BRIANNE DONALDSON
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Gender, Sex, Species 
(Philos 230/Human 270) ​Spring 2022
Thursday 11am—1:50pm

Location: HIB 55  (map here) 
Professor: Brianne Donaldson 
Email: b.donaldson@UCI.edu​


Description:
In this course, we explore the construction of gender and species categories in Western knowledge frameworks, with some reference to Indian cultural and philosophical contexts. Utilizing poststructural and feminist/queer theoretical frameworks, as well as metaphysical perspectives of “indistinction," we will primarily evaluate the entanglement of gender and species in western ethics, science, religion, marketing, and entertainment. We will secondarily identify overlapping discourses of race, disability, class, nationalism, among others. Students will develop tools for analyzing identity construction in narratives, images, and practices beyond biological determinism; students will further consider the possibilities and pitfalls of indistinction as a constructive alternative to various forms of violence based on gender and species.
Opening Recitation:
परस्परोपग्रहो जीवानाम् 
Parasparopagraho jīvānām
“The function of living beings is to support one another.”  
–Tattvārtha-sūtra, of the Jain tradition (2nd–5th c. CE) 5.21 



Student Learning Objectives:
1. Articulate 3–4 overlapping features of poststructural philosophies with feminist/queer theories
2. Distinguish theoretical approaches in critical animal studies, including a metaphysical approach of "indistinction"
3. Examine various scholarly accounts of gender, sex, species, in light of the above theoretical tools 
4. Construct a final project related to sex, gender and species, with special attention to indistinction approaches
Cover image: "It's Just Noise" by Ramona Pintea

STUDENT VISITING HOURS: COME SEE ME! (Fall 2021)

Where to find my office: Humanities Instructional Bldg, Lowest level, Room #56 (Philosophy Dept; map here). Visiting hours start Week 2, April 5, 2022
  • Tuesday (in person) 11am-12pm (there is an outdoor table we can go to!)
  • Friday (Zoom) 11am-12pm; Zoom link: https://uci.zoom.us/j/93520519947
  • Other times by request; just contact me (I often don't check email after 6pm)
  • When writing me, please include a greeting such as "Hi _____" or "Dear _____" so I feel like a means to your success as well as my own end; I will endeavor to do the same for you.
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REQUIRED TEXTS 

STUDENTS MUST HAVE A COPY (HARD OR DIGITAL) OF THE READINGS IN CLASS so we can reference them.
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Judith Butler, Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex
  • We can make any edition work​
  • ISBN-10: ‎ 041561015X  //   ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0415610155 ​
  • Cost: $7+ online
Matthew Calarco, Thinking Through Animals: Identity, Difference, Indistinction​
  • Publisher: Stanford Briefs; 1st edition (June 24, 2015)
  • Paperback: 88 pages
  • ISBN-10: ‎0804794049  //  ISBN-13: 978-0804794046
  • Cost: $4+ online​​
Aph Ko, Racism as Zoological Witchcraft: A Guide to Getting Out
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lantern Publishing & Media; Illustrated edition (September 16, 2019)
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 168 pages
  • ISBN-10: 1590565967  //  ISBN-13: 978-1590565964
  • Cost: $11+ online
 Jacques Derrida, The Animal That Therefore I Am (free)
  • Publisher: ‎Fordham University Press; 1st edition (April 15, 2008)
  • Paperback: ‎192 pages
  • ISBN-10: ‎9780823227914  //  ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0823227914
  • Cost: Available here for free through UCI Library / $15+ online

POLICIES

UCI COVID-19 RESPONSE CENTER
Student resources can be found here.

ADD/DROP DEADLINES
Students may DROP or ADD a course through 5:00 p.m. on Friday of the second full week of classes (April 8, 2022). See the policy here.
​
ATTENDANCE POLICY
All students can miss one class with no penalty. Beyond that, each absence is a 10 pt reduction. Attendance will begin after the drop/add period.

​If you have an extended illness, extended family emergency, or extended immigration-related issue, please contact me as soon as you are able to and we will discuss a plan forward. Also, if something has kept you from reading or feeling prepared for class, please still come. You can always "pass" in discussion. So long as this is not a regular occurrence, your engaged presence will still benefit you, your peers, and our collective work.  

LATE WORK POLICY
Scheduled class presentations must be presented on your chosen day/s to receive a grade. All other work has a 2-hour grace period unless arrangements are made. After the drop/add deadline (April 8), late assignments will receive the following one-time deductions: 0-10 points (1 pt deduction); 11-40 points (3 pt deduction); 41+ points (5 pt deduction). All late work is due by June 13, 2022. 
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY AND PLAGIARISM
​We are here to do the hard work of learning together. Academic dishonesty erodes this goal and your own self confidence. It is also a serious academic offense that can result in failing a paper, failing the class, and academic dismissal from the university. Please see the UCI Policies on Academic Honesty. It is your responsibility to read and understand these policies. 

