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Women on the Edge

ENGL 290.910
instructor(s):
TR 2-5:00

This course will explore the role of women on the boundaries of literature--from medieval women persecuted for their religious beliefs to the women scribblers of the nineteenth century to contemporary writers and filmmakers who continue to challenge artistic conventions and the canon. We will not only take a long view by asking how the exclusion of women from the scene of writing has changed over the centuries, but will take a broad view by asking how exclusion on account of gender differs from or interacts with exclusion on the basis of race or religion. We will also consider questions of whether writing by women is necessarily different than writing by men and why this concern about sameness or difference is such a troubling and difficult issue to resolve. Authors/Directors may include: Marguerite Porete, Aphra Behn, Eliza Haywood, Emily Bronte, Virginia Woolf, Toni Morrison, Sandra Cisneros, Jane Campion, Kimberly Peirce.

fulfills requirements