Bilinda Straight; 1020 & 3062 Moore Hall

Email: Bilinda.Straight@wmich.edu

Web page: http://homepages.wmich.edu~bstraigh

In Person Office Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays 1:45-2:45 p.m.

Online office hours (email answered): Mon-Thurs mornings

Class Meets: Tuesdays/Thursdays 12:30-1:45 pm, 4209 Dunbar Hall

GWS 4010: Foundations Feminist Theory

Catalog Description: An investigation of various texts historically significant in the development of feminist concepts and theories. Includes texts from the past as well as the present. General Education: This course fulfills the requirements for P2: Baccalaureate Level Writing, Upper Division Course.

Course Goals and Objectives: This course aims to provide a theoretical foundation in gender and women’s studies. After this course students will be able to:

· Critically analyze gender as a social construct specific to specific cultural contexts and historical moments

· Demonstrate understanding of historical representations of gender’s intersection with race, class, and sexuality in multiple cultural contexts

· Demonstrate sensitivity to diversity and inclusion

· Demonstrate effective and appropriate written communication abilities through discussion board and final research essay.

Required books: Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives. Edited by Carole R. McCann and Seung-Kyung Kim. Fourth Edition. Routledge. Additional readings are in D2L.

Grading (see Grading Key for quantitative equivalents of letter grades)

Attendance/Participation 15%

Presentation 15%

Discussion Board 40%

Research Essay 30%

Attendance/Participation (15% of grade)

Your presence and participation are essential to the quality of the experience for others as well as yourself. Your attendance grade will be based on the number of days you are absent, calculated as points missed on a one-hundred percent scale. Participation will weigh in here but no one will be penalized for shyness.

Presentation (15% of grade)

Students will work individually or in pairs to prepare a 7- to 10-minute presentation on one day’s readings. Presentations will occur at the start of class and will set the tone for the discussion. You are encouraged to offer critical questions about the readings and supplementary information from well supported sources.

Electronic Discussion Board (40% of grade)

This is a writing-intensive course. Each week, you will write a 100 minimum word abstract on each reading, which you will post to the D2L Discussion Board. Additionally, you will post a 150 minimum word comment to another student’s post that engages with at least one of their abstracts. Your abstracts should summarize main points, refer to the specific author of each course reading you are discussing, and raise at least one question for consideration. It should be very clear to me that you’ve read the material. DUE DATE: Each Monday, 11:59 p.m. for all of that week’s readings.

Research Essay (30% of grade)

Students will design a research question based on the course readings and will draw upon at least 5 course readings and 5 outside sources to address the question in the form of a research essay with thesis statement, supporting paragraphs, in-text citations, and bibliography. Use Chicago Manual of Style for Social Sciences, author/date (https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-2.html).

A rough draft of essay will be due 1 month before the end of the semester, per the due date posted in the course schedule.

Format: 10-15 pages, double-spaced, 12-point Times Roman font, 1-inch margins.

We will meet during the final exam period for clarifying questions and discussion but typed final essays must be uploaded to the course Dropbox by 11:59 p.m. the day of the exam.

Academic Honesty:

Students are responsible for making themselves aware of and understanding the University policies and procedures that pertain to Academic Honesty. These policies include cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple submission, plagiarism, complicity and computer misuse. The academic policies addressing Student Rights and Responsibilities can be found in the Undergraduate Catalog at http://catalog.wmich.edu/content.php?catoid=24&navoid=974 and the Graduate Catalog at http://catalog.wmich.edu/content.php?catoid=25&navoid=1030.

If there is reason to believe you have been involved in academic dishonesty, you will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct. You will be given the opportunity to review the charge(s) and if you believe you are not responsible, you will have the opportunity for a hearing. You should consult with your instructor if you are uncertain about an issue of academic honesty prior to the submission of an assignment or test.

