Gender and the Body

I was a bit nervous taking this class, as it is completely out of my major and my element. Professor Essig made the class very welcoming, and she is very passionate about what she teaches, making it easy to follow along. Make sure to do the readings, and you will be ok. Don't be afraid to ask for help, she is very understanding and accommodating as long as you talk to her. The essays aren't too bad, but just know what you are talking about and make sure you have a good understanding of the readings, and make sure you can apply them to the prompt. There are no right or wrong answers, just make sure to apply yourself and tie it to what you learn

I was a bit nervous taking this class, as it is completely out of my major and my element. Professor Essig made the class very welcoming, and she is very passionate about what she teaches, making it easy to follow along. Make sure to do the readings, and you will be ok. Don't be afraid to ask for help, she is very understanding and a …Read more

Honestly, as an intro GSFS course, it was harder than I expected it to be. We had 50-90 page readings before every class, which was a big time commitment (though skimming totally sufficed). She’s a fair grader on the essays, but the prompts pushed me to think pretty deeply and critically (which I appreciated honestly). She kept lecture incredibly interesting, and her passion on the content made the class more interesting. All in all, I’d recommend. I will say, she does have some rogue 1-liners/takes that are a bit insane, but entertaining nonetheless.

Honestly, as an intro GSFS course, it was harder than I expected it to be. We had 50-90 page readings before every class, which was a big time commitment (though skimming totally sufficed). She’s a fair grader on the essays, but the prompts pushed me to think pretty deeply and critically (which I appreciated honestly). She kept lectu …Read more

Laurie Essig is a gem. Anybody who takes her course is truly lucky. She is extremely insightful, passionate, accommodating, and her ultimate goal is to facilitate learning. Her expectations are very reasonable. The class consists of readings and notes (super short and low-key notes), one longer paper (6-8 pages double spaced), and two papers or projects (she allows people to choose from three prompts). You can expect great lectures/class discussions with some super interesting content. This is easily my favorite class this semester and I can't recommend it enough.

Laurie Essig is a gem. Anybody who takes her course is truly lucky. She is extremely insightful, passionate, accommodating, and her ultimate goal is to facilitate learning. Her expectations are very reasonable. The class consists of readings and notes (super short and low-key notes), one longer paper (6-8 pages double spaced), and tw …Read more

Very good course to take. Concepts are very thought-provoking and discussions are interesting and well-formatted. Prof. Essig clearly is very passionate and cares a lot about everyone scoring well and understanding everything she teaches. She's also very critical of Middlebury culture and doesn't shy away from political or ideological discussions which can get riveting. Papers are graded very easily and she's more than happy to let you do revisions if you want a perfect score (which isn't that hard to get). There are weekly readings which can be a bit dense and grueling, plus notes for those readings do have to be turned in, but she's very helpful for understanding the readings. Otherwise, a very very good class in terms of workload versus importance of content learned. Highly recommend.

Very good course to take. Concepts are very thought-provoking and discussions are interesting and well-formatted. Prof. Essig clearly is very passionate and cares a lot about everyone scoring well and understanding everything she teaches. She's also very critical of Middlebury culture and doesn't shy away from political or ideologica …Read more

Great course. But you better make sure you do the readings, or else you are gonna be scrabbling and scraping for them essays. Come to class ready to learn, you'll be good to go. But again, READ. The essays aren't too bad, but just know what you are talking about. There are no right or wrong answers, as long as you spread your own ideas in the frame of thinking of the class.

This course was very interesting and did a good job of explaining the complexities of gender, sx, and sexuality. The readings were definitely the hardest part, but the professor was very helpful in explaining the readings during the class and stimulating class discussion to aid our understanding. The large assignments were essays, which were not difficult as the goal was more to show what we know than to bring new, unique ideas to light.

This course was very interesting and did a good job of explaining the complexities of gender, sx, and sexuality. The readings were definitely the hardest part, but the professor was very helpful in explaining the readings during the class and stimulating class discussion to aid our understanding. The large assignments were essays, wh …Read more

It is clear that the professor genuinely loves this class. The lectures really help clarify some of the information in the readings if it was hard to understand that week. Papers are graded incredibly lightly, with most students getting 100s. The only real issue I find is that you have to turn in notes every day of class, which is tedious

Professor Essig is a wonderful professor, super chill and easy going. She is the professor you feel guilty for not doing the readings because of how nice she is. As long as you address what she asks in the prompts of your essays, you will do great!

This class was very interesting and very easy. It is definitely not a light intro into the field of gender studies, though. It tackles very divisive and active political topics. Overall, very interesting and worth taking.

Very interesting course. Good introduction into gender studies and very accessible for those not familiar with the field. The readings are very dense but the work is primarily graded on completion. Would definitely recommend.

This class was super eye-opening. It was the first GSFS class I took at Middlebury and have since taken more because of how much I liked this class. We learned about the history of gender definitions and talked a lot about the gendered ideas that are so pervasive in society. It made me think about the world differently (in a good way). I think this class is useful for anyone with any major because we talked about how gender is involved in every aspect of our lives. Laurie is a really fun professor, while at the same time teaching effectively. She clearly knows A LOT and is good at telling it to a class of students who may not have experience in the GSFS world in a really easily digestible ways. She told us to only spend 90 min on readings and then stop and she just wanted to see that we did the reading and understood it through our assignments, so it wasn't too much pressure.

This class was super eye-opening. It was the first GSFS class I took at Middlebury and have since taken more because of how much I liked this class. We learned about the history of gender definitions and talked a lot about the gendered ideas that are so pervasive in society. It made me think about the world differently (in a good way …Read more

I really enjoyed this course and it helped me understand the complexity of our understanding of gender. I found the readings to be really interesting and valuable, and Laurie is a great professor who really wants her students to succeed. After taking this class I switched from a GSFS minor to a GSFS joint major, and I am so happy I did it!

There are daily reading responses and most classes are discussion based. Very eye opening class and would recommend this to anybody. You will have to do a project at the end of the semester that is worth a lot of your grade. Laurie is one of the best professors at Middlebury.

Daily reading responses, which are three quotes and a few sentences on them, are a bit bothersome but the class is super interesting. There is one big project (can be done in a group) to be completed throughout the semester and a couple of papers, but she is definitely a professor who cares more about effort and understanding than a harsh grader. I have learned a lot in this class so far and the large group discussions are fun and valuable!

Daily reading responses, which are three quotes and a few sentences on them, are a bit bothersome but the class is super interesting. There is one big project (can be done in a group) to be completed throughout the semester and a couple of papers, but she is definitely a professor who cares more about effort and understanding than a …Read more

Prof. Essig has a unique way of lecturing that is both entertaining and incredibly informative. I definitely have learned a lot about gender theory. She does require you to submit a Reading Response Form for every class, which can get annoying, but overall the assignments are fair and prompt you to engage with the material. I'd recommend this class as a great intro to gender studies, even if you don't plan on majoring or minoring in the subject.

Prof. Essig has a unique way of lecturing that is both entertaining and incredibly informative. I definitely have learned a lot about gender theory. She does require you to submit a Reading Response Form for every class, which can get annoying, but overall the assignments are fair and prompt you to engage with the material. I'd recom …Read more

I found this course to be truly valuable. Laurie is lovely and very passionate about the material. She also grades mostly off completion which takes a lot of pressure off. The readings are long but generally interesting and engaging.

This was my favorite gender studies class. The professor was great and enthusiastic about the material, and she helped us connect the theory to our own lives which was very useful and unique to the course.

The readings were a bit dense, but Laurie is highly effective at helping navigate the tough material. The class is super fun and full of real-world examples. Papers were allowed and encouraged to be projects. Grading was fair. The class was a ton of fun!