Feminism and the American Family

Name: Feminism and the American Family
Start: 2017-06-06T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2017-06-06T01:00:00-05:00
Location: Feminism and the American Family

Led by Susan Lyons

Jun 06, 2017

This seminar will juxtapose poet and radical feminist Adrienne Rich’s Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Institution with conservative Phyllis Schlafly’s Who Killed the American Family?.

Cost and Registration Information

Early Registration Price (by May 19): $180
Regular Price (after May 19): $198

Seminar Description

This seminar will juxtapose poet and radical feminist Adrienne Rich’s Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Institution with conservative Phyllis Schlafly’s Who Killed the American Family?. What can we learn from these politically opposed women about motherhood, family, policy, writing, and activism? How do we understand women’s studies through the perspective of a champion and a critic? How will history remember these women, and does their legacy shed new light on women in America today? Six sessions.

Susan Lyons focuses her independent scholarship on the intersection of capitalism and humanism. Her MBA and MLA degrees provide varying perspectives on the tensions surrounding feminism. In addition to consulting and civic work, she writes poetry and blogs.

Materials List

Required:

Adrienne Rich, Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution. Reissued 1995. Norton Paperback Edition. ISBN 0-393-31284-4
Phyllis Schlafly, Who Killed the American Family? 2014. WND Books. Hardcover ISBN 978-1-938067-52-5
Amber E. Kinser, Negotiating Spaces For/Through Third-Wave Feminism. NWSA Journal, Volume 16, Number 3, Fall 2004, pp. 124-153. This article can be accessed by clicking here.

Recommended:

A Timeline of Women's Rights from 1769 to the 2017 Women's March on Washington. https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2017-01-20/timeline-the-womens-rights-movement-in-the-us
Adrienne Rich - Poetry Foundation Biography. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/adrienne-rich
“Claiming an Education,” Commencement Address delivered at Douglass College by Adrienne Rich, 1977. http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic469725.files/Rich-Claiming%20an%20Education-1.pdf
Obituary, New York Times, March 28, 2012. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/books/adrienne-rich-feminist-poet-and-author-dies-at-82.html
Phyllis Schlafly - Eagle Forum Biography. https://eagleforum.org/about/bio.html
Phyllis Schlafly, “What’s Wrong with ‘Equal Rights’ for Women?”, Phyllis Schlafly Report 5, no. 7 February 1972. https://eagleforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/PSR-Feb1972.pdf
- Please note: The link for this piece has been updated.
Cambell, Colleen. “Schlafly Controversy Proves her Continuing Relevance.” St. Louis Post Dispatch, May 15, 2008. https://colleen-campbell.com/P-D_Columns/PD080515Schlafly.htm
Klonick, Kate. “Why America Needs More Housewives Like Phyllis Schlafly.” The Atlantic, Sept 7. 2016. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/why-america-needs-more-housewives-like-phyllis-schlafly/498917/
Obituary, Phyllis Schlafly. New York Times, September 5, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/06/obituaries/phyllis-schlafly-conservative-leader-and-foe-of-era-dies-at-92.html?_r=0

First Readings:

For the first class, read Adrienne Rich's, Of Woman Born, Foreword through chapter 3 (pp.11-83)
Review the handout - A Timeline of Women's Rights from 1769 to the 2017 Women's March on Washington - available online here: https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2017-01-20/timeline-the-womens-rights-movement-in-the-us

This class is part of the Newberry’s Adult Education Seminars Program. Learn more about our registration procedures.