Rethinking Women's and Gender Studies

CATHERINE M. ORR is Professor and Chair of Women’s and Gender Studies at Beloit College. Her work has been published in Women’s Studies Quarterly, Hypatia, NWSA Journal, and Feminist Collections. She served as National Conference Chair for the National Women’s Studies Association (2006-08). ANN BRAITHWAITE is Associate Professor and Director of Women’s Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island. She is co-author of Troubling Women’s Studies (2004), co-editor of Atlantis: A Women’s Studies Journal, and former President of the Canadian Women’s Studies Association. DIANE LICHTENSTEIN is Professor of English and former Chair of Women’s Studies as well as of Interdisciplinary Studies at Beloit College. She co-edited: a special issue of Women’s Studies Quarterly (1999) focused on feminist activism and Women’s Studies; and a cluster of essays on "locations" in the NWSA Journal (2005).

"As a collective meditation on Women and Gender Studies, Rethinking is more than an interrogation of the reigning assumptions of the field; it is a keen example of the critical art of intellectual risk. By confronting the limits of the field's foundational investments, this book—ambitious in scope, exacting in critical detail, and passionate in political commitment—insists that what is most vital about the field comes from the imperative to think again."—Robyn Wiegman, Women's Studies and Literature, Duke University"The book’s focus on key words in women’s and gender studies admirably maps past debates, interrogates unexamined assumptions, and pushes the boundaries of the field into new areas such as religion. An absorbing read for WGS faculty and excellent for intermediate/advanced courses in WGS."—Susan Stanford Friedman, Women’s Studies and Literature, University of Wisconsin-Madison"By providing a series of provocative and thoughtful insights into foundational assumptions, intellectual dilemmas, and analytical challenges, Rethinking makes a valuable contribution to dialogues and debates emerging in the academic field of WGS. It offers a thought-provoking discussion of the discipline and will engage both scholars and advanced undergraduate and graduate students."—Sikata Banerjee, Women’s Studies, University of Victoria

• Preface Acknowledgements INTRODUCTION: Why Rethink: Critical Genealogies in the Discipline Part 1: Foundational Assumptions Section Introduction 1. Feminism, Layli Maparyan 2. Interdisciplinarity, Diane Lichtenstein 3. Methods, Katherine Side 4. Pedagogy, Susanne Luhmann 5. Points to Ponder Part 2: Ubiquitous Descriptions Section Introduction 6. Activism, Catherine M. Orr 6. Waves, Astrid Henry 7. Besiegement, Alison Piepmeier 8. Community, Martha McCaughey Points to Ponder Part 3: Epistemologies Rethought Section Introduction 9. Intersectionality, Vivian May 10. Identity (Politics), Scott Morgensen 11. Queer, Jennifer Purvis Points to Ponder Part 4: Silences and Disavowals Section Introduction 12. Discipline, Ann Braithwaite 13.History, Wendy Kolmar 14. Secularity, Karlyn Crowley 15. Sexuality, Merri Lisa Johnson Points to Ponder Part 5: Establishment Challenges Section Introduction 15. Trans, Bobby Noble 16. Institutionalization, Aimee Carrillo-Rowe 17. Transnational, Laura Parisi Points to Ponder CONCLUSION: Continuing the Conversation Web Resources Reference List About the Contributors Index