This module is a resource for lecturers
Guidelines to develop a stand-alone course
This Module provides an outline for a three-hour class, but there is potential to develop its topics further into a stand-alone course. A full-term or full-year course will allow the lecturer to take the students beyond EoC to include several other feminist theorists, including the differences between liberal and radical feminist approaches. Beginning from one of the earliest feminists, John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), who wrote "Subjection of Women" in 1869 and campaigned strongly for women's rights, an expanded course should cover the writings of Simone de Beauvoir, whose landmark book The Second Sex was one of the first inspirations to the activists of the Women's Liberation Movement, and was followed by Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mystique. Depending on time constraints, prominent feminist authors focused on oppression-based theories should also be included - e.g., Iris Young (Five Faces of Oppression, 2009), Marilyn Frye (The Politics of Reality, 1983 and Willful Virgin, 1992), and Bell Hooks (From Margin to Center, 1984). The scope and structure of such a course will be determined by the specific needs of each context, and a theoretical and practical part should be included within each course. A possible structure is presented here as a suggestion:
|
Session |
Topic |
Brief description |
|
1 |
Historical context of feminism |
Feminist tradition beginning with John Stuart Mill's "Subjection of Women" (1869) |
|
2 |
Examination of types of injustice suffered through the feminist "oppression" theories |
Young, Frye and Hooks. Exercises on intersectionality - e.g., gender, disability, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation |
|
3 |
Comparison between legal and moral duty of care |
Seinfeld's the "Good Samaritan" episode and the positive legal duty to care |
|
4 |
Higher duty to care - balancing family with others |
Singer "Drowning Child" theory and related exercises |
|
5 - 8
|
Ways of ameliorating injustice |
Each week consider the various approaches e.g.: EoC, distributive, relational, procedural, retributive, and restorative justice.as appropriate to the students and time allowed |
|
9
|
Wrap-up |
Reflection on what has been learned and what has shifted in their own behaviour and perceptions of others |