PHI6590 - Feminism

Lecturer:

Jennifer Saul

Outline:

This course will cover key issues that concern feminists, showing that despite the developments pushed for by feminist movements in the last century, there are still problems to be addressed. In considering some of these problems, we will see that `feminism´ does not refer to a single position – rather, there are a range of views held by different feminist thinkers.
The course starts by addressing issues that are familiar as feminist concerns: the structure of the family and the workplace, sexual harassment, abortion. We will then address ideas that might be less familiar – the idea of women´s `different voice´ – or have been attended to only in recent decades – issues of feminism and multiculturalism, feminism and science. The second half of the course deals with issues related to the notion of objectification. We will look at feminist critiques of the norms of feminine appearance, and feminist arguments concerning pornography. We will then address directly the notion of objectification: how we should understand the concept, and relating this to the issues raised regarding feminine appearance and pornography. Throughout the course issues of women´s autonomy crop up – in the final week, we will look at feminist contributions to understandings of autonomy and consider `relational autonomy´.

Preparatory Reading:

Saul, J. (2003) Issues and Arguments (Oxford University Press)

Assessment:

The module is assessed on the basis of one long essay between 4000 and 6000 words in length (for RMA or TMA candidates) or two short essays between 2000 and 3000 words in length (for TMA candidates only). Essay topics should be chosen in consultation with the course teacher concerned. The essays should be thought of as mini research-papers, whose content can be related more or less loosely to the material covered in the course. Students should meet with the lecturer, or other appropriate member of staff to discuss the topic and to discuss a draft of the essay.

Lectures and Seminars:

The module is also available to undergraduates, and further details of the module are available through the link on the right-hand side of this page.

If there are three or more postgraduates taking the module, a separate seminar will be scheduled for postgraduates only.