KARSTEN H. PIEP 2015 7A (JAN-MAY 2015) 3-CREDIT-HOURS

KARSTEN.PIEP@MYUNION.EDU

(513) 421-0551

HMS 809

Ernest Meissonier, The Barricade (1848)

The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.

--Karl Marx, “Theses on Feuerbach” (1848)

SEMINAR DESCRIPTION

Although Critical Theory (capitalized) has come to be closely associated with the Frankfurt School, as a

practice of sustained critical inquiry that seeks to bring about social change, its reach and application

extends far beyond the work of the members of the Institute for Social Research. Karl Marx’s famous

assertion that “philosophers have only interpreted the world” but “the point is to change it” has been taken

up by a wide variety of social, political, and cultural theorists who, akin to Patricia Hill Collins’s account

of “one distinguishing feature of Black feminist thought,” insist “that both the changed consciousness of

individuals and the social transformation of political and economic institutions constitute essential

ingredients for social change.” A central supposition underlying all critical theories, then, is that

oppression, whether it is based on (frequently intersecting) constructs of class, gender, race, sexual

orientation, or ability, cannot be overcome “under existing ideological and institutional structures”

(Rhode). Thus, according to Max Horkheimer, critical theory distinguishes itself from traditional theory

in that it actively critiques and challenges existing ideological and institutional structures. Whereas

traditional theory, marked by positivism and foundationalism, uncritically reproduces existing society,

Horkheimer claims, critical theory strives to transform the very structure of society. “The aim of this

activity,” he explains, “is not simply to eliminate one or another abuse, for it regards such abuses as

necessarily connected with the way in which the social structure is organized. Although it itself emerges

Critical Theory

HMS 809 - Critical Theory 2

from the social structure, its purpose is not, either in its conscious intention, or in its objective

significance, the better functioning of any element in the structure. On the contrary, it is suspicious of the

very categories of better, useful, appropriate, productive, and valuable, as these are understood in the

present order.” In part due to its characteristic suspiciousness of all things that are considered given (a

critical move that, Paul Ricour has argued, allows the interpreter to glimpse “a world that opens up new

possibilities of being”), critical theory is “rooted in ‘critical activity’ which is oppositional and which is

involved in a struggle for social change and the unification of theory and practice,” as Douglas Kellner

notes. Generally speaking, critical theory may therefore be understood as an ongoing effort to critique the

social organization of economics, politics, and culture so as to discern and foster the emergence of

alternative social practices and formations.

In the spirit of what Frankfurt School theorists call “immanent critique,” this advanced HMS seminar

invites participants to turn a critical eye on five, decidedly interdisciplinary schools of critical theory that

have gained prominence before the historical backdrops of nationalism, imperialism, and Fascism as well

as the attendant resurgence of antiauthoritarianism, feminism, civil rights struggles, and various

decolonization efforts. Following a brief consideration of Karl Marx’s approach to ideology critique, we

will scrutinize how thinkers such as Ernst Bloch, Antonio Gramsci, and Frantz Fanon theorize resistance

by expanding upon basic Marxist concepts. Next, we are going to take a close look at Max Horkheimer’s

definition of critical theory and examine its applications and permutations in the historico-materialist art

criticisms of Walter Benjamin and Theodor Adorno as well as Hannah Arendt and Jürgen Habermas’s

writings on the political functions of public places and spheres. Turning to select foundational texts by

Stuart Hall and Raymond Williams, we will consider central critical approaches that continue to inform

(British) cultural studies and then investigate how these have been brought to bear on the study of popular

culture as well as empire. Nancy Fraser’s “What’s Critical About Critical Theory?” sets the stage for our

subsequent exploration of feminist appropriations of critical theory that entails close considerations of

Chandra Mohanty’s indictment of feminist scholarship in colonial discourses and Barbara Smith’s

account of the emergence of black feminist thought. Finally, we will examine some basic tenets of critical

race theory such as intersectionality via pioneering texts by Kimberle Crenshaw, Paulette Caldwell, and

