Take a look at WGS and SOJ course offerings below.

WGS Fall 2024 Course List

WGS 101: Introduction to Women and Gender Studies

Section 1: Portland – TUESDAY 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm, Professor Wendy Chapkis           

Section 2: ONLINE, Professor Val Moyer

Section 4: ONLINE, Professor Melissa Day

From a variety of perspectives, this interdisciplinary course explores interrelated queries and topics that emerge from the field of Women and Gender Studies. Students will read materials that address the meanings of gender in different cultures, social organizations, and historical periods.  The course particularly investigates difference, specifically, how gender difference is constructed, practiced, represented, challenged, and experienced. 3 credits.

WGS 201: Rethinking Gender & Culture

Will be offered in Spring 2025.

From a variety of perspectives, this interdisciplinary course explores interrelated queries and topics that emerge from the field of Women and Gender Studies. Students will read materials that address the meanings of gender in different cultures, social organizations, and historical periods.  The course particularly investigates difference, specifically, how gender difference is constructed, practiced, represented, challenged, and experienced. 3 credits.

WGS 245 Topics in Culture and the Arts I

Courses in WGS Topics in Culture and the Arts II will examine cultural production from feminist perspectives. Each of these courses will address the question of how gender is represented in historical and contemporary texts. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.

Section 1: ONLINE, Professor Sarah Lockridge

Women, Arts & Global Tourism: This course explores the critical role BIPOC women from the Global South play in cultural heritage management as producers and sellers of indigenous crafts in the global tourist market from different historical and cultural contexts such as Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The course content includes themes of: racial capitalism, patriarchy and gender inequality, women empowerment and economic development, Fair Trade, Gender and Development (GAD), and women’s rights are human rights. Cr. 3.

Notes: Meets core requirements for International

WGS 320 Advanced Topics in Women and Gender Studies

Courses in WGS Advanced Topics in WGS investigate topics not already covered by regular course offerings. 

Portland – MON/WED 3:00 pm – 4:40 pm, Professor Wendy Chapkis

Applied LGBTQ History introduces students to qualitative research methods such as interviewing and archival research in an effort to understand and preserve the history of LGBTQ people, cultures, and politics in the state of Maine. This course focuses on the process of social research and the use of qualitative methods. Students will not only learn research design and data analysis, and examine ethical issues in qualitative research, they will also engage with specific techniques of qualitative data collection. One-credit of this course involves research activities outside of the classroom including field work, interviewing, and archival research. Prerequisite: SOC 210 with a grade of C of better or permission from the instructor. Cr. 4.

Notes: Meets core requirements for Engage Learning by providing students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge, skills, and abilities beyond the traditional classroom through sustained application, reflection, and collaboration on issues of relevance beyond the university.

WGS 335 Topics in Science, Techology, & Health II

Courses in WGS Topics in Science, Technology, & Health II will include a feminist critique of traditional science, technology, and medicine. Students will be introduced to feminist perspectives on knowledge, health, and power. Each of these courses will address such questions as: How does scientific thinking and gendered technologies affect bodily experience? How does science create radicalized, sexualized, and gendered subjects? How can science be used as a basis for feminist activism? May be repeated for credit when topics vary.

WGS 345 Topics in Culture and the Arts II

Courses in WGS Topics in Culture and the Arts II will examine cultural production from feminist perspectives. Each of these courses will address the question of how gender is represented in historical and contemporary texts. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.

Portland – TUES/THUR 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm, Professor Jessica Ouellette

This course will investigate sex/gender and sexuality as analytic categories for understanding culture. Through a consideration of both history and theory, the course will explore different models for understanding sex/gender and sexuality, including their interaction with other categories of difference such as race and class. It will also explore the effect of these models on our understanding of literature, mass culture, theories of identity, and contemporary social life. Prerequisite: ENG 100 or College Writing Equivalent. Cr. 3.

