Wendy Kolmar and Frances Bartkowski, eds. Feminist Theory: A Reader (1999) [FTR]
Robyn Weigman, Women's Studies on Its Own (2002) [WS]

Definitions I - Sex and Gender
de Beauvoir, from The Second Sex [FTR: 145-155 + Handout]
Firestone, from Dialectic of Sex [FTR: 183-187]
Ortner, AIs Female to Male as Nature Is to Culture?@ [FTR: 203-211]
Rubin, "The Traffic in Women: Notes Toward a Political Economy of Sex"
[FTR: 228-244]
Fuss, "The 'Risk' of Essence" From Essentially Speaking [FTR 423-432]

Definitions II - Feminist Knowledges and Epistemologies
Delmar, "What is Feminism?" [copy]
hooks, "Feminism: A Transformational Politic" [FTR: 432-437]
Harding, "Reinventing Ourselves as Other" [copy]
Crenshaw, "Intersectionality and Identity Politics: Learning from Violence Against Women of Color" [copy]
Alcoff, "Cultural Feminism vs. Post Structuralism. . ."[FTR 403-414]

Lynne Westfield (Christian Education)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Abstracts: For class, write a one-paragraph (4-5 sentence) abstract for three of the articles assigned. For weeks when there are guests, there may be fewer than three articles; in that case, abstract however many are assigned. The abstract should include: the main point of the article=s argument; several essential subordinate points or examples; a final sentence which locates the article in some way in relation to the topic of the day or the other articles assigned. After your three abstracts, write a paragraph of analysis in which you examine connections between the days' readings or connections with earlier readings. Make this analysis as focused and specific as possible; be careful to use theoretical terms with care and attention to the context you are working in.

Abstracts are due when the readings are discussed in class. Abstracts are an essential part of the work of the course; they will be counted not graded as follows:
Abstracts complete and on time for: 11 classes = A
10 classes = B
9 classes = C

Two Presentations on Assigned Reading: For the reading you=ve been assigned, you will prepare background material for the class to assist in the reading of the text in class. Prepare a one-to-two page handout for the class. Your assignment as the presenter is to provide context, background, definitions and a brief bibliography for the writer of the essay. If the article in the reader is excerpted, as the presenter you should read the complete article.
1) Look up key terms, provide definitions and consider their use in previous texts we=ve read. Does the essay, for example, define >women,= >gender= or >sex= differently than another text we are reading for that day or than previous texts we have read.
2) Identify major sources to which the article refers and be prepared to fill us in a little on them. Many are available in an excerpted form in the reader.
3) Provide a 5-10 item bibliography of the writer=s major work and/or articles that are relevant to the issues the article discusses or somehow in dialogue with it.

Course Project:
The purpose of the course project is for you to begin or continue your exploration of interdisciplinary feminist scholarship in relation to a particular issue, topic or area of scholarship in your field. The product of this exploration will be a paper that examines the ways that gender, sexuality and/or feminist theory have been deployed as lenses or categories of analysis in the particular area. What debates have these terms generated? In what ways are these categories contested in the particular area you are examining? How has the use of these categories of analysis changed work in the field or area?

Part One: Project Proposal and Short Paper (Due October 14)
A 250-word proposal for your project and five annotations of key sources. In addition to the project proposal, you will write a short paper (5-7 pages) which looks at three of the five articles you have annotated, examining the ways in which they are doing feminist scholarship, the debates that arise between/among them, and the ways that they are defining the field of scholarship you are examining. The purpose of this paper is to practice, on a small scale, the approach that you will use in your longer essay.

Also due on October 14, is the form on which you sign up an outside reader who will read and comment on your final paper. This reader can be any member of the graduate faculty, most likely a member of the women=s studies graduate area. When they agree to read the paper they are agreeing to meet with you to discuss the paper and then to read the final draft and provide a grade to us. Consult with the instructors about who would be a possible reader for the paper.

Part Two: Annotated Bibliography (Due Nov. 4)
Develop an annotated bibliography of books and articles in the area (15-20 sources). Each bibliographic entry (use the style preferred in your area), should be accompanied by an annotation that identifies the major issues addressed by the article and the ways in which the approach to those issues is informed by gender/feminist analysis.

Part Three: Essay
Write and essay of 10-15 pages, in which you examine the materials you have gathered as a body of feminist scholarship. What are the commonalities in methodology or theory among these scholars? What are the debates within this field of scholarship? How does it bring feminist theory and method into dialogue with disciplinary approaches? This essay should not simply be a review of the literature, though it should be well-grounded in your sources. It should be analytical, critical and even speculative in nature (i.e. you might suggest areas to be explored, work yet to be done, approaches to be taken, linkages that the work you=re examining doesn=t itself foreground.).
A draft version of your essay is due Nov. 18 (bring 2 copies). In class, you will exchange essays with another member of the class. You will comment on each others work, making suggestions for revision. You will also serve as respondents to each others= work when it is presented in class.

After you have received your readers comments, revise your essay on the basis of those comments and also on the basis of comments and responses you=ve received during your seminar presentation. In you final draft, include an acknowledgment paragraph in which you identify the contributions of others to the development of your essay. Final, revised essays are due, with the annotated bibliography attached, December 10. Deliver a copy to your outside reader and one to Profs. Kolmar.

Part Four. Presentation.
On the last day of class, you will present your project to the class and the person who was your reader will respond briefly.

Participation and Attendance: This seminar is a collaborative exploration which is only as good as the contribution of each participant. Attendance, preparation and participation are essential to the quality
of everyone=s seminar experience.