Definition of Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s language, ideas, or other material without making the source(s) evident in situations where there is a legitimate expectation of original work. Plagiarism does not occur when efforts to promptly identify sources by making source use apparent to the audience of the submitted material are obvious. Plagiarism may not necessarily include mistakes in citation style. A legitimate expectation of original work exists for numerous circumstances, including (but not limited to): scholarly writing, technical presentations and papers, conference presentations and papers, online discussion postings, grant proposals, patents, book and other manuscripts, theses and dissertations, class assignments, artistic works, computer code, algorithms, and other creative works. This definition applies to the entire WMU community, which includes all faculty; students; staff; visiting faculty, scholars, and administrators; and any other person governed by the academic research and other policies of the university.

The Right to a Harassment-free environment:

Students and instructors are responsible for making themselves aware of and abiding by the “Western Michigan University Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment and Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, and Stalking Policy and Procedures” related to prohibited sexual misconduct under Title IX, the Clery Act and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and Campus Safe. Under this policy, responsible employees (including instructors) are required to report claims of sexual misconduct to the Title IX Coordinator or designee (located in the Office of Institutional Equity). Responsible employees are not confidential resources. For a complete list of resources and more information about the policy see www.wmich.edu/sexualmisconduct.

In addition, students are encouraged to access the Code of Conduct, as well as resources and general academic policies on such issues as diversity, religious observance, and student disabilities:

· Office of Student Conduct www.wmich.edu/conduct

· Division of Student Affairs www.wmich.edu/students/diversity

· Registrar’s Office http://www.wmich.edu/registrar/calendars/interfaith

· Disability Services for Students www.wmich.edu/disabilityservices.”

Students with Disabilities:

Both in compliance with and in the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), we would like to work with you if you have a disability that will impact the work in this course. If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss reasonable academic accommodations, please contact your instructor in a timely fashion. Accommodations are not retroactive; they begin after notification. You may also contact the Office of Disability Services for Students at 269-387-2116 (or at wmich.edu/disabilityservices).

Classroom Policies for a Productive Learning Environment:

Electronic devices: Electronic devices are not allowed in the classroom at any time – this includes phones, tablets, and laptops. You are encouraged to take notes with pen and paper. Exceptions to this policy are limited to students with accommodations allowing electronic devices for documented disabilities. Students who violate this policy will lose attendance/participation points for the day. After 2 violations, students will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct with penalties that may include removal from the class.

Course Readings by Module – see Course Schedule for Module due dates

Module 0: Introduction to Course

Note on Structure of Module Reading Schedule: All readings must be read and discussed by each Monday night (11:59 pm) before class per the Electronic Discussion Board assignment requirements. However, most of the time, we will discuss the first half (the first 2 when there are 4) of the week’s readings on Tuesday and the 2^nd half on Thursday. Readings are ordered in the schedule below with that in mind.

Part 1. Historical Contexts

Module 1: From the Metropole: Pre-Nineteenth Century Anglo-European ‘Feminisms’

Karen Offen. 1988. A Comparative Historical Approach. SIGNS 14(1): 119-157.

Cynthia B. Bryson. 1998. Mary Astell: Defender of the “Disembodied Mind.” Hypatia 13(4): 40-62.

Harriet Guest. 2002. Bluestocking Feminism. Huntington Library Quarterly 65(1/2): 59-80.

Jane Abray. 1975. Feminism in the French Revolution. The American Historical Review 80(1): 43-62.

Module 2: Race and Colonial Boundaries

Jennifer L. Morgan. 1997. “Some Could Suckle over Their Shoulder”: Male Travelers, Female Bodies, and the Gendering of Racial Ideology, 1500-1770. The William and Mary Quarterly 54(1): 167-192.

Londa Schiebinger. 2013. Medical Experimentation and Race in the Eighteenth-century Atlantic World. Social History of Medicine 26(3): 364-382.

Anne McClintock. 1995. Imperial Leather: Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest. Pp. 1-36.

Stoler, Ann Laura. 2001. Tense and Tender Ties: The Politics of Comparison in North American History and (Post) Colonial Studies. The Journal of American History 88(3): 829-865.

Module 3: Incommensurate Feminisms

Sojourner Truth. 1851. ‘Ain’t I a Woman’/’I am a Woman’s Rights’ Speech. Sojourner Truth Project. https://www.thesojournertruthproject.com/compare-the-speeches/

Oyèrónké Oyēwùmí. 1998. De-Confounding Gender: Feminist Theorizing and Western Culture, a Comment on Hawkesworth’s “Confounding Gender”. SIGNS 23(4): 1049-1062.

