Sappho certainly may be read as a philosopher. She is easy to integrate
especially if you do a unit on Philosophy and Eros. Anne Carson's book
Eros the Bittersweet and her essay "The Justice of Aphrodite in Sappho"
work very well (the latter evokes a useful comparison with Anaximander,
if you start with the Presocratics). Page duBois' book Sappho is Burning
is worth consulting too - I've taught the chapter "The Aesthetics of the
Fragment" with success.

Let me urge you not to be discouraged by the dearth of writings by
actual women in thinking about how to bring questions of gender to the
forefront in your ancient phil class - there is so much interesting
stuff about women and the construction of gender in the work of the male
philosophers that you could construct a whole class around it. I haven't
exactly done this but I always make questions of sex and gender front
and center in my ancient phil courses. I can share my syllabi with you
off list if you like.

With best wishes, Emma



----- Original message ----- From: Sara Protasi <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Women philosophers in Ancient
Greco-Roman philosophy Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2015 20:47:43 +0100

Dear FEASTers,

first of all, let me remark on what a wonderful resource this is and how
appreciative I am not only of the answers you all gave me in the past
but also of all of the other inquiries and information provided via this
newsletter. I am learning so much just by standing on the sidelines, not
just in terms of philosophical content, but also of history of the
discipline (I am thinking especially of the all the emails concerning
Nancy Hartsock).

Ok, now for the the request of help! I am teaching Ancient (Western)
philosophy in the Fall (introductory undergraduate class, students
ranging from freshmen to senior level) and I am trying to integrate
women philosophers in my syllabus, which is not an easy task. Any
suggestion?

The only source of primary literature accessible to undergraduates that
I have been able to find is Kathleen Wider's 1986 Hypatia article. The
fragments reported there are actually not terribly interesting
(philosophically speaking), but the article raises a bunch of
historical, historiographical and sociological issues that might be
novel to many students. I am leaning toward assigning it as my reading
for one class dedicated in general to the topic "where are the women in
Ancient philosophy?".

Any further suggestion would be very appreciated. I'll happily send a
digest of what I get, if I receive it off-list (but I take it that
people don't mind to have a thread on these things).

Thank you! Sara
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--
Emanuela Bianchi





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