Readings: All of the readings linked the syllabus, as well as handouts in class.

Description: The purpose of this class is to give students an idea of what it means to apply a feminist analysis to conflict resolution practices. We all analyze the world every day--without ever really being aware of what model we use when we do this. It's useful to bring our analyses to our awareness, and to explore what changes for us, and perhaps the world, when we tweak, expand, convert, and/or meld them into something new.
Of course, there is no definitive feminist analysis, because there is no one definitive feminist--anymore than there is any one definitive kind of conflict resolution, or conflict resolver. And so we will look at a variety of feminisms, feminists, and conflict resolution practices/practitioners--and try to parse out the different ways they analyze the world. Ultimately, students will get a chance to apply some of these analyses to the issues we will be studying--and begin to develop their own.

Pedagogy: This class will practice what bell hooks calls engaged pedagogy [1]. Pedagogy is the "work or occupation of teaching", "engaged" hopefully speaks for itself [2]. What this means is that students will be expected to actively engage with the information offered by the instructor and the materials, both in class and in the assignments. Class format will rarely involve lecturing, but will instead employ dialogue between students and students, and students and instructor [3]. Dialogue here is defined as "a kind of speech that is humble, open, and focused on collaborative learning. It is communication that can awaken consciousness...[4] ". This requires that both the instructor and the students think of them/our selves as knowledgeable learners who can both teach and learn in this class.
In every class I teach I learn new things--and you are the people who teach me those new things.

Goals:
That students will look at the world, and conflict resolution, through a feminist lens, however briefly.
That students will learn and practice engaged/feminist/critical pedagogy - in other words, for students to get a chance to think critically about their world, in particular the goings on in this particular class[room].
That students will place themselves, as women and men, in the world--definitively, thoughtfully, consciously, and critically.
That students will come out of the class thinking a little differently about the world.
That students will expand their conflict resolution toolkits so they are more useful to them as they travel through their lives.
That we have a wonderful time together as we do all of this.

Requirements: Students are asked to write two reflection papers per weekend class, as noted in the syllabus.
You will be asked to analyze a particular conflict through a feminist lens, and write about it in a short final paper.
In that these classes are each so small, we will rely heavily on student participation, in the form of class discussions about the readings, and anything else you want to bring into class to enrich the mix. I will lecture very little--in general classes will be student-led.

Writing requirements : Please be sure to check this link out, so that you understand clearly what the writing requirements are for your reflection papers and midterm interview paper.

Evaluation: Grades will be based on your participation in class, the reflection papers (RP's), and the final paper. The reflection papers are worth 50 points (2 papers @ 25 points each = 50), the final paper is worth 50 points, and participation in class is worth 50 points.

Timeliness: None of us, myself included, like it when people we are waiting for don't show up or are late. In that we meet for such a short time each weekend, it's imperative that you be on time, and attend all of the weekend hours.
To that end, if you miss more than an hour of class your grade will go down a notch; miss two hours and it will go down another notch, etc. In addition, two lates equal one hour of missed class time.

GRADES: A=150-130, B=129-110, C=109-90, D=89-70, F=below 70

Course Schedule

January 12 & 13
What is theory? What is feminist theory? What is a feminist analysis or anything? What might be useful about feminist analyses? When you do a feminist analysis of any issue, what is it you do? What is accomplished? And finally, how does this relate to conflict resolution, in its various permutations?

READINGS (be sure you print these off and bring them to class with you):
"The race for theory," Barbara Christian (handout in class)
"Toward Feminist Theorizing in Conflict Resolution," by Simona Sharoni.
"What does feminism mean?" Dorothy Dinnerstein (handout in class)
"Mothers and men's wars," Sara Ruddick (handout in class)
"Liberation theory: A working framework," Ricky Sherover-Marcuse
"Oppression and democracy," Nicky González Yuen (handout in class)

RP#1 - Due at the beginning of class tomorrow morning. This first paper is an autobiographical essay.
Please write three pages about you, and your relationship to feminism, and conflict resolution, to date. I want to know about your life, and I also want to understand your orientation to feminism thus far.
Why are you interested in the class? What do you hope to get out of the class? How can I help you achieve your learning goals?
RP #2 - Due January 19th as an email attachment, or placed in my box in the CR office: NH 239. This three-page paper should discuss at least three of the readings we did for this class.
Final Paper: Due January 24th. This five page paper should simply discuss what we talked about during this first class. It should include a discussion of all of the readings.

January 26th & 27
This class will focus on the nature of competition and tyranny, as well as conflict on a more international scale.

READINGS: (these are all handouts in class, however if you want to get a jump on the reading, the books are in the library--or, you can email me and I will set them out for you)
"Reckless abandon," Leah C. Wells (from my personal files)
"Competition--an inhuman activity," Perry Saidman (from my personal files)
"Gender makes the world go round," Cynthia Enloe (in Bananas, beaches & bases: Making feminist sense of international politics)
"The psychology of tyranny: Wollstonecraft and Woolf on the gendered dimension of war," Barbara Andrew (in Bringing peace home: Feminism, violence, and nature)
"Wars, wimps, and women: Talking gender and thinking war," Carol Cohn (in Gendering war talk)
"When soldiers rape," Cynthia Enloe (in Maneuvers: The international politics of militarizing women's lives)
"Wartime sexual violence against women: A feminist response," Margaret D. Stetz (in Feminist theory reader: Local and global perspectives)

Requirements for this class: A 5-page paper, due two weeks from now (Feb. 10th). In this paper, please deconstruct the notions of competiton and/or tyranny through a feminist lens. You can use examples in the world for this, or you can simply theorize. Consider, especially, Cynthia Enloe's article, "Gender makes the world go round," as you do your analysis. Also include other articles from the class.

February 23 & 24

Feminist perspectives on mediation, negotiation, and other kinds of conflict resolution. How does feminist theory complicate these processes? What does it ask us to consider.
Readings will be either handed out in class, or linked to the syllabus.

March 9 & 10

This last class will focus on what a feminist peace politics would look like. You will be asked to design such a politics/process, in small groups, and report back to the class Saturday afternoon. To do this you will be drawing on all of the readings and class discussions to date.