Attention to form, style, voice and audience. Explores the nature and extent of violence against women, explanations of the causes of such violence, society s use of sexual categories as the basis for the distribution of social and political roles, the effects of race and class on women s lives, the translation of sex differences into restrictions on political and social life, and patriarchal power and women s struggle for change. This course offers an intensive study of the worldwide subordination of women, looking at women as producers and consumers, as survivors of male violence, as child rearers and food producers, and as creators of culture and life-support systems. It studies cultural, economic, and structural differences in women s experience and includes presentations by faculty who are expert on women s lives in different regions. The course aims at a critical perspective on existing systems of thought and the creation of a system of thought compatible with women s experience and knowledge.
Students undertake extensive theoretical readings and attend mandatory weekly film screenings.
This course examines social psychology and sociological theories and research addressing why women do more housework and child care than men. It pays special attention to the situation of dual-earner families and considers class and ethnic differences on the nature of this inequality and the barriers to full equality at home. A detailed study of development policies and projects, national and international, as they relate to women. Students engage in individual research on the effect of particular projects on women. Their challenges range from the historical modification of a presumably unbiased religious system to the outright rejection of a so-called patriarchal establishment.