Dear Feast List,

As many of you know, the University of Oregon is the only graduate department in philosophy that requires every graduate student to take two courses in feminist philosophy at the graduate level (thanks to Nancy Tuana, who designed the program during her tenure here).  This fall, we are changing the way this (and other) requirements are to be fulfilled to address the fact that many of our students have no background in feminist philosophy at all when they arrive (others are already quite advanced).  Now students will take one "proseminar" in feminist philosophy during their first or second year, and a second more advanced course at some point during their course work.  I am teaching the proseminar for the first time this fall. It is designed to be a graduate level introductory survey of the field of feminist philosophy in ten weeks.  Our program is a pluralistic one, and proseminars will also be required in the other "traditions" that are the backbone of our program (American, Continental and Analytic philosophy).  My expectation is that the feminist philosophy proseminar will draw on feminist work from all three of these traditions, as well as work that doesn't necessarily fit into those divisions, and that it will cover issues in metaphysics, epistemology, ethical and political philosophy, etc.  While the course will have some historical breadth, the focus is not on a "history of feminist philosophy" so much as giving the students the conceptual background they need to be conversant with contemporary concerns in feminist philosophy (which of course requires some attention to history).  

My question for the list is this:  Given these expectations, if you were teaching such a proseminar, what are the works that you would think MUST be included?  I am interested in all replies to this question, but I am especially interested in replies that offer suggestions in the American and Analytic modes, since my specialization is in Continental philosophy, or suggestions of texts that address or problematize the feminist relation to these modalities of philosophical inquiry.  I am also especially interested in hearing what list members believe to be the "canonical" texts in feminist epistemology.  I recognize that any effort to identify a kind of "canon" in feminist philosophy is fraught with all the issues that accompany such an enterprise in other areas--it is unavoidable, however, that such power-encrusted decisions be made in this case. I'm hoping that getting feedback from my peers will make the decisions better.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

Bonnie Mann
Associate Professor of Philosophy
University of Oregon