LARTS 304 — Feminist Philosophy

3 credits
Spring
Aaron Jaffe

Prerequisite: LARTS 112  

This class explores feminist philosophy, beginning with Diotima’s response to Socrates, with the aim of reconstructing an historical arc of the concerns informing contemporary feminist thinking. Though starting with the “Western” tradition, the class will problematize the largely White and upper-class feminisms of the so-called “global north” with challenges from the “global south” as well as Black, Chicana, and working-class feminisms. This process will generate not only a sequential, but a comparative and critical approach to different possible feminisms. The class will examine the nature of women’s oppression and the structuring role of gender and orientation, and highlight the conceptual resources to reflect upon and resist domination developed by people not traditionally identified as “men.”