Area Studies Programs Courses

The course provides a multidisciplinary introduction of the many dimensions of the African American experience, including the African heritage and diaspora, slavery and freedom, African American artistic and literary expression, and the problem of racism in American society.

Recommended Prerequisite: HST 103 or HST 104; and HST 121 or AAS 100. This course examines various social, political, and economic developments of enslaved societies in the Americas (North, Central and South), the West Indies, and Africa from roughly the 1200s to the late-1800s with a primary focus upon the lives and roles played by people of the African Diaspora and their encounters with Europeans and Indigenous Americans. Identical with HST 345. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 345 and HST 345.

Topics of general interest in the area of African American Studies. Examples: African Independence, Negritude, Harlem Renaissance, 1960s Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panther Party, Nation of Islam in the U.S., Afrocentricism, and African/African American Destiny. Variable content course. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 hours, provided that the topic is different.

Analysis of various topics in African American Studies not covered in regular courses. Variable content course. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 hours, provided that the topic is different.

This course provides a multidisciplinary introduction to the many dimensions of Disability Studies, including the history, social, cultural, political, legal, and economic perspectives on disability in American society.

Topics of general interest in the area of Disability Studies. Examples: disability cultures, disability rights movement, deaf culture, disability and the law. Variable content course. May be repeated as topics change to a maximum of 6 hours.

Analysis of various topics in Disability Studies not covered in regular courses. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 hours, provided that the topic is different.

An introduction to Gender Studies that explores the influence that ideas about sex, gender, and gender roles have on women and men, both as individuals and as social beings. Using new research on gender in many disciplines, it examines representations of male and female experiences, and historical and social constructions of women's and men's roles.

This course teaches students to analyze the economic decisions made by both males and females in two main areas: the labor market and the household. Specific areas of inquiry include the following: the family as an economic unit, gender differences in labor force participation, occupational gender segregation, explanations for gender earnings differentials and efforts to reduce such differentials, gender earnings discrimination, and international gender issues. Identical with ECO 315. Cannot receive credit for both GST 315 and ECO 315.

This course offers an introductory survey of feminist theories within a sociological framework. Students will read and discuss significant classical and contemporary feminist writings on how social life is organized, maintained or changed. The feminist literature has led to the emergence of diverse theoretical frameworks analyzing historical and contemporary, macro and micro, public and private, local and global issues and concerns. The feminist paradigm, like many other paradigms, is inclusive of many disciplines. The sociological writings within this paradigm provide a wealth of materials on alternative views of social organization, order and conflict.

This course will explore the effects of an integrated global community on gender; how global trends are gender-based in terms of labor market participation, resource allocation, family regulations, health care, crime, war and regional politics. Students will discuss how events and policies in one part of the globe affect gender relations in another region. May be taught concurrently with SOC 600. Cannot receive credit for both GST 400 and SOC 600.

In-depth inquiry into selected topics of Gender Studies. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 hours if the topic is different.

This course provides a multidisciplinary introduction to the study of the Ozarks region and its inhabitants, including Ozarks history and geography, regional folk culture and traditions, and current issues.

In-depth inquiry into topics in Ozarks Studies. May be repeated to a maximum of six hours if the topic is different.