Patricia Hill Collins, and consider the ways in which critical feminist theory and critical race theory

contest “androcentric, Eurocentric, and colonial ‘ways to truth’ that universalize the experiences of a

fraction of the human population...and develop alternative research practices that further feminist and

antiracist goals of social transformation” (Hawkesworth). Interspersed throughout the seminar, one

cinematic and three literary interludes--centered on Charlie Chaplin’s silent movie, Modern Times (1936);

Herman Melville’s short story, “Bartleby, the Scrivener” (1853); James Joyce’s short story, “Eveline”

(1914); and Sherley Anne Williams’s novel, Dessa Rose (1986)--challenge participants to apply aspects

of critical theory to the interpretation of cultural artifacts.

INTEGRATION OF PROGRAM THEMES

Since, as defined by Max Horkheimer, critical theory “strives for a state of affairs in which there will be

no exploitation or oppression,” this seminar perforce requires participants to critically engage changing

notions of social justice as well as intersecting constructs of otherness and difference. Based on the guiding

assumption embraced by many critical theorists that critique must begin by sketching out the limits of our

current ways of knowing, the readings, discussions, and assignments have been assembled to facilitate a

self-reflective approach to scholarship that entails a critical assessment of one’s investments in existing

structures of organizing knowledge, obtaining power, and making judgments.

HMS 809 - Critical Theory 3

INDIVIDUALIZED LEARNING

In the context of HMS 809, thinking and writing about ideas and issues is conceived as a reflective

dialogue between one’s own intuitions and beliefs, and a series of complex and provocative theoretical

arguments and texts. Thus, the critical responses, annotated bibliography, critical review essay, and final

seminar project allow participants to advance their individual intellectual projects through an informed

dialogue with influential thinkers, concepts, and theories.

UNIVERSITY AND PROGRAM OUTCOMES

HMS 809 pays particular attention to UI&U Doctoral Learning Outcome IV: Social and Global

Perspectives as well as Ph.D. Program outcome ii, “Demonstrate understanding of theories and practices

of the creative process, engaging difference, and social justice.” This means that seminar contributions

will be evaluated on the basis of the clarity of their descriptions and critiques of central arguments,

theories, methods and their critical appraisals of potential benefits and shortcomings of theories and

practices of the creative process, engaging difference, and/or social justice.

ASSIGNMENTS

CLOSE READING RESPONSES (CRR): To facilitate the close reading of and critical engagement with texts,

seminar participants will be divided into two groups and post altogether five reading responses. These

responses should be between 400 and 800 words long and contain specific references to and/or quotes

from the text under discussion. Rather than attempting to summarize an entire reading, the responses

should focus on one idea, theme, or issue and pursue it in greater depth, recording comments or

criticisms, and raising questions.

BRIEF COMMENTS (BC): In order to allow for group discussions, seminar participants who are not posting

their (roughly) biweekly reading response will post one or more brief comments on one or more of the

responses. The length of these short comments may vary from a few lines to an entire paragraph.

VIRTUAL MID-SEMESTER RESIDENCY (MSR): As part of the mid-semester residency, this seminar will

meet via Adobe for a two-hour session during the period of March 14-28. The precise date and time will

be determined at the January Residency. Additionally, all students are required to attend the virtual Social

Justice Presentation on Saturday, March 21, from 11:00 AM-1:00 PM ET and breakout sessions in

areas of concentration on March 28, from 11:00 AM-1:00 PM ET.

CONFERENCE CALL DISCUSSIONS: Toward the end each sequence, we will convene by phone to discuss

what we have learned (or failed to learn) through our close engagement with various texts. Although these

discussions are intended to be rather informal, participants are asked to prepare a three- to five-minute

opening statement, in which he/she takes an arguable (preferably provocative) position on one or

more of the readings.

CRITICAL REVIEW ESSAY: About midway through the seminar, participants will write a critical review

essay that deals with one or more issues concerning the theory and/or practice of critical theory. The

review essay should be 2000-2500 words in length (approximately 7-10 pages) and contain specific

textual evidence from the readings to support interpretations and contentions. Written for an

audience already familiar with the primary texts under discussion, the essay should largely consist of

analysis and interpretation rather than mere summarization. The essay should be organized around a

specific thesis or point based on the writer’s own reaction to the reading, and should make an

argument.

