Women's Utopias

Code:

MEAAM022

Acronym:

UM

Instance: 2007/2008 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Anglo-American Studies
Course/CS Responsible:	Masters in Anglo-American Studies

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MEAA	0	Study Plan since 2007/2008	1	-	6	-

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

The aim of this programme is to make the students aware of the way the process of women’s liberation and affirmation within a patriarchal society has been amply illustrated in literary texts of different genres and epochs, which are characterized by a utopian perspective.

Program

Based on the consideration of fundamental theoretical texts in the field of Utopian and Spatiality Studies – particularly those related to feminist criticism – we will define the suitable conceptual tools to analyse selected texts of different genres and epochs, where a utopian perspective is clearly shown. Issues such as the fight against an essentialist perspective of women, women’s conquest of new spaces and the way feminist utopian discourse asserts itself by being essentially transgressive will be illustrated by the consideration of texts as different as As you like it, by William Shakespeare, The Female Spectator, by Eliza Haywood, A Room of One’s Own, by Virginia Woolf and Herland, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The programme will also include the discussion of contemporary feminist utopianism, for which the analysis of dystopias such as The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Attwood and The Dispossessed, by Ursula Le Guin will certainly be relevant.

Mandatory literature

Hawyood, Eliza; Selections from the Female Spectator, Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN: 0-19-510922-8
Atwood, Margaret; A Handmaid's Tale, Vintage, 1996. ISBN: 0-09-974091-5
Le Guin, Ursula; The Dispossessed, Perennial Classics, 2003. ISBN: 0-06-051275-x
Shakespeare, William; As you like it, Oxford University Press, 1993
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins; Herland, The Yellow Wall-Paper, and Selected Writings, Penguin, 1999. ISBN: 0-14-11.8062-5

Teaching methods and learning activities

Teaching will be centred on the students, offering them an opportunity to understand the contents of the programme by debating the main issues and by carrying out individual and / or group activities. Blended E-learning will be promoted, by combining the weekly encounter with on-line participation.

Evaluation Type

Assessment Components

Description	Type	Time (hours)	Weight (%)	End date
Subject Classes	Participação presencial	30,00
Research	Exame	98,50		2008-07-18
	Total:	-	0,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Description	Type	Time (hours)	End date
Tutorial	Estudo autónomo	20	2008-07-18
	Total:	20,00

Eligibility for exams

a)active participation in the seminar;
b)oral and written presentation of a research paper on one of the works of the list prepared by the teacher;
c)construction of a portfolio containing a weekly reflection on the themes dealt with in each session;

Note: Students are expected to attend at least 75% of the seminar sessions.

Calculation formula of final grade

Weighted average of the result of the components above mentioned.

Examinations or Special Assignments

n/a

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

n/a

Classification improvement

n/a

Observations

Language of instruction: Portuguese or English according to the characteristics of the students.