Course Number:

Credit Hours:

4

Course Title:

Third World Women

Course Description:

Explores the complex gender dynamics of women in non-Western societies during the years of Western imperialist domination, nationalist resistance struggles, and postcolonialism. Begins by deconstructing the term “Third World” and seeing how that term can be read against the context of imperialism. Examines gender constructs in the Third World through a variety of written and visual materials including autobiographical accounts, ethnographies, historical fiction, films, and slides. Topics include patterns of gender domination and female resistance; the interplay of race and gender hierarchies under colonial rule; the Western gaze and representations of Third World “primitive” women; and the feminization of labor and the global economy, reproductive strategies, and sex trafficking.