Winter

2011

 

WSDB 290/4 INTRO TO WOMEN'S STUDIES I

Lec A     ---J--  10:15-13:00       SGW       A. Antonopoulos

 

This course provides an introduction to the lives and conditions of women in historical contexts. It is suited both to those interested in women's issues in general and students enrolled in Women's Studies. Topics range from motherhood, lesbianism, family, violence and racism to women's economic status and women's resistance.

A more detailed description of the course is dependant on the professor teaching each section.

 

WSDB 291/4 INTRO TO WOMEN'S STUDIES II

Lec B       -T----    13:15-16:00       SGW        C. Maillé

Lec AA    --W--    17:45-20:15       SGW        A, Antonopoulos

 

This course looks at the lives and conditions of women in recent times; it explores systems of domination and women's resistance to them. It investigates how women have empowered themselves within these systems and have struggled for, and achieved, change. Topics may include women's organizations, socialization, education, language, economic and political structures.

A more detailed description of the course is dependant on the professor teaching each section.

WSDB 292/4 FEMINISMS & RESEARCH METHODS

Lec A         -T------ 10:15-11:30         SGW      M. Aramaki

This course exposes students to a variety of research practices such as: oral history, case studies, multimedia representation, survey/content analysis, library research, and field work. It encourages students to think critically, and to improve their ability to gather, analyse, and effectively present ideas and information.

Prerequisite: Enrolment in a Women's Studies program or permission of the Institute.

 

WSDB 398G/4 SELECTED TOPICS IN WSDB: FEMINISM, RACE & RACISM

Sem. A        --W--   14:45 - 17:30        SGW         Prof. G. Mahrouse            Rm. MU - 101

This course studies the concepts of race, racism, and racialization, especially vis-à-vis feminist theory and practice. It is premised on the idea that race and gender, along with other systems of oppression, constitute one another in structuring social inequality. Drawing from interdisciplinary thought derived largely from feminist, transnational, psychoanalytic, and critical race theories, the course focuses primarily on questions of power, knowledge production, subjectivity, and interlocking systems of oppression within local and global contemporary contexts. It seeks to provide students with opportunities to reflect upon anti-racist feminist practice and to apply critical race and anti-racist analyses. The course pays particular attention to the ways that appeals to compassion for anti-racist and social justice aims are limited and shaped by racialized, gendered, and national identities and understandings.

The course is comprised of two parts (with some overlap between them). In the first half, the primary aim is to offer analytical tools that are useful for exploring race as a system of domination, as it interlocks with other systems including capitalism, patriarchy, and heteronormativity. In the second half, we examine the racialized constructs and tensions within specific sites and contexts, both locally, and globally. These include: the current "reasonable accommodation" commission in Quebec; same-sex marriage legislation in Canada; relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina; and various anti-globalization, anti-occupation, and anti-war activism efforts.

WSDB 398H/4 SELECTED TOPICS IN WSDB: CONTEMPORARY TOURISM & RELATIONS TO POWER

Sem A       -T-----   14:45-17:30           SGW     Prof. G, Mahrouse            Rm. MU - 101

Using an interdisciplinary cultural studies framework and a feminist theoretical lens that privileges questions of power, this course ecamines the contemporary tourism phenomena. At the heart of this course are questions of gender, race, class and sexuality vis-à-vis diverse forms of tourism. While the course will explore a number of contentious themes and practices related to contemporary tourism including sex tourism and political tourism, it is especially concerned with engaging debate about the paradoxes of "responsible" tourism. Some of the specific questions explored in this course will include:

1) how do tourist interactions with 'locals' shape subjectivities?

2) How do tourists understand themselves in relation to the places they visit?

3) how do gender, race, citizenship, and class impact the experiences of tourists?

4) What are the possibilities and limitations of using responsible forms of tourism to challenge global inequity?

 

Prerequisite: 15 credits or permission of the Institute.

