The theory and critical practice of intersectionality 4219-SB146
Intersectionality has its roots in black feminist theorizing and politics (and still much of the work in the field is performed by women of color). Beginning with the famous question posed by Soujourner Truth: “Ain’t I a Woman,” through the manifestos of the second wave, such as the Combahee River Collective Statement, to Kimberlé Crenshaw’s formulation in the field of legal studies that is most often evoked in current discussions of intersectionality, black feminists have always been in the forefront of intersectionality debates. At the same time, the paradigm has obvious applications also in areas related to other aspects of identity besides gender and race, such as (but not only), sexuality, class, (dis)ability, ethnicity, nationality, religion. The term used in law, critical race studies, sociology, health and, in the 21st century, a broadly used activist buzzword, intersectionality has become both a framework and a subject of analysis.
This course will provide a theoretical background to how intersectionality functions as a category and how it can be applied in academic work. Apart from a selection of theoretical and critical texts on intersectionality, we will also examine numerous texts of culture, including fiction, poetry, comics, videos, films, and TV series using the intersectional framework and focusing particularly on race, gender, and sexuality. We will be answering the following questions: What does it mean that different forms of oppression and privilege can intertwine? How is intersectionality used in theory and in practice (for example, activism)? How does it change our understanding of marginalized identities? How can theories of intersectionality aid us in reading texts of culture? What kinds of challenges are posed by texts addressing multiple intersections? Are the theoretical texts able to articulate what the experiences addressed in the texts of culture suggest to us as readers? What are some of the debates around intersectionality as a critical paradigm?
Type of course
Mode
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course, the student:
Knowledge:
- knows how intersectionality functions as a category and how it can be applied in academic work
- understands key concepts and research methods related to intersectionality
- knows some of the debates around intersectionality as a critical paradigm
Skills:
- interpret works of American literature in their various contexts (social,
cultural, political - with a focus on intersectional approach) using theoretical and methodological tools from the field of literary studies and cultural studies
- formulates critical arguments on topics related to race, gender, sexuality, class, and ability
- apply appropriate research methods and tools, adjust existing tools and methods as well as develop new ones for the purposes of interdisciplinary American Studies
Social competences:
- critically assess their own knowledge and the content they consume (including literature, film)
- use the interdisciplinary knowledge they gained in the field of American Studies in order to formulate their own opinions
- is ready to engage and use their knowledge in the interest of their social environment, to initiate actions for the public good
Assessment criteria
- activity and participation – 30%
- response papers – 20%
- presentation - 20%
- final paper - 30%
98 – 100 5+
90 – 97 5
83 – 89 4+
75 – 82 4
68 – 74 3+
60 – 67 3
0 – 59 2
Bibliography
We will read a selection from:
THEORETICAL TEXTS:
Avtar Brah and Ann Phoenix, “Ain’t I A Woman? Revisiting Intersectionality” (2004)
Ange-Marie Hancock, Intersectionality. An Intellectual History (2016)
Lisa Bowleg, “When Black + Lesbian + Woman ≠ Black Lesbian Woman: The Methodological Challenges of Qualitative and Quantitative Intersectionality Research” (2008)
Brown, M. and R. Ray, E. Summers, N. Fraistat. 2017 “#SayHerName: A Case Study of Intersectional Social Media Activism.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 40(11)
Sumi Cho, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, and Leslie McCall, “Toward a Field of Intersectionality Studies: Theory, Applications, and Praxis” (2013)
Cathy J. Cohen and Sarah J. Jackson, “Ask a Feminist: A Conversation with Cathy J. Cohen on Black Lives Matter, Feminism, and Contemporary Activism”
Patricia Hill Collins, Intersectionality and Critical Social Theory (2019)
Patricia Hill Collins, “Intersectionality’s Definitional Dilemmas” (2015)
Jennifer C. Nash, Black Feminism Reimagined after Intersectionality (2019)
Jennifer C. Nash, “Rethinking Intersectionality (2008)
Leah Thomas, The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle the Systems of Oppression to Protect People and Planet (2022)
Leslie McCall, “The Complexity of Intersectionality” (2005)
Patricia Hill Collins and Sirma Bilge, Intersectionality (2016)
Vivian M. May, Pursuing Intersectionality, Unsettling Dominant Imaginaries (2015)
Amia Srinivasan, The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-first Century (2021)
LITERATURE AND VISUAL CULTURE:
Nella Larsen, Passing
Cathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning
Achy Obejas, Days of Awe
Adrian Tomine, Shortcomings
Darrin Bell, The Talk
Gloria Anzaldua, Borderlands / La Frontera and/or This Bridge Called My Back
Carmen Maria Machado, In the Dreamhouse,
Ariana Reines, from A Sand Book
Kent Monkman and Gisele Gordon, The Memoirs of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle. A True and Exact Accounting of the History of Turtle Island
Lamyia H., Hijab Butch Blues: A Memoir
and
Reservation Dogs tv series.
Performances by the comedians Hannah Gadsby and Ziwe Fumudoh
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: