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Winter 2026 Courses
WST 102: Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies
ONLINE Asynchronous - Galia Cozzi-Berrondo
An introductory social sciences survey examining gender and sexuality theories, women's
and feminist movements, and current debates within Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies.
The course draws on theories and methods of anthropology, economics, geography, history,
political science, psychology, and sociology to explore how gender intersects with
sexuality, race, ability and other constructed identity categories to structure power,
hierarchy, and privilege.
WST 103: Gender, Culture, Difference
ONLINE Asynchronous - Genie Ruzicka
An introductory humanities survey focusing on evolving ideas of gender and gender
roles, and how gender intersects with sexuality, race, ability and other constructed
identity categories. Through the disciplines of literature, art, philosophy, and history
and the critical analyses of texts, objects, historical accounts, social media, and
current events, the course explores how cultural ideas of gender are expressed in
different genres in the humanities.
WST 291: Introduction to Feminist Theory
ONLINE Asynchronous - Desi Self
An introductory survey of historical and contemporary interdisciplinary theories used
in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Theoretical debates on race, class, gender,
nation, disability, sexuality, representation, and social movements are among the
topics considered. The course will provide a strong theoretical foundation for further
studies in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
WST 301 - Histories of Feminism
ONLINE Asynchronous - Callen Zimmerman
A historical study of the theoretical and practical developments that form contemporary
feminism and gender studies. Although the course concentrates primarily on feminist
histories in the United States, it also places those histories within a transnational
frame, paying close attention to class and race as well as gender. Key historical
movements and events examined in the course include the suffrage movement, liberalism,
socialist feminism, feminist internationalism, Black and women of color feminism,
the women's liberation movement, radical feminism, and queer studies.
Spring 2026 Courses
[WST Offerings]
WST 102: Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies
IN PERSON - Tu/Th 12:30-1:50pm - Kara Pernicano
ONLINE Asynchronous - Cristina Khan; TAs Kassel Franco-Garibay, Lynette Kwaw-Mensah
ONLINE Asynchronous - Francesca Petronio
ONLINE Asynchronous - Carloz Vazquez
An introductory social sciences survey examining gender and sexuality theories, women's
and feminist movements, and current debates within Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies.
The course draws on theories and methods of anthropology, economics, geography, history,
political science, psychology, and sociology to explore how gender intersects with
sexuality, race, ability and other constructed identity categories to structure power,
hierarchy, and privilege.
WST 103: Gender, Culture, Difference
IN PERSON - M/W 9:30-10:50am - Maura Conley
IN PERSON - Tu/Th 11:00-12:20pm - Hnin Hnin Oo
ONLINE Asynchronous - Angela Jones; TAs Peter Bruno, LaQuette Holmes, Emillion Adekoya,
Sonbol Bahramikamangar
ONLINE Asynchronous - Jose Flores Sanchez
An introductory humanities survey focusing on evolving ideas of gender and gender
roles, and how gender intersects with sexuality, race, ability and other constructed
identity categories. Through the disciplines of literature, art, philosophy, and history
and the critical analyses of texts, objects, historical accounts, social media, and
current events, the course explores how cultural ideas of gender are expressed in
different genres in the humanities.
WST 111: Introduction to Queer Studies
IN PERSON - M/W 11:00-12:20 - Hayden Cuttone
ONLINE Asynchronous - Jade Kai
A survey of historical representations of sexuality and queerness from the late 19th
century to the present. Through examination of art, media, literature, and philosophy,
and critical theory, students develop an interdisciplinary understanding of lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer identities and the moral and ethical issues
surrounding sexuality. Themes include the social construction of sexuality; theories
of sex, desire, bodies, and sexuality; cisheterosexism and other intersecting forms
of oppression; and the historical roots of these issues.
WST 210 : Contemporary Issues in Women's and Gender Studies: "Reproductive Justice
Theory and Praxis in the U.S."
IN PERSON - Tu/Th 9:30-10:50am - Mar Galvez Seminario
This course will serve as an introduction to reproductive justice theory and practice
in the United States. We will start the course with an activist-style “RJ 101” to set
the tone for the rest of the course. After a short overview of traditional approaches
to reproductive politics in the United States, the first half of the course will engage
with a historical overview of reproductive justice, paired with readings about forced
sterilizations, the family, queer women of color feminisms, capitalism, colonization,
and “unfit” motherhood. The second half of the course will look at how reproductive
justice intersects with environmental justice, disability justice, immigrant justice,
prison abolition, and other intersecting movements.
