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Lisa Moore teaches "Power"
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English Department
Launches 316K Women’s Studies Variant
For the first time a course on women writers can now fulfill UT’s
literary “masterworks” requirement. In fall 2004 Professor
Lisa Moore taught the pilot course for a Women’s and Gender
Studies variant of E316K, a course that is required for most sophomores.
“Based on my experience teaching the course, I would say
that it is uniquely valuable to students because it concerns topics,
gender and sexuality, that they are interested in regardless of
their interest or lack of interest in literature,” said Moore.
“I think women's and gender studies has the potential to make
literary study more accessible and meaningful to many students.
A comment I got frequently was, ‘I liked this course because
unlike other English courses, it was actually about something.’
For many students it was the first time they had had a chance to
think critically about something so fundamental to their identities
as gender and sexuality, and they seemed to relish the opportunity.” |
| The WGL Interest Group began discussing the idea of
the E316K variant during the 2002-03 school year. It was envisioned
not only as a women writers section, but as a course that could encompass
many feminist and/or queer approaches. Those who pushed for the variant
believed that it would meet the needs of both students and professors.
“Many faculty expressed their dissatisfaction with having to
fulfill their obligation to teach E316K in one of the existing rubrics
because they don't necessarily imagine their work, especially on gender,
as breaking up neatly into the divisions of national literary traditions,”
said Moore.
Based on these discussions, Moore drafted a proposal that was submitted
to the Sophomore Literature Committee on behalf of the WGL Interest
Group. Several faculty members—including Mia Carter, Sue Heinzelman,
Lisa Moore, Ann Cvetkovich, Carol Mackay, Joanna Brooks, and Neville
Hoad—committed to staffing the course during the following
five years.
| At first the Sophomore Literature Committee
rejected the proposal, but by the end of fall 2003, a "pilot"
version of the new variant had been scheduled for fall 2004,
to be taught by Moore.
Moore’s version of the new variant, offered under the
title Masterworks of Literature: British, provided an introduction
to the traditions of women’s writing in English from
the Middle Ages to the present, covering not only British
but American, colonial, and postcolonial literature as well.
Beginning with Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe and ending
with contemporary African writers Ama Ata Aidoo and Buchi
Emecheta, the course was designed to provide students “with
a broad knowledge of literary history, familiarity with the
major genres of literature in English, skills in feminist
literary and cultural analysis, and some familiarity with
the voices of women in the cultures of the English-speaking
world” (from the syllabus). |
Michelle Lee assists sophomore Brady Davis
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Currently, the gender studies section of E316K can be offered only
under the rubric of British, American, or World Masterworks. Thus,
only students who carefully examine the course description are likely
to know they are signing up for a class with a “Women’s
and Gender Studies Emphasis.” One of the major requests of
the WGL has been that the section be given a name that more accurately
reflects the content. WGL also hopes to get the course cross-listed
with Women’s and Gender Studies in order to attract WGS majors
and minors and other students with a particular interest in the
topic.
Although Moore met with some resistance at first because most students
were expecting a course in “British Literature,” many
students came to value and enjoy the experience of learning not
just about literature but about women's issues and women's history,
and the course ultimately earned very positive feedback, receiving
a 4.3 overall course rating and a 4.6 overall instructor rating
on the student evaluations.
Nese Dursun, a junior who did read the course description, said
that she was drawn to the class because she had looked at the books
and liked the authors. “The thing I like about the class is
the way it’s structured, but that’s because of the professor,”
said Matt Danner, a sophomore. “It feels like a regular literature
class.” Other students remarked that they did not regret taking
an 8 a.m. class “and that’s saying a lot.”
Michelle Lee, an English Department Ph.D. student, helped design
the course over the summer and served as one of the TAs. She said
that the new variant opened her eyes to many authors and texts she
had never been exposed to before: “I hope this class will
pave the way for these fantastic and important women writers to
be included in future masterworks classes.”
This semester WGL is conducting a "self-study" of the
course to learn more about student reactions to it and to give the
department a chance to find out how the course worked in its "pilot"
incarnation.
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