Wooten Hall 320, Wednesday 2:00-4:50 p.m.
Department of Philosophy and Religion
Studies
University of North Texas
Office: 333 Terrill Hall (565-3331)
Office Hours: W 9:30-10:30 a.m., TTR 11:00-12:00 a.m.
Are women closer to nature than men? Is the Earth our Mother? Is the degradation of the environment linked to the oppression of women? Must environmentalists be feminists? These are some of the central questions to be considered in this course.
This graduate seminar examines feminist thought concerning the ecological crisis. It studies the intersection of feminism and environmental philosophy in "classic" and recent writings by ecofeminist thinkers. Participants in the course will analyze and assess the assumptions and implications of ecofeminist thought. After surveying a variety of contemporary feminist theories, we will examine interconnections between the exploitation of nature and the subjugation of women. We then will consider ecofeminist thought on animal rights, ecofeminist critiques of deep ecology, and ecofeminist reflections on religion. We will conclude by considering recent challenges to ecofeminism. Throughout the semester attention will be given to multicultural perspectives.
Graduate students-women and men-from all academic disciplines are invited to enroll in this course. The course centers on group discussions of texts and special projects; consequently, seminar meetings will be enriched by the variety of perspectives that participants bring to the course. The reading materials are sometimes intense and occasionally confrontational. Although students are not expected to agree with everything they will read, they are expected to read the assigned materials open-mindedly and analytically. They are also expected to consider the perspectives of other course participants with respect. Students should attend class regularly and on time, read assignments carefully prior to the class period, participate in class discussions, listen diligently to the views of others, and complete all written assignments on time.
1. Participation. Regular class attendance, preparation, and participation in the discussions of reading assignments are essential. At various times throughout the semester, individual students will be responsible for raising the questions and issues for discussion.
2. Response papers. Each week at the time of class, students are requred to submit a written, two-page response to the reading assignment. The response papers should offer your perspective on some aspect of the assignment for that week, rather than simply summarizing what you have read. The papers should also raise possible questions and issues for discussion. No response papers will be accepted late, except in the case of an emergency.
3. Term paper. Students are required to write a term paper on a topic of their choosing that is directly related to ecofeminism. Your paper should show evidence of substantial engagement with materials in addition to those assigned for the course. Your paper should also clearly state your own position on the topic that you select.
Possible topics include the following: ecofeminist perspectives on an issue such as reproductive technology, biotechnology, nuclear deterrence, "third world" development, or animal research; contemporary Goddess spirituality; the thought of a particular ecofeminist theologian (e.g., Rosemary Radford Ruether, Mary Daly, Sallie McFague); African-American "womanist" perspectives on the environment; or an analysis of ecofeminist themes in a work or works of fiction. These ideas are meant to be suggestive; you are not limited to these topics.
A statement of your proposed topic, along with a preliminary bibliography, is due on February 12. A draft of your paper is due on March 26. The final draft is due on April 23.
Students will make presentations about their papers to the class on April 23, April 30, and May 7. These presentations should be approximately 15-20 minutes in length.
Please feel free to meet with me to discuss your term papers.
4. Take-home final exam. Students will answer essay questions pertaining to the assigned readings of the course. The questions will be passed out two weeks in advance of the due date; students may use books and notes to answer the questions. Completed exams will be due on May 7th at 1:30 p.m.
All written work-the response papers, term paper, and take-home exam-should be typed. Use of a dot matrix printer is acceptable.
The final grades for this course will be tabulated as follows:
30% Attendance, participation in discussions, and weekly response papers
30% Take-home final exam
40% Term paper and paper presentation
I will be available to meet with students in Terrill Hall 333 at the following times: Tuesdays 11:00-12:00 a.m., Wednesdays 9:30-10:30 a.m., and Thursdays 11:00-12:00 a.m. I will be available at other times by appointment. You can reach me by telephone at 565-3331 (office) or at (817) 382-5147 (home-before 9:30 p.m, please). I can also be reached by e-mail at "csahlin@gte.net". Feel free to speak or write to me about any issues pertaining to the course.
Reading assignments will be made from the following books, which are available for purchase at the University Bookstore and at Voertman's:
Adams, Carol J., ed. Ecofeminism and the Sacred. New York: Continuum, 1993.
**Bigwood, Carol. Earth Muse: Feminism, Nature, and Art. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993.
**Daly, Mary. Beyond God the Father. Boston: Beacon Press, 1985.
**Gaard, Greta, ed. Ecofeminism: Women, Animals, and Nature. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993.
Griffin, Susan. Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her. New York: Harper and Row, 1978.
