Academic Calendar 2023-2024

Gender Studies (GNDS)

GNDS 120  Women, Gender, Difference  Units: 3.00  

This course explores women, gender, and difference from feminist and anti-racist perspectives. It identifies the ways in which women's activism, politics, and experiences intersect with other gendered identifications such as race, location, class, (dis)ability, and sexuality. Lessons and texts will introduce feminism, the body, colonialism, gender performance, and strategies of resistance.
NOTE Also offered online. Consult Arts and Science Online. Learning Hours may vary.

Learning Hours: 120 (24 Lecture, 12 Tutorial, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite None.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS120, WMNS101, WMNS102, WMN  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 125  Gender, Race and Popular Culture  Units: 3.00  

Explores popular culture from feminist and anti-racist perspectives, with attention to sexuality, gender, race and nation in a variety of media.
NOTE Also offered online. Consult Arts and Science Online. Learning Hours may vary.
NOTE Film Screening: estimated cost $15.

Learning Hours: 120 (24 Lecture, 12 Tutorial, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite None.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS125, WMNS125, WMNS225  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 211  Feminist Histories  Units: 3.00  

A study of feminist narratives and gender politics in relationship to women's lives from the 17th century forward with an emphasis upon global histories.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 2 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS211, WMNS211  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 212  Racism, Colonialism and Resistance  Units: 3.00  

Decades after the formal decolonization of former colonies, the power relations of the colonial world - and the racism it engendered - remain deeply embedded in the West, and are intrinsic to contemporary relations of globalization. This course explores European colonialism; historical and social constructions of 'race'; the ongoing occupation of Indigenous peoples' territories; and contemporary racism.

Learning Hours: 120 (24 Lecture, 12 Tutorial, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 2 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS212, WMNS212  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 215  Introduction to Sexual and Gender Diversity  Units: 3.00  

This course is an introduction to studies in sexuality and gender diversity. It will survey the field and include topics such as classical inquiries into sexuality, contemporary theories on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer identities, sexual movements, human rights, sexual morality, pornography, global sex trade, and queer cultural production. This course is open to all students but required for students enrolled in the Certificate in Sexual and Gender Diversity. It is designed to introduce SXGD students to the field and prepare them for selecting future courses.
NOTE Also offered online. Consult Arts and Science Online. Learning Hours may vary.
NOTE Also offered at the Bader International Study Centre. Learning Hours may vary.
NOTE Film Screening: estimated cost $15.

Learning Hours: 120 (24 Lecture, 12 Tutorial, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 2 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS215, WMNS215, WMNS310  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 280  Special Topics in Gender Studies  Units: 3.00  

Offered when faculty resources permit, these courses are analyses of particular areas of gender studies interdisciplinary research. Details regarding specific topics will be available from the Head of the Department on an annual basis.
NOTE This course is repeatable for credit under different topic titles.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 2 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 282  Critical Approaches to Solidarity and Alliance Work  Units: 3.00  

This course explores solidarity and alliance work, and the relationship to mutual aid and activism for social change. With a rise in sexism, homophobia, ableism, and racism, social movements are taking a critical intersectional approach to address these social inequities. Students will analyze case-studies and community projects.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite Level 2 or above or permission of the Department. Exclusion GNDS 280 (Topic Title: Solidarity and Alliance Work - Winter 2015; Fall 2021).  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 285  Transgender Politics and Representation  Units: 3.00  

In this class we will consider questions of trans representation, activism, experience and social erasure. Students will acquire familiarity with key texts and debates, engaging topics such as medicalization, racial and gendered visibility, imprisonment, etc. The course will situate contemporary trans politics intersectionally and transnationally.
NOTE Film Screening: estimated cost $15.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite Level 2 or above. Exclusion GNDS 280 (Topic Title: Transgender Politics and Representation - 2015/16; 2016/17).  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 295  Comics and Politics  Units: 3.00  

The course explores historical and contemporary comics, graphic novels, and sequential art in connection with debates surrounding race, class, nation, sexual and gender diversity. Topics include documentary, war, trauma, transgender studies, memory, heroism, capitalism, humour, feminist thought, medical humanities, digital culture, and satire.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 2 or above) or permission of the Department. Exclusion GNDS 280 (Topic Title: Comics and Politics - Fall 2017).  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 311  Feminist Thought  Units: 3.00  

This course examines different forms and critiques of feminism, and major issues in the development of feminist activism and feminist theory, including challenges to the colonial history of Western feminism. Students engage with current debates in feminism, gender and queer theory, and anti-racism.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite Level 3 or above and (GNDS 120 or GNDS 125).  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS311, WMNS311  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 312  Black Feminist Thought: An Introduction  Units: 3.00  

Studies in black women's and black gender politics in Canada, the U.S.A., and the Caribbean.
NOTE This course is also listed/offered as BLCK 312/3.0.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or permission of the Department. Exclusion BLCK 312/3.0.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS312, WMNS312  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 315  Feminist Pedagogies  Units: 3.00  

This course looks at teaching and learning, in formal and informal educational settings, from feminist perspectives. Explores difference (race, class, gender, sexuality, ability), social justice and activism, power and empowerment, critique and transformation, experience, and reflexivity. Students will develop their feminist pedagogical values and skills.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS315, WMNS315  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 320  HIV/AIDS Movements: Histories of Community Health Activism  Units: 3.00  

Centers historical movements in communities affected by AIDS as sources of unique critical theories of disease, health, power and social change. Highlights how testimonies, cultural and creative work, and social research in community-based AIDS activism inspire current critical theory and feminist, queer, disability, and critical race studies.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 321  Gendering Opportunities - Women's Work  Units: 3.00  

This course offers an interdisciplinary framework of feminist thought on women, work and employment opportunities. It takes a comparative look at socio-political feminist theories on work and employment in different social and cultural contexts.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite Level 3 or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS321, WMNS321  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 325  Indigenous Meanings of Reproduction and Health  Units: 3.00  

Indigenous meanings of reproduction and health will form the core of this course. We will discuss the bio-medical model and examine how it has influenced the health of Indigenous peoples, with a particular focus on maternity care in Canada. We will discuss contradictions and incongruencies in an open, respectful, and thought-provoking manner.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or permission of the Department. Exclusion GNDS 380 (Topic Title: Indigenous Meanings of Reproduction and Health - Winter 2019).  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 326  Gender Diaspora and the Arts  Units: 3.00  

This course explores transnational realities and diasporic experience, with particular attention to gender and sexuality, through the arts.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite Level 3 or above.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS326, WMNS326  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 330  Gender and the Global South  Units: 3.00  

This course examines gender in an international context with emphasis on current global issues of women and development. Topics include gendering international political economy, women's health and sexualities, and forms of struggle, resistance and change in non-western contexts.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS330, WMNS330  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 335  Science Fiction and Fantasy  Units: 3.00  

This course examines ways in which science fiction and fantasy writers use technology and the fantastic as tools for the deconstruction and reconstruction of gendered categories. The emphasis is on contemporary novels as offering deliberate and sophisticated interventions in major discourses in gender studies, with attention to issues of race, class, and nationhood.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS335, WMNS217, WMNS335  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 340  Indigenous Women, Feminism and Resistance  Units: 3.00  

Examines scholarship, creative works, and activism by Indigenous women as a basis for introducing Indigenous feminist thought. Cases examine the many ways that Indigenous women and LGBTQ/Two-Spirit people participate in Indigenous nations, experience and resist settler colonialism, and work for Indigenous decolonization.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS340, WMNS340  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 345  Research Methods in Gender Studies  Units: 3.00  

This course provides a critical interdisciplinary introduction to methods and methodological issues in gender studies research.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite Level 3 or above and (GNDS 120 or GNDS 125).  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS345, WMNS230, WMNS345  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 350  Feminism, the Body and Visual Culture  Units: 3.00  

This course will explore how the visual constructs and/or subverts 'woman' as a cultural category. An emphasis will be placed upon the female body as it intersects with class and race. Readings from art history, history, cultural theory and feminist theory will be considered.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS350, WMNS350  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 351  Gender, Dress and Fashion  Units: 3.00  

An investigation of gender as it is constructed in historical and contemporary dress and fashion. The focus will be upon visual culture and material culture.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS351, WMNS351  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 352  Gender, Cloth and Globalization  Units: 3.00  