HMS 809 - Critical Theory 4

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: In order to advance both their thinking and their research, seminar

participants will compile a short annotated bibliography, consisting of 8 to 10 entries, each of which is

followed by paragraph-length summary/assessment of the cited article or book chapter. The material

included in the annotated bibliography should be selected with an eye toward the final research paper

described below.

RESEARCH PAPER: A vehicle for applying core theories and concepts encountered in the seminar to

individual intellectual and practical pursuits, the research paper affords seminar participants with the

opportunity to advance their own projects. Work on the research paper will occur in three stages: (1) a

brief PROPOSAL, containing a thesis that relates the seminar’s theme to their specific fields of inquiry as

well as a short bibliography of relevant texts; (2) a first DRAFT OF his/her RESEARCH PAPER, to which

the instructor will respond with detailed comments and specific suggestions for revision; (3) and a PEER

REVIEW that will allow participants to revise their papers. The final product should contain 6000-8000

words (approximately 20 to 25 pages) and engage some of the seminar readings, supplemented by

copious outside research, in a manner that advances the writer’s own specific field or area of inquiry.

REQUIRED TEXTS

Williams, Sherley Anne. Dessa Rose: A Novel. 1986. New York: William Morrow, 1999.

All of the remaining texts listed below can be accessed electronically via direct links through Union

Institute & University’s library, an e-reserve depository, or public internet sites. Additional texts,

recommended readings, lecture notes, handouts, assignments, et cetera will be made available through the

HMS 809 CampusWeb site.

ADA COMPLIANCE INFORMATION

UI&U is committed to non-discrimination on the basis of disability. Students may request

accommodations by filling out the disclosure of disabilities form on the university’s ADA website

http://www.myunion.edu/academics/academic-services/ada-policy-of-union-institute-university/

Additional information can be found at http://www.myunion.edu/the-office-of-student-success/disability-

services/.

No accommodations can be made without approval from the ADA office so it is important that you file

this confidential information with the ADA office in the event you have a reoccurring condition that may

require accommodations.

THE WRITING CENTER

Union Institute & University’s Writing Center offers self-help resources and free one-on-one tutoring

sessions over the phone for all students. Tutoring sessions by phone are available mornings, afternoons,

evenings and weekends. Self-help resources are located at http://www.myunion.edu/academics/academic-

services/writing-center-2/. Appointments for tutoring by telephone can be scheduled through the writing

center’s CampusWeb group or by contacting the center (phone: 513-487-1156 or toll free: 1-800-861-

6400 ext. 1156 or email: writing-center@myunion.edu).

HMS 809 - Critical Theory 5

GRADING SCALE AND SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS (SAP)

(Grading, SAP and Financial Aid Policies can be found in the University Catalog

http://www.myunion.edu/academics/academic-services/university-catalog-program-handbooks/.)

Students in the Cohort PhD Program must make satisfactory academic progress every term. This means

that students must earn at least a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or S. Students must also successfully complete at

least 67% of cumulative credits attempted. For example, if a student has attempted 60 credit hours during

enrollment, he/she must successfully complete 40 or more of those hours. Student completion rates are

reviewed at the end of each term of attendance. Grades of U, W, I, V, NE and WIP adversely affect a

student‘s completion rate because they are calculated as attempted but not completed. This can

cause a student’s completion rate to drop below 67%. This may result in the student not meeting

the SAP requirement facing possible academic and financial aid probation and/or dismissal from

the program. Grades of C or U adversely affect the student’s GPA and academic standing in the

program. A special review will be initiated if a student receives a C, U or two or more incomplete

(I) grades.

Grading Scale

Grade Criteria

A Academic work reflects impressively thorough and accurate knowledge of assigned

material, including the complexities and nuances of major and minor theories, concepts,

and intellectual frameworks; exceptional evidence of capability to compare, assess, and

synthesize material; especially strong capability to logically critique extant theories and

claims and to develop persuasive arguments based on original thinking.

