Reformers and Radicals: Feminist Thinking Through History

3 units

Popular conceptions of the "self" have changed over time. In this course we'll collectively create an archive of that history. We'll read "self-help" books and widely circulating contemporary memoirs. We'll consult feminist theories on the self to understand how the philosophy and the history of the most elemental aspect of being human changes to shape wider social and political developments. Students will write creative stories in class to reflect on their own placement in the history of the "self." The course introduces students to historical methods: primary source research, archiving, databasing, contextualizing, cross-cultural analysis, and historiography.