The Integration of Gender into the Teaching of Classical Social Theory: Help from "The Handmaid's Tale.".

One of the thorniest issues facing the classroom instructor is the integration of gender, race, and class into the curriculum. Witness, for example, the lengthy controversy over the selection of books for Stanford's required "Western Cultures" course. To the sociology instructor the task may appear relatively easy, as categories of gender, race, and class are at the heart of what we teach and research. The task becomes somewhat less facile in sociological theory, particularly in courses with titles such as "Classical Social Theory." The triumvirate of Marx, Weber, and Durkheim addresses social class, but often leaves issues of gender and race to the reader's interpretation and imagination. Perhaps more important, students in such courses usually do not experience reading a female or feminist author. I faced these concerns several years ago and began revising Classical Social Theory to integrate gender. The following is a description of the still-evolving course, into which I integrate gender in two ways. First, the reading assignments include a female theorist. Second, The Handmaid's Tale, the feminist novel by Margaret Atwood (1986), becomes the basis for class discussions of concepts used by other social theorists. In order to illustrate how the novel is used to integrate gender, this paper will 1) review the course objectives and readings; 2) discuss the rationale for the readings; 3) describe the processes by which the readings become the grist for class discussions; and 4) discuss students' evaluations of the course content and process.