexual and physical abuse, rape, mutilation, imprisonment and killing.
We will consider many implications of the social construction of gender
including ways language and stories (narratives) shape and reflect gendered
attitudes, behaviors, expectations, and norms. We will examine relationships to
gender at the micro, meso and macro levels including individual, interactional
and structural analyses. Themes of power, performance and privilege and their
implications will be woven throughout the course.