Catalog Description

Advisory: Eligibility for ENGL 1A
Hours: 54 lecture
Description: Introduction to the concepts of womanhood and feminism in mythic, classic, medieval and major philosophical traditions. Emphasis on the images, roles and beliefs about women found in the humanities and philosophy with respect to their impact and contemporary relevance. (CSU, UC)

Course Student Learning Outcomes

  • CSLO #1: Describe, compare and contrast mythological, historical, and philosophical conceptions of women.
  • CSLO #2: Describe and critically analyze the philosophical origins of Modern Feminism.
  • CSLO #3: Describe and analyze contemporary philosophical issues related to gender.
  • CSLO #4: Communicate effectively orally or in writing on a topic in philosophy of women in Western cultures.

Effective Term

Fall 2022

Course Type

Credit - Degree-applicable

Contact Hours

54

Outside of Class Hours

108

Total Student Learning Hours

162

Course Objectives

Through oral and written work:
1. Describe and compare prehistorical conceptions of women from various cultures (e.g., Ancient Greek, Medieval, Scientific and Contemporary);
2. Describe and compare women as presented in mythological explanations including but not limited to interpretations of women as presented in the myth of Adam and Eve;
3. Describe, compare and contrast conceptions of women through the eyes of ancient cultures;
4. Describe, compare and contrast both Medieval and Renaissance conceptions of women;
5. Chart the origins of Modern Feminism as presented in but not limited to the works of Mill, Engels and Simone DeBeauvior;
6. Examine and debate contemporary philosophical issues related to gender issues such as legal rights (from birth-place to work-place), social status and the power of a hierarchy, gender relations: morality and responsibility, Race and Feminism, Feminity and its meaning, compulsory heterosexuality and lesbian philosophy;
7. Critically assess the philosophical underpinnings of feminism; and
8. Generate and defend a personal statement of the ideal future direction of feminism.

General Education Information

  • Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability
    • AA/AS - Literature & Language
    • AA/AS - Multicultural Studies
  • CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval)
    • CSUGE - C2 Humanities
  • Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval)
    • IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval)
      • IGETC - 3B Humanities

    Articulation Information

    • CSU Transferable
    • UC Transferable

    Methods of Evaluation

    • Essay Examinations
      • Example: Students will write an 3 page essay comparing and contrasting 2 separate works: "A Fabulous Child's Story" and "Daddy I Want to Be Cher".
    • Objective Examinations
      • Example: Students will take a multiple choice test on Medieval and Renaissance conceptions of women. Standard Grading. Example Question: What is the leading misconception of Medieval Woman?

    Repeatable

    No

    Methods of Instruction

    • Lecture/Discussion
    • Distance Learning

    Lecture:

    1. Instructor will lead a discussion via in-person or online lecture on Simone de Beauvior’s work, The Second Sex. In small goup in-person or online discussion forums, students will be asked to explain and give contemporary examples of what de Beauvior means when she says that to be ‘female’ or to be a ‘woman’ in patriarchal societies is to be the 'second sex,' and 'the Other'.

    Distance Learning

    1. Instructor will lead a discussion via in-person or online lecture on Shirley Garner’s work, "Feminism, Psychoanalysis, and the Heterosexual Imperative." In small goup in-person or online discussion forums, students will be asked to explain and give contemporary examples of what Garner means by the "heterosexual imperative," and evaluate whether (or how) it continues to have force in contemporary culture.

    Typical Out of Class Assignments

    Reading Assignments

    1. Read Nancy Tuana's "The Less Noble Sex" and be prepared to discuss in class. 2. Read the essay "Women in Islam" and be prepared to discuss in class.

    Writing, Problem Solving or Performance

    1. As a group, read the following passage, discuss your reactions and have a scribe of your group write them down for the orator to report. Each group should write a paper of no more than three pages in length. For Distance Learning class, each student should respond to at least one of these papers with support or dissent by next Wednesday. Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the woman should be alone; I will make her a helper fit for her." So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the woman to see what she would call them; and whatever the woman called every living creature, that was its name. The woman gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for the woman there was not found a helper fit for her. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the woman, and while she slept took one of her ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib that the Lord God had taken from the woman she made into a man and brought him to the woman. Then the woman said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; he shall be called Man, because he was taken out of Woman." Therefore a woman leaves her mother and her father and cleaves to her husband, and they become one flesh. And the woman and her husband were both naked, and were not ashamed. 2. Create a time-line chart explaining the four distinct interpretations of the book of Genesis for each of the following: A) The pre-Jesus Jewish Community, B) The Co-Christ and Persecuted Christian Interpretations, C) Late 4th century Gnostic Interpretations, and D) Late 4th century Orthodox interpretations. Be sure to address conceptions of liberty and bondage as well as applications of these interpretations to gender. 3. Create a chart comparing and contrasting the conceptions of women as found in the religions/sects that we've studied in this course: A) The pre-Jesus Jewish Community, B) The Co-Christ and Persecuted Christian Interpretations, C) Late 4th century Gnostic Interpretations, D) Late 4th century Orthodox interpretations, E) Mormonism and F) Islam.

    Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.)

    Required Materials

    • We Should all Abe Feminists
      • Author: Chimanda ngoni adiche
      • Publisher: Anchor
      • Publication Date: 2015
      • Text Edition:
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Feminism and the History of Philosophy
      • Author: Lloyd
      • Publisher: Oxford University Press
      • Publication Date: 2016
      • Text Edition:
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Sex and Social Justice
      • Author: Nussbaum
      • Publisher: Oxford University Press
      • Publication Date: 2000
      • Text Edition:
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Bad Feminist
      • Author: Roxanne Gay
      • Publisher: Harper Potential
      • Publication Date: 2014
      • Text Edition:
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • After the 'Speculative Turn': Realism, Philosophy, and Feminism
      • Author: Katerina Kolozova
      • Publisher: Punctum Books
      • Publication Date: 2016
      • Text Edition:
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Feminism and Philosophy: Essential Readings in Theory, Reinterpretation, and Application
      • Author: Nancy Tuana and Rosemary Putnam Tong
      • Publisher: Routledge
      • Publication Date: 2019
      • Text Edition: 1st
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:

    Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.