WFQS 244 - Topics in Feminist and Queer Politics and Activism

Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)

This course introduces students to various methodologies of gender studies and feminist analysis, with an emphasis on feminist and queer histories of knowledge formation, social activism, and cultural engagement. What kind of movements, societal transformations, kinship relations, cultural spaces, or political structures have feminist and queer actors pursued and brought into being? Differences within and around feminist and queer movements will be explored, as we consider the complicated paths from theory to praxis in global and postcolonial settings.

Topic for 2025/26a: Feminism, Science and Technology. (Same as STS 244) In this course we explore how feminism impacts our perceptions of and activism around science and technology. We ask, how do culture and politics affect the meanings, purpose and use of science and technology? To answer that question we examine feminist theories of science and technology, probe the claims of science about gender and race since the 19th century; investigate the meaning and workings of anti-colonial science, learn about the work of marginalized people in science; and scrutinize feminist modes of approaching technology. Furthermore, we inquire as to what changes can be made in the domains of science and technology to further a more just society. Jill Schneiderman.

Topic for 2025/26b: Women of Color in the US: Public and Private Cultures. This course explores cultural production and consumption by “women of color” in the U.S., with a focus on the way various groups have negotiated the presumed gap between private experience and public or political form. Historical, social, and cultural connections and disjunctions between African American, Arab American, Asian American, Native American, Latina, and other women are examined, especially in the context of feminism, cultural nationalism, and the scholarly discipline and practice of critical legal feminism and critical race studies. We explore the varied ways in which family, labor, and leisure practices can place women of color in social positions which blur the distinction between private and public culture, and which call for a reconsideration of the notion of “experience,” itself. Theorists and artists studied include Chela Sandoval, Chandra Mohanty, Claudia Rankine, Cherríe Moraga, and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha. Kristin Sanchez Carter.

Prerequisite(s): One prior course in WFQS or permission of the instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS