Using a transnational, interdisciplinary, and intersectional feminist lens, this course will examine literary articulations of the complex relationship between gender and health. Defining health to include physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, sexual and/or reproductive well-being, we will read key literary works across genres - novels, short stories, essays, poetry, memoir – alongside scholarly articles to shed light on the gendered terrain of health in diverse contexts. We will also attempt to relate the textual material to society, polity, and lived experience. Course themes include, among others, the impact of gender role expectations on emotional and mental health; economic inequalities; immigrant well-being; racial, sexual, and transgender violence; eating disorders, nutrition; and holistic approaches to health. Writers include Margaret Atwood (The Edible Woman), Alice Walker (The Color Purple), Carmen Maria Manchado (Her Body and Other Parties), Casey Plett (A Safe Girl to Love), Michelle Obama (Becoming), Emily Nunn (The Comfort Food Diaries), Thich Nhat Hanh (How to Walk), Jhumpa Lahiri (Unaccustomed Earth), Gloria Anzaldua (Borderlands), Edna O’Brien (Saints and Sinners), Teju Cole (Strange and Known Things), Elizabeth Strout (Olive ), Sonia Sotomayer (My Beloved World), Rebecca Solnit (Men Explain Things to Me), and others.

Course Requirements:

Course requirements include a weekly journal, one presentation, and short self-care and nature activities.

Intended Audience:

This course meets requirements for the Women's and Gender Studies major and the Gender and Health major and minor.