Sample Syllabus
Movements in American Culture
Feminist Cultural Production after the “Second Wave”
Professor: Rebecca Hill
Course Description:
This course will explore artistic, literary, or other cultural movements in the broad context of
American culture. It may include courses in literary, film or art history, and discussions of broad
cultural movements such as romanticism, realism, modernism and post-modernism as they
appear in multiple cultural forms. Other examples of movements in American culture might
include historically specific cultural movements such as the Black Arts Movement, historical
surveys of cultural movements based in a particular ideology, community or social group, such
as feminist cultural movements, or nationalism in American literature and the arts.
Course Objectives:
This course is designed to introduce students to the connections between feminist political
activism since the 1970s and feminist cultural production in American literature, visual and
performance art, music, and popular culture. Students will learn about diverse feminist artistic
and literary practices by viewing examples of feminist artwork, reading literary, theoretical and
critical texts, and will apply concepts in writing and creative projects. In addition to learning
about specific feminist artists, students will critically engage feminist theories of culture and
artistic production more broadly.
Assignments:
Class Participation: 15% One of the most important elements of a graduate seminar is the
students’ active participation. You should come to class with the readings and be ready to
discuss them with your class-mates. You need to contribute to the discussion. If you are shy,
please talk to me about this problem. Attendance is required; and you will lose points for missed
classes, early departures and late arrivals. If circumstances require that you miss class or a
portion of it, you need to discuss it with be beforehand, and these should be the exception rather
than the rule.
Vista Posts: 10% Each week, you’ll do a brief vista post about the assigned reading. Sometimes I
will post specific questions for you to answer, along the lines of : “What are your three biggest
questions about these readings?” or “What was the best big idea in this reading?” “What does so
and so mean by the concept X”? to help prepare for the class discussion that week.
Response Essays: 30% Each student will write three response essays discussing central ideas in
the assigned readings. Note: There are four options for response papers, but you only need to
do three. Sign up for the ones that you want during the first two weeks of class.
Artist/ Writer Presentations: 15% Each student present twice during the semester on the work
of a particular artist connected with the broader cultural movements that we are discussing in
class.
Final Project or Paper : 30%
You may choose to do either a final paper analyzing a group of feminist creative works or a
creative project. If you choose to do a creative project you will also need to write a 4-5 pp.
artist’s statement explaining the work’s connection to a theory or idea connected to feminist
cultural movements as discussed in the class.
Readings:
Books:
Kathy Acker, The Essential Kathy Acker New York: Grove, 2002
Octavia Butler, Dawn, Warner :1997
Ching-In Chen, et al, The Revolution Starts at Home: Confronting Intimate Violence within
Activist Communities, Boston: South End Press, 2011
Rita Felski, Beyond Feminist Aesthetics: Feminist Literature and Social Change, Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1989
Donna Ferrato, Living with the Enemy New York : Aperture, 1991
Nan Goldin, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, NY: Aperture: 2012
Nancy Hewitt, No Permanent Waves: Recasting Histories of U.S. Feminism, New Brunswick:
Rutgers University Press, 2010
Jarvis et al, Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine Farrar,
Strauss and Giroux: 2006
Angela McRobbie, The Aftermath of Feminism: Gender, Culture and Social Change London:
Sage, 2009
Toni Morrison, Sula New York: Vintage, 2004
Lynne Tillman, Motion Sickness New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010
Articles and Excerpts available on Reserve:
Excerpt: Marlene S. Barr, Lost in Space: Probing Feminist Science Fiction and Beyond Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993
Excerpt: Leslie Bow, Betrayal and Other Acts of Subversion: Feminism, Sexual Politics, AsianAmerican Women’s Literature Princeton University Press, 2001
Excerpt: Lisa Gail Collins, The Art of History: African American Women Artists Engage the Past
New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2002
Alice Echols, “The New Feminism of Yin and Yang,” Powers of Desire: The Politics of Sexuality,
edited by Ann Snitow, Christine Stansell and Sharon Thompson, New York: Monthly Review
Press, 1983
___________, “Ladies Night” from Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture
Norton: 2010
Excerpt: Lucy Lippard, The Pink Glass Swan: Selected Essays on Feminist Art The New Press,
1995
Excerpt: Deborah McDowell, The Changing Same: Black Women’s Literature Criticism and
Theory Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995
Adrian Piper, “The Mythic Being,” from Out of Order, Out of Sight, Selected Writings v. 1,
Boston: MIT Press, 1989
Excerpt: Gwendolyn D. Pough, Check it While I Wreck It: Black Womanhood, Hip Hop Culture
and the Public Sphere, Boston: Northeastern University Press 2004
Paula Rabinowitz, “Medium Uncool,” from Black, White and Noir: America’s Pulp Modernism
New York: Columbia University Press, 2002
Excerpt Martha Rosler, Decoys and Disruptions: Selected Writings, Boston: MIT Press 2006
Excerpt: Cherise Smith, Enacting Others: Politics of Identity in Eleanor Antin, Nikki Lee, Adrian
Piper and Anna Deveare Smith, Durham: Duke University Press 2011
Excerpt: Hortense Spillers, Black, White and In Color: Essays on American Literature and
Culture, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003
Karen Stiles, “Never Enough is Something Else: Feminist Performance Art, Avant-Gardes and
Probity,” in Contours of the Theatrical Avant-Garde, ed. James M. Harding, Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press, 2000.
