"Gender Revolution: Explorations of Gender Transgressions" will explore the effects of gender on everyone's lives because of how Western society, specifically the United States, socializes children. The course will primarily focus on the lives and experiences of transgender and gender-queer people whose identities fall outside "male" or "female." Through a variety of readings, memoirs, guest speakers, and self-exploiration, students will gain insight into the world of those who are transcending gender norms.

This course deals with the changes in music's compositional forms and subcultures in the last century due to technological advances and diffusions. We will consider the change from the point-of-view of the following players that necessarily coexist in this realm: artists (the creators), the entertainment industry (the gatekeepers and promoters), and consumers (the ultimate judges of success). We'll begin with radio, a traditional means of distributing and promoting a very small amount of music, and end with the internet, which has proved to be a radical way of promoting all recorded music, by what some would say are egalitarian means.

Spontaneous prose is a chance to explore writing through an unconventional method. It focuses both on how it looks upon the page and how it sounds from the mouth. We will keep a notebook of our written work and there will be an emphasis on sharing it in oral form. We will push ourselves to abandon conventional academic tones and breaking the rules is encouraged. We will listen to jazz to get a sense of rhythm. We will look to Jack Kerouac's and Allen Ginsberg's written and recorded work for both guidance and inspiration. We will also look to each other for guidance and inspiration. We will be creative and mostly, we will write, write, write.

This course will examine the history of textiles and the cultural significance of their representation in literature. We will study basic weave structures, spinning, tapestries, embroidery, quilting, knitting, and clothing. Focusing on Greek myths and American literature and history, we will explore the significance of textile production: Who does it? Who doesn't do it? What does it achieve? What does it mean literally and symbolically? Greek myths will provide the basic metaphoric vocabulary for thinking about these concepts, which we will then examine in the context of American culture from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution to contemporary times. An overarching theme in this course will be how the making of textile goods in the domestic sphere has historically signified female identity.

Spontaneous prose is a chance to explore writing through an unconventional method. It focuses both on how it looks upon the page and how it sounds from the mouth. We will keep a notebook of our written work and there will be an emphasis on sharing it in oral form. We will push ourselves to abandon conventional academic tones and breaking the rules is encouraged. We will listen to jazz to get a sense of rhythm. We will look to Jack Kerouac's and Allen Ginsberg's written and recorded work for both guidance and inspiration. We will also look to each other for guidance and inspiration. We will be creative and mostly, we will write, write, write.

This course will examine the relationship between social constructions of gender and masculinity, systems of dominance and subordination, including race, class, sexuality, and interpersonal violence. Critical analysis will inform study of rape and sexual assault in the context of contemporary culture using sociological and feminist theoretical perspectives. We will explore the causes and impacts of interpersonal gender violence in an effort to illuminate why it occurs to the extent that it does and what has been done to counteract it.

We will define, explore, and challenge concepts of "disability" from an academic and experiential context. Class assignments will include voluntary disability self-exploration, social action projects, and an expanded understanding of disability studies. We will utilize assistive technology and learn to be better advocates for our communities and ourselves. We will role-play and journal in real-life situations. The course will explore the possibility of an expanded disability studies curriculum.

What actions are empowering for women and what actions perpetuate women's oppression? By looking at two areas of controversy within feminist circles, Islamic Feminism and the American feminist debate on sex work, this class attempts to better define empowerment, and its use as a mechanism for social change. We will compare the ideologies debated, both within and between these two areas, to bring better understanding to the word empowerment and how empowerment can best be achieved, as well as supported, by women working to increase women's potential globally.