WGS 250: Gender and the Global Garden

Which environmentalists have won the Nobel Peace Prize? Who are the writers and scholars shaping our analyses of our food systems? Who are the global farmers? Where do gender and other identity issues fit into our responses to these questions? This class is situated at the junction of gender, environmental and food studies. Using interdisciplinary and intersectional approaches, this course examines how gender shapes our views of the environment, agriculture and food. We consider the leaders, scholars, innovators, and activists of these movements; what brought them to their commitments; and how their identities might have shaped their interests, activities and goals. The course asks how we come to see and hear certain individuals and groups while others remain hidden and how these issues of visibility and invisibility influence public opinions and public activism. We will take our own gender analysis skills into our local garden, farm and food systems. We will study relevant Michigan programs and work with the Wildcat Garden. Franzen.