4.0 Quality Points

A- Criteria for A work not fully met.

3.70 Quality Points

B+ Criteria for B work is more fully met.

3.30 Quality Points

B Academic work reflects accurate grasp of major concepts, theories, and prevailing

knowledge; abundant evidence of capability to offer informed analysis of extant knowledge

and ideas; clear capability to synthesize and apply key information from prevailing

knowledge; appropriate critiques of extant theories and knowledge; considerable

demonstration of capability to develop and logically present own judgments.

3.0 Quality Points

B- Criteria for B work is not fully met.

2.70 Quality Points

C+ Criteria for C work is more fully met.

2.30 Quality Points

C Academic work reflects adequate familiarity with key ideas and knowledge, although

interpretations of key theories and concepts are occasionally incomplete and flawed;

written and verbal accounts of information, theories, and concepts remain primarily at the

level of description; critiques are present but not well developed with occasional

interpretive errors.

2.0 Quality Points

S Academic work reflects satisfactory completion of all prescribed learning and is equivalent

to B or better at the doctoral level on a standard letter grading scale. The S grade is used

only for ACS 897, ECL/HMS/PPS 841, 850, 860, MLK 800, MLK 890 and RSCH 900

Dissertation.

0.00 Quality Points and does not calculate into the GPA

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U Academic work reflects insufficient capability to comprehend and accurately present ideas

and information; superficial and unpersuasive critiques; little evidence of capability for

original thinking. Unsatisfactory performance is defined as any performance less than C at

the doctoral level. A U grade should be given only on the basis of less than satisfactory

work and should not be given because a student has not been present in a seminar (in

such a case a V grade should be given).

0.0 Quality Points

W Withdrawal: Student initiated withdrawal from a seminar or the program. Withdrawal

from the program discontinues connection to university passwords and accounts.

I Incomplete: Student completes at least 60% of work in a seminar but less than 100% of

the required work in a seminar.

NE Never Engaged: An NE grade will be assigned during the first 21 days of each term for a

student who neither attends nor engages in a registered seminar (including the residency

sessions).

V Vanished: A V grade will be assigned six weeks after the beginning of a term by the

Dean’s Office, or during end-of-term grading by a faculty member for a student who

attends/engages in a registered seminar (including the residency sessions) but subsequently

ceases to attend/engage in the seminar and does not officially withdraw from the seminar.

WIP (No

grade)

No Grade: Faculty member has not submitted a grade for a student.

Repeated

Seminar

Students are permitted to repeat any seminar once after receiving a U. The last grade

earned is calculated in the GPA.

Successful

Completion

A grade of A through C or S is considered successful seminar completion.

Special Note Regarding Incompletes:

Students must have approval from the seminar faculty member to receive an incomplete for the term. If

this approval is not requested and approved, the student will receive a W (withdrawal) or V

(vanished), depending on the circumstances in regard to attendance in the seminar. In other words,

incompletes are not automatic and students should not assume that they can take incompletes at will. All

incomplete work for a current term should be submitted by May 1 or November 1 of the following term.

It is always best for students to stay in communication with faculty members and to try to get all

the work done for the term by the deadline. Students and faculty members should explore all

options together before deciding that the incomplete route is the one to take.

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE

I. Critical Theory: An Introduction

Please read all assigned readings below prior to our residency meetings.

First Session: Surveying the Terrain of Critical Theory

Balsamo, Anne. “Feminism and Cultural Studies.” The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language

Association 24.1 (1991): 50-73. Direct Link

Bell, Derrick. “Who is Afraid of Critical Race Theory?” University of Illinois Law Review 4 (1995): 893-

910. Direct Link

Johnson, Richard. “What Is Cultural Studies Anyway?” Social Text 16 (1987): 38-80. Direct Link

HMS 809 - Critical Theory 7

Kellner, Douglas. “Cultural Marxism and Cultural Studies.” 2004. UCLA Faculty Website.

˂http://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/papers/cultmarx.htm˃.

