Perhaps now more than in any other point in our history, we are critically examining issues of gender, along with how gender intersects with race, religion, sexuality, and socioeconomic status in the US, as well as around the globe. This course provides a broad overview of psychological science on gender issues, addressing such topics as gender stereotypes, early gender socialization, gender nonconformity, love and romance, sexuality, work and leadership, and violence. We will also consider the way that gender intersects with race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, social class, and other social categories.

This course aims to give students the skills necessary to critically understand contemporary gender issues from a social psychological perspective. As well, the course should help students better understand the nature and significance of both similarities and differences between men and women. Finally, throughout the course, students will have the opportunity to reflect on personally held beliefs about gender, and perhaps challenge some of these beliefs based on what they learn.

As many people get their information about sex primarily from the Internet, students in this course will contribute to the knowledge base by editing a Wikipedia page on a topic related to gender or gender diversity.