ONLINE, 7 week course (9/3/24 – 10/18/24), Professor Julien Murphy

This course examines recent work in feminist political and social philosophy by American and European feminist philosophers related to the intersections of gender, race, class, and sexuality. We will explore the unique contributions of philosophy to feminist theory. Cr. 3.

Notes: Meets Core Requirement for Culture, Power, & Equity/Diversity.

WGS 355 Topics in History and Resistance II

Courses in WGS Topics in History and Resistance II will explore the history of gender and activism in a variety of contexts, Students will be introduced to feminist theories and practices concerning collaborative activities and grassroots organizing. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.  

WGS 365 Topics in Gender and Institutions II

Courses in WGS Topics in Gender and Institutions II will focus on gender relations and the social and institutional construction of gender. Students will be introduced to feminist perspectives on social structures, such as those reinforced by economic, educational, political, medical, and religious institutions. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.  

WGS 380 Politics of Difference

Portland – TUESDAY 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm, Professor Ashley Towle

This course explores how discourses of identity and difference historically have been created and used to justify inequalities in society, economics, and politics. Students examine how differences of gender, race, nationality, class, religion, and sexuality have been formed and shape the identity of the United States. Students will also examine how difference has been used to foster solidarity and social change. Prerequisites: WGS 101 and WGS 201 or permission of the instructor. Offered Fall Semester. Cr 3.

Notes: Meets core requirements for Culture, Power, & Equity/Diversity, and Ethical Inquiry.

WGS 470 Independent Study

Arranged

This course provides junior and senior students with the opportunity to pursue a project independently, concentrate on a particular subject of concern, or conduct individually arranged reading or research studies under the advice and direction of a faculty member. Prerequisites: advanced standing and permission of the instructor. Cr 1-6. Must submit an application before enrolling, with instructor consent required.

WGS Capstone Sequence

The WGS Capstone Sequence includes WGS 490 (2 cr.) and either WGS 485: Internship (3-6 cr. ) OR WGS 486: Thesis (4 cr.). This blended course will have both in person and asynchronous work. Only offered in Spring.

Will be offered in Spring 2025.

Will be offered in Spring 2025.

Will be offered in Spring 2025.

SOJ Minor Fall 2024 Course List

SOJ 101: Social Justice/Social Change

Will be offered in Spring 2025.

We’ve seen a marked rise in street protest, youth and middle-aged women organizing, digital activism and “distributed” organizing, and creative social movement tactics in the last few years. We’ve also experienced an increase in conversations, on social media and in person, about social justice, historical inequalities, and visioning for more just, free, joyful futures for all of us. This course invites students to consider these questions together and will offer a background in sociological approaches to identity, inequality, justice, and processes for creating social change. 3 credits. 

Notes: Meets core requirements for Culture, Power, & Equity/Diversity and SocioCultural Analysis 

Elective Area 1: Theoretical Foundations of Social Justice

Courses in this area prepare students to identify, discuss, and evaluate the theoretical foundations of social justice, with an emphasis on critical understandings of systemic power and structural inequality.

Section 1: Gorham – TUES/THURS 11:00 am – 12:15 pm,  Professor Firooza Pavri

This course examines the complex and changing relationship between communities, cultures, and the environment over time and across multiple geographic scales. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the course considers the drivers behind societal and environmental change from early hunter-gatherer and farming communities to more complex contemporary landscapes across the world. The course concludes with a focus on identifying options to build sustainable, resilient, and adaptive social-ecological systems. Cr. 3.

Notes: Meets Core Requirements for International.

Section 1: ONLINE, Professor Dusan Bjelic

Section 2: Portland – MON/WED 11:00 am – 12:15 pm, Professor Mara Sanchez 

Section 3: Portland – MON/WED 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm, Professor Mara Sanchez 

This course focuses on the nature of crime and problems concerning its measurement and distribution. The course examines some of the popular images of crime in the media and elsewhere, the creation and utility of official and unofficial crime statistics, and theories about the causes of crime. No prerequisites. A grade of C or better is required in this course in order to continue in the major. Cr 3.

