Not offered 2007-2008
WGST 225 Introduction to Feminist Thought (Same as Philosophy 225) (W)
This course provides an introduction to feminist thought through readings of seminal feminist texts from the Enlightenment to the present. Special attention will be given to feminist revisions (including those by woman of color) of traditional and contemporary emancipatory
theories such as liberalism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, poststructuralism, and queer theory as
well as transnational feminism. Authors read include the following: Mary Wollstonecraft,
John Stuart Mill, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alexandra Kollantai, Sojourner Truth, Harriet
Jacobs, Emma Goldman, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Adrienne Rich, Marilyn Frye, Gloria
Anzaldua, Audre Lorde, Catherine MacKinnon, Judith Butler, Iris Young, Nancy Fraser,
Gayatri Spivak, and Chandra Mohanty. We conclude the course with an exploration of the
wide range of feminist analyses of issues concerning prostitution and pornography.
Format: discussion. Requirements: several 2-page essays, one 4-page essay, one 6-page
essay (including a draft) and participation in in-class exercises including short oral presentations.
Prerequisites: Women's and Gender Studies 101, or Philosophy 101, or permission of
instructor. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected: 10).
Satisfies the Women's and Gender Studies theory requirement for the major.
SAWICKI