WW Course Description/Objectives

Return to Spring 07 WW Syllabus at http://phobos.ramapo.edu/~kfowler/wsp07syllabus.html

This is a 200 level women's studies course surveying the wide, deep and vibrant range of American Women's voices from pre-European contact to the present with attention to the context of feminist theory and feminist literary criticism. We are attempting to cover a very rich tradition in a single semester so the reading is substantial, although, I trust, not overwhelming. Still we will only be able to "taste" the many delicacies and take a quick nibble at some of the main courses. The material is wonderful and diverse, enjoyable and occasionally difficult. Readings will be explored and contextualized through a number of individual writing assignments, collaborative projects, presentations, WebCT resources and class discussions, activities and supplemental resources. For further details see the detailed course description at http://phobos.ramapo.edu/~kfowler/wwcoursedescription.html

The individual readings are generally brief and sometimes fragmentary in order to make room for a large number of different voices. I recognize that this is misleading, tantalizing and frustrating but hope that you will be inspired to pursue many of these writers on your own and at greater length. For various weeks there will be readings assigned to the entire class and (in addition) a reading selection assigned to each small group (that other groups will not need to read) in order to enlarge the medley of voices that we encounter as a whole. Finally, you will each be reading one substantial text (a novel or an autobiography or some other extended narrative) and preparing a written report to be posted to the WebCT for all to view and presented orally in class. Hence we will collectively learn about 25 or more longer works beyond the readings done for the course.

The writings have been grouped by types of writings (diary, letter, autobiography, drama, etc.). I have identified writers within various categories as precisely as my own knowledge and various reference sources permit. If any of my identifications are incorrect, I apologize! The categories have been chosen along the axes of race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, class, ability, etc. However, these categories are not meant to be definitive or exclusive -- and they significantly overlap at various points in the semester. Furthermore, there is an inherent -- and dangerous -- illusion created by categorizing together as one "group" (Native Americans; Latinas; Lesbians; etc.) people of very different experiences, classes nations or national origins, religions, etc. Furthermore, many of our writers are biracial/cultural or multiracial/cultural although they may choose to identify themselves in terms of one particular culture. It is essential to remember that these very same writers could be sorted into very different groups along numerous other axes: age, urban/rural, region, style, genre, themes, etc. with equal credibility, usefullness, and distortions.

We will be attempting, over the course of the semester, to address (but certainly not to fully answer!) a variety of questions about women writers in America. Such questions will not necessarily be approached systematically. They will enter into the discussion as they seem relevant and we will return repeatedly to many of these. The critical and theoretical readings throughout the semester will help set questions and establish tentative frameworks, but just as they do not agree with one another, we need not agree with them. They are there to help spark thinking -- not to define or limit it. To outline just a few of the questions we will address:

1. How do we value/evaluate texts which are largely personal and/or autobiographical?

2.How closely should we read literary texts as reflections or translations of lived experience?

3. Is there something definably "female" about women's writing? Are there specific features necessarily present (absent) in all (or at least most) women's texts?

4.What calls women to write and what purposes seem to emerge from their text? Again, are there common motivations and goals?

5. How do race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, marital status, religion, traumatic experiences, and other social categories or personal identities affect the writing of women? Are there identifiable themes, styles, goals, etc.among women writers who have one or more of these axes in common? Are there recognizable differences among women who do not?

6. How do historical forces and conditions shape the writing of American women? Would question 2 produce a different answer depending on the period of time we were looking at?