Spring 2011 Course Descriptions

 Marxist & Revolutionary Feminism

   As the crisis deepens, it is imperative that we mobilize the resources of the university to investigate the nature of the crisis and what we can do about it, especially to address the unanswered questions of how patriarchy relates to the accumulation, crisis, and overthrow of capital.

   Join this study group covering introductory Marxist texts, recent Feminist writings that use the Marxist method or come from a revolutionary perspective, and autobiographies by women who have devoted their lives to the empowerment and liberation of women, the working class, and all exploited people.

   Address questions like: What are the interrelations between patriarchy and capitalism? How is the exploitation and oppression of women related to the contradictions in how the rich and powerful incessantly accumulate wealth at the expense of working people? What is Sex and Gender? How is Gender formed? How are these relations built into the division of labor or the family? How does the gendered division of labor impact the revolutionary agency of female bodied people? Are things class struggle that don't have to do with wages? How should we use political economy to understand intra-class oppression?

   Often we are taught about the multitude of problems that result from the exploitation and oppression of women and working people. This study group seeks to investigate the solutions. Karl Marx was able to analyze capitalism as a totality, and expose its contradictions that revolutionaries can exploit to defeat it. But he largely failed to analyze how the exploitation of women, non-waged workers, and racism or patriarchy contribute to our increasing subjugation by the very wealth we produce at work, in the home, and from the land. Since then, many feminists have attempted to use the Marxist method to answer these burning questions. Join us to study this method, these recent works, and the lives of women who fought for a better world.

Class meets Tuesdays at 5pm in HUM 374, contact: Greg (hankydank@live.com)

Security Engineering

A democratic, hands-on, group research project focused on the material and philosophical aspects of electronic and physical security. If there is demand, we will study and practice the defeat and proper implementation of common and high security locks, security architecture, alarms, surveillance, cryptographic protocols, internet privacy, social engineering and any other topics of interest relating to security.

Class meets Thursdays at 5pm, location TBA, contact: Mike (mmorin5@gmail.com)

Campus Ecology

Course objective: to connect the campus community with the natural history, human history, and current ecology of the SFSU campus and nearby Lake Merced. This will be accomplished through individual research and presentations, conducted outdoors when possible and supplemented with historical maps, photos, and assigned reading. As a collective final project, the information will be compiled in a booklet that describes a walking tour of the campus.

1 unit pass/fail; enroll as independent study with Dr. Carlos Davidson, Environmental Studies Dept. (more info on how to do this at the first class). Class meets Thursdays 12-2 (tentative– this may change to better fit everyone’s schedule) in HH 748, outdoors weather permitting.

contact: Jacqueline (jacquelinesarratt@yahoo.com), or Daniel (danielvi@att.net)

EC Core

A primary goal of this class is to both refine and expand the functions of the Experimental College at SFSU. This class will facilitate a collaborative effort for students and other participants to research, observe, innovate, and apply alternative modes of education We plan to emphasize the importance of learning in an open, collaborative environment, as a reaction to the sense of isolation that many of us feel in our homes, schools, and places of work. As we begin to understand the components of relevant educational experience, we also plan for the ongoing development of the Experimental College. In this respect, our classroom will serve an administrative function in addition to its role as a research space.

Class meets Wednesdays 10-12, location TBA,

contact: Andrew (there35@gmail.com), Dominique (d.monee@gmail.com), or Henry (york.henry@gmail.com) 

Your Class Here

There is still time for classes to be formed.  All you need is a group of people who want to study the same topic(s), a place to meet (empty rooms can be found all over campus), and —if you want credit—a department chair’s approval.