Women's Studies - Fall 1998

This is a large lecture course that introduces students to some of the concerns, parameters, and major authors of feminist theory from the 18th century through the present. As a survey course, it offers students more of a tour than an in-depth study of any particular theorist, but it covers a number of the major currents of feminist theory and its antecedents. Along the way, it gives students a basic background in the tenets and structure of liberalism, Marxism, poststructuralism, psychoanalysis, and postcolonialism. It also examines feminist theoretical debates about sexuality, identity, social construction, and the value of theory itself.

The course is intellectually demanding and is also reading and writing intensive. All of the reading is contained in a two-volume reader. There are four writing assignments--two short papers and two of medium length. Attendance at lecture and discussion section is required. Over the years, it has become clear that students who attend either one sporadically fall apart over the writing assignments and do not get much out of the course. Conversely, students who attend both end up very satisfied with what they achieve in this course; this is true even for those who are nervous about theory, or haven't taken theory classes before. The teaching assistants are excellent, and make themselves available for assistance with all assignments.

While Women's Studies 1 is a formal pre-requisite for the class, the pre-requisite can be waived for those who are not Women's Studies majors. Students from Literature, Philosophy, Sociology, and Politics have found this course to be of particular benefit for work in their majors.

Revised 7/19/04.