Feminist Theory

Tentative syllabus!!! This may change before Fall

Seminar in Feminist Theory and Research

Soc 774 Fall 2002

Monday 4-6:30 p.m.

Professor: Barb Brents Office: CBC B225

Phone: 895-0261 Hours: TBA

The women's movement has had a huge impact on western intellectual traditions and ideas of social change. Through readings, class discussions and your own research, this course will survey the main approaches to feminist theory and confront key debates in feminist studies--equality and difference, identity and positionality, and the diverse and complex relations between theory and method, values and research, theory and practice.

Course Goals

	Gain a broad knowledge of the contours of the field and the major debates within feminist theory.
	Understand the impact of feminist theory on intellectual thought.
	Gain an understanding and working knowledge of feminist research and its relation to other forms of social science research, In particular, learn the relation between theory, research and practice.
	Increase skills in summarizing, analyzing and identifying underlying assumptions in intellectual writing and research.
	Increase academic writing skills.
	Learn to create knowledge through participation in class discussion, presentations, and building your course project.

Readings

Nicholson, Linda. The Second Wave: A Reader in Feminist Theory. NY: Routledge 1997

Chapkis, Wendy. Live Sex Acts. NY: Routledge 1997

Additional readings listed are available for xeroxing in the box outside my office and/or via the internet.

Requirements

Course project 60% Journals/Assignments 30% Class Participation 10%

Course Project:

The major requirement for this course will be the completion of a feminist course project on a topic and in the form of your choosing. The project can be: a research paper (using original empirical evidence you have gathered to answer a clearly formulated, theoretically informed research question); a theoretical paper (pointing at new interpretations of old theory, new directions for new theories, critical reinterpretations); a literature review (summary and critical review of research on a particular topic, summarizing what we know, what we don't, what we should and why it is important – the scope will be much broader than the literature review for a research paper); or a critical essay (summarizing theory and research on a particular issue--generally this is broader than a research paper). Or you may choose to do a series of smaller projects that meet the other learning goals for the course. If you are interested in social change, you may want to do a practical project for a local political group (which will include a theoretically informed written report to me). You could even do an art or film project. I encourage collaborative projects. Think about your own learning objectives and creative ways to accomplish these.

I have two requirements for your project. First, whatever you do should be of graduate level quality and substance. Second, you must turn in drafts or phases of your project for feedback at least twice throughout the semester. Once we set up the schedule, you must stick to it.

Before the September 12 due date, you and I will meet to finalize a "contract" for your project. Make an appointment with me, and bring to this meeting a draft containing the following components:

	what you are going to do in as much detail as you can say
	how you will turn it in
	any deadlines and penalties for lateness
	the criteria for grading

Your final contracts will be due on September 12. The contract will cover 60% of your course grade.

In any project, it is natural to encounter problems, frustrations and setbacks, and your topic will undoubtedly shift. We too rarely share these problems which are an integral part of any research process. Hence it is an important part of the learning process to discuss these problems in class! However, problems do not excuse you from completing the final task. In addition to daily discussion of your research in process, you will be required to give a presentation of your paper at the end of the course.

Journals/Assignments

Everyone will be required to keep and turn in a journal. It should have weekly entries containing the following:

1. Reading analysis: Choose one required reading each week. In four short 1 or 2 sentence paragraphs, discuss the following:

	Paragraph 1 Summarize the main point the author is trying to make.
	Paragraph 2 Summarize the debate, issue, problem, that frames her analysis – where is she coming from, what debate is she entering into.
	Paragraph 3 Analyze what the paper adds to the literature – what is new or innovative in the content, epistemology, ontology, methodology or proscription for social change compared to other readings.
	Paragraph 4 Summarize what the reading does for your own project. What is of interest to you? How does it apply to your own work?

Don’t spend a lot of time on this. Over time, you will get better at quickly summarizing and contextualizing the articles. This exercise is designed to help you learn this skill by doing it regularly. You will be graded on regular entries and improvement. There should be a total of ten entries. I encourage you to turn these in for review early in the semester for feedback, though this is not required.

2. Question of the day: Write at least one question for class discussion that arises from the readings. You may want to use the class goals at the beginning of this syllabus and or the key questions below to guide your questions. This question should preferably integrate or include the readings for the entire week. You will bring this question to class and write it on the board at the beginning of each class, and be prepared to stimulate discussion.

3. Additional questions: From time to time you may be asked to respond to a particular question or issue and add this to your journal.

Class Participation

1. Each student will be required to participate in class. Class will be conducted as a seminar, which means you must read chapters prior to class. Other than a little contextualizing by me, class time will be used to address questions and discuss issues you raise from the readings, and integrate methodologies and theories. (3% of grade)

2. To facilitate discussion, everyone will write the weekly journal question on the board before class begins each week. You will be expected to explain your question, if necessary, and participate in the ensuing discussion. (4% of grade)

3. In addition to required readings, each student will be required to read and summarize for the class a section of the book Third Wave Agenda at the end of the semester. Your presentation should be brief, and should cover content, theory, methods, compare to the other perspectives we have read this semester and address the key questions of the course. Preparation of a handout is recommended. (3% of grade)

Course Schedule

We may want to alter readings or schedule as the semester progresses. Check links to some of the articles!

Aug 29	Introduction
Sept 5	Overview of Feminist Thought and Feminist Research Nicholson, Linda, "Introduction," pp. 1-5 in The Second Wave: A Reader in Feminist Theory, NY: Routledge 1997. Duggan, Lisa and Nan Hunter, Sex Wars, NY: Routledge 1995, Chapter 1. Reinharz, Shulamit,"Introduction," in Feminist Methods in Social Research, Oxford Univ, 1992, Harding, Sandra, "Is There A Feminist Method?" Introduction in Sandra Harding, ed. Feminism and Methodology, Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 1987. hooks, bell Teaching to Transgress, excerpts *Recommended:* Tong, Rosemarie. Feminist Thought, Westview Press: Boulder, 1998, "Introduction," pp 1-9.
Sept 12	Feminism, Rights and the Liberal Rhetoric – Contracts due Wollstonecraft, Mary, exerpts from "Vindication of the Rights of Woman," London 1792. Truth, Sojourner, "Ain’t I a Woman" Speech delivered in 1851 at the Women's Convention in Akron Ohio. Friedan, Betty, "Beyond Gender," Newsweek 1995. National Organization of Women Statement of Purpose 1966 Williams, Wendy, "The Equality Crisis: Some Reflections on Culture, Courts and Feminism," pp 71-91 in Nicholson, The Second Wave: A Reader in Feminist Theory, NY: Routledge 1997. Recommended: Tong, Ch 1 "Liberal Feminism" pp. 10-44.
Sept 19	Gynocentrism Firestone, Shulamith,"The Dialectic of Sex," pp. 19-26 in Nicholson, Linda, The Second Wave: A Reader in Feminist Theory, NY: Routledge 1997. MacKinnon, Catherine, "Sexuality," p. 158-180 in Nicholson. Radicalesbians, "The Woman Identified Woman," p. 153-157 in Nicholson. Hollibaugh, Amber and Cherrie Morega, "What we're rolling around in bed with," Powers of Desire, Ann Snitnow, 1981. Dworkin, Andrea, Men Possessing Women, excerpts Dworkin interview *Recommended:* Tong, Ch 2, "Radical Feminism: Libertarian and Cultural Perspectives" pp. 45-93
Sept 26	Thinking methods Chapkis, Wendy. Live Sex Acts, NY: Routledge 1997 Section 1 Gynocentrism and Psychological Causes of Women's Opression Chodorow, Nancy, "The Psychodynamics of the Family," p. 181-197 in Nicholson. Gilligan, Carol, "Woman’s Place in Man’s Life Cycle," p. 198-215 in Nicholson. *Recommended:* Tong, Ch 4 Psychoanalytic and Gender Feminism pp 130-172