WST 291: Introduction to Feminist Theory
IN PERSON - M/W 9:30-10:50am - Ritch Calvin
ONLINE Asynchronous - Genie Ruzicka
ONLINE Asynchronous - Lizbeth Zuniga
ONLINE Asynchronous - Suzanne Staub
An introductory survey of historical and contemporary interdisciplinary theories used
in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Theoretical debates on race, class, gender,
nation, disability, sexuality, representation, and social movements are among the
topics considered. The course will provide a strong theoretical foundation for further
studies in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
WST 301 - Histories of Feminism
IN PERSON - Mon/Wed 11:00am-12:20pm - Joanna Wuest
ONLINE Asynchronous - Tasmia Haque
A historical study of the theoretical and practical developments that form contemporary
feminism and gender studies. Although the course concentrates primarily on feminist
histories in the United States, it also places those histories within a transnational
frame, paying close attention to class and race as well as gender. Key historical
movements and events examined in the course include the suffrage movement, liberalism,
socialist feminism, feminist internationalism, Black and women of color feminism,
the women's liberation movement, radical feminism, and queer studies.
WST 305: Feminist Theories in Context
ONLINE Asynchronous - Galia Cozzi Berrondo
A study of major feminist and queer texts in the social sciences and humanities, providing
a deeper examination of theories of bodies, power, and subjectivity. Embodiment, intersectionality,
psychoanalysis, political economy, knowledge production, and representational systems
are among the topics covered.
WST 390: Special Topics in Women and Gender Studies in the Humanities: "Graphic Cultures"
IN PERSON - M/W 3:30-4:50pm - Lisa Diedrich
In recent years, comics and graphic narratives have become a popular and innovative
form for telling auto/biographical stories in a medium that artfully combines—co-mixes—words
and images. The touchstone text of the form is Maus, Art Spiegelman’s graphic narrative
of his parents’ experience of the Holocaust and his own transgenerational trauma.
Other key texts in the hybrid genre include Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and Alison
Bechdel’s Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, which, like Maus, have reached a wide readership,
garnered popular and critical acclaim, as well as scholarly attention. These texts
all share a preoccupation with exploring how selves come into being in relation to
experiences and events that are both ordinary and extraordinary—e.g., childhood, sexuality,
war, illness, trauma, shame, stigma, love, hope. Our class will take a multi-faceted
and interdisciplinary approach to graphic cultures. We will begin with questions about
form, exploring how lines, panels, pages, etc. are drawn, read, and interpreted. We
will then turn to many examples of the genre, focusing on graphic stories of war and
migration, gender and sexuality, and sickness, disability, and caregiving. Through
many multi-modal activities, including annotation, drawing, comics making, and creative
writing, we will explore the aesthetic multiplicity of comics, as well as the many
contexts in which comics are created, shared, read, and studied.
WST 392: Special Topics in Women and Science: "Gender, Science, and Health"
IN PERSON - M/W 3:30-4:50pm - Joanna Wuest
What is a gender identity? How stable or coherent are scientific theories of biological
“sex itself”? And who gets to declare the truth of our desires or to have the final
word in stories about who we really are? Together, we will explore how popular ideas about gender, sex, and sexuality
have been shaped by biologists, geneticists, physicians, mental health professionals,
pharmaceutical companies, sports associations, social movements, and the law. In doing
so, we will repeatedly ask what it might mean that science is fundamentally a human
practice. Taking that approach, we will see how scientific and medical theories, standards
of evidence, and notions of certainty and doubt always reflect, in no small way, the
range of priorities and prejudices that circulate in a given political moment. Our
course will begin with an introduction to basic concepts in the philosophy of science
and critical science studies. We will then examine a range of topics including: eugenics
era sterilization and population-control policies; shape shifting definitions of biological
sex; the past, present, and future of the gender identity clinic and trans medicine;
conversion therapies and “social contagions”; regulatory battles over pregnancy and
abortion; in vitro fertilization (IVF) and transhumanist fears of “artificial reproduction”;
the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries’ role in constructing femininity and masculinity;
stories about testosterone, athleticism, and violence; and the present crisis of expertise.
