2010-2011 Academic Catalog

Dec 21, 2024

2010-2011 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

WS 237 - Feminism, Nature and Culture

Type of Course: Seminar

The purpose of this course is to expose students to major currents of contemporary social theory that have developed around “nature” and “woman” or nature and gender. We will explore a number of important contemporary topics including: biotechnology and “life,” food and identity, the body/science/fashion, human and nonhuman animal relations, and the manner in which conceptualizations of nature and of women (or gender roles) mutually constitute and reinforce one another. Our principal goals are to analyze and critique the normative idea of what is “nature” or what is “natural” as it pertains to gender, environmental processes, other life forms, and human social and economic existence in general. Because feminists have been instrumental in leading much of this analysis and critique, we lean heavily on feminist theories. We will explore these ideas through science fiction, magical realism, cartoons, movies, other fiction, social histories and biographies. By the end of the semester, students should be adept at decoding representations of nature and gender in the popular media as well as in academic scholarship. Students should also have a reasonable understanding of the development of and debates surrounding biotechnology and gender, identity and gender, and ecofeminist thought.

Cross Listed: GEOG 237, GEOG 337, GES 237, WS 337

Instructor: Ms. Emel

When Offered: Offered every other year

Faculty: Jody Emel, Ph.D. - Professor and Acting Director, Graduate School of Geography