Intersectionality takes into account how inequalities of race, gender, class, and sexuality "intersect," or work in combined ways, in the lives of Black women and other women of color. As a holistic teaching approach, it also has relevance for all people, male and female, straight and gay, rich and poor, and along the various continuums between…

Women's studies and feminist curricula have been lauded for the development and application of critical thinking skills for social and political change in its students (Fisher; Kellner and Share; Mayberry). Critical thinking can be defined as the ability to identify and challenge assumptions, to search for alternative ways of thinking, and to…

Explores the reasons why higher education must incorporate gender and multicultural scholarship and perspectives into the curriculum. Argues for the type of multiculturalism that focuses on identifying and deconstructing privilege and hierarchy. Discusses teaching strategies for multiculturalism as critical thinking. (CMK)

In this article, the author describes how critical thinking had been related to some of the most important lessons she learned from philosophy and women's studies. Work in analytic philosophy taught her how to better locate and reconstruct arguments from what had often seemed like a morass of surrounding text. Philosophy also provided her with a…

Teaching students to think critically while integrating their personal experiences with feminist scholarship has become a very important objective in the Introduction to Women's Studies course. Women's studies introductory courses are designed to introduce students to feminist inquiry, using gender as the center of analysis while examining its…

From interacting with their students, many teachers are aware that the concepts of feminism and environmentalism can conjure up impoverished, deficient, and equally painful stereotypes. For some college students, feminism can mean merely equal pay for equal work. Environmentalism may trigger similarly limited associations, but inevitably…

Violence against women figures as a common topic in a variety of college courses, including those in psychology, sociology, criminology, and women's studies. The data on the risk of sexual assault for college women makes this a topic of particular interest and importance to many college students. Although it is fairly easy to find statistics about…

In her 1974 essay "Toward a Woman-Centered University" Adrienne Rich notes that, contrary to popular belief, American universities are not bastions of free thought but patriarchal institutions that reinforce negative aspects of society, such as aggressive competition, domination, hierarchies of power, and gender inequity. Thirty years later Rich's…

Reviews the debate over argumentation within the feminist community, pointing out the types of theoretical problems presented to teachers. Argues that problems can be turned into learning opportunities, enabling students to become active participants in academic debates while encouraging them to have greater ethical self-awareness in their…

Describes a program that teaches about women and issues of gender in the context of a broader human rights education program. Identifies key principles of the program that focus on building teacher awareness, the classroom process, and the importance of being aware of the interplay of various forms of discrimination. (KO)

Presents a course on gender, race, and class developed at a White, midwestern university. Describes critical theory objectives through which students learn to analyze racism, sexism, and classism, and construct a model based on their analysis. Includes class assignments, projects, and activities. (NL)

Focuses on autobiographical composition and storytelling to promote critical thinking and feminist inquiry in women's studies and composition courses. Analyzes the personal discovery of the author's own voice as a woman writer. Presents three activities designed to initiate dialogue and elicit stories. Outlines assignment in which students produce…