Description of course consistent with catalog: This course provides an overview of feminist theory from World War II to the present with particular attention to three questions: What are the fundamental assumptions of contemporary feminist theory? How does a feminist analysis influence our understanding of sociopolitical processes? What are the political issues and strategies that emerge from feminist theory?

Course Prerequisites: WS 110 or WS 150 or AACS 150 or AACS 155

Course Objectives: To explore the broad range of theories and ideas that make up the body of scholarship we refer to as "feminist theory." To analyze the variety of feminist theoretical positions and how each examines the nature and causes of the oppression of females. To examine how differences (race, ethnicity, class, sexual identity, time, place, values, etc.) inform their assessment of a particular theoretical position. To apply feminist theory to practical situations to the goal of improving women's lives.

Student learning outcomes: At the end of the semester, students should be able to:

Explain orally or in writing how theories influence the production of knowledge.

Explain what characterizes a particular theory as feminist.

Analyze the justifications and critiques offered for specific feminist theories.

Identify and summarize characteristics that discriminate one perspective from another.

Identify and describe overlapping characteristics among feminist perspectives.
Assess and/or evaluate an issue from multiple theoretical perspectives.

Demonstrate an ability to utilize feminist theories to justify a course of
Action in a particular situation.

Topical outline of the course content:

1. Introduction to feminist theory: defining feminism, theory, and knowledge
2. Contemporary feminist theorists: this section of the course will introduce students to some of the key feminist thinkers of the past 50 years, including Simone de Beauvoir, Betty Fridan, Kate Millet, Robin Morgan, Shulamith Firestone, Adrienne Rich, bell hooks, Phylis Chesler, Audre Lorde, Andrea Dworkin, Mary Daly.
3. Sisterhood and Solidarity: a fundamental goal of feminist theory and practice is to understand women's oppression in terms of race, gender, class, ethnicity, age, abilities, and sexual identity. Feminist theory reveals the importance of women's individual and shared experiences and struggles. This section of the course will focus on feminist theory that illuminates this concept. Here we will examine the contributions of, for example, Black feminist theory, Chicana theory, Christian feminism, cultural feminism, Jewish feminism, ecofeminism, liberal feminism, and radical feminism.
4. Feminist theory and the politics of everyday life: feminist political theory is grounded in the belief that there is an inextricable link between the public and the private and that "the personal is political." This section of the course will deal with specific issues of the recent past that address these concerns, including, but not limited to issues of sex and gender socialization, women's bodies and health, violence against women, women and work.
5. The politics of empowerment: this section of the course will examine the ways women/girls resist oppression and exercise power in their lives. It will be shaped by two questions: What should change for women? What are the best strategies for change?

Guidelines/suggestions for teaching methods and student learning activities:

This course is primarily lecture and discussion, using films and guest speakers when appropriate. Students will keep a "content journal." The journal will provide the basis for daily participation and the required written work. Class participation is required and includes answering questions, asking questions, explaining assigned materials, initiating discussion, sharing experiences related to course topics, and challenging information presented.

Guidelines/suggestions for methods of student assessment (student learning outcomes):

Students will be expected to write analytical papers as well as personal response papers. Additionally, students will be required to familiarize themselves with the Women's Studies library collection and specifically to WS journals. Each student will write a 15-page paper on either a contemporary feminist theorist or an issue of contemporary feminist theory. Students must determine their topic for this paper and submit a written abstract (title, one-two paragraph description and preliminary bibliography) During the last two classes of the semester students should be prepared to present their research to the class.

Suggested readings, texts:

Bell, Diane and Renate Klein. 1997. Radically Speaking: Feminism Reclaimed. Melbourne, Australia: Spinifex Press.

Bryson,Valerie. 1999. Feminist Debates: Issues of Theory and Political Practice. New York: New York University Press.

Jackson, Stevi and Jackie Jones (eds.). 1998. Contemporary Feminist Theories. New York: New York University Press.

Nicholson, Linda (ed.). 1997. The Second Wave: A Reader in Feminist Theory. New York: Routledge.

Schneir, Miriam. 1994. Feminism In Our Time: The Essential Writings, World War II to the Present. New York: Random House.

Tong, Rosemarie. 1998. Feminist Thought. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, Second Edition.

Bibliography:
Barry, Kathleen. 1995. The Prostitution of Sexuality: The Global Exploitation of Women. New York: New York University Press.

