Take Care/Say No
SOC 333
Spring 2025
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01
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Situated between Maxine Waters's "reclaiming my time" and Nikole Hannah Jones's "I refuse," Take Care/Say No is a course designed to interrogate how Black womxn make decisions regarding their own survival in the face of overwhelming sociocultural, political, and economic commitments and obligations. Tagged as universal caretakers, Black womxn around the world often confront not only the legacies of colonialism, slavery, and imperialism through tropes like "mammy" or "superwoman," but also local definitions of womanhood, laced with misogynoir, that outline what they should do, how little space they should take up, and how grateful they should be for even the smallest leisure time. Paying attention to how the Covid-19 pandemic blurred lines between public and private life, students will closely read Black feminist/womanist texts to critically engage with the fields of cultural sociology, medical sociology, psychoanalysis, and political science. Throughout this course, we will 1) decipher the meaning of Black womxn's labor and leisure practices in their families, communities, and workplaces, and 2) challenge our understanding of terms like "care-work," "self-care," and "rest" to fully reimagine a world where Black womxn are free to say no and take care of themselves. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS SOC |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: SOC151 OR AFAM101 |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought
Tricia Hersey, 1) Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto; 2) We Will Rest: The Art of Escape
Audre Lorde, A Burst of Light and Other Essays
Alice Walker, In Search of Our Mothers¿ Gardens
Raquel Willis, The Risk it Takes to Bloom
Additional reading will be available on Moodle
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Examinations and Assignments:
Response papers, final paper/project, group facilitation |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
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| Instructor(s): Patterson-Faye,Courtney Times: ..T.... 01:20PM-04:10PM; Location: B2B3 SOUTH; |
Permission of Instructor Required
Enrollment capacity: 16 | Permission of instructor will be granted during the drop/add period. Students must submit either a ranked or unranked drop/add request for this course. |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 8 | 1st Ranked: 5 | 2nd Ranked: 3 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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