WSDB 480/4 FEMINIST THOUGHT II

Sem. A    --W-- 10:15 - 13:00              SGW         S. Gourlay      Rm. MU - 101

This course will build on the knowledge gained in Feminist Thought I (fall 2003). While Feminist Thought I examined feminism as a critique of theory in various historical and disciplinary sites, this course will look closely at the different feminist theories advanced to make adequate sense of the social world. We will consider the fundamental concepts of Marxist feminism, poststructuralist feminist theory, feminist critical theory, and postcolonialist feminisms. Students will learn how to summarize and read these different theoretical approaches, as well as how to think about them in a comparative manner.

Prerequisite: 30 credits, which must include WSDB 290, 291, and 380 or permission of the Instructor.

NOTE: Students who have taken WSDB 394 may not take this course for credit.

WSDB 490/4 ADV. SEM. - FEMINIST ETHICS

Sem A              ---J--- 13:15-16:00    SGW   C. Maillé    Rm. MU - 101

 

According to Hilde Lindemann, three themes in feminist work came together in the late 1970s and early 1980s to give rise to the term «feminist ethics». One theme was that of feminist attention to contemporary ethical issues, such as equality of opportunity, war, and rape. Another was that of uncovering sexist biases in the traditional ethical theories. And the third was that of the differences other than gender – such as race, class, sexual orientation, ability, and ethnicity – that can bring different perspectives to bear on ethics. Since then, a rapidly burgeoning literature in feminist ethics has not only enlarged on these three themes but also added a fourth : the development of feminist moral theories. The majority of  textbooks in philosophy contain little of this work, although there are a few  exceptions. (in An Invitation to Feminist Ethics, p. vii)

What about Feminist Ethics? Feminist ethics or feminists doing ethics? The field of ethics, also called moral philosophy, involves systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior. Philosophers today usually divide ethical theories into three general areas: metaethics, normative ethics and applied ethics. Metaethics investigates where our ethical principles come from, and what they mean. Are they merely social inventions? Do they involve more than expressions of our individual emotions? Metaethical answers to these questions focus on the issues of universal  truths, the will of God, the role of reason in ethical judgements, and the meaning of ethical terms themselves. Normative ethics involves a more practical  task, which is to arrive at moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct. Should I  borrow my roommate's car without asking her? Should I steal food to support my starving family? Finally, applied ethics involves examining specific controversial issues such as environmental concern and activism. By using the conceptual tools of metaethics and normative ethics, discussions in applied ethics try to resolve these controversial issues. The lines of distinction between metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics are often blurry. (From the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Prerequisite: 30 credits which must include WSDB 290, 291 and 380 or permission of the Instructor.

 

WSDB 491/4 ADVANCED SEMINAR: FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES ON CULTURE

Sem A    M------ 13:15-16:00             SGW        G. Rail          Rm. MU - 101

This interdisciplinary seminar explores women's visions of the future and draws on historical and contemporary materials, both creative and scientific.

Prerequisites: 30 credits which include WSDB 290, 291 and 380 or permission of the Instructor.

 

WSDB 498D/4 ADV. SELECTED TOPICS IN WSDB: WOMEN AND HOMELESSNESS

Sem A    M------ 10:15-13:00             SGW             T.B.A.       Rm. MU - 101

 

Prerequisite: 30 credits or permission of the Instructor.

 

WSDB 498Q/4 ADV. SELECTED TOPICS IN WSDB: TRANSSEXUAL/TRANSGENDER CULTURE

Sem AA    M----- 17:45-20:15             SGW            T. Salah       Rm. MU - 101

 

Prerequisite: 30 credits or permission of the Instructor

 

WSDB 498R/4 ADV. SELECTED TOPICS IN WSDB: POSTCOLONIALISMS AND FEMINISM

Sem A    -T----- 14:45-17:30             SGW       G. Mahrouse     Rm. MU - 101

 

Prerequisite: 30 credits or permission of the Instructor.