Subject Area: Women's and Gender Studies
This course can also be studied in the following specialisations: History

For WGS students, 'Feminist Studies' provides an overview of the minor. It also offers a better grounding in feminist scholarship and theory to History and other majors who intend to combine their honours with WGS. Students who plan to become secondary teachers of History also find the course instructive and useful.

The course focuses on feminist critiques of History and other mainstream academic disciplines. Topics include women's/gender and sexuality/queer studies; feminist postcolonial studies; the 'representation [who can speak for whom?] debate'; feminist ethics and the use of oral testimonies; sexual difference, subjectivity and life-writing; critiques of analytical categories in the Human Sciences; and debates surrounding 'positioned' scholarship. Central to the course is an emphasis on 'praxis': theorized practice. Hence, students are encouraged to ask themselves: If I were to embark on a major research project, how might contemporary feminist scholarship inform how I conceptualize and conduct my research?