At the heart of this course are various methodological questions. How do we write about women? How do women write? Who are these "women"? How do we "write women"? Is writing, indeed, the best way to represent women? To try to answer those questions, we will read an array of works that theorize the writing and representation of women, including literary theory, sociological theory, psychoanalytic theory, biography, fiction, and poetry. As a partial answer to the course questions, each student will produce a course project that "writes women."

Required Materials and Capabilities

Email and internet access are required. Some readings (designated below as WS) will be made available in the Women's Studies Department for you to read and/or copy as you wish; under no circumstances should you take them out of the building for more than one hour. Other readings are available online. Books have been ordered through ASUA bookstore. You may also be able to find used copies at local bookstores and at web sites like amazon.com. Two "performances" will also be part of this course's expectations. The movie version of Michael Cunningham's The Hours will be playing in Tucson during this semester, and it is my plan that class members view that film. In addition, I hope to arrange for us to attend a performance of Sharon Wyrrick's performance The Search for Barbara McClintock. More information will be available on these events later in the semester.

Calixthe Beyala, The Sun Hath Looked Upon Me, trans. Marjolihn de Jager
A. S. Byatt, The Matisse Stories
Michael Cunningham, The Hours
Eva Figes, Nelly's Version
Evelyn Fox Keller, A Feeling for the Organism: The Life and Work of Barbara McClintock
Audre Lorde, Zami, a New Spelling of My Name
Nancy K. Miller, But Enough About Me
Carolyn Steedman, Landscape for a Good Woman
Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway

Required Work

Attendance and participation in class discussions are mandatory. Plan to contribute appropriately to class discussion by speaking up without waiting to be called on and by limiting your own contribution so as to give everyone a chance to speak.

Reading Responses: 40%
Oral/Written Presentation: 20%
Final Project (includingProspectus): 40%
Honors Credit: see Final Project assignment

Daily Syllabus
All articles below are now on electronic reserve. Get user name and password from professor. Articles will also continue to be available outside Communication 110.

Wed Jan 15
In class: Introduction to course materials and assignments and to each other. Sign up for presentation. Presentation: "Desiring Women Writing" in early modern England.

Wed Jan 22
For class: Buy books for course. Sign on to class list. (Send the message subscribe ws498 Yourfirstname Yourlastname [substituting your own name] to listserv@listserv.arizona.edu.) Read Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway.
In class: Reading Response 1 due. Presentation on Woolf: Vork.

Wed Jan 29
For class: Read Cunningham, The Hours.
In class: Reading Resonse 2 due. Presentation on Cunningham: Kensky.

Special Group Opportunity
Attend The Hours

Wed Feb 5
For class: Read Scott, "Gender: A Useful Category of Analysis" (if you are off campus and do not have a dakotacom account, access through JSTOR), Herz, "Aemilia Lanyer and the Pathos of Literary History" (WS), Schüssler Fiorenza, "In Search of Women's Heritage" (all WS).
In class: Reading Response 3 due. Presentation on Herz: [not taken]; Schüssler Fiorenza:L [not taken].

Wed Feb 12
For class: Read Steedman, Landscape for a Good Woman.
In Class:  No Reading Response this week. Presentation on Steedman: Milazzo.

Wed Feb 19
For class: Read Stanley and Wise, "Method, Methodology and Epistemology in Feminist Research Processes," Stanley, "'A Referral Was Made,'" and Tait, "The Mastectomy Experience" (all WS).
In class: Reading Response 4 due. Presentation on Stanley and Wise: [not taken]; Stanley, Tait: Showalter.

Wed Feb 26
For class: ReadPurkiss, "A Holocaust of One's Own," McBride, "Native Mothers, Native Others," and Hall, "Reading What Isn't There" (all WS).
In class: No Reading Response this week. Assignment of Final Project. Presentation on Purkiss: Moran; on Hall: Carroll.

Wed Mar 5
For class: Read Williams, "The Brides of Christ," McBride, "A (Boarding) House Is Not a Home," Kennedy and Davis, "'To Cover Up the Truth Would Be a Waste of Time,'" and Heilbrun, "Introduction" and "One" (all WS). Post Reading Response 5 online: between the end of class Wed Feb 26 and midnight Tue Mar 4, post 2 screen-length comments to the class list (ws498@listserv.arizona.edu) on the Heilbrun readings following the guidelines for the paper responses. Be sure to respond specifically to other students' comments, i.e., to engage in dialog. Work on Prospectus.
In class: Presentation on Williams: [not taken]; McBride: Cohen; Kennedy and Davis: Nutini.

Wed Mar 12
For class: Read Kuletz, "Feminist Science Studies, Objectivity, and the Politics of Vision," and Briggs, "Ghosts, Cyborgs, and Why Puerto Rico Is the Most Important Place in the World" (both WS). Work on Prospectus.
In class: Turn in Prospectus. No Reading Response this week.

Wed Mar 19: no class--spring break

Wed Mar 26
For class: Read Miller, But Enough About Me.
In class: Reading Response 6 due. Presentation: Sampson.

Wed Apr 2
For class: Read Keller, A Feeling for the Organism. Complete Prospectus. Post Reading Response 7 online: between the end of class Wed Mar 26 and midnight Tue Apr 1, post 2 screen-length comments to the class list (ws498@listserv.arizona.edu) following the guidelines for the paper responses. Be sure to respond specifically to other students' comments, i.e., to engage in dialog. Begin working on Final Project.
In class: Presentation: [not taken].

Wed Apr 9: no class
Continue working on Final Project. Begin reading Lorde, Zami.

Wed Apr 16
For class: Read Beyala, The Sun Hath Looked Upon Me. Continue working on Final Project.
In class: Reading Response 8 due. Presentation: Immerman.

Wed Apr 23
For class: Read Figes, Nelly's Version. Continue working on Final Project.
In class: Reading Response 9 due. Presentation: Gibson.

Wed Apr 30
For class: Read Byatt, The Matisse Stories. Finish Lorde, Zami. Continue working on Final Project.
In class: No Reading Response this week. Presentation on Byatt: Hall; Lorde: Truschel.

Wed May 7
For class: Read a selection of poems by Harryette Mullen (WS) and an interview with her. Continue working on Final Project. Post Reading Response 10 online: between the end of class Wed Apr 30 and midnight Tue May 6, post 2 screen-length comments to the class list (ws498@listserv.arizona.edu). The first posting should be a retrospective of your WS career--what have you learned? where did you start? what difference has it made to/for you? Your second (and third, fourth, fifth) posting can then respond specifically to other students' comments, i.e., engage in dialog.
In class: Discussion. Presentation: Hallay.

Wed May 14, 5:00-7:00 pm (final exam; your attendance is not optional)
For class: Complete final project.
In class: Short presentations on final projects at McBride's home. Dinner will be served. See email message for address and directions.