Oct 3-10	Materialist Feminism and Standpoint Epistemologies Hartmann, Heidi, "The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism," p. 97-122 in Nicholson Barrett, Michele, "Capitalism and Women’s Liberation," p. 123-130 in Nicholson. Nicholson, Linda "Feminism and Marx." p. 131-146 in Nicholson. Hartsock, Nancy, "The Feminist Standpoint: Developing the Ground for a Specifically Feminist Historical Materialism," pp. 216-240 in Nicholson. Smith, "Women's Perspective as a Radical Critique of Sociology," pp. 84-96, in Smith, Dorothy. The Conceptual Practices of Power. Boston: Northeastern University Press 1990. *Recommended:* Tong, Ch 3, "Marxist and Socialist Feminism," pp. 94-129 Thinking Methods Chapkis, Wendy, Live Sex Acts, Section 2
Oct 17	The Poststructuralist/Postmodernist Turn Wittig, Monique, "One is not Born a Woman." p. 265-271 in Nicholson. Irigaray, Luce, "The Sex Which is Not one" p. 323-329 in Nicholson. Alcoff, "Cultural Feminism versus Post-Structuralism" p. 330-355 in Nicholson. Fraser, Nancy " Structuralism or Pragmatics," pp. 379-395 in Nicholson. Haraway, Donna, "A Manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, Technology and Socialist Feminism in the 1980s," pp. 501-531 in Meyers. Recommended: Tong, Ch 8, "Postmodern Feminism," pp. 193-211
Oct 24	Thinking Methods Chapkis, Wendy, Live Sex Acts. Section 3 African-American Criticism Collins, Patricia Hill. "Defining Black Feminist Thought," p. 241-260 in Nicholson. hooks, bell, Postmodern Blackness *Recommended:* Tong, Ch 7, "Multicultural and Global Feminism" pp. 212-225
Nov 7	Multi-cultural and Post-Colonial Criticism Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. "In a Word: an Interview" p. 356-378 in Nicholson Narayan, Uma, "Contesting Cultures" p. 396-414 Mohanty, Chandra, "Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses," Feminist Review, 30: 65-88, Autumn, 1988. Anzaldua, Gloria, Borderlands/La Frontera San Francisco: Aunt Lute 1990. (Ch 1 pp. 1-13, Ch 7 pp. 76-91) Good site on Anzaldua *Recommended:* Tong, Ch 8, "Multicultural and Global Feminism," pp. 226-245
Nov 14	Queer Theories (good general site on queer theory ) Clough, Patricia, Ch 6, "Queer Embodiments of Feminist Theorizing" p. 142-165, in Feminist Thought. Blackwell 1994. Rubin, Gayle, "Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality." Pleasure and Danger: Exploring Female Sexuality ed by Carole S. Vance, NY: Routledge, 1984. Butler, Judith, "Imitation and Gender Insubordination" p. 300-317 in Nicholson. (Good site on Butler ) Duggan, Lisa. "Making It Perfectly Queer," Socialist Review, 22(1):11-28, Jan.-March 1992. Seidman, Steven, "Identity and Politics in a "Postmodern Gay Culture: Some Historical and Conceptual Notes," pp. 105-142 in Warner, Michael, ed. Fear of a Queer Planet: Queer Politics and Social Theory. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 1993.
Nov 21	Third Wave – analyzing contemporary activism and writings Heywood, Lesie and Jennifer Drake, eds. Third Wave Agenda Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press 1997. Choose either Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 or Part 4 for class discussion.
Nov 28	Final presentations – Journals due
Dec 5	Final presentations
Dec 12	Final projects due

NOTE: IF YOU HAVE A DOCUMENTED DISABILITY THAT MAY REQUIRE ASSISTANCE, YOU WILL NEED TO CONTACT THE DISABILITY RESOURCE CENTER FOR COORDINATION IN YOUR ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS. THE DRC IS LOCATED IN THE REYNOLDS STUDENT SERVICES COMPLEX IN ROOM 137. THE DRC PHONE IS 895-0866 (TDD 895-0652)