Audre Lorde. 1984. The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House. P. 190 in Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Crossing Press.

Gayatri Spivak. 1985 (reprinted 2010). Can the Subaltern Speak? [Originally printed in the journal Wedge, 1985] Pp. 23-64 Reprinted in Can the Subaltern Speak? Reflections on the History of an Idea (Rosalind C. Morris, editor). Columbia University Press.

Part 2: Feminist Times and Spaces

Module 4: Introduction & Feminist Movements

Carole McCann and Seung-Kyung Kim. 2017. Introduction: Theorizing Feminist Times and Spaces. Pp. 11-30 in Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives. Routledge. [For the rest of this syllabus, readings in Feminist Theory Reader will be abbreviated as in FTR.]

Linda Nicholson. 2010. Feminism in “Waves”: Useful Metaphor or Not? Pp. 43-50 in FTR.

Becky Thompson. 2002. Multiracial Feminism: Recasting the Chronology of Second Wave Feminism. Pp. 51-62 in FTR.

Amrita Basu. 2000. Globalization of the Local/Global: Mapping Transnational Women’s Movements. Pp. 63-71 in FTR.

Module 5: Local Identities and Politics: Poetry

Muriel Rukeyser. 1968. The Poem as Mask. P. 88 in FTR. [poem]

T.V. Reed. 2005. The Poetical is the Political: Feminist Poetry and the Poetics of Women’s Rights. Pp. 89-102 in FTR.

Audre Lorde. 1973-1978. Selected Poems.

Adrienne Rich. 1972-1976. Selected Poems.

Module 6: Local Identities and Politics: Essays

Elizabeth Martinez. 1972. La Chicana. Pp. 112-114 in FTR.

The Combahee River Collective. 1977. A Black Feminist Statement. Pp. 115-121 in FTR.

Cheryl Clarke. 1981. Lesbianism: An Act of Resistance. Pp. 128-135 in FTR.

Kathy Miriam. 2005. Stopping the Traffic in Women: Power, Agency, and Abolition in Feminist Debates Over Sex-Trafficking. Pp. 136-149 in FTR.

Emi Koyama. 2001. The Transfeminist Manifesto. Pp. 150-160 in FTR.

Part 3: Theorizing Intersecting Identities

Module 7: Intersectionality

Carole McCann and Seung-Kyung Kim. 2017. Introduction to Theorizing Intersecting Identities. Pp. 163-179 in FTR.

From Patriarchy to Intersectionality: A Transnational Feminist Assessment of How Far We’ve Really Come. Pp. 204-212 in FTR.

Oyèrónké Oyēwùmí. 1999. Multiculturalism or Multibodism: On the Impossible Intersections of Race and Gender in American White Feminist and Black Nationalist Discourses. The Western Journal of Black Studies 23(3): 182-189.

Chandra Talpade Mohanty. 1988. Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses. Feminist Review 30: 61-88.

Module 8: Social Processes/Configuring Differences, Part 1

Heidi Hartmann. 1981. The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism: Towards a More Progressive Union. Pp. 214-228 in FTR.

Rhacel Salazar Parreñas. 2001. Servants of Globalization: Women, Migration, and Domestic Work. Pp. 229-244 in FTR.

Nawar Al-Hassan Golley. 2004. Is Feminism Relevant to Arab Women? Third World Quarterly 25(3): 521-536.

Asha Nadkarni. 2014. Introduction: Eugenic Feminism and the Problem of National Development. Pp. 1-32 in Eugenic Feminism: Reproductive Nationalism in the United States and India. University of Minnesota Press.

Module 9: Module 8: Social Processes/Configuring Differences, Part 2

Andrea Smith. 2006. Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy: Rethinking Women of Color Organizing. Pp. 273-281 in FTR.

Monique Wittig. 1981. One is Not Born a Woman. Pp. 282-287 in FTR.

June Jordan. 1985. Report from the Bahamas. Pp. 304-312 in FTR.

Minnie Bruce Pratt. 1983. Identity, Skin, Blood, Heart. Pp. 313-319 in FTR.

Audre Lorde. 1988. I Am Your Sister: Black Women Organizing Across Sexualities. Pp. 320-324 in FTR.

Lionel Cantú Jr. with Eithne Luibhéid and Alexandra Minna Stern. 2005. Well Founded Fear: Political Asylum and the Boundaries of Sexual Identity in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. Pp. 325-334 in FTR.

Obioma Nnaemeka. 2001. Foreword: Locating Feminisms/Feminists. Pp. 347-350 in FTR.

Part 4: Theorizing Feminist Knowledge and Agency

Module 10: Standpoints and Situational Knowledge

Carole McCann and Seung-Kyung Kim. 2017. Introduction to Theorizing Feminist Knowledge and Agency. Pp. 353-365 in FTR.

Nancy Hartsock. 1983. The Feminist Standpoint: Toward a Specifically Feminist Historical Materialism. Pp. 368-383 in FTR.

Patricia Hill Collins. 1990. Defining Black Feminist Thought. Pp. 384-400 in FTR.

Chandra Talpade Mohanty. 2003. “Under Western Eyes” Revisited: Anticapitalist Struggles. Pp. 401-418 in FTR.

Cathy J. Cohen. 1997. Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics? Pp. 419-435 in FTR.

Module 11: Subject Formation and Peformativity

Donna Haraway. 1988. Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective. Pp. 440-451 in FTR.

Angela Saini. 2017. Introduction. Pp. 1-12; Ch. 4, The Missing Five Ounces of the Female Brain. Pp. 74-95; and Ch. 5, Women’s Work. Pp. 96-119 in Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong – and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story. Beacon Press.

Sandra Lee Bartky. 1990. Foucault, Femininity, and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power. Pp. 466-480 in FTR.

Arleen B. Dallery. 1989. The Politics of Writing (The) Body: Éccriture Féminine. Pp. 52-67 in Gender/body/knowledge: feminist reconstructions of being and knowing (edited by Alison M. Jaggar and Susan R. Bordo). Rutgers.

Judith Butler. 1988. Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory. Pp. 481-492 in FTR.

PART 5: Imagine Otherwise/Solidarity Reconsidered

Module 12: Solidarity Reconsidered

Paula M.L. Moya. 2001. Chicana Feminism and Postmodernist Theory. Pp. 558-575 in FTR.

Na-Young Lee. 2014. The Korean Women’s Movement of Japanese Military “Comfort Women”: Navigating Between Nationalism and Feminism. Pp. 576-585 in FTR.

Eileen Boris and Rhacel Salazar Parreñas. 2010. Intimate Labors: Cultures, Technologies, and the Politics of Care – “Introduction.” Pp. 586-593 in FTR.

Barbara Ellen Smith. 2004. De-Gradations of Whiteness: Appalachia and the Complexities of Race. Journal of Appalachian Studies 10(1/2): 38-57.

John Edwin Mason. 2018. These Photos Will Change the Way You Think About Race in Coal Country. [Photo Journalism – not an article.] Yes! Magazine. March 15, 2018. https://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/these-photos-will-change-the-way-you-think-about-race-in-coal-country-20180315

Jasbir K. Puar. “I Would Rather Be a Cyborg than a Goddess”: Becoming Intersectional in Assemblage Theory. Pp. 594-607 in FTR.

Viviane Namaste. 2009. Undoing Theory: The “Transgender Question” and the Epistemic Violence of Anglo-American Feminist Theory. Pp. 608-621 in FTR.

Module 13: Currents

Paulla Ebron and Anna Tsing. 2017. Feminism and the Anthropocene: Assessing the Field through Recent Books. Feminist Studies 43(3): 658-683.

Janisse Ray. 1999. Ecology of a Cracker Childhood. Milkweed Editions. Pp. 3-12.

Rhaisa Kameela Williams. 2016. Toward a Theorization of Black Maternal Grief as Analytic. Transforming Anthropology 24(1): 17-30.

Angela Garcia. 2014. The Promise: On the Morality of the Marginal and the Illicit. Ethos 42(1): 51-64.