First-Year Writing Seminar (101-8-20)
Topic
Black Feminism
Instructors
Casidy Brianna Campbell
Meeting Info
Kresge Centennial Hall 2-319: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM
Overview of class
What is black feminism? What is black feminist thought and theory? How have black women and girls articulated their responses to the civil rights movement, white feminism, and popular culture? How do we study and write about black women and girls? How do the experiences and beliefs of a school age black girl, Cece McDonald, Megan the Stallion, and Toni Cade Bambara coincide or diverge? In this course, we will survey black feminist writing, art, and poetry and seek to answer these questions. Students will be able to understand black feminism as a field of study, lived practice, and intellectual tradition. The goal of the course is to introduce the breadth and history of black feminist thought and explore key concepts, theories, and methodologies. Students will be able to understand black feminism as a field of study, lived practice, and intellectual tradition. We will not only examine representations of black women and girl's sexuality and political activism, but also explore the tools black women have created to critique and map sexuality, gender, class, age, and geography.
Learning Objectives
• Describe the cultural impact of black women in the production of black feminist theory within US and global contexts
• Employ a working knowledge of black feminist theory and how black feminists critically mapped race, class, gender and sexuality
• Practice college-level writing expectations and critical reading/writing skills: thick description vs. analysis, close reading, making an effective argument
• Explain and differentiate between the variety of intellectual paradigms of black feminist thought as well as black feminist responses to heteronormativity and homophobia
Class Materials (Required)
Laptop, books
Beverly Guy-Sheftall, ed., Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought
Words of Fire: 9781565842564
Briona Simone Jones, ed., Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought
Mouths of Rain: 9781620975763
Dorothy Roberts, Killing the Black Body
Killing the Black Body: 9780804152594
Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider
Sister Outsider: 9781580911863
Class Attributes
WCAS Writing Seminar