Guide to the Sandra Lee Bartky papers, 1965-2004

(bulk 1980-1995)

Brown University Library, Special Collections
Box A, John Hay Library
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
E-mail: hay@brown.edu

Published in

Collection Overview

Title:	Sandra Lee Bartky papers
Date range:	1965-2004, (bulk 1980-1995)
Creator:	Bartky, Sandra Lee
Extent:	1 linear feet
Abstract:	The Sandra Lee Bartky papers are comprised of correspondence, syllabi, vita material, and letters and newsclippings documenting a debate between Bartky and Christina Hoff Sommers in the early 1990s. The materials provide interesting insight into the development of feminist philosophy as an academic discipline and the debates within the field as it defines and identifies meanings of gender and feminism.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	Brown University Library, Special Collections
Collection number:	Ms.2010.044

Scope & content

The Sandra Lee Bartky papers are comprised of correspondence, syllabi, vita material, and letters and newsclippings documenting a debate between Bartky and Christina Hoff Sommers in the early 1990s. The materials provide interesting insight into the development of feminist philosophy as an academic discipline and the debates within the field as it defines and identifies meanings of gender and feminism.

Series 1, Writings, contains drafts and final copies of various articles and talks written by Bartky. They range between 1980 and 2004.

Series 2, Correspondence, contains letters to and from Bartky. Letters discuss conferences, publications, debates within the feminist philosophy field, and course development. Correspondents of Bartky include Iris Young, Linda Alcoff, Alison Jaggar, and Lorraine Code. One folder of correspondence documents Bartky's decision to disengage from the Society of Women in Philosophy in 1991.

Series 3, Academic Work, contains a report Bartky, with other faculty, wrote about the Dartmouth College Women's Studies Program and materials related to Bartky's debate with Christina Hoff Sommers. Between 1989 and 1994, Sommers and Bartky, with some other feminist philosophers, embarked on a long, public debate about gender feminism and equity feminism, and the affects these types of feminism have on society. The materials demonstrate the effect the Culture Wars has on the academy in the early 1990s.

Series 4, Teaching Materials, provides syllabi for a number of courses taught by Bartky between 1975 and 2003. The courses include philosophy, feminist philosophy, Marxism and philosophy, and women's history.

Series 5, Conferences, has materials from two conferences. The first is "The Second Sex - Thirty Years Later" held at New York University in September, 1979. The second conference, held at Pennsylavania State University, is a scholarly discussion about the works of Bartky. This conference was held in October of 2000.

Series 6, Vita, contains the materials that make up Bartky's vita between 1965 and 2002, including materials that assisted her in obtaining full professor status.

Series 7, Activisim, includes materials related to Bartky's activisim within the academy. Items related to affirmative action, alternative graduations, protests against the firing of a popular English professor, and efforts to save a Women's Studies program.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Bartky, Sandra Lee

Subject Organizations

• Feminist Theory Archive.
• Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women.

Subject Names

• Bartky, Sandra Lee
• Sommers, Christina Hoff

Subject Topics

• Feminist theory
• Culture wars
• Women college teachers

Subject Topics

• Race, Ethnicity and Gender

Document Types

• Letters (correspondence)
• Curriculum vitae
• Syllabi
• Clippings (information artifacts)

Occupations

• College teachers

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into the following seven series:

• Series 1. Writings
• Series 2. Correspondence
• Series 3. Academic Work
• Series 4. Teaching Materials
• Series 5. Conferences
• Series 6. Vita
• Series 7. Activism Work

Biographical note

Sandra Bartky is a Professor of Philosophy and Women's Studies. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana. Her main fields of interest are existential philosophy, phenomenology, critical theory, Marxism, postmodernism, and feminist theory. She has published articles on Heidegger in Inquiry, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, and the British Journal of Aesthetics. Her work in philosophy of feminism has appeared in Social Theory and Practice, Hypatia and in several recent anthologies, including Feminism and Philosophy, Philosophy and Women, Philosophy for a New Generation, Classic Philosophical Questions, and Foucault and Feminism: Paths of Resistance. Bartky is the author of Femininity and Domination: Studies in the Phenomenology of Oppression (Routledge, 1990) and co-editor of Revaluing French Feminism: Essays on Difference, Agency and Culture (Indiana University Press, 1992). She has been awarded both the Silver Circle Teaching Award and the UIC Award for Excellence in Teaching.

(Biography from: http://www.uic.edu/depts/phil/bios/bartky.htm)

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Sandra Lee Bartky papers, Ms.2010.044, Feminist Theory Archive, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	Brown University Library, Special Collections Box A, John Hay Library Providence, RI 02912 Tel: 401-863-2146 E-mail: hay@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Gift of Sandra Bartky in 2010.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Amy Greer on behalf of the Pembroke Center for the Teaching and Research on Women and the Brown University Library.
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Sponsor:	Curatorial work and processing provided by the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women on behalf of the Feminist Theory Archive, Brown University Library.

Additional Information

Inventory

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