Course Syllabus

Topics in Feminist Philosophy: Metaphysics and Epistemology

 

PHILOSOPHY M187 / GENDER STUDIES M110C UCLA Summer 2023

Instructor: Sarah Beach 

Email: sarahelizabethbeach@gmail.com 

Office Hours: TBD

 

TA: Mikaela MacKenzie 

Email: mgmackenzie@humnet.ucla.edu

Office Hours: 

 

Course Description

 

This course takes an in-depth look at feminist contributions to epistemology, particularly standpoint epistemology, which explores how factors of one’s social/political situation, such as race, class, and gender, can provide one with a distinctive (and in some sense privileged) epistemic perspective (or at least access to one). We have two main tasks in this course--and we will pursue them both simultaneously. The first task is to examine the notion of a standpoint, beginning with Marx to feminists such as Nancy Harstock and Catherine MacKinnon to Black feminist writings of Audre Lorde, Patricia Hill Collins, bell hooks, and others. We will trace the idea, found in all of these texts, that standpoint is intrinsically connected to the sort of work/labor you do (both formal, paid labor, and informal, unpaid labor). 

In virtue of the significance of labor to standpoint, our course will engage in a second inquiry, involving substantive questions about women’s knowledge, asking questions such as what, if anything, could it be that women know in virtue of the work/labor they do? Is this knowledge privileged in some sense? Is it alienated in some sense? 

Throughout this course, students will be encouraged to reflect on and interrogate their own experiences, beliefs, and values in light of the insights expressed in the texts and classroom discussions.

A note. In the analytic philosophical tradition, there is often a sharp distinction drawn between ‘value theory’ and ‘epistemology’. This course assumes no such distinction. Please be prepared for the discussions to feel like ‘ethics’ or ‘politics’ in addition to ‘epistemology’. 

Course objectives:

• Students will be able to explain in their own words the major themes and concepts of the course. 
• Students will be able to explain in their own words the theses of the texts, and important concepts therein.
• Students will be able to explain in their own words at least several of the key arguments in-depth.
• Students will be able to critically evaluate (critique, place into dialogue w/ other views, defend, etc.) the ideas in the texts in discussion & in their writing.
• Students will be able to write an essay in which they develop and defend at least one original argument in response to one or more of the texts. 
• Students will gain experience interrogating their own experiences in light of the concepts, arguments, and insights of the texts and classroom discussions. 

 

Required Texts

All texts will be available on the course website.

 

Graded Coursework and Due Dates:

 

Reading Journals

• Two journal entries (~1-2 pg. double-spaced) must be submitted for grading; the first may be submitted anytime before Friday, August 18 of Week 2 via the course website; the second any time before Friday, August 25 of Week 3. They will be graded pass/fail. They are your opportunity to explore the themes of the course in connection with your own life and experiences. Your journal entry must explain at least one concept from the texts, but beyond that, it is open-ended. Please highlight in bold text the concepts from the course that you mention in your journals. 

 

Long Essay and Peer-review exercise

• Prompts will be distributed via email Wednesday, August 23 of Week 3 (or proposals for your own prompts are due).
• A proposed paper thesis (one paragraph) is due Monday, August 28 of week 4 via the course website. You will receive feedback on your thesis from your TA by Friday, Sept. 1.
• Paper outline and draft due Monday, Sept. 11 of Week 6 in time for lecture, and must be submitted online by 9 AM Monday Sept. 11. We will have an in-lecture peer review on Sept. 11. Due to the nature of the assignment, there are no makeups. You will be in 1 on 1 breakout rooms, read your papers to each other, & receive substantive comments from each other.
• Final essay due Monday, September 18. Must be 4-5 pages double-spaced, submit via the course website.

 

Section Attendance

 

Section attendance is mandatory for this course. If you have any extenuating circumstances, though, please let us know. We are willing to work with you.

 

 

Participation Rubric
●  Full credit: ​Always or almost always contributes​ to the discussion by raising thoughtful questions, analyzing relevant issues, building on others’ ideas, synthesizing across readings and discussions, expanding the class’ perspective, and appropriately challenging assumptions and perspectives.
●  Almost full credit: Sometimes contributes​ to the discussion in the aforementioned ways; or, misses more than one week.
●  Partial credit: Rarely contributes​ to the discussion in the aforementioned ways; or, misses more than 2 weeks.
●  Low credit: Never contributes ​to the discussion in the aforementioned ways; or, misses more than three weeks.

Final Grades
Your course grade will be calculated as follows:

20% Participation

10% First reading journal

10% Second reading journal

5% Paper thesis submission

5% On-time outline/draft submission for peer review

10% Peer review exercise

40% Final paper

Final grades may be adjusted upward or downward by up to a third of a letter grade on the basis of exceptional class participation.