This course will examine the gendered history of the production and consumption of cloth, the impact of changing technologies on the textile industry since the 18th century, and the ensuing tensions between the industrial and the hand-crafted.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS352, WMNS352  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 360  Masculinities: Cross Cultural Perspectives  Units: 3.00  

Considers the main themes in the history of masculinity and male sexuality, especially 'dissident' or subaltern masculinities internationally, and women's roles in shaping ideologies of masculinity. Topics include the theorization of masculinity, initiation rituals, family and parenting, violence, sports, homophobia, sexual practices, colonialism, science/epistemology and men and feminism.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS360, WMNS360  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 365  Gender Dialogues: Jewish, Muslim and Christian  Units: 3.00  

This course takes an intersectional approach to contemporary interfaith dialogues, with the aim of exploring and developing religious, ethical, and cultural literacies. The course considers the construction of gender norms, stereotypes, cultural expectations, religious expectations and practices, and state policies post 9/11.
NOTE Also offered at the Bader International Study Centre.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS365, WMNS365  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 370  Writing Lives: Feminism and Women's Writing  Units: 3.00  

Using feminist, trans and queer theory, critical race, disability studies, literary and cultural criticism, this course explores women's writing in a wide range of genres, with emphases on memory and self-narration and the ways in which subjects located or rejected as 'women' contend with binary, racialized and classed frames of gender.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS370, WMNS370  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 375  Queer/Race Studies  Units: 3.00  

This course explores current theory in queer studies by centrally examining the interdependence of race, sexuality, and gender. The course foregrounds the critical insights that follow sustained study of race in queer studies, and of queer matters in critical race, Indigenous, global, and diaspora studies.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 380  Special Topics in Gender Studies  Units: 3.00  

Offered when faculty resources permit, these courses are analyses of particular areas of gender studies interdisciplinary research. Details regarding specific topics will be available from the Head of the Department on an annual basis.
NOTE This course is repeatable for credit under different topic titles.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or permission of the Department.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 401  Debates on Feminism and Islam  Units: 3.00  

This course focuses on the theories, political activities, and organizing of Islamic feminists. It situates itself in relation to contemporary debates around the status of women in Islam and problematizes the nature of feminism and its assumed relationship to Islam. The course will focus on questions of religion, race, class, and nationalism in relation to Islam and Muslim women. This course contains an intensive and independent study component.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: 3rd yr in a GNDS or SXGD plan  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 410  Special Topics in Gender Studies  Units: 3.00  

Offered when faculty resources permit, these courses are intensive analyses of particular areas of gender studies interdisciplinary research. Details regarding specific topics will be available from the Head of the Department on an annual basis.
NOTE This course is repeatable for credit under different topic titles.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above and registration in a GNDS Major, Joint Honours Plan, or the SXGD Certificate) or permission of the Department.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 412  Seminar in Sexual and Gender Diversity  Units: 3.00  

This course provides an advanced study in specific topics and theories relating to the fields of sexual and gender diversity. Topics may change from year to year. This course contains an intensive and independent study component. 

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above and registration in a GNDS Major, Joint Honours Plan, or the SXGD Certificate) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS412; WMNS412  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 421  Gender and Poverty  Units: 3.00  

This course is designed to provide an in depth exploration of poverty issues in Canada. It includes discussions about working poor and welfare poor and addresses how race and sexuality can compound the issues of poverty. The course will also acknowledge how poor people are actively engaged in attempting to improve their lives through anti-poverty organizing. This course contains an intensive and independent study component. 

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above and registration in a GNDS Major or Medial Plan or the SXGD Certificate) or permission of the Department. Exclusion POLS 318; POLS 382.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS421; WMNS421  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 427  Towards the Human: Race and the Politics of Expression  Units: 3.00  

This interdisciplinary seminar will explore the ways in which modernity shapes cultural 'difference' and 'the human'. Readings will focus on the racial and geographic contours of colonialism, transatlantic slavery and The Enlightenment in order to bring into focus communities that challenge racial-sexual categorization through creative expression (music, fiction, poetry, and visual art as well as theory). This course contains an intensive and independent study component. 

