Center for Diversity and Gender Studies

Undergraduate Academic Center Room 478
Telephone: 512-245-2361 Fax: 512-245-1414
www.txstate.edu/cdgs

The Center for Diversity and Gender Studies in the College of Liberal Arts administers the Diversity Studies minor, African American Studies minor, and the Women’s Studies minor at the undergraduate level. The Center helps prepare students to work and live in a pluralistic society through curricular and co-curricular activities workshops, programs, events and research projects. In addition, it assists faculty with resources and professional development activities to encourage the infusion of multiculturalism in the curriculum through a Multicultural Curriculum Transformation and Research Institute. It houses a resource area with more than 1000 books, articles, and syllabi. The Center is home to its own online professional peer reviewed Journal of Research on Women and Gender. Through private donations, Diversity and Gender Studies offers an annual scholarship to students. The director of the Center works in collaboration with an advisory council of faculty, staff and students representing several Texas State colleges and departments.

Key issues for prospective minors to consider:

  • This minor will prepare students with a unique body of knowledge, cultural competence, and communication skills that will prepare them for a diverse and changing workforce.
  • Enrich students' learning about cultural pluralism and improve the interpersonal and other skills.
  • Well-rounded graduates have included in their liberal arts education a greater-knowledge of their cultural history and traditions.

Subjects in this center include: AASDVST, WS


Courses in African American Studies (AAS)

AAS 2310. Introduction to African American Studies.

Course provides an overview of black culture in America from an interdisciplinary approach, employing scholarship from history, literature, music, visual and performing arts, folklore, religion, sociology, psychology, philosophy, economics, and political science. It introduces epistemological considerations, theories, and methods that form the field of African American and African Diaspora Studies. (MULT).

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Multicultural Content
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

AAS 3310A. Blacks, Film, and Society.

This course examines Black American cinema between 1919 and the present and how film can help society better understand black history, black culture, and the black experience in America. The course also explores what each film teaches Blacks about Blacks and what film teaches Whites and other groups about Blacks.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Topics
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

AAS 3350. Black Queer Experience.

This course will introduce students to the historical study of Black LGBTQ peoples. We will use primary sources such as letters, diaries, newspaper articles, and blues songs, along with historical and interdisciplinary scholarship and films, to learn about the experiences of same-sex loving and gender-transgressing Black people. (WI).

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

AAS 3399. Negotiating the Color Line.

This course examines how Black Americans have negotiated the Black-White color line from the 1800s to the present day.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

AAS 4320. Global Perspectives on the African Diaspora.

Course connects the transatlantic slave trade, contemporary migrations, their legacies, and speaks to the broader issues of the African diaspora in relation to previous and ongoing struggles of black people for rebirth, progress, justice, and racial uplift. Examines African Diasporic women’s definition of feminism while suggesting no universal black feminism. (MULT).

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Multicultural Content|Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

AAS 4377. Intersections of Race, Class, Gender, and Sexualities.

This course critically examines how race, class, gender, and sexuality intersect to shape the lived experiences of a wide array of communities in the United States. Students cannot receive credit for both WS 4377 and AAS 4377. (WI) Prerequisite: AAS 2310 with a grade of "D" or better.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

AAS 4388. Independent Research in African American Studies.

Independent study course open to advanced students on an individual or small group basis. The research area in African American Studies, bibliography, and study paper outline are to be approved by the instructor.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Courses in Diversity Studies (DVST)

DVST 3301. Introduction to Diversity Studies.

The course is a general, multi-disciplinary and comparative survey of U.S diversity issues. It highlights the traditional minorities, such as African, Latino/a American, Native, and Asian Americas, as well as European American ethnic groups. It also explores issues related to religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, and physical ability/disability. (MULT).

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Multicultural Content|Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

DVST 3320. Introduction to Global Diversity Issues.

This course provides an understanding of relationship between U.S and other nations in terms of economics, politics, and culture. Students will examine how colonialism shaped developed and underdeveloped nations, investigate grassroots activism in response to globalization and will examine how policies formulation by one country has consequences for other countries. (MULT).

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Multicultural Content
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Courses in Women’s Studies (WS)

WS 3376. Introduction to Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

This course introduces students to the key concepts of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies with a focus on the diversity of cultural experiences within the United States. (WI) (MULT).

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Multicultural Content|Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

WS 3377. Gender, Sex, and Power.

This course examines the relationship between gender, sex, and power in cross cultural contexts to investigate key debates and current research within the field of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Gender roles in societies outside the U.S. will be examined. (WI) (MULT).

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Multicultural Content|Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

WS 4377. Intersections of Race, Class, Gender, and Sexualities.

This course critically examines how race, class, gender, and sexuality intersect to shape the lived experiences of a wide array of communities in the United States. Students cannot receive credit for both WS 4377 and AAS 4377. (WI) Prerequisite: WS 3376 with a grade of "D" or better.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

WS 4388. Independent Research in Women’s Studies.

Independent study course open to advanced students on an individual or small group basis. The research area in Women’s Studies, bibliography, and study paper outline are to be approved by the instructor. (WI) (MULT).

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Multicultural Content|Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter