What is feminist theory and what role does it play in Women's Studies as a discipline? This Women's Studies capstone course approaches feminism as a multiplicity of perspectives and approaches to the understanding of women's position in culture. Readings then will be as diverse as feminism itself and should give you a broad and deep understanding of the diversity of feminist thought and the historical and critical role feminist thought has played in a variety of disciplinary approaches to the study of women and culture. Readings will focus on intersections between race, class, sexual orientation, and gender in feminist thought and will include an investigation of paradigms such as the technology of gender, gender as performance, domestic ideology, gendered discourses in commodity culture (women and shopping), the environment as a feminist issue (ecofeminism), and the racing of feminism in English and American feminist theory. After a semester of reading a variety of feminist theories by authors such as Judith Butler (Gender Trouble) and Val Plumwood (Feminism and the Mastery of Nature), you should understand how such issues as essentialism, globalization, exclusivism, and classism have piqued feminist debates. In class you will become comfortable applying feminist paradigms to culture, allowing us to explore representations of current or historical events. Several short response papers to theoretical readings and one longer final project and presentation will be required, as well as a midterm and final exam.

WMST 2100 Introduction to Women's Studies

This course will introduce students to the academic field of Women’s Studies and will encourage students to think critically and develop an independent evaluation of the complex issues involved. Students in this course should gain an understanding of how Women’s Studies has evolved and affected viewpoints within the academic world and in wider communities; learn feminist approaches to academics, including the place of personal experience and activism in the study of women; appreciate the diversity of feminist thought and female experience; be able to analyze the intersections of gender, race, class, sexuality, and spirituality in the lives of women; to reflect critically on the various points of view presented; and to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.