As a result of efforts by feminists and their allies, the issue of violence against women is now a concern of states, governments, communities, and individuals in the United States and around the world. The large and growing literature on gender violence is the basis for the course of study proposed here. We know that violence affects people of all classes and races. We know that some societies are less violent than others. We know that institutions vary in their responses to violence. Scholarly research across disciplines and countries helps us to see how individual motives and actions intersect with institutions like the family and the military, and structures like labor markets, to create environments where violence occurs and where it does not.

This course will begin by exploring how scholars define the problem, its incidence, causes, and consequences. Next, we focus on several areas where gender violence is pervasive: in universities, urban settings, during war and militarization, and in the global economy. The final section of the course examines prevention efforts by the health industry, feminists in the US and across the globe, and the state. Throughout the semester class discussion will link academic research to praxis by explicitly addressing how, in our own lives and in our own community, gender violence has affected and continues to affect each one of us. This course is dedicated to the memory of those we have lost, to the wellbeing of those affected by violence now, and to our aspiration to build a world where gender violence is a thing of the past.