In your first assignment for the semester, you will create a zine in order to explore what the ideas we’re discussing in class mean for you.
Patricia Hill Collins and Silma Bilge write that intersectionality is “a way of understanding the complexity in the world, in people, and in human experiences” by thinking through the ways that “people’s lives and the organization of power … are better understood as being shaped not by a single axis of social division, be it race or gender or class, but by many axes that work together and influence each other.”
What are some of the axes of social division that have shaped your life so far? Which are the intersections where you live, and which are the ones that are most challenging for you to think about? Use your zine to ask questions, share stories, make critiques – so long as you are responding to the idea of intersectionality as we have read about it in our first class unit, you can write anything you like.
You can use any technique you like, so long as the final result can be photocopied on one sheet (two sheets if you’re feeling really ambitious) of 8.5x11in paper.
Bring at least 5 copies of your zine to class on September 20: one for each of your classmates and one for me. I encourage you to bring an extra copy to donate to the Women’s Studies zine library in 0135 Taliferro Hall.
There is no required content or method for this zine, though I expect that most of you will be referring to and quoting from our class readings for week 2. I will grade your zine according to:
• How clearly it responds to the ideas discussed in class
• How thoughtfully you engage with the ideas you discuss
• How much flair and originality you show in drawing on zine methodologies
• How much effort you have put into the project.
By Friday September 15, make a process post on the blog. Describe your zine’s main ideas, the formal strategies you are using, and any problems you are facing so far. Include at least one picture of your work in progress. Write at least 350 words.