Schedule of Readings

 

Week 1 

1. What is a ‘woman’?
1. DeBeauvoir, Simone, ‘Intro’, from The Second Sex Monday, August 7
2. Blu Buchanan, “Women and Femmes Unite! A Structural and Political Analysis of Femininity” (2018) : https://medium.com/@BlaQSociologist/women-and-femmes-unite-30ec59e6a658   Wednesday, August 9
3. Jenkins, Katherine, ‘Amelioration and Inclusion’: Gender Identity and the Concept of Woman’, Ethics Vol. 126 No. 2 Wednesday, August 9

Week 2

1. 1. 1. Catherine MacKinnon, ‘Consciousness Raising’ from Toward a Feminist Theory of the State (1989) pg. 83-105 Monday, August 14
      2. Patricia Hill Collins, ‘Black Feminist Epistemology’ from Black Feminist Thought (2000) Wednesday, August 16

Week 3

1. 1. 1. Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power, Audre Lorde, from Sister Outsider Monday, August 21

Week 4

1. Playfulness, "World"-Travelling, and Loving Perception, Maria Lugones, Hypatia, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Summer, 1987), pp. 3-19 (17 pages) Monday, August 28
2. bell hooks, Intro, Chapter 1, and Chapter 7, From Margin to Center. Wednesday, August 30

Week 5.

1. Monday, Sept 4: Labor Day holiday
2. bell hooks, ‘Wanted: Men Who Love’, from The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love Wednesday, Sept 6

Week 6

1. Sept 11. NO MONDAY READING (catch-up / peer review session in lecture) 
2. bell hooks, 'Work: What's Love Got to Do With it' from The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love
3. Audre Lorde, ‘Man Child: a Black Lesbian Feminist’s Response’, from Sister Outsider Wednesday, Sept 13
4. ‘What’s the Matter with Men? From The New Yorker, Jan 30, 2023  Wednesday, Sept 13 OPTIONAL

 

 

 

Grading Rubric for Term Papers

 

(A, A- ) Excellent essay

 

• Writing is straightforward and easy to read.
• Essay is clearly organized so that paragraphs clearly flow from one another and the reader is never lost.
• Essay topic clearly sets out a significant philosophical problem or question and makes the reader care about it.
• Exposition shows mastery of the philosophical materials used and conveys complete comprehension of arguments to the reader.
• Exposition provides a new point of access to the material discussed.
• Essay advances an insightful, creative, or very thoughtful philosophical argument that is well supported. Demonstrates awareness of significant objections to the position it advances and responds effectively to them.

 

(B+, B, B- ) Good essay

 

• Writing is readable, although some sentences may be difficult.
• Essay is coherently organized, but the reader is sometimes lost.
• Essay topic sets out a significant philosophical problem or question, although the essay may fail to show the reader why they should care about the topic.
• Exposition of philosophical materials contains no major mistakes and effectively conveys the central arguments and themes to the reader.
• Essay advances a philosophical argument and provides support for it although the argument might contain minor errors or need more development in places. Demonstrates independent thought about the topic and awareness of significant objections to the position it advances.

 

(C+, C, C- ) Adequate essay

 

• Writing is very difficult but not impossible to read. Many sentences are convoluted or ungrammatical.
• Essay is poorly organized and the reader is often lost.
• Essay topic provides an opportunity to exposit and argue about course materials but is not otherwise philosophically significant.
• Exposition shows a grasp of the central arguments and themes of the philosophical texts discussed but does not effectively convey it to the reader.
• Essay advances a philosophical argument. There may be serious problems with the argument, but the argument has promise of amounting to more than mere counter-assertion. Essay rehashes reading or lecture material rather than demonstrating independent thought about the topic.

 

(D+ or lower) Inadequate essay

 

• Writing is very difficult but not impossible to read. Most sentences are convoluted or ungrammatical and it is very difficult for the reader to understand the author’s meaning.
• Essay is unorganized and it is unclear to the reader why one paragraph follows another. • Essay topic poses a coherent question but is unrelated to the themes of the course.
• Exposition fails to show a grasp of the central arguments and themes of the philosophical texts discussed.
• Essay makes large argumentative errors or amounts to mere counter-assertion and fails to demonstrate original thought about the material.

 

(F) Failing essay

• Essay does not make a good faith effort to meet the requirements of the assignment.

 

 

 

 

 

This course satisfies the UCLA diversity requirement. (​https://www.registrar.ucla.edu/Academics/Diversity-Requirement​)

 

Academic Integrity

 

Be familiar with and abide by UCLA’s policies regarding academic and intellectual integrity: http://www.deanofstudents.ucla.edu/Academic-Integrity In accordance with these policies, any suspected plagiarism will be forwarded to the Dean of Students. Do not plagiarize. Cite all of your sources.

 

 

 

Accessibility

 

Students needing academic accommodations based on a disability should contact the Center for Accessible Education (CAE) at (310) 825-1501 or in person at Murphy Hall A255. When possible, students should contact the CAE within the first two weeks of the term as reasonable notice is needed to coordinate accommodations. For more information visit www.cae.ucla.edu.

Some helpful campus resources: 

Office for Students with Disabilities: (310) 825-1501; A255 Murphy Hall 

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS): (310) 825-0768; in Wooden Center West.  High-quality counseling and stress-management services. Drop-in and by appointment.  Also offers 24-hours crisis management over the phone. 

Undergraduate Writing Center: (310) 206-1320; wcenter@ucla.edu; A61 Humanities (MonThurs 10am-6pm, Fri 10am-3pm; 50-minute appointments). 

115 Rieber Hall (for on-campus residents only; Sun-Thurs 7-9pm; 50- and 25-minute appointments).  Provides free writing assistance to students in one-on-one sessions.  Make an appointment by either dropping in during scheduled hours or visiting www.wp.ucla.edu and clicking on UCLA Writing Center / Schedule an Appointment.