To the extent that we can claim that women share a so-called “female experience,” this freshman seminar intends to diversify, complicate, celebrate and theorize it.

The course is designed to introduce students to the rich, creative and multifaceted ways in which women approach the subject of difference. It explores the way they contest and negotiate with ideologies of oppression in a wide range of materials, including prose and poetry, ethnography, media, art, and films (including works by Zora Neale Hurston, Helene Cixous, Eve Ensler, Mira Nair, Joan Baez, Yona Wallach, Ronit Matalon, and Frida Kalo). In fact, we ask not only what peculiar about this experience, but how can we account for both the singularity of each work and to the plurality of the whole category? We will follow the unique dynamic interaction of sexuality, gender, ethnicity, and class in each historical context and geographical zone, and the way it constitutes subjective narratives about female agency, voice, pain, body, friendship, empowerment, and love.

Course Requirements:

In addition to the weekly reading and short writing assignments, students are expected to write a final paper (7-9 pages).

Intended Audience:

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Class Format:

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