Learner Reviews & Feedback for Feminism and Social Justice by University of California, Santa Cruz

I have never though I could find such a complete and professional course on the foundations of feminism. If I had known it could exist, I would have looked for it everywhere. I discovered it by chance on a feminist page on a social network and, exactly the day after that, the University that I attend gave its students the possibility to join courses on Coursera, thus to attend this course. Professor Aptheker has a wonderful way to talk about historical events, as if she were narrating stories; her knowledge and passion intertwine in a magical way, making her one of "my" favourite professors of all my studies. I wish there was a second part of this course! Having a solid base of knowledge on feminism is of the outmost importance for me, both on a personal and on an inter-relational plan. The objective facts reported with clarity by Professor Aptheker are enriched by her personal experiences and involvment in some of the events described through the course. I am extremely happy of having followed this course and I wish it lasted more. I am very grateful to Professor Aptheker!

It's a useful course, But it is too historical and narrative instead of Focus on concepts

Professor Aptheker offers so much more than a class on Feminism and Social Justice - she offers firsthand accounts of many of the events the class goes over. She is incredibly knowledgeable and experienced. She is also rather lighthearted and comical at times. Her firsthand experiences lead each student into the background that's not just found in text or videos, but from her perspective and an inside look into what was going on behind the scene and during those months/years. I would happily take another course from Prof. Aptheker.

I greatly enjoyed this course. It was very engaging and I found Bettina's teaching style warm and accessible. I was disappointed the course didn't run for longer as I so enjoyed learning about the origins of feminism and key historical events that have shaped our position in the world today.

Beautiful course. A sensitive topic very lucidly compiled. Hope that such a course is available in the Indian context too.

It was a very structured and informative course! I enjoyed it very much. I wish there were more lecures though. She could've discussed the different waves of feminism and maybe reflect a bit on the issues and history of feminism in other countries and continent. It was very US-centered. Altough I could follow most of her thoughts, you probably need a deeper knowlegde on general US history to fully understand all her references and statements. All in all, I am very glad to have been able to take this course!

The lectures were amazing and insightful. But I was hope that this course full of discussion and forming own opinion/definition. In my humblest opinion, I wasn't satisfied with the quiz system. Rather than highlighting the system of feminism and social justice or analyzing events on particular subject, the quiz is more of asking students of minor detail of the event, not discussing the big picture of the problem. Yes there is discussion after lecture, but it is optional and not graded. This course will be much better if it replace the quizzes to the discussion for grading system. Or reevaluate the quizzes into more in-depth questions.

Inspiring, informative, enthusiastic, fantastic!

I really enjoyed this course, it gives a short overview of feminism in the United States. It is a shame that it is so focused on the US and it only views feminism and Social Justice in light of US history. I would have liked to see more events covered in this course, like the suffragette movement. It would have also been interesting to link feminism to the LGBT movement, just like it was linked to class and racial struggle.

I was expecting more information on the history of feminism up to the present day and different social justifications, especially from more countries, since it only focuses on the history of feminist social justice in the USA and there are many countries with fewer privileges and more complex situations, which in this course could have been reflected to raise awareness, and not only put the focus on the USA... also showing a privilege to that nation and an exclusion to the rest of them.

I decided not to be a feminist after this course

Wow. I really adored this course. Professor Aptheker managed to explain a diverse, and sometimes complicated topic in clear detail. I learnt so much from this course. I am sad to say I had not heard of any of the women mentioned in this course before, i.e Anita Hill, Angela Davis, anything about the Salt of the Earth strike... this is very disappointing and perhaps shows that education, too, needs to change in order to make people aware of women fighting oppression. I identified as a feminist before this course, but only recently. I feel that even the word 'feminist' has become 'dirty' in society- men make jokes about feminists all the time and have successfuly made many people feel ashamed to be apart of the movemet, i.e the stereotype that all feminists are crazy and dramatic (funnily enough, as Professor Aptheker mentioned, these are words commonly associated with women...especially when passionate or angry about something). I think it is disgusting that many girls will grow up thinking the same, forced to believe that such a beautiful movement is crazy. It is not. It is sane, and warranted, especially now with #MeToo. I now wear my feminist badge with more pride than ever before. We all should be feminists. Thank you Professor Aptheker. Please take this course.

Everyone should take up this course because this course has a structured curriculum for feminism. The idea of feminism is something we have learnt from media, one will come to know about the meaning.

Do people actually spend time on this?

I thank Prof Bettina Aptheker for taking us through the journey of various movements that took place in America and learning the events from a person who was actually a part of a few of them. This course gave me insights of the discrimination faced by women specially the Black and the inequality faced by women in general. Thanks to all those who brought a change so that we are able to live a dignified life today. This course has been a change maker for me as it makes me take my freedom not so lightly and respect my dignity.

This course was very impactful, I now understand the history of rape as a crime, the attitudes that have diminished and undermine women's rights. I am hoping that we will get things right as a people

Love this Course. Professor Bettina Aptheker is really a good teacher and a great person herself. She uses real experiences to teach us which is really remarkable and helps to engage with the topic.

Thank you for offering this course, it is way more than an introductory course, as well as the option of discussions proved to be highly beneficial. Ms.Bettina Aptheker is an excellent lecturer.

Great for beginners. 3 stars because Its very US centered.

This course wasn't up to my expectations.

Muy buena forma de introducirme al aprendizaje del feminismo y las causas que lo han motivado. Considero que para poder practicar algo, además de sentir la motivación y pasión por ello, hay que conocer los orígenes. Este curso ha ayudado a comprender, desde un entorno global , la expansión del feminismo, que en los últimos años resuena en distintas partes del mundo, como en mi país (Perú). Considero que, para poder enseñar a los demás hay que aprender; en ese sentido, considero que he aprendido y que seguiré aprendiendo para así poder enseñar a las demás personas y lograr la tan ansiada igualdad. Recomiendo el curso para todas las personas interesadas por entender qué es lo que buscamos las personas que apoyamos la lucha feminista, borrar prejuicios y sentir empatía.

Me gusto mucho el curso, aunque no me consideré una feminista, aprender acerca del papel de la mujer en la historia era algo necesario que tenía que investigar. Yo siempre he dicho que hay que pensar por un momento y dar las gracias por todos los hombres y mujeres que hicieron posible que en el día de hoy las mujeres tengamos el derecho al voto, a la educación entre muchas otras cosas que antes no teníamos o eran limitadas. Eso no quiere decir que tenemos que conformarnos aún hay bastante camino por recorrer pero claro nunca olvidando nuestros ancestros y personajes de la historia que hicieron el cambio. Siento que tanto hombres y mujeres deberían tomar este curso, ya que es muy interesante y además, claro investigar de más cosas.

incredible course to think about feminism and social justice history in the USA. we are becoming more powerful and the world will change with us. More we - women- know more power we have.

I hope that more and more classes and other people will join the movement. Feminism is about women, equality, sustainable development, racism. the more feminism, the better the world will become

This was an enlightening course! I had a limited understanding on the issues around feminism and social justice and I got listen to perspectives from many angles. And the Professor Bettina is great.

I have found the course of great help, giving me a whole thorough look at the social justice movement and feminism.