Class Schedule for Fall 2023

Feminist theory tends to be broadly interdisciplinary and varied, so it is often thought that it is better to talk about feminism rather than one feminism. In this course, we have the opportunity to read several texts in feminist theory from cover-to-cover. I have chosen our texts for their diversity of concerns, philosophical approaches, and disciplinary “homes,” demonstrating the breadth and depth of feminist theory, its widely divergent subject matter and methods, but yet (at least to some extent) unified aspirations. A basic feminist tenet is that there is no subject that cannot be investigated from a feminist point of view, no way of framing the fundamental crisis-points of a society that cannot benefit from feminist intervention, and no disciplinary framework that cannot be enriched philosophically by a feminist analysis.

Students will engage the work of a small, but diverse group of thinkers in depth over the course of the term. They will be encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning. Students will 1) interpret and engage philosophical texts on themes of existence, ethics, epistemology, value, and meaning; 2) critically analyze feminist perspectives on misogyny, the intersection of race and gender, and economic life 3) examine the origins and practice of philosophy as social critique; 4) design, plan, write and revise a seminar paper in response to critical review.