SOC 390-01 - Advanced Studies in Sociology: Global Feminism

4 credits (Spring)

This course explores a range of contemporary women’s issues from the perspective of transnational feminism. Through the lens of sociology, we will examine women’s human rights, gendered law, women’s cultural and religious differences, the impact of global popular culture, economic globalization and women’s lives at home, in schools, in the military, and in the global economy. Moreover, we will explore the roots of their global activism against the legacies of colonialism, western imperialism, and the post-modern feminist agenda against world-wide institutional patriarchy. Questions to be addressed include: How have new feminisms emerged? What are the issues that have galvanized women across national and regional borders to challenge exploitation and oppression? What ways has feminism been related historically to nationalism, ethnocentrism, and imperialism? What are the successes and challenges of feminist transnational movements? And, how do women “save their own lives?” The course materials are drawn from five socio-political regions of feminist experience: America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Students will be challenged to analyze extensive scholarly and applied readings in the fields of Gender and Women’s Studies. Additionally, they will expand their critical thinking and writing skills about global current events, women’s transnational cultural and intellectual spaces, and formulate new approaches to feminist identity and activism.

Prerequisite: any 200-level Sociology course and third-year standing
Instructor: Scott