Senior Capstone Seminar (396-0-20)

Instructors

Amy Partridge
847.491.5872

Meeting Info

University Hall 318: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

As Patricia Hill Collins acknowledges in Intersectionality as Critical Praxis (2019), "During times of such visible and contentious change, it's reasonable to question the worth of intellectual work, especially when everyday problems seem so pressing" but argues that "resistant knowledge projects" that engage in "critical praxis," or that conjoin critical analysis and social action, "are needed more now than ever" (290). Our goal in this seminar is to examine and explore the relationship between theory-building and social change and what Collins describes as the "recursive relationship" between theory and action in recent and foundational Black feminist, trans, and queer interdisciplinary knowledge projects central to the field of Gender & Sexuality Studies. We examine the new ways of knowing (methodologies) and forms of knowledge (epistemologies) that critical theories of intersectionality, trans liberation, and queer becoming enact, the social justice movements in which these knowledge projects were forged, and the activist projects they have inspired. Throughout, we also engage in "critical praxis" by experimenting with practices of archiving & archival research, oral history collection, (auto)ethnography, and popular education to explore the analytical and methodological tools each offers and work towards designing a final (capstone) project that contributes to these resistant knowledge projects.

Class Notes

Attendance at first class is mandatory; Junior/Senior standing

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression