The Dartmouth Observer |
|
|
Commentary on politics, history, culture, and literature by two Dartmouth graduates and their buddies
WHO WE ARE Chien Wen Kung graduated from Dartmouth College in 2004 and majored in History and English. He is currently a civil servant in Singapore. Someday, he hopes to pursue a PhD in History. John Stevenson graduated from Dartmouth College in 2005 with a BA in Government and War and Peace Studies. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He hopes to pursue a career in teaching and research. Kwame A. Holmes did not graduate from Dartmouth. However, after graduating from Florida A+M University in 2003, he began a doctorate in history at the University of Illinois--Urbana Champaign. Having moved to Chicago to write a dissertation on Black-Gay-Urban life in Washington D.C., he attached himself to the leg of John Stevenson and is thrilled to sporadically blog on the Dartmouth Observer. Feel free to email him comments, criticisms, spelling/grammar suggestions. BLOGS/WEBSITES WE READ The American Scene Arts & Letters Daily Agenda Gap Stephen Bainbridge Jack Balkin Becker and Posner Belgravia Dispatch Black Prof The Corner Demosthenes Daniel Drezner Five Rupees Free Dartmouth Galley Slaves Instapundit Mickey Kaus The Little Green Blog Left2Right Joe Malchow Josh Marshall OxBlog Bradford Plumer Political Theory Daily Info Andrew Samwick Right Reason Andrew Seal Andrew Sullivan Supreme Court Blog Tapped Tech Central Station UChicago Law Faculty Blog Volokh Conspiracy Washington Monthly Winds of Change Matthew Yglesias ARCHIVES BOOKS WE'RE READING CW's Books John's Books STUFF Site Feed    |
Wednesday, August 28, 2002
There has been some debate going on about the necessity of Women's (and gender) Studies on campuses and the war on terror. While both topics are very important, I would like to ask the august body of writers to focus their attention on Gender Studies. What is the problem with this department and what role do you see the issue of gender playing in the university? Also, what exactly does a "politicized" curriculum mean? As a feminist myself (a short answer to Tim Walligore's question), I think it is important that members of the cultural elite (read:us) understand that democratic law and democratic culture grow out of personal experience. As Catherine Mackinnon stated in her essay Crimes of War, Crimes of Peace, the only question is whose experience will ground what law? I see some Women's Studies doctors as raising the question about who is--- and is not--- participating in the shaping of democratic law and culture. I will write something on this later, as part of a larger piece on difference being the greatest challenge to democracy. I find it important to remember that even though we have our common humanity, men and women are still different. As such, when the liberal arts education paints us a potrait of the human experience, a part of the portrait should be how gender affect and influences things. Put simply, our education should demonstrate how relatively little differences really matter (our common humanity), but when they do, boy does it matter. |