2007-08 - Pitzer College

118 GENDER AND FEMINIST STUDIES
GENDER AND FEMINIST STUDIES
Pitzer Advisers: M. Banerjee, M. Federman, C. Fought, A. Juhasz, L. Harris, S. Miller,
J. Parker, K. Rogers, S. Snowiss, and M. Soldatenko.
Scholarship on women addresses three kinds of pressing intellectual needs. The first is to
provide more information about women’s lives and contributions. The second is for the
revision of existing theory that claims to speak for all human beings while it has been
based almost exclusively on the experience of men. The third is for the integration of
perspectives shaped by sensitivity to race, class, ethno-national origin, and sexual
orientation within the study of gender.
Courses in Gender and Feminist Studies focus on the relations of power that have
produced inequalities between genders. We consider gender inequality a human
construction subject to change rather than an innate, ordained condition. In the classroom
and in research, our critical perspective challenges conventional concepts and methods of
analysis and encourages the formulation of new paradigms of teaching, learning, and
research that reflect the diversity of women’s experience.
Pitzer offers a major and a minor in Gender and Feminist Studies and combined majors
with other disciplines in the social sciences, in the humanities and fine arts, in the natural
sciences, as well as in interdisciplinary subjects, including Asian American, Black, and
Chicana Studies.
Pitzer’s Gender and Feminist Studies courses are part of the rich variety of Women’s
Studies courses offered by all The Claremont Colleges. Students who are interested in
courses other than those listed below should consult the Intercollegiate Women’s Studies
brochure of courses offered each semester. The Intercollegiate Women’s Studies Teaching
and Research Center is a centrally located facility at 1030 Dartmouth Street. Open to all
faculty and students of The Claremont Colleges, it provides programs of lectures and
seminars each semester.
The Pitzer Student Women’s Center, located upstairs in the Grove House, has a small
library devoted to gender and feminist studies and provides a meeting space for
interested students.
The Major requires a minimum of ten [10] courses, distributed among core courses [at
least one course from a, b, c & d] and three tracks.
Core Courses
a. Introduction to Women’s Studies, ID 26
b. Feminist Theory, such as Post 163; GFS 155CH; GFS 168
c. Intersectionality of gender/race/class/sexualities
GFS 60, GFS 61CH, GFS 115, GFS 154CH, GFS 155CH, GFS 168
Arhi 178; ASAM 90; Engl 42eBK; Engl 125d; Engl 134BK, Engl 140; Hist 171BK; MS 80
d. Senior Seminar [WS 190] or Senior Project/Senior Thesis [ID 191]
(Candidates for Honors must complete both the Sr. Seminar [ID 190] and Sr.
Project/Thesis [ID 191])
Tracks
GENDER AND FEMINIST STUDIES
Students should take at least one [1] course from each track that focuses on gender and
empowerment; and complete at least three [3] courses from one of the tracks:
1. Global, National and Local Communities
2. Creativity: Art, Literature, Spirituality, Identity
3. Sciences, Medicine, and Technologies
If students have two majors, no more than two[2] courses, including a methods course,
may be counted towards the completion of both majors.
Combined Major: Students wishing to complete a Combined Major in GFS and another
discipline are required to complete all the core courses, one course from two of the tracks
and two additional courses from one of those two tracks. All combined majors have two advisers.
Minor: Students interested in completing a Minor in GFS are required to complete the
Introduction to Women’s Studies, Feminist Theory, and Intersectionality courses from the
Core Courses and one course from each of the three tracks.
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Honors: Students are required to have a cumulative and GFS GPA of 3.5 and the
recommendation of the field group based on the quality [A or A-]of the senior project or
thesis. In addition, candidates for Honors must complete both the Senior Seminar and the
Sr. Project/Sr. Thesis. Two advisers are required for the Sr. Thesis/Sr. Project and one must
be from the Pitzer GFS Field Group. The final version of the honors thesis or project to be
reviewed by the Field Group is due two weeks before the end of classes.
ID 26. Introduction to Women’s Studies. A cross-disciplinary examination of the study
of women. Current analysis of woman’s past and present role in society; her creativity;
her physical, emotional, and intellectual development; and her sexuality will be
examined by historians, psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, biologists,
economists, political scientists, artists, and literary critics. M. Soldatenko. [not offered 2006-07]
60. Women in the Third World. This class explores the lives of women in Africa, Asia
and Latin America, and feminist writings that grow out of their experience. It addresses
such questions as these: What are their lives like? What are their accomplishments,
problems and priorities? How are they affected by and influenced by programs of
economic development? What feminisms have grown out of their varied experiences?
Why have these views been overlooked in Western feminist discourses? Fall, M. Soldatenko.
61CH. Contemporary Issues of Chicanas and Latinas. In this interdisciplinary course,
we will look at the contemporary experiences of Chicanas and Latinas in the United
States, addressing issues of culture, identity, gender, race and social class. Readings and
lectures provide historical background for our in-depth exploration of the latest
exemplary works in Chicana Studies. Attention is given to diverse manifestations of
cultural production in Chicana/Latina communities. Spring, M. Soldatenko.
115. Gender, Race and Class: Women of Color in the U.S.. We will explore the
contemporary experiences of African American, American Indian, Asian American/Asian
immigrant, Chicano/Latina, and White women, focusing on the social construction of