Description & goals
This course is designed as an introduction to a range of related and complementary fields of inquiry variously described as women’s studies, gender studies, feminist theory, and queer theory, among others. Our goals are to learn about the history of these theories, as well as of the political movements they’ve informed; to push ourselves to look at familiar, everyday activities in new and different ways; and to explore some of the many ways that gender has operated and continues to operate as a central—and contested—way of defining and understanding people and societies.

One of the oft-quoted slogans of 1970s feminism is “the personal is political.” This can be interpreted in several ways. One is that many things we think of as personal choices—where and how we live, whom and how we love, what we think and how we express it—are profoundly affected by political discourse. Another, inverse, meaning is that these private choices we make have political implications: what we say and do about our private lives has resonance in the public sphere. Because of this interdependence of public and private, intellectual and emotional, theoretical and material, the material in this course can be challenging. The very word “feminism” often makes people uncomfortable, either because they don’t understand it—or sometimes because they do understand it, and realize that the ideas behind it complicate their lives in—well—uncomfortable ways. As a result of learning more about feminism(s) you may expect to end up questioning and reexamining aspects of your own lives and deeply held beliefs. This is OK. This is good. This doesn’t mean you have to change what you do or think as a result of what you read and discuss this semester—but you should at least leave the class having come to a more conscious understanding of why you think the way that you do, of how others think, and of what the implications of these differerences are.

As discussed above, much of the material we will be reading and discussing in this course may be controversial. Please be aware that something you’re perfectly comfortable with may be more anxiety-producing to others, or that people in the class may disagree profoundly. Don’t feel you have to pussyfoot around sensitive topics, by any means, but always exhibit courtesy towards your classmates: rudeness and hostility, even in the heat of discussion, will not be tolerated.

Please also remember that while much of the material we will be learning about will have personal implications and connections to your own lives, and that you may (and should) bring these connections up when relevant, that the basic matter of discussion for every day will be the texts assigned for your reading, and the ideas contained within them. This is not a group therapy session, but a class with specific academic content you’re expected to master; realistically speaking, too, you can’t expect 25 other people to be endlessly fascinated by the intimate details of your life. Show discretion in class; and, if you have personal connections you want to explore further, use this as a prompt to write in your journal.

This class is largely team-taught. At an intellectual level, what this means is that you’ll get the benefit of the expertise of almost 20 different instructors—each of whom approaches the subject from a different disciplinary area, and utilizing different methodologies. You can expect to learn about the representation of gender across different art forms; about the implications of feminist analysis to fields as disparate as economics, psychology, and dance; about how the conditions of women’s lives have varied across time and around the world.

At the practical level, what this means is that I’ll handle the first three weeks of the term; after that, day-to-day in-class teaching will largely pass into the hands of guest instructors (see the daily schedule for full details). I’ll always be there, though—and I’m also the person to whom you turn in your work, who’s responsible for grading, and to whom you should address any questions or concerns not immediately related to the daily readings. If you do have any questions —whether they be about texts, course procedure, or whatever—please bring them up in class, or talk (or e-mail) to me personally. As a general rule, I strongly encourage any form of communication. If you think the reading is going too fast, or too slow; if you’re uncomfortable with the dynamic in the classroom; if you’re unclear on my expectations for an assignment—please let me know. If I don’t know you have a problem, I can’t try to fix it.

You may expect the syllabus to be somewhat fluid, as snow days, illness, last-minute crises, etc. may derail us. I’ll make every effort to keep this site up to date, as well as to announce any changes in class and over e-mail. It’s up to you to check your e-mail, and I do expect you to do so regularly (at least every other day). That’s my only real way of getting in touch with you outside of class, and I do use it fairly frequently.

There is one text to purchase at the campus bookstore: Feminist Theory (2nd Ed.), Eds. Kolmar and Bartkowski.

Unless otherwise noted, all other readings for the course will be available on e-reserves. You must either download these and print them, or bring a laptop to class; in other words, the readings must be accessible for you to refer to during classtime.