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.

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

To unsubscribe from the FEAST-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the following link: https://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=FEAST-L&A=1