Instructor: Dr. Milagros Peña
Office: Ustler Hall, Room 207
Office Telf. # 273-0387
Office Hours: Mon. 1:30-2:30pm
Wed. 10-11am
Thurs. 3-4pm
RACE PERSPECTIVES IN WOMEN’S STUDIES
(WST 6936/SYA 7933)
This course will explore the contributions of African American, Native American,
Chicana /Latina, and Asian American feminists to women’s studies and feminism. We
will address issues such as racism in the women’s movement and feminism and sexism in
communities of color. Framed by critiques of “universal sisterhood” launched by women
of color and Third World feminists, this course aims to dismantle the conventional
Western story of feminism as something that began here and then spread elsewhere. We
will consider the issues taken up by feminists of color; differences in experience across
ethnicities, and similarities which emerge out of living in a racially marked body in the
US. We will consider questions such as: About what do feminists of color theorize? What
have feminists of color contributed to feminism? How does making race and ethnicity
explicit change feminism? In analyzing the intersections of race/ethnicity, class, gender
and sexuality we will focus on two basic questions as we explore other issues: How are
feminist movements culturally and historically situated; and, How do representations of
women shape knowledge, as well as agency?
Required Texts:
Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures (Thinking Gender) by
Chandra Talpade Mohanty (Editor), M. Jacqui Alexander (Editor), Publisher: Routledge;
(1996).
The Trouble between Us: An Uneasy History of White and Black Women in the Feminist
Movement by Winifred Breines, Publisher: Oxford University Press, (2006).
From Black Power to Hip Hop: Racism, Nationalism, and Feminism by Patricia Hill
Collins, Publisher: Temple University Press (2006).
Chicana Feminist Thought by Alma M. Garcia, Publisher: Routledge; (1997).
Indigenous American Women: Decolonization, Empowerment, Activism by Devon A.
Mihesuah, Publisher: Bison Books (2003).
Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism by Daisy Hernandez
(Editor), Bushra Rehman (Editor); Publisher: Seal Press (2002).
2
Course Requirements:
1 research paper (17-20 pages in length)
40%
Midterm
30%
Participation in 3 Questions/Responses Sessions
30%
**** There are no make-ups on any of the exams, except for Medical or other problems
that may emerge and for which you will provide written documentation as proof of
unforeseen emergency. There will be no exceptions for undocumented emergencies.
**** All assignments that are completed late will not receive full credit (for example,
for each day a paper is late there will be a full point deduction).
**** On written and class assignments:
Class assignments (participation in Questions/Responses Sessions) must be done
on assigned date. Failure to be prepared or a “no show” on the date of your class
assignment will receive a zero for that assignment. There will be no reassignment of
class assignments except for medical or unforeseen emergency that is documented.
****Students requesting classroom accommodation:
must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The Dean of Students Office will
provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the
Instructor when requesting accommodation.
Course Outline
Week 1 (January 8)
From the Suffragist Movement to Second Wave of Feminism in the U.S.: Where Were
Women of Color?
Course outline, requirements and framing women of color’s history in the women’s
movement.
Readings: Breines: Introduction; and, Chapters 1-2.
****DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING HOLIDAY JANUARY 15TH
NO CLASSES.****
3
Week 2 (January 22)
Grounding Women of Color in Women’s Movements and Feminist Theorizing
Readings: Collins Chapter 1; Mihesuah Chapter 6; and, Alexander and Mohanty
Chapter 2.
Week 3 (January 29)
Women of Color: Understanding the Positioning within a Women’s Movement
Readings: Garcia Introduction; Mihesuah Chapters 1-5; and, Collins Chapter 5
Week 4 (February 5)
The Civil Rights Movement and Women of Color
Readings: Breines Chapter 5; Garcia Chapter 6; and Alexander and Mohanty
Chapter 5
Week 5 (February 12)
The Struggle for Identity
Readings: Mihesuah Chapter 8; Garcia Chapters 1-5; and, Hernandez and
Rehman pgs. 3-28
Week 6 (February 19)
Women of Color and Social Consciousness
Readings: Garcia Chapters 7-11; Alexander and Mohanty Chapter 1; and,
Mihesuah Chapter 9
Week 7 (February 26)
Building Toward a Politics of Identity
Readings: Alexander and Mohanty Chapter 6; Collins Chapter 6; Garcia Chapters
12 and 13
4
Week 8 (March 5)
****** Midterm First Half of Class *******
Specific Issue Organizing: Documentary “La Operacion”
**** March 10-17: Spring Break NO CLASSES****
Week 9 (March 19)
Woven Themes in the Writings of Women of Color
Readings: Alexander and Mohanty Chapters 13 and 14; Hernandez and Rehman
pgs. 99-169
Week 10 (March 26)
From the Past to the Future:
Readings: Breines Chapter 4 and Epilogue: and, Collins Chapters 3 and 4
Week 11 (April 2)
Toward a Feminist Future in the Writings of Women of Color
Readings: Alexander and Mohanty Chapter 8; Collins Chapter 2; and Hernandez
and Rehman, pgs. 85-99
Week 12 (April 9)
*** PAPERS DUE ***
Community Activism Still at the Heart of the Struggle
Readings: Mihesuah Chapters 11 and 12; Hernandez and Rehman pages 29-84
Week 13 (April 16)
Toward Transnational and Global Feminisms:
Readings: Alexander and Mohanty Chapters 10 and 11; Hernandez and Rehman
pgs. 279-325 and pgs. 343-394.
Week 14 (April 23)
***LAST Day of Class, Paper Topic Presentations by Panel***
****CLASSES END APRIL 25TH****