Humanities and Fine Arts 191HFA27 - FYS- Are You a Feminist?

In 2016, Beyonce premiered her second visual album, Lemonade. Its politically minded lyrics and visuals and personally grounded discussions of adultery and black Southern US identities ignited debates over the significance of Beyonce's claims to feminism. Taking our cue from Beyonce and the debates her music has produced, this course investigates the meaning of feminisms by considering how writers, artists, activists, academics and public intellectuals discuss the topic. Over the course of the semester students will read feminist scholarship alongside contemporary popular culture, with a focus on the literary arts. Students? curiosity about feminism ? as topic, politics, identity, and practice ? will guide class meetings where we will discuss specific readings and engage in critical thinking through close reading. Students will leave the course with a clear sense of the ways in which gender and sexuality intersect with race and class, as well as an understanding of the multiplicities of feminisms in our contemporary moment.

Open to first-year Humanities and Fine Arts Exploratory Track students and first-year HFA Majors.