ONLINE, 7 week course (9/3/24 – 10/18/24), Professor Julien Murphy

This course examines recent work in feminist political and social philosophy by American and European feminist philosophers related to the intersections of gender, race, class, and sexuality. We will explore the unique contributions of philosophy to feminist theory. Cr. 3.

Notes: Meets Core Requirement for Culture, Power, & Equity/Diversity.

Portland – MON/WED 11:00 am – 12:15 pm, Instructor TBA 

Designed to follow Introduction to Sociology, this course further develops students’ skills of critical analysis through the application of sociological principles to current social issues. The course uses popular media as well as sociological materials. Examples of issues which may be examined are: poverty, health care, homelessness, aging, drugs, violence, bureaucracy, white collar crime, and changing gender roles. Prerequisite: Successful completion of SOC 100 with a grade of C or better; ENG 100 or equivalent for all students; for students admitted fall 2021 or later: ENG 102 or equivalent (may be concurrent), or non-degree students; OR permission.. Cr 3.

Elective Area 2: Patterns of Injustice and Resistance

Courses in this area prepare students to identify and critique patterns of both historical and contemporary marginalization and structural inequality, as well as activism and resistance in response to these forces.

Portland – TUES/THURS 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm,  Professor David Lowry

This course combines an ethnographic and archaeological perspective on the culture history and traditional cultures of native North Americans. Emphasis is placed on the relationship of aboriginal native cultures to their environments, and the evolution of complex societies in certain regions of North America. Also included is discussion of the fragmentation of indigenous societies that followed the European invasion of North America. Cr 3.

Notes: Meets Core Requirements for SocioCultural Analysis.

Section 1: Lewiston – THURSDAY 9:30 am – 12:00 pm, Professor Brenda Joly

Section 2: Portland – THURSDAY 9:30 am – 12:00 pm, Professor Brenda Joly

This course provides an overview of the public health system and examines the purpose, history, organization, approach, functions and determinants of health. The course places special emphasis on current health issues from our daily lives to highlight the relevance of public health. Trends, successes and challenges from a population perspective will be discussed as well as various tools and techniques used to address public health issues. Cr. 3. 

Notes: This is a combined section class – students can join in the classroom from Portland or Lewiston-Auburn. The instructor will typically be teaching from the Portland campus. To count towards the Bachelor of Science in Public Health, this course must be taken graded (no P/F).

Portland – WEDNESDAY 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm, Professor Ragini Malhotra

The objective of this course is to examine the racial history of the American legal system and its relationship to the United States criminal justice system. The course focuses on the inherent contradiction due to the absence of social justice between the constitutional promise of human rights and their actual suppression, the contradiction between personal ethics espousing racial justice and emancipation, and the ethics of political power, which legitimate their suppression. Prerequisite: CRM 100 or permission. Cr. 3. 

Portland – MON/WED 11:00 am – 12:15 pm, Professor Brendan McQuade

This course reckons with the United States infamous status as the world leader in imprisonment and police violence. It introduces prison and police abolition as problems of ethical inquiry, social responsibility, and citizenship. Students will gain a foundation in the history of abolition in the struggle against slavery and to the current movement to abolish prisons and policing. Through this survey, the course examines police power and incarceration as state strategies for administering poverty and reproducing racial difference. Abolition is not just about dismantling oppressive institutions, however. It is also a project to establish new ways of redressing harm and build a new way of living that abolishes the violence of the present order. The course contrasts retributive justice with restorative and transformative conceptions of justice. It also explores the challenges of making structural change raising difficult dilemmas about the nature of reform, law and civil disobedience, and direct action. Cr 3.

Notes: Meets the Core Requirement for Ethical Inquiry

Portland – WEDNESDAY 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm, Professor Sandra Guay

This course offers an overview of human/land relationships as they influence contemporary patterns of settlement and use of the land. It will discuss the logic of a planning process as a method of decision making; the formulation of goals and evaluation of alternative courses of action; standards and requirements for specific planning objectives (such as land use, energy, recreation, transportation); and the place of the planning function in government and the role of citizens and private groups. Introduction to basic planning tools and techniques including PERT, aerial photography, and methods of land inventory and classification will be presented. Cr. 3. 

Notes: Meets Core Requirements for Ethical Inquiry.

Portland – TUES/THURS 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm, Professor Adam Schmitt

This course focuses on schooling in the United States from Reconstruction through the Civil Rights Movement with particular attention to how public education was a means to dismantle and reinforce racial hierarchies, as well as a space to resist and work to alter the social order. Cr 3. 

Notes: Meets Core Requirements for Culture, Power, & Equity/Diversity.

Portland – WEDNESDAY 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm, Professor Leroy Rowe

This course is an exploration and analysis of selected U.S. Supreme Court rulings on cases related to African American citizenship, civil rights and equal treatment during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This course also explores the changing boundaries and content of state and national citizenship, from the early national period (during the slavery era) to the mid-twentieth century. Cr 3.

Section 1: ONLINE, Professor Mark Silber

Section 2: ONLINE, Professor Rachel Hathaway

This course provides a forum to examine deviance and social control from sociological, psychological, ecological, environmental and cross-cultural  (anthropological) perspectives, examining contested definitions of deviance, and different theories about deviance and social control.  The course investigates the interrelationships of culture, power, identity formation and social change. We will also explore portrayals of deviance and social control in literature, film, and popular culture. Students challenge their critical thinking skills and will achieve a higher level of understanding about the relative notion of deviance, including how it relates to population size, and the nature(s) and type(s) of social control. Cr 3.

Notes: Meet Core Requirements for Culture, Power, & Equity/Diversity.

ONLINE, Professor Mark Silber

This course will focus on concepts of ethnicity, immigration, and identity through an investigation of the immigration history of the city of Lewiston, Maine. We will explore how ethnic identity is defined and why people emigrate. Through historical and contemporary readings and films, oral histories and personal interviews, the course examines the challenges immigrants face as they attempt to assimilate within the U.S while trying to maintain their native languages, traditions, cultures and communities. Cr. 3. 

Portland – TUESDAY 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm, Professor Ashley Towle

This course explores how discourses of identity and difference historically have been created and used to justify inequalities in society, economics, and politics. Students examine how differences of gender, race, nationality, class, religion, and sexuality have been formed and shape the identity of the United States. Students will also examine how difference has been used to foster solidarity and social change. Prerequisites: WGS 101 and WGS 201 or permission of the instructor. Students may also enroll in HTY 394-0001 for F24. Offered Fall Semester. Cr 3.

Notes: Meets core requirements for Culture, Power, & Equity/Diversity, and Ethical Inquiry.

Elective Area 3: Analytic Methods and Practical Skills

Courses in this area prepare students to engage the analytical, practical, and interpersonal skills necessary for creating social change and promoting social justice at several levels. Courses in this area are at the 200-level or above.

Gorham – MON/WED 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm, Professor Sarah Lockridge

This course offers students an overview of the methods of ethnographic observation and analysis, and of the ethical considerations of conducting such research. Students will be required to carry out ethnographic fieldwork, employing appropriate methods of data collection and analysis. Credit will vary depending on the scope of the fieldwork project, as determined by the instructor. Prerequisites: SCA course or permission from the instructor. Cr. 3. 

Notes: Meets Core Requirements for Ethical Inquiry and Engaged Learning. 

Section 1: ONLINE/Arranged, Professor Rebecca  Nisetich

Students receive permission from the honors director, locate an internship placement with support from Career Development, and develop a learning contract. Prerequisite: sophomore standing and Honors Minor or permission. Cr. 1-6.