DISABILITY ACCOMODATIONS
All of us have different abilities, strengths, and challenges with learning. Students who believe they may need accommodations to succeed in this class are encouraged to register online with the Disability Services Center (or call 949-824-7494) to ensure that such accommodations are implemented as soon as possible. This can include priority test-taking, extended time on quizzes, seating preference, transportation, document conversion, among many other possible accommodations. And please feel free to meet with me to discuss ways that I can make the classroom, materials, or assignments more accessible. 

UCI MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING AND RELATIONSHIP VIOLENCE PHONE LINES (24-HRS/DAY)
At-home learning and ongoing pandemic stresses can exacerbate personal, family, and relationship strains. UCI has several free resources and services to support well-being and safety. Click here. ​
FOOD AND HOUSING INSECURITY
​Any student who has difficulty affording groceries or accessing sufficient food to eat every day, or who lacks a safe and stable place to live, and believes this may affect their performance in the course, is urged to contact the FRESH Basic Needs Hub and the Basic Needs Coordinator, Andrea Gutierrez, at agordill@exchange.uci.edu. Also, please notify me if you are comfortable doing so. This will enable me to inform you of resources that might be of help.
  
TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM 
Disciplined use of devices for note taking or looking up information relevant to an immediate discussion in class is welcome. Checking out cat memes, texting, and personal email, while tempting, is not. It is evident to everyone when a colleague is checked out of class and into their device, and it lessens what the class can be as a whole. I prefer to leave this disciplined restraint to you, but will address it myself if needed. I will also do my best to facilitate an active learning environment whenever possible. 
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ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING

ALL WORK CAN BE TURNED IN PRIOR TO THE DUE DATE (JUST LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT FEEDBACK SOONER THAN DUE DATE)

1. DISCUSSION LEADER WORKSHEETS (1 @ 30pts)

Each week 2 students will sign up to create a discussion leader worksheet for that week's readings and send it to all participants/faculty before class. Each student will lead a 12-minute discussion (for a combined total of 25 minutes) using your sheet. Please see below instructions. ​
discussion_leader_worksheet__gensexspecies_.docx
File Size: 21 kb
File Type: docx
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2. THREE BODY/SPECIES REFLECTIONS (30; 3 @ 10pts each)
Craft three 1-1.5 page single-spaced reflections; each will connect a different embodied/species encounter with course content. The aim is to collide our readings into our experiences of body and "animal." Each reflection should include:
  1. 1pt Brief description of the body/species encounter (maybe a walk, bike ride, film, unexpected critter visit, photo you take, trip to the grocery store or dance club, among many other possibilities)
  2. 7pts Robust neighborly reading of the preceding 2 to 3 weeks of assigned texts (you can definitely refer back to earlier readings but this is your chance to demonstrate your careful understanding of certain elements from the immediate 2-3 weeks of material)
  3. 2pts 1-2 thoughtful questions reflecting the readings' content and concepts (please avoid free-floating Qs such as "what would X person unrelated to the course think of this concept?" or "can this concept really be put into practice?" You are welcome to ask such questions IF you provide relevant factors that contextualize what's at stake with the question)

4. FINAL PROJECT (130pts)
Each student will complete an analysis of gender, sex, species that contributes to their own research interests. You must include indistinction-based theory in some way even if just to illuminate the ultimate theories you emphasize. This project could be a paper, but I welcome other proposals—such as robustly annotated bibliographies, comprehensive outlines, podcast, or creative media project. This project should include robust engagement with at least 2 CORE theory texts (Butler, Derrida, Calarco, Ko, Warren) and at at least 3 non-core course sources. You are welcome to include non-course sources beyond this.
You can submit any of the below earlier that the deadline.
  1. 1. Submit to Canvas: 1-page, single-spaced (3-5 paragraph) tentative proposal in writing by Sunday, May 1, 11:59pm  (20pts)
  2. Include: (a) tentative topic in detail, 4pts; (b) personal motivation, 3pts (c) why the topic matters; 3pts (d) interlocutors that will inform your research, including the particular aspect/s of indistinction you presently feel may be valuable to your analysis (10pts)
  3. 2. In-class progress report and tentative bibliography report by Thursday, May 26, (10pts)
  4. 3. Submit by email: Final project due by Thursday, June 9, 11:59pm (100pts) *24-hour grace period if wanted

