Survey of Women Writers: Thinking Back, Looking Forward

Cross listed with WGST 3180-01

Fulfills English Department Diversity Intensive Requirement

This semester, we will prepare ourselves for an uncertain future by thinking back through our literary foremothers and looking forward armed with the writings of our female contemporaries and peers. We will read a wide array of iconic female- authored essays and novels from the early twentieth century through the present day, paying particular attention to the feminist arguments that inform each work. Texts will include classics such as A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf, The Female Man by Joanna Russ, Sula by Toni Morrison, and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. We will also address more contemporary issues with Ruth Ozeki’s millennial medianovel My Year of Meats, Maggie Nelson’s autotheory essay The Argonauts, in which she describes experiencing pregnancy alongside her partner’s transition, and Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke’s 2026 bestseller concerning the misadventures of atradwife influencer. Students will be responsible for informal in-class writing, group reading exercises, a group presentation, an essay or story, and two exams.