• Should we all be feminists, as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie insists?
• Are our private lives political, as Kate Millet argued?
• Do we need a room of our own to be able to write, as Virginia Wolf believed?
• Are women essentially different from men, or are the differences the product of how we’re brought up, as Simone de Beauvoir indicated?
• Why there are so few women in leadership positions in the global corporate world as Rosabeth Moss Kanter stated?
These and other key female writers have helped us to understand feminism and the role of women in our society.

In this course, you will analyze texts written by women that have challenged patriarchal structures at different points in history through three different forms: essays, fiction, and applied research.
• Part one: Key works by women in essay form: Pioneering by Mary Wollstonecraft in 1792 up to a new non-binary understanding of gender, many feminist essays have made us think about equality within patriarchal systems and how we can change them.
• Part two: Key works of fiction by women. From Jane Austen to Yang-May Ooi, female writers have touched our sensibilities by helping us to identify with their characters, inspiring us to overcome the challenges we face.
• Part three: Key works by women in the form of applied organizational research.
Research leads to action, specifically when applied to organizations. Rosabeth Moss Kanter, or Rohini Anand among others, has helped drive major changes in organizations.

My goal in this course is that through the texts, discussions, and assignments, you will be able to think, feel and act to promote gender equality through a better understanding of women’s literature.