How to Do Things with Feminism

Catalog description

This course is an introduction to the study of Women's & Gender Studies as an interdisciplinary field. In particular, students will reflect on the academic, professional, and community activist dimensions of the field. The course offers an overview of the development of Women's and Gender Studies within the academy and ongoing collaboration with and tensions between academic feminism and feminist activism. Students will become familiar with the methodological and theoretical tools used by feminist researchers and activists. Beyond feminist methods and theories, students will also become familiar with the professional and academic side of WGS: they will discuss the wide range of women's and gender-focused journals, professional organizations, and conferences in their subfields/disciplines. They will use an intersectional feminist framework to think through feminism(s), feminist praxis, and in particular how each of them exists in relation to power via gender and race. The ultimate goal is that they will gain the foundation for fostering feminist skills in order to create a more just and equitable society.