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Feminist Theory >> Content Detail



Syllabus



Syllabus


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A listing of topics by session is available in the calendar below.



Description


This course focuses on a range of theories of gender in modern life. In recent years, feminist scholars in a range of disciplines have challenged previously accepted notions of political theory such as the distinctions between public and private, the definitions of politics itself, the nature of citizenship, and the roles of women in civil society.

In this course, we will examine different aspects of women's lives through the life cycle as seen from the vantage point of feminist theory. In addition, we will consider different ways of looking at power and political culture in modern societies, issues of race and class, poverty and welfare, and sexuality and morality.



Prerequisites


There are no prerequisites for this course.



Required Texts


Amazon logo Clare, Eli. Exile and Pride. Boston, MA: South End Press, 1999. ISBN: 9780896086050.

Amazon logo Dodson, Lisa. Don't Call Us Out of Name. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1999. ISBN: 9780807042090.

Amazon logo Enloe, Cynthia. The Curious Feminist: Searching for Women in a New Age of Empire. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004. ISBN: 9780520243811.

Amazon logo Hackett, Elizabeth, and Sally Haslanger. Theorizing Feminisms: A Reader. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780195150094.



Recommended Text


Amazon logo Dunlap, Louise. Undoing the Silence: Six Tools for Social Change Writing. Oakland, CA: New Village Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780976605492.



Assignments


All students will be responsible for each week's reading and will write a weekly response paper of two to three pages. Students will each co-lead one class, providing questions for discussion on that day. There will also be three papers which will be due throughout the semester: a letter to the editor, an op-ed piece for a newspaper, and a text analysis presentation. We will discuss these in class.



Grading



ACTIVITIESPERCENTAGES
Response papers, letter to the editor, and class discussion30%
10- to 15-page research paper40%
Research paper presentation10%
Op-ed piece based on the paper20%



Calendar



SES #TOPICSKEY DATES
1IntroductionLetter to the editor and response paper 1 out
2What is feminist theory?

Letter to the editor and response paper 1 due

Response paper 2 out

3Sex, gender, and the body

Response paper 2 due

Response paper 3 out

4Embodied knowledgeResponse paper 3 due
5The work of familyResponse paper 4 out
6Gender and sexuality

Response paper 4 due

Research paper assignment out

7Pornography, rape, and the politics of consent
8Gender and parenting
9The welfare state
10The political sphere: policy and change
11Militarism and gender
12International economics and politics
13Research paper presentationsResearch paper due
14Concluding thoughts and dilemmasOp-ed piece based on research paper due

 








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