|
WOMEN'S STUDIES 460
GENDER, RACE, AND NATURE IN AMERICAN CULTURE
This course teaches students to think critically about the way "nature" and concepts of the "natural" are used politically in American culture. It will take two approaches to exploring the politics of nature. First, how is the idea of the "natural" used to justify social inequalities based on race, class, and gender? Second, what are the consequences for the environment of various American myths about nature?
The guiding purpose in the class is to investigate the possibility that these two questions are related and have to be answered together to produce effective strategies for solving environmental problems. A secondary goal of the course is to provide students with the tools to critically evaluate both mainstream and radical environmental discourse.
The course will provide practical experience in using interdisciplinary methods and resources, operate within a broad historical sweep from the colonial period to the contemporary, and develop critical thinking and writing skills. We will read a variety of materials, from theoretical analyses, to personal stories, to historical narratives, to political polemics. We will also pay particular attention to intertwining representations of nature, race, gender, sexuality, and class in U.S. popular culture.
The course has a prerequisite of Wst 200: Introduction to Women's Studies; CAC 101: Introduction to Comparative American Cultures; or WSt/CAC/SOC 300: Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender. It fulfills General Education requirements for an Intercultural [K] and/or Tier III Capstone course.
LINKS TO OTHER CLASS PAGES:
Class Assignments
Examples
of Cultural Analyses of Race, Gender, Class Welcome
to the "Speakeasy" Classroom Women's
Studies Program Main Homepage
SYLLABUS
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9
| Week 10 | Week 11 | Week
12 | Week 13 | Week 14 |Week
15
Texts Include:
REQUIREMENTS
This will be a lecture/discussion. Occasionally we will
see short videos or clips of movies in class; these are noted in the syllabus as
"viewings."
Students will learn the skill of critical analysis through a four-level process: participating in class discussion of texts, analyzing cultural objects, writing a short paper which compares different readings, and revising that paper to integrate a larger number of class materials plus outside research if necessary. Further, the class provides opportunities for students to develop their ability to publicly present and defend an argument, to work collaboratively, and use the Internet for research and communication.
The WST 460 Web page will be used as a supplementary class text by the students, and your work may be part of that page's development. No late papers will be accepted.
SECTION ONE: AMERICAN NATURES
ATTENTION: Assignments due in class on the date they are listed.
WEEK 1: A CRITICAL NATURE
1/13: |
1/15: |
1/20: |
1/22: |
Hexagon-Subdivision Rivers -Explore a series of computer generated
landscapes by Ken WEEK 3: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF NATURE: PART ONE
1/27: |
1/29: |
The
Palouse Environmental Project -Find out more about the Palouse Environmental
Projects at WSU
WEEK 4: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF NATURE: PART TWO
2/3 |
2/5: |
New
Age Link - Visit the Taj-Ma-Mall...how are race and nature presented
in the kinds of products WEEK 5: GENDER, RACE, NATURE AND SCIENCE
2/10 |
The
Hall of Mammals -Check out how mammals are defined and represented
on the Web. The
Breastfeeding Advocacy Page - How are breasts (re)imagined on this
page?
WEEK 6: ANALYZING RACISM AND SEXISM IN AMERICAN NATURE
2/17 |
2/19 |
WEEK 7: STORIES OF EVOLUTION: SEXUALITY AND THE FRONTIER
2/24 |
2/26 |
Darwin
Texts - Read the origins of evolutionary theory. The
Guns of the Golden West -Think Turner is right and the frontier is
gone? Visit this page.
WEEK 8: NATIVE AMERICAN NATURE
3/3 |
3/5: |
National
Environmental Coalition of Native Americans - Is this web page a
kind of cultural activism? Native
Americans and the Environment - Environmental issues being addressed
by Native Pro
and Con Native Opinions on Pocahontas - Check out views about this
controversial Disney film.
WEEK 9: AMERICAN FRONTIERS IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT
3/10 |
3/12 |
3/17-3/21 |
The
Kennedy Space Center - Visit the military-industrial complex as embodied
in NASA.
WEEK 10: NEW FRONTIERS: EXTRATERRESTIALISM AND NUCLEAR WAR
3/24 |
3/26 |
SECTION TWO: THE NATURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS
WEEK 11: FROM CONSERVATION TO ENVIRONMENTALISM
3/31 |
California's
Green Party - Check out one of the newest parties in the United States.
DEEP ECOLOGY, EARTH FIRST! AND BIOREGIONALISM
2/4 |
Earth
First! - Information on Earth First! including an electronic version
of their journal.
WEEK 12: SOCIAL ECOLOGY AND ECOFEMINISM
4/7 |
4/9 |
The
Ecofeminist Newsletter - Check out the electronic version of WSU's
Ecofeminist Newsletter
WEEK 13: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
4/14 |
4/16 |
The
International Institute for Sustainable Development - Includes information
on the Institute's Principles and The
Freshkill Video Project - The Freshkill Video Project -- an example
of environmental art and activism American
Farmworkers Page - Plenty of links to issues regarding migrant farmworkers
within US borders. Toxic
Wastes on the Border - Focuses on toxic dumping in the border region
between San Diego and WEEK 14: SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTALISM
4/21 |
4/23 |
Sites
of Animal Rights - A number of animal rights links on the net.
4/28 |
ENVIRONMENTALISM IN CHILDREN'S POPULAR CULTURE
4/30 |
This page was created by M. Mändler/K.Barber for Dr. Noël Sturgeon. Last
updated March 12, 1997