Excerpt: Claudia Tate, Black Women Writers At Work New York: Continuum, 1983.
Grading:
A=90-100; B=80-89. C=70-79, D=60-69, F=0-59
Late Policy:
All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day that they appear on the syllabus. I
will mark down late work 1/3 of a grade per day of lateness (A to A-, B+, B, B-, etc)
Email: Please check your Kennesaw student email account. I will use this address to send
course-related emails during the semester.
Meetings:
Please be available for meetings with me during the semester. You will need to meet with me to
discuss your final paper, and we may need to arrange meetings to discuss other work,
presentations, progress, or other matters related to the course.
Georgia View/Vista:
Many of the readings for the course are on the class page in Georgia View/Vista. I will make
announcements of important events, any course changes, or cancellations on the course home
page, so please check it before coming to class. We will also use Georgia View/Vista for
discussion of readings prior to class.
KSU’s Statement on Academic Integrity:
Every KSU student is responsible for upholding the provisions of the Student Code of Conduct, as
published in the Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs. Section II of the Student Code of Conduct
addresses the University’s policy on academic honesty, including provisions regarding plagiarism and
cheating, unauthorized access to University materials, misrepresentation/falsification of University
records or academic work, malicious removal, retention, or destruction of library materials,
malicious/intentional misuse of computer facilities and/or services, and misuse of student identification
cards. Incidents of alleged academic misconduct will be handled through the established procedures of
the University Judiciary Program, which includes either an “informal” resolution by a faculty member,
resulting in a grade adjustment, or a formal hearing procedure, which may subject a student to the Code
of Conduct’s minimum one semester suspension requirement.
KSU’s Statement on Disruption of Campus Life:
It is the purpose of the institution to provide a campus environment which encourages academic
accomplishment, personal growth, and a spirit of understanding and cooperation. An important
part of maintaining such an environment is the commitment to protect the health and safety
of every member of the campus community. Belligerent, abusive, profane, threatening and/or
inappropriate behavior on the part of students is a violation of the Kennesaw State University
Student Conduct Regulations. Students who are found guilty of such misconduct may be subject
to immediate dismissal from the institution. In addition, these violations of state law may also be
subject to criminal action beyond the University disciplinary process.
Statement on Accommodation for Students with Disabilities:
Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments is requested to notify
the instructor as early in the semester as possible. Verification from KSU disAbled Student
Support Services is required. All discussions will remain confidential
Course Schedule
Week One: history of “Second Wave” Feminism
Reading: Nancy Hewitt, No Permanent Waves part one; Alice Echols, “The Feminism of Yin and
Yang” from Powers of Desire
Week Two:
Reading: Hewitt Part two; Freedman, “New Words and Images: Women’s Creativity as Feminist
Practice,” from No Turning Back; Rabinowitz, “Medium Uncool”
Film: Born In Flames
Week Three: the Body, Sex and Reproduction
Reading: Collins, The Art of History (excerpt) ; Lippard, The Pink Glass Swan (excerpt)Hortense
Spillers, from Black, White and In Color
Week Four:
Stiles, “Never Enough is Something Else”; selection, Rosler, Decoys; Felski, Beyond Feminist
Aesthetics
In class: view slides
Week Five:
Reading: Atwood, (excerpt) The Handmaid’s Tale; Butler, Dawn
Excerpt: Barr, Lost In Space
Response Paper One is due
Week Six: Violence and Intimacy
Reading: Acker; Felski
Week Seven:
Reading: Donna Ferrato, Living with the Enemy; Chen, The Revolution Starts at Home (part one)
Week Eight:
Chen, The Revolution Starts at Home (part two) Goldin, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency
Response Paper Two is due
Week Nine: Gender, Nation, Identity
Morrison, Sula; Claudia Tate, “Toni Morrison” from Black Women Writers
Week Ten :
Film: (American Playhouse Version) Ntozake Shonge, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered
Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf; Reading: McDowell, The Changing Same(excerpt)
Week Eleven:
Reading: Cherise Smith, Enacting Others (selection); Adrian Piper, from Out of Order, Out of
Sight, v. 1 (The Mythic Being); Lynne Tillman, Motion Sickness part one
Week Twelve:
Tillman, Motion Sickness part two; Bow, Betrayal and Other Acts of Subversion (chapter on Yoko
Ono) ; Rita Felski.
Response Paper Three is due
Week Thirteen: Feminism and Popular Culture
McRobbie Aftermath of Feminism part one; Bitchfest, part one
Week Fourteen
McRobbie, Aftermath of Feminism, part two; Bitchfest part two
Week Fifteen:
Pough, Check it While I Wreck It (excerpt) ; Alice Echols, “Ladies Night”
Response Paper Four is Due
Exam Week: Final Paper or Project is Due