The program in Gender and Cultural Studies prepares students to think critically in both their personal lives and their public roles as citizens and participants in our complex social universe. Gender and Cultural Studies courses help to foster interdisciplinary breadth and intellectual rigor, opening the way to a variety of career paths and graduate programs.

Students who minor in Gender and Cultural Studies can go on to graduate programs in law, international relations, philosophy, history, psychology, sociology, and political theory. A minor in the program provides opportunities for students to confront some of the most critical issues in the world today.

Given America's vast, diverse population, it is imperative that students understand the historical, social and philosophical concerns of gender and culture. The United States is currently 13% Hispanic, 12% Black and 4% Asian (US Census 2000). More than 52% of college students are women. As much as 10% of the population is gay. Minoring in Gender and Cultural Studies will give students an excellent advantage in the work place and the world at large.

The Stevens humanities faculty represents a broad range of scholarly interests and recognition in the areas of gender, culture and sexuality. The faculty are actively involved in academic communities and are eager to engage students in the classroom, on and off campus. About Stevens

Gender and Cultural Studies courses examine classic questions in the liberal arts from the perspectives of gender, culture, race, ethnicity, and sexuality. A student can complete a minor in this area by taking 15 credits (or five 3-credit courses) from the approved course list, with no more than 9 credits in any one discipline.

HHS 322    American Cultural History   (3-0-3)
Drawing on theory and practice from such diverse disciplines as history, media studies, literary criticism, psychology, and sociology, Cultural Studies investigates the production, distribution, and consumption of cultural artifacts. Issues concerning race, class, gender, and sexual orientation are explored with attention to the analysis of social phenomenon.

HHS 323    Women & Gender in American History   (3-0-3)
This course focuses on the history of the United States from the perspective of women's experiences and the role gender plays in shaping and defining American history from the colonial era to the present. It examines women's social, political, and economic lives; their roles in society; their familial roles, their struggle to achieve civil rights; changes in their legal status; and the rise of feminism.

HHS 325    African American Studies   (3-0-3)
An exploration of the African-American experience in the United States from the time of the Atlantic Slave Trade to the present. Topics include social and political dynamics shaping African-American history with particular attention focused on Reconstruction, the Great Migration and the Civil Rights Movement. Numerous African-American leaders and their concepts for an African-American identity are also emphasized, including the W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington debates as well as speeches from Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.

HHS 384    Orientalism   (3-0-3)
This course concerns social, economic, political, and cultural impressions of the Middle East reported by American writers, diplomats, and missionaries during the nineteenth century. American interest in Middle Eastern arts, particularly architecture and furniture design, are also explored.

HHS 387    History of American Films   (3-0-3)
This course examines American fiction films in terms of their historical development through the studio system and in terms of current narrative theory. The course is concerned with ways in which narratives are constructed and ways in which they provide the appearance of "meaning." Particular attention is given to film noir. Various European films that strongly influenced, or parallel, American works are also examined.

HHS 395    Images of American Life   (3-0-3)
This course is an advanced elective concerned with cultural aspects of American arts from the nineteenth century to the present. The course centers on the ways in which images in literature, painting, photography, films, and other arts reflect, reinforce and stimulate cultural norms. Trends in European arts are studied in relation to their influence on American art.

HHS 420    Modern East Asian Studies   (3-0-3)
This course explores the modern economic and political development of China, Korea and Japan from the late nineteenth century to the present and responses to Western imperialism. The rise of Chinese and Korean communism and Japanese fascism during the twentieth century are especially emphasized. There is also a close examination and comparison of development in additional Asian countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam.

HHS 463    The Sixties: Decade of Protest Literature   (3-0-3)

HLI 354    American Culture & Literature   (3-0-3)
An interpretation of American civilization through its literature and cultural forms. The course this semester involves close reading of a few works by some of the giants of American literature since the World War II.

HLI 319    Ethnicity and Literature   (3-0-3)
Course examines the interrelationship of literary works and the ethnic heritage of their authors and/or the texts themselves.

HMU 350    Music of the Eastern Mediterranean   (3-0-3)
This course is an introductory survey of the music of the Eastern Mediterranean as explored by Traditional and Modern Turkish music. It explores the Balkan, Greek and Persian influences from earliest times as well as Western composition and idioms. Modern jazz, rock, dance and video influences will be examined as well.

HMU 387    African American Popular Music   (3-0-3)
This course traces the development of black popular music from its earliest roots in northwest Africa to the urban centers of the U.S.

HMU 394    History of Jazz   (3-0-3)
Techniques in how to listen and what to listen for. History of the idiom. Analysis of outstanding performances and styles.

HPL 345    Introduction to Minority and Group Identity   (3-0-3)
Theories, tactics, goals, and impact of organized minorities and how they relate and transform the American political sphere; groups studied include African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, Indians, and other politically marginalized minorities.

HPL 440    Citizenship, Nationality and Ethnicity   (3-0-3)
This course assesses a variety of different conceptions of social, political, and cultural identity in light of the resurgence of nationalism, ethnicity, and the affirmation of cultural difference. Special attention is given to problems regarding citizenship and universal rights, as well as the tension between cultural diversity and global interconnectedness. Readings include classical texts, as well as current writings relevant to the topics at hand.

HPL 459    The Philosophy of Social Science   (3-0-3)
This course examines the conceptual foundations of such disciplines as economics, sociology, anthropology, and political science. Readings include excerpts from Smith, Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Winch, among others.

HPL 460    Philosophy and Feminism   (3-0-3)
This course is a general introduction to both the history and present concerns of feminist philosophy. Readings include classic essays of feminist thought by Wollstonecraft, Mill, Engels and others as well as contemporary writings in philosophy and feminism. This course serves as a foundation for a minor in Gender Studies. No prior courses in philosophy are required

HPL 462    Eastern Philosophy   (3-0-3)

HPL 468    Women Philosophers of the 20th Century   (3-0-3)
This course follows the work of the following Edith Stein, Simone Weil, Iris Murdoch, Simone de Beauvoir, Hannah Ardent, and Ayn Rand. These are all seminal thinkers who began their philosophical work in the first half of the twentieth century and went on to influence the course of intellectual thought for a generation to come. And yet, more often than not, these women tend to be omitted from the traditional canon of twentieth-century philosophy. One goal of this course is to consider why that is the case. If time permits, works by more contemporary thinkers like Nussbaum and Haack will be examined.

HSS 321    Modern Urban Culture   (3-0-3)
The course examines aspects of modern subcultural American life including deviancy and delinquency, crime, drug abuse and ethnicity.

HSS 324    Comparative Ethnic Culture   (3-0-3)
This course is a survey of various cultural traditions. Typical study units include Afro-American, Asian, Hispanic and American ethnic cultures in historical perspective.

HSS 478    Psychology of Gender   (3-0-3)
An analysis of gender differences and perceptions in contemporary society.