Gender, Politics, and Philosophy (233-0-20)

Instructors

Penelope L Deutscher
847/491-5293
Kresge 3245

Meeting Info

University Hall 122: Tues, Thurs 6:30PM - 7:50PM

Overview of class

This class introduces students to a variety of philosophical problems concerning gender and politics. Together, we'll read classic and contemporary texts that examine questions such as: what is gender -- and how, if it all, does it relate to or differ from sex? What does it really mean to be a woman or a man -- and are these categories we'r e born into or categories that we become or inhabit through living in a particular way under specific conditions? Human history all the way up to the present seems to be rife with asymmetrical relations of power that relegate those marked out as women to a subordinate position -- what explains this? What would it mean to over turn this state of affairs -- and which strategies are most likely to accomplish this task? And to what extent is it possible to grapple with all of the above questions -- questions of gender, sex and sexuality -- without also, at the very same time, thinking about how they relate to questions of class and race? Readings will include selections from Simone de Beauvoir, Iris Marion Young, Sandra Bartky, bell hooks, Patricia Hill Collins, Judith Butler, Talia Bettcher, and others.

Registration Requirements

Attendance at first class is mandatory.

Class Materials (Required)

A course reader will be available for purchase at Quartet.

Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Abridge, Related Texts Publisher: Hackett, 2013 ISBN-10: 1603849386 ISBN-13: 978-1603849388 Estimated price: $9.00, new, paperback

Class Attributes

Ethics & Values Distro Area

Associated Classes

DIS - Parkes Hall 214: Fri 10:00AM - 10:50AM

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-440: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-343: Fri 2:00PM - 2:50PM

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-331: Fri 3:00PM - 3:50PM