Document Type

Syllabus

Publication Date

Spring 2024

Course Description

This course introduces feminist philosophy as a gender-conscious approach to some of the problems of philosophy (e.g.: What is real? What is a self? What can we know? How should we live? What would constitute a just social order?) as well as a philosophical approach to some of the problems of feminist theory (e.g.: What is/are gender(s)? What is sexism, and how does it intersect with racism and other forms of oppression? What are the social and political goals of feminism, and how should they be pursued?) Students will gain exposure to feminist critiques of the traditional, Western canon of philosophy and will become familiar with the contributions of several important feminist thinkers, as well as debates among them. Prerequisite: One course either in Philosophy or in Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, or instructor permission. Besides the field of academic scholarship described above, feminist philosophy is above all a discourse community - an ongoing conversation among scholars about matters of mutual interest through methods that are constantly being challenged and renegotiated. This course is modeled on that same intellectual practice. We study together and argue together. We rotate responsibility for leading the conversation. You explore a line of inquiry that interests you, write in order to clarify your thinking, and share the ideas you develop through that pursuit. You challenge peers to revise or refine their thinking. You polish your own work in response to such challenges and release it to a wider audience to become part of the wider public conversation. Your primary challenge will thus be to develop and execute a scholarly project of your own devising: You’ll formulate and refine a research question, study the philosophical conversation on that topic as it has progressed so far, prepare and present a colloquium paper, compose and present commentary on a peer’s colloquium paper, and revise your work for possible submission to an undergraduate philosophy journal. I see my primary goal as “showing you the ropes” - helping you gain the conceptual tools and background knowledge you need to understand the conversations that intrigue you and to navigate the institutional organization of knowledge and ideas in this field so that you feel competent to join and shape those conversations. We’ll start the semester by developing shared commitments to discursive norms we need in order to make that happen.

Student Outcomes

Students will be able to: ● Explain some of the central questions in the field of feminist philosophy. ● Navigate scholarly literature in the field, finding sources that address a topic of interest to them. ● Understand and explain arguments for and against various positions and schools of thought within the literature. ● Develop their own views about which positions are best justified in some area of the field. ● Provide constructive criticism on the writing of peers, and receive such feedback on their own. ● Rewrite and polish a piece of completed writing in response to challenges and feedback from others.

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