Contemporary issues and theories relating to the intersection of gender with race, ethnicity, sexual identity, (dis)ability, class, religion and other axes of oppression in the Global North..
Course Description Calendar description: This course surveys contemporary issues and theories relating to the intersection of gender with race, ethnicity, sexual identity, (dis)ability, class, religion and other axes of oppression in the Global North. What injustices are attendant upon membership in these groups? How are these injustices produced? How can we combat them? What are the possibilities of alliance and solidarities across differences of gender, race, etc.? In Fall 2019, we apply feminist concepts to local examples, while also adding to the global knowledge base by creating a Wikipedia article, and curating an online exhibit of historical activist materials from Waterloo region. Against the backdrop of historical and contemporary struggles and achievements, especially in Canada and the Global North, we will consider some fundamentals of gender-based analysis, including power, identity, sexuality, bodies, nation, work, reproductive justice, domestic violence, disability, and racialization . We’ll also explore our own relationships to gendered experiences in terms of structural inequities and intersectionality. As we do this, let’s acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of the Neutral (Attawandaron), Anishinaabe, and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, land promised to the Six Nations, that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. The paper should be 1100 words long In these unique assignments, you think about doing something, do it (typically a site visit/ field observation), and reflect on having done it. Then, you apply some theory or concept from the relevant readings, attach it to your own experience with the thing you did, and write 750-1000 thoughtful words about how it all works together. Detailed instructions are provided on LEARN, along with the holistic rubric for assessment. IRP 1 is more structured, and makes use of our own Archives and Special Collections to a) create a Wikipedia article or b) curate an online exhibit. You’ll have direct, hands-on contact with really old paper or pictures for your first IRP, and contribute to bringing some long-inaccessible artifacts to life for future researchers and publics to experience. For IRP 2, you’ll be going out into our local community to observe and analyse, AND you may choose quite different formats for your final products instead of a short paper. Choices will be discussed in lecture and posted on LEARN. The purpose of each Intellectual Response Paper (IRP) assignment is to take us out of the classroom into places where we can experience more concretely the principles, contexts, and materials we normally study in textbooks, and then deepen our understanding of such experience through critical reflection. The IRPs are linked to all four of our course intended learning outcomes (see course outline). IRP #1: Archives and Special Collections at the Dana Porter Library From Sep 16 – Sep 25 at your appointed time (sign up online), visit the Archives to: a)read material on Elizabeth Smith Shortt (ESS) and identify what you will add to a Wikipedia article about her, ORb)transcribe a page from the W.O.M.E.N. project and create metadata about it for the Omeka platformSign up for our Wikipedia project or the Omeka project. Complete the milestones for the project you’ve signed up for. After finishing the Wikipedia or Omeka project by Oct 11, write your own individual paper applying a concept from the course readings to your experience being a Wikipedia editor or Omeka curator, and/or to your experience in the archive, in the context of your own your prior knowledge. You can use “I.” You are demonstrating your ability to apply a concept, so it isn’t simple reaction to the visit and project, but a coherent argument about you in particular visiting a scholarly space and performing a public scholarly act.