Char Kunkel (department head)

Identity Studies (IDS) is an interdisciplinary academic program devoted to the critical analyses of identities and embodied knowing. IDS celebrates embodiment and cultural expressions, creates context for seemingly disparate identities, and exposes intersectionality, while moving toward the goal of a fairer and more equitable society. The program offers courses that investigate the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and the body as they are created, experienced, and used to delineate systems of power and domination.

The mission of Identity Studies is to empower students to create the practice of employing multiple perspectives, to increase understanding of self and other, to appreciate diversity, and to understand systems of power in order to challenge them. Identity Studies prepares students to be critical advocates, activists, scholars, and educators for social justice in a variety of professions. Faculty with specializations in Africana Studies, Asian Studies and Women and Gender Studies are housed here.

Required for a Major: The major consists of 10 courses plus senior project (38 credit hours). Five required courses include 101, 260, 355, 381 internship, 400 level seminar; five electives include at least one course in each area, (areas described below), of which at least one is at the 200 level, and one is at the 300 level.

All College requirements will be met by existing courses. Writing in the major will be fulfilled by IDS 260. Speaking in the major is completed in IDS 381 with required oral presentations. Ethics will be fulfilled in IDS 101 and the 400 level seminar. Research is fulfilled in 101,

Required for a Minor: The minor consists of 7 courses (28 credit hours). Two required courses include 101 or 260, and 355, at least one course from each of two areas, and two electives (of which at least one is at the 200 level or above), plus 400 level seminar.

Identity Studies Areas
If a student wants to specialize, they can choose an emphasis area in Gender and Sexuality, Race and Ethnicity, or Body Studies. In addition to the required course in this area, two electives and a 400-level seminar can be in the specialty area (up to 4 courses). Students should consult with their advisor as specializations are not tracked on program evaluations.

Gender/Sexuality
Courses in this area are centrally informed by questions about gender and sexuality, or gender and sexuality are the central topic of investigation. 

IDS 138 Human Sexuality
IDS 195 Biology of Race and Sex
IDS 212 Sex in the Bible and Qur'an
IDS 220 Experiencing Mahayana Buddhism
IDS 225 Women in Science
IDS 233 God and Gender
IDS 240 Africana Women's Writing
IDS 242 Sociology of Gender
IDS 245 Literature by Women
IDS 254 Politics, Policy and Gender
IDS 270 Psychology and Aging
IDS 290 Gender and Women's History
IDS 300 Critical Theories
IDS 331 Gender, Health and Medicine
IDS 335 Masculinity in Film
IDS 350 Gendered Activism in a Global Context
IDS 351 Gender and Crime
IDS 361 Chaucer and Medieval Literature
IDS 368 Gender in Art
IDS 468 Seminar: Gender, Globalization and Development

Race/Ethnicity
Courses in this area are centrally informed by questions about race and ethnicity, or constructs of race and ethnicity are the central topic of investigation. Courses may also celebrate the unique contributions of peoples defined by embodied identities. 

IDS 135 African-American History
IDS 142 China in the World
IDS 147 Literature of the African Peoples
IDS 161 East Asian History
IDS 162 South Asian History
IDS 171 History of Africa to 1880
IDS 172 History of Modern Africa
IDS 202 From Buddhist Texts to Anime
IDS 221 Anthropology in East Africa: Forces of Culture Change Among the Maasai
IDS 228 Religion and Philosophy in  China
IDS 235 The Long Civil Rights Era: Black Nationalism to Black Power
IDS 236 Disaster and Enlightenment: Pilgrimages East Asia
IDS 238 Islamophobia
IDS 240 Africana Women's Writing
IDS 246 Chinese Cinema and Chinese Modernity
IDS 247 History of Jazz
IDS 251 African-American Literature
IDS 255 Religious Identity and Diversity in East Asia
IDS 262 Everybody Loves Gandhi
IDS 271 African Diaspora
IDS 333 Rhetoric of Identity and Difference
IDS 345 Constructs of Race and Racialization
HIST 361 Topics in Asian History
IDS 371 Topics in African History

Body Studies
Courses in this area cohesively integrate thinking through the body, interweaving theory and applied, guided, or improvisational bodily practice within the course of study. The physical practice is guided by clear conceptual guidance, research, and, development for all abilities. Emphasizing movement, demeanor, and inhabited/lived space, Body Studies courses focus on understanding through the body while also documenting from the body. This process emphasizes the innate intelligence, or intuition, of one's body - unique in experiences and culture, ideas and ideology, and, thinking, moving, and being within the self, other, and world.

IDS 105 Movement Fundamentals I: Practices of Alignment and Function
IDS 130 Contact Improvisation
IDS 140 Identity and Movement Analysis
IDS 205 Movement Fundamentals II: Practices of Range and Efficiency
IDS 220 Experiencing Mahayana Buddhism
IDS 239 Disability and Literature
IDS 305 Movement Fundamentals III: Practices of Vocabulary and Intention
IDS 352 Moving History
IDS 360 Dance Composition

Current 400-level seminars include the following Paideia 450s:
"The Color of Change: Black Intellectual Thought and Social Change in America", "Re-imagining Race through Speculative Fiction", "Queering Subjectivities", "Working Japan" (Study Abroad), "Love and Gender in China", "Bodies, Sticks, and Mindfulness", "Ritual and Performance in Japan", "War and Reconciliation in Cambodia", "Practicing Embodiment", and "Stability and Change in Vietnam".
 
As well as IDS 468 "Gender, Globalization, and Development", SOC 472 Seminar: "Social Institutions and Inequalities" and PHIL 485 Critical Theories. Other 400 level courses accepted upon approval.

An Africana Studies minor is also housed in Identity Studies.