WST 395: Topics in Global Feminism: "Ecology, Migration, and Food Studies"
IN PERSON -Tu/Th 12:30-1:50pm - AJ Castle
This course offers a comprehensive exploration of transnational agriculture and its
connections to gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity. We will start by examining
the body, focusing on how feminist science studies and bioethics approach the gut,
before expanding our analysis to global agriculture, ecology, and migration. A particular
emphasis will be placed on the role of women and LGTBQ+ individuals in both food production
and consumption. Through the study of food blogs, recipes, seed saving, labor movements,
memoirs, and fiction, we will investigate gendered experiences with food through the
lenses of Decolonial/Anti-colonial, Transnational, and Indigenous feminisms. Our overall
goal in this course is to think critically about transnational agriculture and how
food relationships are constructed. Some themes that will be explored are trauma,
insecurity, kinship, reciprocity, and sustainability.
WST 398: Topics, in Gender, Race, & Ethnicity: "Violence Against Girls/Women"
IN PERSON - M/W 11:00-12:20pm - Jenean McGee
This course focuses on aspects of the victimization of women and girls that are “Gendered”
- namely, sexual abuse and intimate partner abuse, exploring the importance of race,
class, and sexuality in gendered violence.
WST 399: Topics in Gender and Sexuality: "Gender, Race, and Class in American Mass
Culture"
IN PERSON - Tu/Th 2:00-3:20pm - Victoria Hesford
From The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977), a 1970s TV show about an independent modern young woman, to the 2017
horror film about race relations in the U.S., Get Out, the media has been a primary means of both enacting and understanding gender, sexual,
and racial distinctions in the U.S. In this course, we will approach television (from
its network beginnings to its digital present) and cinema as fantasy machines for
imagined, idealized, and stigmatized ways of being in the U.S. from the mid twentieth
century to the present day. Through a variety of TV shows and films we will analyze
how the mass media has shaped racial, sexual, and gendered forms of belonging and
difference in the U.S. from the era of “socially relevant” television in the 1970s
to the present day. This course will also introduce the student to key texts in feminist
and queer media criticism and film theory, as well as theories of mass and popular
culture.
WST 407/WST 408: Senior Research Seminar for Women's & Gender Studies Majors & Minors
IN PERSON - Mondays 2:00-4:50pm - Jenean McGee
The senior research seminar is the capstone course for the interdisciplinary major
& minor in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Utilizing research skills, concepts,
methods, and materials generated from their coursework in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality
Studies, students conduct interdisciplinary research to produce a research paper and
formal presentation on their topic of choice formulated and developed in seminar activities.
WST 407/WST 408: Senior Research Seminar for Women's & Gender Studies Majors & Minors
IN PERSON - Tuesdays 2:00-4:50pm - Nancy Hiemstra
The senior research seminar is the capstone course for the interdisciplinary major
& minor in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Utilizing research skills, concepts,
methods, and materials generated from their coursework in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality
Studies, students conduct interdisciplinary research to produce a research paper and
formal presentation on their topic of choice formulated and developed in seminar activities.
[Spring 2026 WST-Related Electives]
(If you see a course not listed here that you think might qualify as a WST elective,
email the WST Undergraduate Program Director, Professor Lisa Diedrich at lisa.diedrich@stonybrook.edu)
AFH 382 - Black Women's Literature of the African Diaspora
IN PERSON - Tu/Th 11:00-12:20pm - Tracey Walters
AFH 390 - Topics in Africana Studies - "Black Girlhood"
IN PERSON - Tu/Th 2:00-3:20pm - Jazmen Moore
AFS 306 - Gender and Public Health in Africa
IN PERSON - M/W 5:00-6:20pm - Adryan Wallace
AFS 381 - AIDS, Race, and Gender in the Black Community
IN PERSON - M/W 3:30-4:50pm - Adryan Wallace
COM 346 - Race, Class, and Gender in Media
IN PERSON - M/W 5:00-6:20pm - TBD
IN PERSON - Tu/Th 12:30-1:50pm - TBD
HIS 334 - Women and Gender in Pre-Modern European History
IN PERSON - M/W 2:00-3:20pm - Alix Cooper
HIS 390 - Topics in Ancient History - "Outsiders in Medieval Society"
IN PERSON - M/W 3:30-4:50pm - Sara Lipton
PHI 284 - Introduction to Feminist Theory (III)
IN PERSON - M/W 3:30-4:50pm - Valentina Moro
POL 330 - Gender Issues in the Law
IN PERSON - M/W 6:30-7:50pm - Juliette Passer
POL 347 - Women and Politics
IN PERSON - Tu/Th 6:30-7:50pm -Victoria Smith
SOC 247 - Sociology of Gender
IN PERSON - Tu/Th 12:30-1:50pm - Rachelle Germana
SOC 340 - Sociology of Human Reproduction
IN PERSON - Wednesdays 6:30-9:20pm- Catherine Marrone