Time Schedule:
Julie Shayne
BIS 339
Bothell Campus
Examination of various topics and approaches to the study of culture in a global context. May include the study art, literature, theater, cultural history, music history/ethnomusicology, and/or cultural anthropology/geography. Topics and approaches may vary with instructor.
Class description
Autumn 2010: "Women, Culture, and Development"
The purpose of this course is to facilitate a critical understanding of the multiple social, cultural, political, and economic positions of women in the "Third World." We will look at a variety of topics including: colonialism, post-colonialism, feminist theories of development, paid and unpaid labor, women's bodies as culture, population politics, violence, globalization, and feminism.
Student learning goals
Students should be capable writers
Students should be able to articulate difficult ideas verbally
Students should understand the place of gender in political economic policies in both historical and contemporary settings
Students should have a general sense of the political and economic conditions for women in varying parts of the Third World
Students should understand how women organize collectively to challenge and remake policies which affect everything from their bodies to their economic livelihood
Students should be energized to continue their inquiries beyond the classroom and into the "real world."
General method of instruction
This is a reading and writing heavy course. The course will be a mix of lecture, class discussion, and if need be, small group discussions. We will use a variety of different types of text including: films, fiction, social science, history, and testimonies.
Required texts: 1) Bhavnani, Kum-Kum, John Foran, and Priya Kurian (Eds.). 2003. "Feminist Futures: Reimagining Women, Culture and Development." London: Zed Books.
2) "Nervous Conditions" by Tsitsi Dangarembga. 1988. Seattle: Seal Press.
3) "The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World" by Joni Seager. 2008. London: Penguin Books.
4) "Development, Crises, and Alternative Visions: Third World Women's Perspectives" by Gita Sen and Caren Grown. 1987. New York: Monthly Review Press.
5) Ehrenreich, Barbara and Arlie Russell Hochschild, eds. 2002. Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Recommended preparation
You may contact me in advance for a syllabus and there will be a Blackboard page for you to browse.
Class assignments and grading
This is a writing intensive course; there will be no in-class exams
Grades will be based on sound analysis, clear writing, informed class participation, and attention to detail.
