Race, Science, Gender, and Species
FGSS 330
Spring 2017
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
SISP 330 |
| Course Cluster: Animal Studies |
What does it mean to be "human" or "animal"? How are these categorizations and contestations surrounding humanity and animality a concern for feminist and critical scholars? How does critical theory help us to understand the (at times) uneasy intersections--or "dangerous crossings," as Claire Jean Kim calls them--where race, species, gender, and theories of science intersect to formulate ideas about humanity and animality? What theoretical and practical possibilities arise from exploring these intersections? This course explores these questions, curating a conversation about how theories of science shape ideas about race, gender, and species.
The seminar begins with Donna Haraway's now-classic Primate Visions as an introduction to the ways in which race, species, and gender are entangled with views of modern science. In many ways, this text touches at least briefly on all the themes we will be exploring throughout the semester. From there, we consider posthumanist theory--its possibilities and its limits. The second part of the course engages with black feminisms and what it means to be human, how the human is a site of political contestation, and how biopolitical negotiations shaped live experience and structural processes. Part three engages with exciting new work that sits at the nexus of critical race theory, postcolonial studies, and critical animal studies to explore what insights these intersections generate. The fourth part of the course turns to the emergent field of postcolonial animal studies that, at its core, addresses questions about race, empire, coloniality, and power in multispecies contexts. Finally, the course concludes with a collectively curated selection of readings, to be determined by seminar members. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS FGSS |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (FGSS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 50% - 74% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Possible texts include:
Donna Haraway, PRIMATE VISIONS
Claire Jean Kim, DANGEROUS CROSSINGS: RACE, SPECIES, AND NATURE IN A MULTICULTURAL AGE
Alexander Weheliye, HABEAS VISCUS: RACIALIZING ASSEMBLAGES, BIOPOLITICS AND BLACK FEMINIST THEORIES OF THE HUMAN
Colin Dayan, THE LAW IS A WHITE DOG
Neel Ahuja, BIOINSECURITIES: DISEASE INTERVENTIONS, EMPIRE AND THE GOVERNMENT OF SPECIES
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly online discussion posts/short critical reading response essays; public scholarship assignment; final research project. |
| Instructor(s): Gillespie,Kathryn Times: ..T.... 01:20PM-04:10PM; Location: ALLB004; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 4 | JR major: 4 | | |
| Seats Available: 4 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 4 | SO: 0 | FR: X |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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