Rural Exp w/Race/Class/Gen/Sex

Offers an exploration of the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexual identity within rural settings. A central focus will be developing an understanding of how systems of oppression reinforce each other; how they intersect to create an overall matrix of domination. Students will examine these ideas through a combination of academic books, novels, and films. Central to this class is the idea that there is no construction of race separate from gender, no construction of class separate from race, no construction of sexual identity separate from gender, etc. To that end we will not study four different systems of oppression; rather, we will explore how our lives are shaped by various combinations of these four “master statuses” and, thereby, evaluate how race, class, gender, and sexuality have all impacted individuals’ experiences throughout the rural world. Prepares students to make sense of a world in which these social constructions significantly shape the human experience; hence, course content evaluates what empowers these human inventions and introduces students to important aspects of demography, otherness, sub-altern status, political economy, and what the study of oppression and exploitation can tell us much about the human experience, past and present.