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above and registration in a GNDS Major, GNDS Joint Honours Plan, or the Sexual and Gender Diversity Certificate) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS427; WMNS427  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 428  Gender Performance  Units: 3.00  

This advanced seminar addresses some of the many meanings and manifestations of 'gender performance' in literature and popular culture. Primary sources include a wide variety of media - novels, plays, poems, films, magazines and cartoons. Primary material will be balanced with careful consideration of work in areas such as feminist theory, identity politics, queer and performance theory. This course contains an intensive and independent study component. 

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above and registration in a GNDS Major, GNDS Joint Honours Plan, or the Sexual and Gender Diversity Certificate) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS428; WMNS428  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 432  Settler Colonialism and Indigenous Politics  Units: 3.00  

Examines critical theories and case studies of politics and governance in Indigenous and settler societies, based in Indigenous feminist thought. Cases examine the relation between nationality, gender, and sexuality within colonial relations of rule, methods of Indigenous governance, Indigenous sovereignty struggles, and theories and practices of decolonization. This course contains an intensive and independent study component.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above and registration in a GNDS Major, GNDS Joint Honours Plan, or the Sexual and Gender Diversity Certificate) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS432; WMNS432  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 440  Social Justice Practicum: Learning through Community Organizing and Activism  Units: 6.00  

A seminar in which students work in and outside the classroom on community organizing projects. Students reflect on how feminist, anti-racist, and queer theory can be integrated with real world practices.

Learning Hours: 240 (36 Seminar, 72 Practicum, 132 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above and registration in a GNDS Major, Joint Honours Plan, or the SXGD Certificate) or permission of the Department.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS440, WMNS440  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 445  Feminist and Queer Ethnography  Units: 3.00  

Examines feminist ethnography and queer ethnography as distinct subfields, areas of inquiry, writing genres and ethical methods in research and social life. Topics: historical uses of ethnography and feminist/queer/trans critiques of them; adaptations of ethnography to trans, queer, and feminist work; ethnography's importance to gender studies.

Learning Hours: 120 (12 Lecture, 24 Seminar, 36 Group Learning, 48 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above and registration in a GNDS Major, Joint Honours Plan, or the SXGD Certificate) or permission of the Department.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 480  Special Topics in Gender Studies  Units: 3.00  

Offered when faculty resources permit, these courses are analyses of particular areas of gender studies interdisciplinary research.
NOTE This course is repeatable for credit under different topic titles.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above and registration in a GNDS Major, Joint Honours Plan, or the SXGD Certificate) or permission of the Department.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 510  Directed Special Studies  Units: 6.00  

In consultation with the Head of the Department, students arrange their reading with individual Gender Studies faculty, and are expected to write reports on their readings and to discuss them throughout the term with that faculty supervisor.

Learning Hours: 240 (15 Individual Instruction, 225 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above and registration in a GNDS Major or Medial Plan or the SXGD Certificate) or permission of the Department. Exclusion GNDS 520; GNDS 530.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS510, WMNS510  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 520  Directed Special Studies  Units: 3.00  

In consultation with the Head of the Department, students arrange their reading with individual Gender Studies faculty, and are expected to write reports on their readings and to discuss them throughout the term with that faculty supervisor.

Learning Hours: 120 (9 Individual Instruction, 111 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above and registration in a GNDS Major or Medial Plan or the SXGD Certificate) or permission of the Department. Exclusion GNDS 510; GNDS 530.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS520, WMNS520  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 530  Directed Special Studies  Units: 3.00  

In consultation with the Head of the Department, students arrange their reading with individual Gender Studies faculty, and are expected to write reports on their readings and to discuss them throughout the term with that faculty supervisor.

Learning Hours: 120 (9 Individual Instruction, 111 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above and registration in a GNDS Major or Medial Plan or the SXGD Certificate) or permission of the Department. Exclusion GNDS 510; GNDS 520.  
Course Equivalencies: GNDS530, WMNS530  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
GNDS 594  Independent Study  Units: 3.00  

Exceptionally qualified students entering their third- or fourth-year may take a program of independent study provided it has been approved by the Department or Departments principally involved. The Department may approve an independent study program without permitting it to be counted toward a concentration in that Department. It is, consequently, the responsibility of students taking such programs to ensure that the concentration requirements for their degree will be met.
NOTE Requests for such a program must be received one month before the start of the first term in which the student intends to undertake the program.

Requirements: Prerequisite Permission of the Department or Departments principally involved.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science