120082 PS Interdisziplinärer Kurs (501) = Proseminar Cultural Studies (2009S)

"Here, we attempt to bridge the contradictions in our experience [¿] We do this by naming our selves and by telling our stories in our own words."1

The attempt to create a space for subjectivity is central to texts written by women of color that often deal with issues such as the historization of oppression, the reclaiming of history, the construction of collectivist memory, and the use of literature and film as means of resistance, and as a way of bridging the gap between theory and practice.2 These concepts will be only some of the central question we will explore in this interactive course. We will also engage in cultural studies' discussions of race, ethnicity, class and sexuality on the basis of historical contextualization, and theoretical debates that are essential to the discussion of the representation of women of color in the U.S.
We will critically discuss a vast number of theoretical, historical texts and fictional texts by African-American, Asian American and Chicana feminists.
The course will introduce the students to influential debates within feminist thought such as difference vs. essentialism, standpoint theory, postcolonialism and whiteness studies.