WOMEN’S STUDIES 301
FALL 2008
http://mikeely.wordpress.com
INTRODUCTION TO FEMINIST THOUGHT
WEDNESDAYS 10:10-1:10
365 WILLARD BLDG.
INSTRUCTOR: LEISHA JONES
Office: 116-A Willard Bldg.
Phone: 865-5480
Office Hours: Wednesdays 1:45-2:45 and by
appointment
Email: ljj4@psu.edu
Credits: 3 hours
Course Wiki Address: http://psufeministthought.pbwiki.com/
OBJECTIVES
In this course, we will explore key feminist concepts that address the category and
inhabitants of the signifier “woman.” Women’s Studies 301 attempts to bring together
significant feminist theories in collision with contemporary objects such as feminist
epistemologies and Ladyfests, or postcolonialism and YouTube. We start with the
premise that feminism continues to offer vital tools for women and men in multiple
arenas of their lives, despite the disavowal of the label by a number of people who deploy
feminist strategies in their daily lives. Why is there such a disjuncture here? Why hasn’t
the ERA amendment passed? Where does that leave contemporary women who assume
equality as a given? Together we will interrogate these issues, build an interactive space
for dialogue, and generate “feminist thought” of our own.
COURSE MATERIALS
We will be using two textbooks in the course.
The Feminist Philosophy Reader edited by Alison Bailey and Chris Cuomo,
Magraw-Hill, 2008
Next Wave Cultures edited by Anita Harris, Routledge, 2008
Additional readings are available online and on PSU e-reserves.
S T U D E N T RE Q U I R E M E N T S
1) Read all of the course materials assigned and be ready to discuss them in class.
2) Group Participation: Each student will work on one group project. Groups will be
responsible for researching assigned topics, synthesizing and presenting information,
and selecting one or several examples to show in class for us to encounter and
discuss. Before your group presents in class, upload your information on the proper
subject page onto our course wiki. The wiki will serve both as repository of “feminist
thought” as well as dialogue. Presentations should be 20 minutes long, and include a
list of questions to help us interrogate the objects chosen and presented. Group
participation and project success will be both teacher evaluated and peer evaluated.
3) Wiki Participation: After the group presentations, all students are invited to add
content, critiques or questions to anyone’s wiki entry. Students are required to
complete five additions to the wiki beyond your own group entries. In the spirit of
fairness, wiki participation will be anonymous.
4) Exam 1: The exam will potentially cover all readings and class discussions from
August 27th through October 1st.
5) Individual Projects and Papers: Projects and papers are a way to interrogate,
synthesize, and produce objects about the concepts we encounter in class. Inspired by
course materials, this is an opportunity to explore your particular interests in feminist
theory and to contribute to the making of our corpus. You can choose to write a
traditional research paper (7 -10 pages, at least five non-internet sources). You can
also choose an alternative method of inquiry and production, such as a photo essay, a
video, text experiment, community project, etc. I am open to suggestions. On
October 15th, you must submit a project or paper proposal detailing your plans.
Completed projects and papers will be submitted directly onto the wiki and are due
December 3rd. You are also required to deliver a ten-minute presentation about your
research project.
6 ) Exam 2: This take-home exam potentially covers all readings and class discussions
from October 8th through December 10th.
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
20%--Group Presentation
20%--Exam 1
10%--Wiki Participation
30%--Individual Project/Paper and Class Presentation
20%--Exam 2
Grading Scale
100-95 A
94-90 A89-87 B+
87-83 B
82-80 B79-75 C+
74-70 C
69-60 D
59F
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
I expect that each of you will generate your own projects and papers, and will reference
any idea, information, images, and wording that is not your own. Representing someone
else's thoughts as your own constitutes plagiarism. See Penn State's Student Guide to
University Policies and Rules.
CLASSROOM DISCOURSE
We will make a commitment to each other to encourage the expression of critique and
dialogue about course materials. In this forum, intimidating remarks, particularly of
sexist, racist, or homophobic natures, will not be tolerated. You must treat each other
with respect. Failure to do so is a failure to complete this course successfully.
DISCLAIMER
SOME OF THE MATERIALS COVERED IN THIS COURSE MAY BE
CONSIDERED
CHALLENEGING
OR
“OFFENSIVE.”
OUR
CLASSROOM
WILL
REMAIN
AN
OPEN
SPACE
EXCHANGE OF IDEAS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
THE
D
Y
C
C
PENNSYLVANI
I S A B I L I T I E S T O P
O U
A N T I C I P A T E
O U R S E O R
H A V E
O N T A C T T H E I N S T
FOR
THE
A
STATE UNIVERSITY ENCOURAGES PERSONS WITH
A R T I C I P A T E I N I T S P R O G R A M S A N D A C T I V I T I E S .
IF
N E E D I N G
A N Y
T Y P E
O F
A C C O M O D A T I O N
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Q U E S T I O N S A B O U T P H Y S I C A L A C C E S S , P L E A S E
R U C O R A S S O O N A S P O S S I B L E .