Belenky, Mary Field, Blythe Clinchy, Nancy Goldberger, and Jill Tarule. 1986. Women's Ways of Knowing. New York: Basic Books, Inc.

Carlip, Hillary. 1995. Girl Power: Young Women Speak Out. New York: Warner Books.

Chesler, Phylis. 1994. Patriarchy: Notes of an Expert Witness. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press.

Collins, Patricia Hill. 1990. Black Feminist Thought. Boston: Unwin Hyman.

Delamotte, Eugenia, Natania Meeker, and Jean F. O'Barr. 1997. Women Imagine Change: A Global Anthology of Women's Resistance. New York: Routledge.

Donovan, Josephine. 1985. Feminist Theory: The Intellectual Traditions of American Feminism. New York: Ungar Publishers.

Dworkin, Andrea. 1981. Pornography: Men Possessing Women. New York: Perigee (Putnam).

Dworkin, Andrea. 1987. Intercourse. New York: Free Press.

Eisenstein, Hester. 1985. Contemporary Feminist Thought. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co.

Farganis, Sondra. 1994. Situating Feminism: From Thought to Action. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, Inc.

Herrmann, Anne, and Abigail Stewart. 1994. Theorizing Feminism: Parallel Trends in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Gilligan, Carol. 1982. In a Different Voice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Hoagland, Sarah. 1988. Lesbian Ethics: Toward New Value. Palo Alto, CA: Institute of Lesbian Studies.

hooks, bell. 1984. Feminist theory: From Margin to Center. Boston: South End Press.

hooks, bell. 1990. Yearning: race, gender, and cultural politics. Boston: South End Press.

Humm, Magger. 1990. The Dictionary of Feminist Theory. Columbus, OH: University of Ohio Press.

Kahn, Karen (ed.). 1995. Frontline Feminism, l975-l995. San Francisco: Aunt Lute books.

Kaufmann, Linda S. (ed.). 1994. American Feminist Thought: At Century's End. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers.

Kourany, Janet, James P. Sterba, and Rosemarie Tong. 1992. Feminist Philosophies. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Kramarae, Chris and Dale Spender. 1992. The Knowledge Explosion: Generations of Feminist Scholarship. New York: Teachers College Press.

Lorber, Judith. 1994. Paradoxes of Gender. New Haven: Yale University Press.

MacKinnon, Catherine A. 1989. Toward a Feminist Theory of the State. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Mann, Judy. 1994. The Difference: Discovering the Hidden Ways We Silence Girls. New York: Warner Books.

O'Barr, Jean Fox. 1994. Feminism in Action: Building Institutions and Community Through Women's Studies. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.

O'Toole, Laura and Jessica Schiffman (eds.). 1997. Gender Violence: Interdisciplinary Prespectives. New York: New York University Press.

Parameswaran, Uma (ed.). 1996. Quilting the Canon: Stitching Women's Words. Toronto: Sister Vision Press.

Peterson, V. Spike and Anne Sission Runyan. 1993. Global Gender Issues. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Ramazanoglu, Caroline. 1989. Feminism and the Contradictions of Oppression. London: Routledge.

Richardson, Laurel and Verta Taylor. 1993. Feminist Frontiers III. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Schaef, Anne Wilson. 1985. Women's Reality: An Emerging Female System in a White Male Society. San Francisco: Harper and Row.

Scott, Joan, Cora Kaplan and Debra Keates. 1997. Transitions, Environments, Translations: Feminisms in International Politics. New York: Routledge.

Schneir, Miriam. 1994. Feminism in Our Time: The Essential Writings, World War II to the Present. New York: Random House.

Spender, Dale. 1985. For the Record: The making and meaning of feminist knowledge. London: The Women's Press.

Stoner, Madeleine and Betty Friedan (eds.) 1994. Rethinking Feminist Concerns: The Evolution of Feminist Thought. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Periodicals Press.

Tong, Rosemarie. 1989. Feminist Thought: A comprehensive introduction. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Wells, Diana (ed). 1994. Getting There: The Movement Toward Gender Equality. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers.

Women's Studies Quarterly. 1996. Beijing and Beyond: Toward the Twenty-First Century of Women. New York: The Feminist Press.

Preparer: Dr. Carole Sheffield

Original Departmental approval date: 1998

Reviser's name and date: Carole Sheffield, Spring, 2000

Departmental revision approval date: Spring, 2000