5. CAROL ADAMS EVENT ANALYSIS (6pts Extra Credit) Add an extra thoughtful paragraph and question regarding Carol Adams' public lecture to your Body/Species Reflection 2 and earn up to 6 extra credit points! (Wednesday May 4, 4:00-5:20; REGISTER HERE)
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Basic Canvas grading guide                          
A+ 96.5 -100%
A   93.5 - 96.5
A-  90 - 93.5
B+ 86.5 - 90
B   83.5 - 86.5
B-  80 - 83.5
C+ 76.5 - 80
C   73.5 - 76.5
C-  70 - 73.5
D+ 66.5 - 70
D   63.5 - 66.5
D-  60 - 63.5
F    0 - 60      

RESOURCES: 5 WAYS TO TAKE NOTES & BEDFORD CITATION GUIDE

5 METHODS FOR TAKING NOTES IN READING AND IN CLASS
BEDFORD HANDBOOK FOR IN-TEXT CITATIONS AND WORKS CITED (HELPFUL DIRECTORIES ON P. 4 AND P. 10)
adams_spom_ch_1-2_-_apr_20_2022_-_5-24_pm.pdf
File Size: 13899 kb
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WEEKLY SCHEDULE 

Week 1​

New reading to consider
Erika Milam, "Making Males Aggressive and Females Coy: Gender across the Animal-Human Boundary"

March 31

Course Intro & Discussion

Pre-read, seeking resonances/distinctions between the following (I always recommend finding out something about the author to better understand their context and deep motivating concerns):​
  • Read before class
    • ​Judith Butler, Bodies that Matter (BtM), Preface, viii-x (If you don't have the text yet, the preface is available here through the Amazon 'Search Inside' function)
    • Aph Ko, Racism as Zoological Witchcraft (RZW), pp. xv-xvi; 1-18 (pdf below)
  • Read together in class
    • ​Alice Walker, "Am I Blue?"
​​Assignments
  • Sign up for Discussion leader worksheets 
ko_raczoowitch_-_mar_7_2022_-_6-52_pm.pdf
File Size: 5746 kb
File Type: pdf
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Week 2

 April 7
Poststructural Materialities
  • Alfred North Whitehead, Modes of Thought, Lecture 8 (pdf below)
  • Butler, BtM, Introduction xi-xiii (first 3 pages to see what is at stake), and Chs 1, 3, 4
  • Donna Haraway, Companion Species Manifesto (pp. 1-17, stop at "I take 'interpellation'" and 33–39, section on "Love Stories")​
​​Assignments
Discussion Leaders: ​
modes_of_thought_lecture_8.pdf
File Size: 6321 kb
File Type: pdf
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Week 3

April 14 (No Tuesday Visiting Hours this week; Friday is still on and other times by appointment)
Identity and Difference
  • ​Matthew Calarco, Thinking Through Animals, Intro and Ch 1, 2
  • Jacques Derrida, The Animal that Therefore I Am, Ch 1
  • Brian and Hope Henning, "Logos, Pathos, and the Absent Presence of the Persons We Eat" (pdf below)​
​Assignments
Body/Species Reflection 1 due
Discussion Leaders: (1) Mo Fowler, (2) Brandon Blackburn
logos_pathos_and_the_absent_presence_of.pdf
File Size: 684 kb
File Type: pdf
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Week 4

April 21
Indistinction Theories 1
  • Calarco, Thinking Through, Ch 3​​
  • Anat Pick, Creaturely Poetics: Animality and Vulnerability in Literature and Film, Introduction and Ch 1 (pdf below)
  • Val Plumwood, "Prey to a Crocodile"
  • View: National Museum Australia, "Val Plumwood Canoe"

​Assignments
Discussion Leaders: (1) Christine Dianne Guiyangco, (2) Annabelle Tada
anat_pick_ch_1_-_apr_14_2022_-_7-00_pm.pdf
File Size: 12273 kb
File Type: pdf
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Week 5

April 28
Sexual Politics of Meat
  • Carol Adams, The Sexual Politics of Meat, Ch 1, 2 (pdf below)
  • Rebekah Sinclair, "The Sexual Politics of Meatless Meat: (in)Edible Others and the Myth of Flesh Without Sacrifice"  (pdf below) 
  • Carol Adams, "Ethical Spectacles and Seitan-Making: Beyond the Sexual Politics of Meat—A Response to Sinclair"  (pdf below)
  • View: Examples of the Sexual Politics of Meat
Assignments
​​​Tentative final proposal due to canvas by Sunday, May 1 by 11:59pm
Discussion Leaders: (1) McKenna Middleton, (2) Kristina Horn
Adams, Sexual Politics, Ch 1-2
File Size: 13899 kb
File Type: pdf
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Sinclair, Ch 14
File Size: 9357 kb
File Type: pdf
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Adams response to Sinclair
File Size: 3658 kb
File Type: pdf
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Week 6

May 5
**No class this week**
Assignments
  • Attend Carol Adams online event, Wednesday, May 4, 4:00-5:20 PST. Register here

Week 7 

May 12
​Ecofeminism and Care Ethics
  • ​Karen J. Warren, Ecofeminist Philosophy: A Western Perspective On What It Is and Why It Matters, Ch 1, 2 (pdf below)
  • Marti Kheel, "Thinking Like a Mountain or Thinking Like a 'Man'?" (pdf below)​
  • Irina Aristarkhova, "Thou Shall Not Harm All Living Beings: Feminism, Jainism, and Animals"
  • Margaret Robinson, "Indigenous Veganism: Feminist Natives Do Eat Tofu"​​​
​​​Assignments
Body/Species Reflection 2 due (add an extra, distinct, thoughtful paragraph and question regarding Carol Adams' public lecture for up to 6 extra credit points!)
Discussion Leaders: (1) Cherrish Hardy
Karen Warren, Ch 1-2
File Size: 13567 kb
File Type: pdf
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Marti Kheel, Ch 4
File Size: 10351 kb
File Type: pdf
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Week 8

May 19 THIS WEEK'S CLASS (AND TUESDAY OFC. HOURS) WILL BE ON ZOOM:  https://uci.zoom.us/j/93901137869
Race, Species, Gender Beyond Intersectionality
  • Butler, BtM, Ch 6
  • Aph Ko, Racism as Zoological Witchcraft, Chs 1-5
  • Leslie Irvine, My Dog Always Eats First, Ch 4 (pdf below)
  • View: "LA County Program Helps Homeless Keep Their Pets as They Seek Housing" ​
​​Assignments
Discussion Leaders: (1) Devin Wilson
Aph Ko, Ch 1-5
File Size: 25961 kb
File Type: pdf
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Leslie Irvine, My Dog Always Eats First.pdf
File Size: 1836 kb
File Type: pdf
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Week 9 ​

May 26
Embodied Politics (Indistinction 2)
  • Mel Y. Chen, Animacies: Biopolitics, Racial Mattering, and Queer Affect, Ch 3 (pdf below)
  • Ashley King, "Hos-Pet-Altity: Handmade Selves and Transspeciated Femininity" (pdf below)
  • Mitch Goldsmith, "Queering Our Relations with Animals: Multispecies Sexuality Beyond the Laboratory"
  • View in class: "Karollyne"
​Assignments
​
​​​​​1 minute in-class progress report on final research project with questions or gaps
Discussion Leaders: (1) Cass Segura
Chen, Animacies, Ch 3
File Size: 506 kb
File Type: pdf
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King, Hos-Pet-Ality.pdf
File Size: 1374 kb
File Type: pdf
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Goldsmith, Queering Our Relations
File Size: 138 kb
File Type: pdf
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Week 10

June 2
Embodied Sensibilities (Indistinction 3)
  • Sunaura Taylor, Beasts of Burden, Chs 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10 (55 pages total; pdf below)
  • Justin Fifield, "Living in Awareness of Animal Death: Buddhist Experiments in Ethical Sensibility" (pdf below)
  • View: Sunaura Taylor Portfolio (click through Taylor's galleries; choose 1-2 that illuminate course/reading concepts; we'll discuss)
  • Optional: Suzanne Bost, "Practicing Yoga / Embodying Feminism / Shape-shifting" (In this unique essay, based on Gloria Anzaldúa's work and contains a series of Bost's original poems)

​Assignments​
​​Body/Species Reflection 3 Due
​Discussion Leaders: (1) Deni Li
Fifield, Living With Awareness
File Size: 1545 kb
File Type: pdf
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Sunny Taylor, Ch 1-3 & 8-10
File Size: 17798 kb
File Type: pdf
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Taylor, missing pp 32-33 (oops!)
File Size: 564 kb
File Type: pdf
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Week 11

June 4–9 Final Exams​​
​ Assignments
  • Final Projects due to Canvas by Thursday, June 9, 11:59pm (if wanted, 24-hour grace period after due date)
  • Please complete your UCI class evaluation (if 80% of students complete, all will get 3 points extra credit) 
  • COURSE DETAILS
  • VISIT ME
  • TEXTS
  • POLICIES
  • ASSIGNMENTS/GRADING
  • RESOURCES
  • SCHEDULE

www.briannedonaldson.com

  • About
  • Writing
  • Teaching/Syllabus
  • Contact
  • Events
  • CV
    • Medical Ethics
    • Suffering & Evil