POL 297 - Special Topics in Political Philosophy

FDR: SS2
Credits: 3 in fall and winter, 4 in spring
Prerequisites: First-year or sophomore standing or permission of the instructorA seminar in political science for students at the introductory or intermediate level. Topic, hour, and instructor are announced prior to registration. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.

Topic for Fall 2010:

POL 297: Feminist Legal Theory (3). Prerequisite POL 111, WGS 120, or permission of the instructor. This course explores the complex ways in which leading feminist theorists have interpreted the role of law in constituting and deconstructing gender inequality in society. We examine theorists’ struggles to sort out the gendered effects of law in a range of challenging social and political issues including violence against women, reproductive rights, workplace equality, the over-representation of men in elected office, and ongoing debates about same-sex marriage. Attention is paid to feminists’ claims that law perpetuates masculine, race, and class privileges and to their attempts to re-imagine law as a force for change. (SS2) Le Blanc