Interdisciplinary, Theoretical, and Critical Approaches (494-0-20)

Instructors

Alessia Ricciardi
847/491-8259
1860 S. Campus Drive, Crowe Hall #2-133
Ph.D. Yale University, Prof. Ricciardi's main fields are modern Italian and comparative studies; her teaching and scholarship revolve around 20th century Italian culture with an emphasis on the post-World War II period, including Italian cinema and contemporary political philosophy. Topics of published research include modern Italian literature (particularly Calvino and Pasolini), psychoanalysis, and modern French literature and cinema. Her book, <em>The Ends of Mourning: Psychoanalysis, Literature, Film</em> (Stanford, 2003), won the MLA's 2004 Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Comparative Literary Studies. She is completing <em>After La Dolce Vita</em>, a study of the aesthetic and political dynamics of postmodernity in Italian culture, and recently has translated a selection of texts by the Italian philosopher Paolo Virno.

Meeting Info

FRIT Grad Sem Rm 2130 - Crowe: Tues 2:00PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

The question of care for the self and for others - and their relationship to each other - is one of the most politically and ethically resonant issues in contemporary culture. Questions of reproduction, education, meaningful work, and social engagement lie at the core of our ability to respond to the current form of neocapitalism.

This course will consider how in his later work Foucault regards care as entangled with power and control whereas feminist and ecocritical critics approach the concept in terms of a shift toward gendered, relational, and emotional labor. What does it mean that care is not only something we give, but something we cultivate? Who gets to provide care and whose work is undervalued (e.g., women, minorities, migrants)? How should we understand the value of an ordinary ethics of interdependent care in relation to the more abstract notions of ethics and justice?

We will explore these questions while focusing on issues of precariousness, vulnerability, disability, and environmental crises. Topics include life, care, and power in Foucault, Tronto's definition of ethical and political care, Federici and Callaci on "Wages for Housework" and unpaid labor, Segal's concept of radical care, Lorde on race, illness and care of the self, and finally ecological care for the more-than-human. Seminar participants are strongly encouraged to find a way to use the texts on the syllabus in their own research projects in different genres and media.

Teaching Method

Seminar style

Evaluation Method

Participation 20%, oral presentation 20%, short paper 20%, final paper (11-12 pages; 40%)

Class Materials (Required)

Works by Foucault, Gilligan, Tronto, Federici, Lorde, Segal, Laugier, Callaci, Puig de la Bellacasa. The texts will be available on Canvas.

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: REASON: Pre-registration is not allowed for this class. Please try again during regular registration.