Semester Calendar
August 27
Syllabus Distribution and Sign-Ups
I was a Teenage Feminist, Therese Shechter, 61 min.
September 3--Epistemologies
A Feminist Turn in Philosophy, FPR 1-8
Intro, and Purification and Transcendence in Descartes’s Meditations, Susan
Bordo, FPR 669-686
The Project of Feminist Epistemology: Perspectives from a Nonwestern Feminist,
Uma Narayan, FPR 756-764
Connecting the Dots: Riot Grrrls, Ladyfests, and the International Grrrl Zine
Network, NWC 171-192
Group One Presentation: Feminist Music Festivals and the Women-Born-Women
controversy
September 10--Sex and Gender
Introduction, FPR 83-86
Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and
Feminist Theory, Judith Butler, FPR 97-106
Should There Be Only Two Sexes? Anne Fausto-Sterling, FPR 124-143
Sigmund Freud, “Femininity,” on e-reserves
Group Two Presentation: The Crafting of Gender on Facebook/MySpace
September 17--Sexualities Pt 1
This Sex Which Is Not One, Luce Irigaray, FPR 183-187
Female Perversions by Susan Streitfeld, 119 minutes
September 24--Sexualities Pt 2
Excerpt from “Axiomatic,” Epistemology of the Closet, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick , ereserves
Rescuing a Theory of Adolescent Sexual Excess: Young Women and Wanting,
Sara McClelland and Michelle Fine, NWC 83-104
The Watermelon Woman and Black Lesbian Possibility, Laura L. Sullivan,
Callaloo 23:1, 448-460, 2000, via JSTOR
Watermelon Woman, Cheryl Dunye, 85 minutes
October 1--Race and Racism Part 1
Introduction, FPR 261-264
Gender & Race: The Ampersand Problem in Feminist Thought, Elizabeth V.
Spelman, FPR 265-278
American Anthropological Association Statement on “Race” (1998), FPR 309-312
Some Kind of Indian: On Race, Eugenics, and Mixed-Bloods, M. Annette Jaimes,
FPR 312-328
Purity, Impurity, and Separation, Maria Lugones, FPR 329-343
Couple in the Cage, Coco Fusco, 30 min.
They Call Me Muslim, Diana Ferrero, 27 min.
October 8--Race and Racism Part 2
Exam 1
The Grace Lee Project, Grace Lee, 68 minutes
October 15--Postcolonialism and Transnationalism
Introduction, FPR 375-378
Women Workers and Capitalist Scripts: Ideologies of Domination, Common
Interests, and the Politics of Solidarity, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, FPR
379-400
The Prison Industrial Complex, Angela Y. Davis, FPR 412-420
From A Critique of Postcolonial Reason, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, FPR 450-459
Wiki Project – Objects, Origins, and the “Third World:” As part of our inquiry
into postcolonialism and "Third World" women workers, we will attempt
to trace the origins of objects we have or use. Choose an object you have
with you or something you are wearing right now to research. Where does
it come from? Who made it? What were the workers paid? How much did
the objects cost to produce? To purchase? Are there "Third World" women
on the other end of our objects? What is our connection to them? Do we
also exploit workers both here and abroad by purchasing goods produced
under oppressive circumstances? Can there be ethical and feminist
consumer practices? What might they be? Posit some feminist responses
on the wiki.
Submit Project Proposal
Group Three Presentation: YouTube as a Feminist Space?
October 22--Ontologies
The Empowered Fe Fes: A Group for Girls with Disabilities, NWC 105-122
Beyond Disability: The Fe Fe Stories 26 min.
(r)Evolutionary Healing: Jamming with Culture and Shifting the Power, NWC
193-220
Group Four Presentation: Contemporary Feminist DIY Practices
October 29--Bodies of Horror (Happy Halloween!!)
“Approaching Abjection,” and “Something to be Scared Of,” Powers of Horror,
Julia Kristeva, e-reserves 1-17, 32-48
301/302, Cheol-su Park, 100 min.
November 5--Politics Pt 1
Autonomy, Social Disruption, and Women, Marilyn Friedman, FPR 570-583
What’s Your Point, Honey? Amy Sewell, Susan Toffler, 87 minutes
Group Five Presentation: An Investigation of Second Life
November 12--Politics Pt 2
After the Family Wage: Gender Equity and the Welfare State, Nancy Fraser, FPR
622-637
Difference and Social Policy: Reflections in the Context of Social Movements, Iris
Marion Young, FPR 638-648
Femininities as Commodities: Cam Girl Culture, NWC 123-148
Group Six Presentation: Cam Girls today
November 19—The Female Condition
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, Chantal Akerman, 201 min.
November 26
Thanksgiving Break
December 3
Presentations
December 10
Presentations
Take home Exam 2, due by December 15, 5pm in my mailbox, 133 Willard Bldg.