Recent events have brought women’s lives back to the forefront of the public sphere. This course will provide a perspective of women’s issues in global literature, which will demand a transnational, cross-cultural, comparative framework as well as close literary readings and a historical contextualization of the text in its specific cultural or national location. Can one speak of universal womanhood or a global sisterhood or will we be challenged to consider irreducible differences and ongoing debates between women? In what ways do race, gender, sexuality, class, nation, and other modalities shape our understanding of women’s lives and even challenge the grouping of women as an analytical and identity category? Do we understand the pertinence of the term, but do we then also want to interrogate it? We will read modern and contemporary fiction and poetry that include writers, as far as time allows, from Canada, the Caribbean, Iran, South Asia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and West Africa.

This course satisfies the following CURRENT English major/minor requirements: Identity/Difference

This course satisfies the following NEW English major/minor requirements: Foundations & Methods: 300/400-level, Regions: Americas, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Regions: Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, Time:  Contemporary/Modern

Course Requirements:

This course will involve collaborative, fully engaged discussion and a research component, some of which will involve group work. The writing exercises will be distributed through the semester in a variety of forms: 2 short essays, a final paper proposal, leading to a final research paper (first in draft). Students are encouraged to be independent, ambitious, and creative in their research, locating the primary text in its cultural and global contexts.

Intended Audience:

The course is accessible to all undergraduates across all departments and programs, including LSA, the Honors Program, the Residential College, as well as students in music, theater, dance, art and design, architecture, business, engineering, etc. No previous knowledge of women’s literature or feminist theory required.