"It's a course in which we try to look at a whole range of questions using several different media," said Jardine.

As indicated by its title, the class explores race, gender and sexuality through the specific lens of the 1950s.

"[The class] sort of jumped out at me in the course catalog catalog because of the title," said Swift.

Beginning with a section on the "Representation of Others," including gays and lesbians, communists and people of color, Women's Studies 111 moves on to investigate film, love and immortality throughout the decade, ending with units on Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe.

Jardine notes that the class focuses on a time period that has not been adequately theoretically approached before.

"For me, the 1950s are important because of the baby boomers," said Jardine. "The boomers are in power now, in the presidency, in the corporate world and in the media. What are the boomers up to, and how were their values formed?"

The students read Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man, and the recent anthology Secret Agents, which explores the Rosenberg trial.

Though the bulk of the course requirements lies in a final 20- or 25-page "semester project," it is not unlikely that students will do some of their homework on Saturday nights.

Movies like "Rebel Without a Cause," "The Incredible Shrinking Man," "Lassie," "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Jailhouse Rock" are all class requirements.

"Professor Jardine has done a good job in pulling in various media," said Orenstein.

Not in the Timing?

The class meets for two hours on Monday afternoons, and the extended time span permits the students to muscle down the material and occasionally partake in a special discussion.

This past Monday for example, students attentively listened to Robert Meeropol, son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, discuss his parents' trial and execution.

But with all the material covered by the class, it's difficult to jam-pack everything into one afternoon a week.

Still, students say Jardine does a wonderful job with the time she has.

"I really enjoy it," said Swift