Keywords—Introduction to the Topic and Assignment
Historians and literature scholars use the term “keywords” to mean the important words and phrases that we use as shorthand for larger concepts. They are deeply embedded in how we think. Of course, they are also used in AI and search engine optimization.
But those keywords have their own history (as do all words), and they can change over time.
In this assignment you will address two key questions: How has your chosen keyword changed over time, and how has it been used differently in different disciplines? In class we will brainstorm a list of keywords we think are particularly important to the field of feminist thought. Each of you will choose a word that you would like to explore, perhaps as part of your final paper topic. You will each submit an initial write-up about your word during session 5. In that write-up (500–1000 words) you will pay particular attention to the history of the word and the ways it has changed over time. At the same time, try to think about why the word is important to feminist theory. How does it establish the terms of debate? In what ways has it served to change, or perhaps reinforce, even fix, certain paradigms?
Over the course of the semester, each of you will also make a brief presentation of your keyword (roughly 5–7 minutes). As much as possible, it will be desirable for you to tie your word into our class discussion of the common readings that week. Of course, that means you will be expected to do the reading for that week particularly carefully. An additional bonus: Can you present your ideas succinctly in graphic or video form? What about a few slides to show us what you are thinking?
Here are some recommended sources for researching your keywords.
- Ex: In the Historical Thesaurus under “diversity” you can find out, for example, that in the years 1475–1523, it meant “Opposition to what is what is right, good, or beneficial; perversity, evil. Also as a count noun: an evil or harmful act; an adverse circumstance. Obs.”
- This site shows uses of particular words in books. Try to determine the changing distribution of the word you have chosen.
- Try to determine what subjects in what disciplines have used your word and what its different meanings might be in those different disciplines.
- This is more focused on contemporary articles than Hathi Trust (which prioritizes books published before 1920), but you can conduct similar searches.
- You might ask how philosophers are using your keyword.
Archives of Sexuality and Gender
- This source has monographs, manuscripts, news articles, and occasionally photographs.
- If you use Wikipedia, I will expect you to provide criticism of what is and is not included, how terms are used, what might be “whitewashed” or glossed over.
- For differences in bias in media.
You do not have to use all of these sites, but it would be good to browse at least three or four.
Your final product
This assignment will serve two purposes. You will write it up for session 5 at the same time that you are presenting your idea for a paper topic. The two do not have to be synonymous. Your longer paper might take your keyword and show how it is used differently at different historical moments or how its usage varies geographically within the US (or between, say, two different countries). You might also consider social science research that has been done on that topic. An example might be to explore how the word “diversity” varies by discipline and how social scientists have created experiments to show the value of diversity in the workplace.
Enjoy this project!
Other references
Raymond Williams, Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society (Oxford University Press, 2014). 978-0199393213. [Preview with Google Books]
Tony Bennett, Lawrence Grossberg, Meaghan Morris, eds. New Keywords : A Revised Vocabulary of Culture and Society (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013). 978-1118725412. [Preview with Google Books]
Jenni Nuttall, Mother Tongue: The Surprising History of Women’s Words (Viking, 2023). 978-0593299579. [Preview with Google Books]
