This course is an introduction to the field of women's gender and sexuality studies, focusing on its theories, methods, and interdisciplinary nature. We will cover main themes including sex, gender, the waves of feminism, indigenous and transnational feminisms, intersectionality, privilege and power. The class will then explore the wellness/self-care industry through the lens of race, gender, sexuality, class, and religion to address the following questions: What is wellness? In a "post" pandemic world threatened by climate catastrophe, staggering inequality, social and political upheaval, how possible is it to truly be well? Who is it possible for? What does healing, wellness, and self-care have to do with global capitalism? With colonialism? We will read selections from Ed Cohen's "On Learning to Heal: Or, What Medicine Doesn't Know", Robin Wall Kimmerer's "Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, and Fariha Róisín's "Who is Wellness For? An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who It Leaves Behind."
School of Arts and Sciences