Merchant, Carolyn. The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology and the Scientific Revolution. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1980.
Ruether, Rosemary Radford. Gaia and God: An Ecofeminist Theology of Earth Healing. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1992.
Ruether, Rosemary Radford. Women Healing Earth: Third World Women on Ecology, Feminism, and Religion. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996.
Shiva, Vandana. Staying Alive: Women, Development, and Ecology in India. London: Zed Press, 1989.
**Tong, Rosemarie. Feminist Thought: A Comprehensive Introduction. Boulder: Westview Press, 1989.
Warren, Karen J., ed. Ecological Feminism. New York: Routledge, 1994.
Warren, Karen J., ed. Ecological Feminist Philosophies. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996.
**On reserve in Willis Library.
A xeroxed packet of readings will also be placed on reserve in Willis Library.
Schedule of Topics and Reading Assignments
**Indicates that the assignment is on reserve in Willis Library.
I. Introductions
January 15 Introduction to the Course and Class Participants
What is Ecofeminism?
Reading and class discussion of Susan Griffin's "Split Culture"
January 22 Introduction to the Varieties of Feminist Thought
Read: Rosemarie Tong, Feminist Thought
January 29 Introduction to Ecofeminist Thought and Activism
Read the following articles:
**Karen J. Warren, "Feminism and Ecology: Making Connections, inEnvironmental Ethics 9 (Spring 1987): 3-20. (on reserve)
Ecological Feminist Philosophies, ed. Warren, pp. ix-65:
Karen J. Warren, "Ecological Feminist Philosophies,"
Stephanie Lahar, "Ecofeminist Theory and Grassroots Politics,"
Karen J. Warren, "The Power and the Promise of Ecological Feminism,"
Chris Cuomo, "Toward Thoughtful Ecofeminist Activism,"
Catherine Roach, "Loving Your Mother: On the Woman-Nature Relation."
Ecofeminism: Women, Animals, Nature, ed. Gaard, pp. 13-59, 118-166, 243-271:
Janis Birkeland, "Ecofeminism: Linking Theory and Practice,"
Linda Vance, "Ecofeminism and the Politics of Reality,"
Ellen O'Loughlin, "Questioning Sour Grapes,"
Marti Kheel, "From Heroic to Holistic Ethics: The Ecofeminist Challenge."
II. Ecofeminist Analyses of the Woman-Nature Connection
February 5 Historical and Conceptual Links between the Domination of Women and Nature
Read: Susan Griffin, Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her
Carol H. Cantrell, "Women and Language in Susan Griffin's Woman and Nature," in Ecological Feminist Philosophies, ed. Warren, pp. 197-210.
February 12 Historical and Conceptual Links between the Domination of Women and Nature
Paper proposal and preliminary bibliography due
Read: Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology and the Scientific Revolution
February 19 A "Third World" Perspective on Women and Nature
Read: Vandana Shiva, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development
February 26 A Postmodern Perspective on Women and Nature
Read: Carol Bigwood, Earth Muse: Feminism, Nature, and Art
III. Special Topics: Ecofeminist Perspectives on Animal Rights and Deep Ecology
March 5 Ecofeminism and Animal Rights
Read the following articles:
Ecofeminism: Women, Animals, Nature, ed. Gaard, pp. 60-90, 167-218:
Lori Gruen, "Dismantling Oppression: An Analysis of the Connection between Women and Animals,"
Josephine Donovan, "Animal Rights and Feminist Theory,"
Carol Adams, "The Feminist Traffic in Animals."
Ecological Feminist Philosophies, ed. Warren, pp. 66-81, 97-136:
Deane Curtin, "Toward an Ecological Ethic of Care,"
Deborah Slicer, "Your Daughter or Your Dog? A Feminist Assessment of the Animal Research Issue,"
Carol J. Adams, "Ecofeminism and the Eating of Animals."
Ecological Feminism, ed. Warren, pp. 106-119:
David Kenneth Johnson and Kathleen R. Johnson, "The Limits of Partiality: Ecofeminism, Animal Rights, and Environmental Concern."