Portland – WEDNESDAY 11:00 am – 1:30 pm/Online, Professor Holly Bean

This course will explore how to include persons with disabilities in non-treatment focused recreation programs and services. Disability awareness and history plus physical and program access will be explored with a focus on requirements specified by federal ADA legislation. Recreation and sport organizations for persons with disabilities as well as assistive devices that enable access will also be examined. Recreation and Leisure Studies majors will include this class in their academic career portfolios. Prerequisite: Approved WRI 2 course (can be concurrent). Offered Fall. Cr 3. Class meets in person on the following dates: 9/6, 9/20, 10/4, 10/11, 10/25, 11/8, and 11/2. 

Notes: Meets Core Requirements for Ethical Inquiry.

ONLINE, Professor Jennifer Hart

This course will examine some of the social psychological issues associated with disability and the rehabilitation of individuals who have disabilities, with a focus on minimizing existing social, vocational, educational, and attitudinal barriers to individuals rather than on minimizing the impact of clients’ physical/mental differences within a normed environment. It will familiarize students with the points of view and the experiences of people from various social, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds with a wide range of disabilities/abilities, towards enabling students to approach counseling as a means of expanding opportunities for their clients’ access to these opportunities, and empowering their clients to attain their goals. Cr. 3.

Section 1: ONLINE, Professor Susan Rottmann

Section 2: THURSDAY 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm, Professor Michelle Vazquez Jacobus

Section 3: ONLINE, Professor Jason White

Section 4: ONLINE, Professor Jason White

This writing instruction course assists students in articulating and assessing their own values. It examines the range of ethical theories and positions and explores the influence of particular cultural ideologies on ethical beliefs. The course considers the ethical principles implied by democracy, sustainability, justice, and difference. It examines ethical issues and dilemmas faced by individuals, organizations, and nations while exploring personal and collective decision-making processes in a global context. Prerequisite: any three of Creative Expression, Cultural Interpretation, Science Exploration, Socio-Cultural Analysis; ENG 100 or equivalent for all students; for students admitted fall 2021 or later: ENG 102 or equivalent, or non-degree student; OR instructor permission. Offered Fall, Spring, Summer.  Cr 3.

Notes: Meets Core Requirements for Ethical Inquiry, International, and Writing, Reading, & Inquiry 3

ONLINE,  Professor Mary Anne Peabody

This course focuses on the critical importance of attachment in early childhood and the emotional development of young children as the basis of forming relationships throughout one’s life. New developments in neuroscience, the impact of stress on developing brain architecture and adverse childhood experiences will be reviewed. The concepts of infant mental health as relational, reflective, and interdisciplinary will be presented as well as skills and strategies for supporting the growing field of infant mental health. Recommended: PSY 100, HRD/SBS 200, a course in child development, or SBS 311. Cr. 3.

Portland, TUESDAY 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm, Professor Michelle Vazquez Jacobus

This course provides context, history, and perspective for analysis of the relationship between law, social policy, and social systems. Beginning with the U.S. Constitution, and how laws define our current relationship in society, we will explore power dynamics, social status, access to opportunity, and citizenship in contemporary U.S. society. Particular attention to civil rights, immigration, public education, and the justice system as legal structures through which social relationships are defined. The course will integrate community-based work with local legal services organizations that will allow students to actively apply the course content to constructive empowerment models. Prerequisite: SOC 210 with C or higher or permission of instructor. Cr 3.

Notes: Meets Core Requirements for Engaged Learning

Portland, WEDNESDAY 9:30 am – 12:15 pm, Professor Echo Kaply

This course is designed to provide a framework for understanding and respecting cultural diversity. The cultural aspects of race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and ableness will be discussed. A central theme in organizing the course is the examination of the role of oppression in shaping the lives of members of various cultural groups. Prerequisites: SWO 201 or permission of instructor.

Notes: Meets Core Requirements for Culture, Power & Equity/Diversity.

Social Justice Capstone Experience

Will be offered in Spring 2025.