Rode, Deborah L. “Feminist Critical Theories.” Stanford Law Review 42.3 (1990): 617-38. Direct Link

Second Session: Specters of Marx

Derrida, Jacques. “What Is Ideology?” Specters of Marx, The State of the Debt, the Work of

Mourning, & the New International. Trans. Peggy Kamuf. New York: Routledge, 1994. 70-86.

Direct Link

Marx, Karl. The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. 1842. New York: International, 1994. 1-20.

(Chapters I-III). Direct Link

---. “The Fetishism of the Commodity and the Secret Thereof.” 1867. Capital: A Critique of

Political Economy, Volume 1. Trans Ben Fowkes. New York: Vintage, 1976. 134-49. Direct Link

---. “Letter to A. Ruge, September 1843.” Karl Marx: Early Writings. New York: Vintage, 1975. 209.

Direct Link

---. “Theses on Feuerbach.” 1845. Selected Writings. Ed. Lawrence H. Simon. Indianapolis:

Hackett, 1994. 98-101. Direct Link

Third Session: Literary Interlude - “Bartleby, the Scrivener”

Reed, Naomi C. “‘Bartleby, the Scrivener’ and the Language of Commodities.” American

Literature 76.2 (2004): 247-73. Direct Link

Melville, Herman. “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” 1853. The Piazza Tales and Other Prose Pieces, 1839-1860.

Eds. Harrison Hayford, Alma A. MacDougall, and G. Thomas Tanselle. Chicago: Northwestern

UP, 1987. 11-35. Direct Link

II. Cultural Marxism

January 25-31: Utopia

Post Close Reading Response (Group I) or Brief Comments (Group II)

Bloch, Ernst. “Introduction.” The Principle of Hope. 1954. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1987. 3-18.

Direct Link

Jameson, Fredric. “Reification and Utopia in Mass Culture.” Social Text 1 (1979): 130-148. Direct Link

Kellner, Douglas. “Ernst Bloch, Utopia and Ideology Critique.” 1996. Illuminations: The Critical Theory

Website. University of Texas at Arlington. ˂http://www.uta.edu/huma/illuminations/kell1.htm˃

February 1-7: Hegemony and Resistance

Post Close Reading Response (Group II) or Brief Comments (Group I)

Gramsci, Antonio. “History of the Subaltern Class,” “The Concept of ‘Ideology’,” “Cultural

Themes: Ideological Material,” “Subversive.” Selections from the Prison Notebooks of Antonio

Gramsci. Ed. Quintin Hoare. New York: International, 1971. 52-53, 57-8, 78-80. Direct Link

Hall, Stuart. “Gramsci's Relevance for the Study of Race and Ethnicity.” Journal of Communication

Inquiry 10 (1986): 5-27. Direct Link

Scott, James C. Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. New Haven, CT: Yale

UP, 1985. 29-47. Direct Link

February 8-14: Uses and Abuses of Theory

Post Close Reading Response (Group I) or Brief Comments (Group II)

Lukács, György. “What is Orthodox Marxism?” (1919) and “Class Consciousness” (1920). History and

Class Consciousness. 1923. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1971. 1-25, 46-82. Direct Link

HMS 809 - Critical Theory 8

Fanon, Frantz. “The Pitfalls of National Consciousness.” The Wretched of the Earth. 1961. New York:

Grove, 1963. 148-205. Direct Link

Said, Edward. “Traveling Theory Reconsidered.” Reflection on Exile and Other Essays. Cambridge, MA:

Harvard UP, 2000. 436-52.

III. Frankfurt School

February 15-21: Traditional and Critical Theory

First Conference Call and Adobe Session

Horkheimer, Max. “Traditional and Critical Theory.” 1937. Critical Theory: Selected Essays. New

York: Continuum, 2002. 188-243. Direct Link

Kellner, Douglas. “Critical Theory and the Crisis of Social Theory.” Sociological Perspectives 33 (1990):

11-33. Direct Link

February 22-28: Art and Aura

Post Close Reading Response (Group II) or Brief Comments (Group I)

Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” Illuminations. Ed. Hannah

Arendt. New York: Schocken. 217-67. Direct Link

Hansen, Miriam. “Benjamin, Cinema, and Experience: The Blue Flower in the Land of Technology.”