**Beth A. Dixon, "The Feminist Connection between Women and Animals," in Environmental Ethics 18 (Summer 1996): 181-194. (on reserve)
**Responses to Dixon by Gaard and Gruen in Environmental Ethics 18 (Winter 1996): 439-444. (on reserve)
March 12 The Ecofeminism-Deep Ecology Debate
Read the following articles:
**Arne Naess, "The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movements: A Summary." Reprinted in Deep Ecology for the 21st Century, ed. George Sessions, pp. 151-155.
**Arne Naess, "The Deep Ecological Movement: Some Philosophical Aspects." Reprinted in Deep Ecology for the 21st Century, pp. 64-84.
**Ariel Kay Salleh, "Deeper than Deep Ecology: The Eco-Feminist Connection," in Environmental Ethics 6 (Winter 1984): 339-345.
**Michael E. Zimmerman, "Feminism, Deep Ecology, and Environmental Ethics," in Environmental Ethics 9 (Spring 1987): 21-44.
**Jim Cheney, "Eco-Feminism and Deep Ecology," in Environmental Ethics 9 (Summer 1987): 115-145.
**Warwick Fox, "The Deep Ecology-Ecofeminism Debate and its Parallels," in Environmental Ethics 11 (Spring 1989): 5-25.
**Ariel Salleh, "The Ecofeminism/Deep Ecology Debate: A Reply to Patriarchal Reason," in Environmental Ethics 14 (Fall 1992): 195-216.
**Ariel Salleh, "Class, Race, and Gender Discourse in the Ecofeminism/Deep Ecology Debate," in Environmental Ethics 15 (Fall 1993): 225-244.
**Deborah Slicer, "Is There an Ecofeminism-Deep Ecology 'Debate'?" in Environmental Ethics 17 (Summer 1995): 151-169.
Ecological Feminist Philosophies, ed. Warren, pp. 137-180:
Robert Sessions, "Deep Ecology versus Ecofeminism: Healthy Differences or Incompatible Philosophies?,"
Val Plumwood, "Nature, Self, and Gender: Feminism, Environmental Philosophy, and the Critique of Rationalism."
Ecological Feminism, ed. Warren, pp. 88-105:
Christine J. Cuomo, "Ecofeminism, Deep Ecology, and Human Population."
March 19 No Class-Spring Break
IV. Revisioning Religion: Ecofeminist Theology and Spirituality
March 26 A Radical Feminist Critique of Western Religious Thought
Draft of term paper due
Read: Mary Daly, Beyond God the Father
April 2 Ecofeminist Christian Theology
Read: Rosemary Radford Ruether, Gaia and God
April 9 The Diversity of Ecofeminist Spiritualities
Read: Selections from Ecofeminism and the Sacred, ed. Carol J. Adams
April 16 "Third World" Feminist Eco-Theologies
Read: Selections from Women Healing Earth, ed. Rosemary Radford Ruether
V. Challenges to Ecofeminist Thought
April 23 Critiques and Defenses of Ecofeminist Thought
Final draft of term paper due
Paper presentations begin
Read the following selections:
**Christine J. Cuomo, "Unravelling the Problems in Ecofeminism,"Environmental Ethics 14 (Winter 1992): 351-363. (on reserve)
Ecological Feminist Philosophies, ed. Warren, pp. 82-96:
Roger J. H. King, "Caring about Nature: Feminist Ethics and the Environment."
April 30 Critiques and Defenses of Ecofeminist Thought
Paper presentations
Read the following selections:
Ecological Feminism, ed. Warren, pp. 8-63, 120-138
Victoria Davion, "Is Ecofeminism Feminist?,"
Deborah Slicer, "Wrongs of Passage: Three Challenges to the Maturing of Ecofeminism,"
Douglas J. Buege, "Rethinking Again: A Defense of Ecofeminist Philosophy" (a response to Biehl),
Lori Gruen, "Toward an Ecofeminist Moral Epistemology" (a response to J. Baird Callicott)
**Selections from Janet Biehl's Rethinking Ecofeminist Politics (Boston: South End Press, 1991); and
**Anne Cameron, "First Mother and the Rainbow Children," in Healing the Wounds: The Promise of Ecofeminism, ed. Judith Plant, pp. 54-66.
Ecofeminism: Women, Animals, Nature, ed. Gaard, pp. 272-314:
Huey-li Li, "A Cross-Cultural Critique of Ecofeminism"
Greta Gaard, "Ecofeminism and Native American Cultures: Pushing the Limits of Cultural Imperialism?"
May 71:30-3:30 p.m. (please note the time)
Take-home final due
Paper presentations