This course utilizes intrapersonal, psychosocial, and sociocultural perspectives to explore the psychological strengths and problems experienced by girls and women. Topics may include the mental health system, eating disorders, depression, women in families, violence against women, friendship, identity and diversity, immigrant experiences, biological influences, sexuality, issues at school and in the workplace, leadership, and research bias. Literature is examined critically for gender, racial, ethnic, and sexual preference biases, power dynamics, and limitations imposed on both females and males by gender imperatives.
This course is designed to help students develop a critical framework for examining feminist thought and gender-related social processes. Through the lens of the Sociological Imagination the course examines the ways in which sex and gender are socially constructed, how that shapes group and individual behavior and the ways in which power manifests in inequality and exploitation, as well as the agency of individuals and groups to bring about change.