New German Critique 40 (1987): l79-224. Direct Link

February 22-March 14: Cinematic Interlude - Modern Times

Howe, Lawrence. “Charlie Chaplin in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction: Reflexive Ambiguity in

Modern Times.” College Literature 40.1 (2013): 45-65. Direct Link

Modern Times. Dir. Charlie Chaplin. Perf. Chaplin and Paulette. Goddard. United Artists, 1936.

Direct Link

March 1-7

Virtual Break

March 8-14: Cinema

Critical Review Essay Due

Adorno, Theodor and Anson G. Rabinbach. “Culture Industry Reconsidered.” New German Critique 6

(1975): 12-19. Direct Link

Adorno, Theodor and Thomas Y. Levin. “Transparencies on Film.” 1966. New German Critique

24/25 (1981-1982): 199-205. Direct Link

Hansen, Miriam. “Introduction to Adorno, ‘Transparencies on Film’ (1966).” New German Critique

24/25(1981-1982): 186-198. Direct Link

March 15-21: From Public Space to Public Sphere

Mid-Semester Residency (MSR) Social Justice Presentation, March 21, 11:00 AM-1:00 PM ET

Second Conference Call and Adobe Session (To be scheduled as part of MSR)

Habermas, Jürgen. The Theory of Communicative Action, Volume 1. Boston: Beacon, 1984. 1-74.

Direct Link

Arendt, Hannah. “The Gap Between the Past and the Future” and “The Crisis in Culture Its Social and Its

Political Significance.” Between Past and Future. New York: Viking, 1968. 3-16.

Benhabib, Seyla. “Feminist Theory and Hannah Arendt's Concept of Public Space. History of the Human

Sciences 1993 6: 97-114. Direct Link

HMS 809 - Critical Theory 9

---. “From Public Space to Public Sphere: Hannah Arendt and Jürgen Habermas” and “The Contested

Public Sphere: Arendt, Habermas and Beyond.” The Reluctant Modernism of Hannah Arendt

2000. 199-215.

IV. (British) Cultural Studies

March 22-28: Doing Cultural Studies

Humanities and Culture MSR Meeting, March 28, 11:00 AM-1:00 PM ET

Post Close Reading Response (Group I) or Brief Comments (Group II)

Hall, Stuart. “Cultural Studies: Two Paradigms.” Media, Culture and Society 2 (1980): 57-72.

Direct Link

---. “The Problem of Ideology-Marxism Without Guarantees .” Journal of Communication Inquiry 10

(1986): 28-44. Direct Link

Williams, Raymond. “The Analysis of Culture.” The Long Revolution. New York: Penguin, 1965. 57-70.

Direct Link

---. “Dominant, Residual, and Emergent.” Marxism and Literature. New York: Oxford UP, 1977. 121-28.

Direct Link

March 29-April 4: Popular Culture

Post Close Reading Response (Group II) or Brief Comments (Group I)

Bennett, Tony. “Marxism and Popular Fiction.” Literature and History 7.2 (1981): 138-65. Direct Link

Eagleton, Terry. “Versions of Culture.” The Idea of Culture. London: Blackwell, 2000. 1-31. Direct Link

March 29-April 11: Literary Interlude - “Eveline”

Joyce, James. “Eveline.” 1914. Dubliners. New York: Dover, 1991. 25-28. Direct Link

Uphaus, Maxwell. “An ‘Unworkable Compound’: Ireland and Empire in ‘Eveline’.” MFS Modern Fiction

Studies 60.1 (2014): 28-51. Direct Link

April 5-11: Nation and Empire

Seminar Paper Proposal Due

Post Close Reading Response (Group I) or Brief Comments (Group II)

Baker, Houston A., Stephen Best, and Ruth H. Lindebog. “Representing Blackness/Representing Britain:

Cultural Studies and the Politics of Knowledge.” Black British Cultural Studies: A Reader. Eds.

Houston A. Baker, Stephen Best, and Ruth H. Lindebog. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1996. 1-15.

