Studying at York
Feminist Cultural Activism - WOM00006M
- Department: Centre for Women's Studies
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: M
- Academic year of delivery: 2023-24
- See module specification for other years: 2022-23
Module summary
This module draws on three main strands: we explore the work of feminist artists, performers and writers; we assess how activists can and do use forms of art for political purposes; and we learn how to produce our own feminist cultural activist material (e.g. pamphlets, photos, slam poetry) for a specific context. No prior artistic skills are necessary.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 1 2023-24 |
Module aims
This module ranges across cultural production, theory and activism. We will:
- make - try out a variety of activities, e.g. zines/pamphlets, photographs, performance;
- imagine - through practicing art and crafts we will challenge our own beliefs and opinions,
- think - evaluate perspectives on cultural production in various settings and societies;
- activate - produce our own feminist cultural activist material in response to specific issues. and develop creative ways of effecting political change;
Module learning outcomes
After successfully completing this module, students should:
- Be able to critically assess the practices of contemporary feminist cultural activism in a variety of national and international contexts.
- Be familiar with a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary feminist perspectives connecting activism, art and academic work.
- Be critically aware of the cultural specificities of and global connections between cultural politics.
- Have acquired knowledge of a range of cultural methodologies and theoretical models suitable for studying other cultural studies topics.
- Be well-practiced in seminar presentation, critique and discussion, e-learning, and entry-level skills in a variety of community/ political activities and digital media.
- Have access to networks with professional, entrepreneurial and political potential.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Provisional feedback (subject to external examiners' confirmation) by week 6 of the summer term.
Indicative reading
- Firat, Beg¼m Ozden, Kuryel, Aylin. Cultural activism Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2011
- Garlough, C.L. On the Political Uses of Folklore: Performance and Grassroots Feminist Activism in India Journal of American Folklore, 121, 480, 2008, pp.167-191.
- Gauntlett, D, Making is connecting: the social meaning of creativity, from DIY and knitting to YouTube and Web 2.0 Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011.
- Guerrilla Girls website: http://www.guerrillagirls.com
- Harris, A., ed. Next Wave Cultures: Feminism, Subcultures, Activism London: Routledge, 2008.
- Miller, K. Iconographies of Gender, Poverty, and Power in Contemporary South African Visual Culture Feminist Formations 19, 1 2007: 118-136.
- Miner, V. Writing Feminist Fiction: Solitary Genesis or Collective Criticism? Frontiers: 6, 1/2, 1981.
- Mullin, A. Feminist Art and the Political Imagination Hypatia, 18, 4, 2003, pp 189-213.
- Piepmeier, A. Girl Zines: Making media, doing feminism New York: New York UP, 2009.
- Spence, J. & J Solomon What Can a Woman Do With a Camera? London: Scarlet Press, 1995.