Gilroy, Paul. “British Cultural Studies and the Pitfalls of Identity.” Cultural Studies and

Communications. Eds. James Curran, David Morley and Valerie Walkerdine. London: Hodder, 1

995. 35-49.

V. Feminist Critical Theories

April 12-18: Feminist Critical Theory

Individual Calls

Fraser, Nancy. “What’s Critical About Critical Theory?” New German Critique 35 (1985): 97-131.

Direct Link

Butler, Judith. “Merely Cultural.” Social Text 52/53 (1997): 265-77. Direct Link

HMS 809 - Critical Theory 10

April 19-25: Gender, Race, and the “Third World”

Third Conference Call and Adobe Session

Carby, Hazel V. “White Woman Listen! Black Feminism and the Boundaries of Sisterhood.” 1982. Black

British Cultural Studies: A Reader. Eds. Houston A. Baker, Stephen Best, and Ruth H. Lindebog.

Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1996. 136-53. Direct Link

Mohanty, Chandra. “Under Western Eyes.” Feminist Review 30 (1988): 61-88. Direct Link

April 19-May 16: Literary Interlude - Dessa Rose

Burns, Phyllis Lynne. “‘I Kill White Mens...Cause I Can’: The Rewriting of Liberation and Mastery in

Dessa Rose.” Criticism: A Quarterly for Literature and the Arts 55.1 (2013):119-45. Direct Link

Seliger, Mary A. “Dessa's Blues: Reimagining the Master's Narrative in Sherley Anne Williams's Dessa

Rose.” The Western Journal of Black Studies 36.4 (2012): 314-24. Direct Link

Williams, Sherley Anne. Dessa Rose. New York: William Morrow, 1986.

April 26-May 2: Black Feminist Thought

First Draft of Seminar Paper Due

Collins, Patricia Hill. “Black Feminist Thought in the Matrix of Domination.” Black Feminist Thought:

Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Boston: Hyman, 1990. 221–238.

Direct Link

Smith, Barbara. “Introduction.” Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology. 1983. New Brunswick, NJ:

Rutger UP, 1999. xxi-Xlvii.

“The Combahee River Collective Statement.” 1983. Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology. Ed.

Barbara Smith. Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1999. 25-29. Direct Link

VI. Critical Race Theory

May 3-9: Intersectionality

Post Close Reading Response (Group II) or Brief Comments (Group I)

Caldwell, Paulette. “Hair Piece: Perspectives on the Intersection Between Race and Gender.” Duke Law

Journal 42.2 (1991): 365-96. Direct Link

Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against

Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review 43.6 (1991): 1241-99. Direct Link

Varma, Rashmi. “On Common Ground?: Feminist Theory and Critical Race Studies.” Feminist

Literary Theory. New York: Cambridge UP, 2006. 232-60.

May 10-16: Decolonization

Post Close Reading Response (Group I) or Brief Comments (Group II)

hooks, bell. “Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance.” Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston:

South End Press, 1992. 21-39. Direct Link

Montoya, Margaret. “Trenzas, y Grednas: Un/Masking the Self While Un/Braiding Latina Stories and

Legal Discourse.” Chicano-Latino Law Review 15 (1994): 1-37.

May 17-23: Looking Back, Ahead

Post Close Reading Response (Group II) or Brief Comments (Group I)

Beauvoir, Simone de. “Introduction: Woman As Other.” The Second Sex. 1949. Trans. H. M. Parshley.

New York: Penguin,1972. 1-14. Direct Link

Du Bois, W.E.B. “Of the Dawn of Freedom.” The Souls of Black Folks. Chicago: A.C. McClurg, 1903.

18-32. Direct Link

HMS 809 - Critical Theory 11

Gerassi, John. "Simone de Beauvoir: The Second Sex: 25 Years Later.” Society 13.2 (1976): 79-85.

Direct Link

Hawkesworth, Mary. “From Constitutive Outside to the Politics of Extinction: Critical Race Theory,

Feminist Theory, and Political Theory.” Political Research Quarterly 63.3 (2010): 686-96.

Direct Link

May 24-30

Revision Week

May 31

Final Seminar Paper Due