WS 200 Section 001: Intro To Women Studies
Spring, 2010
3 Credit Hours
Primary Instructor: Brittney Cooper
Additional Instructors: Tammy Owens
Core Designation: Humanities
As an interdisciplinary field of inquiry, Women’s Studies employs the conceptual and methodological approaches of a variety of fields and disciplines in its interrogation and examination of women’s lives. In this course, you will be exposed to the historical and contemporary issues that have shaped women’s studies more broadly and feminism more specifically. In addition to considering the roles of women in patriarchal society, emphasis will also be placed on examining how various factors, including race, class, gender, and sexuality, contribute to the oppression of women and how these factors can be challenged through feminist critical practices.
This course is a combination of lecture and seminar based learning. You will attend lectures on Tuesdays of each week, in which I or a designated teaching assistant will provide an in-depth presentation of key concepts in the field of Women’s Studies. On Thursdays, you will have the opportunity to engage these concepts with a smaller grouping of your peers. Your attendance at both weekly sessions is required, and your full participation expected. Remember that your crisis is not my emergency, and always plan ahead.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the “herstory” of Women’s Studies, the women’s movement, and feminisms.
2. Understand basic concepts in Women’s Studies, including the roles that race, class, gender, sexuality, age, ability, and other axes of difference, play in culture and society.
3. Have a base of knowledge and understanding to serve as a foundation for future study in Women’s Studies.
4. Recognize the importance and impact that societal expectations have on shaping individual and cultural constructions of gender.
5. Be able to recognize unequal power relations and oppressive factors in lived experiences and in culture and society.
6. Be able to understand how feminist social and political action will benefit all people.
To achieve these objectives, students will use these methods:
1. Examine the contributions that women make in society and culture.
2. Allow students the opportunity to examine gender roles, expectations, and imagery in an attempt to raise the level of consciousness and awareness of how these factors contribute to women’s oppression.
3. Encourage students to engage actively in classroom discussions so they may gain knowledge about the field of Women’s Studies, the women’s movement, and feminisms.
4. Create an environment of respect where meaningful intellectual exchange, involving critical thinking and historical and social analysis, can take place.
5. Develop students’ knowledge and understanding of racial, sexual, class and cultural diversity among women toward the goal of ending interconnected oppressions.
You are allowed two absences from class, no explanation needed. [These are to be used sickness, emergencies, or days when you don’t want to make the effort.]These can be used for illness, family emergencies, or other personal matters at your discretion, so please use them wisely. Thus, if you miss a class I don’t need an explanation, even if it’s due to sickness, since it is your use of your free days. If you use up your absences, and then get sick later in the semester, the absence policy still applies. In other words, those absences will also accrue towards your total attendance for the semester. After two absences, I reserve the right to lower your final grade accordingly. Once you have missed five classes, you will automatically fail the course. You will be marked late after the first 10 minutes of each class period and absent after the first 30 minutes of each class period. Three or more late marks will constitute one absence. You should check in with your discussion section facilitator during each class session.
Office Hours: Tu/Th: 11:00-12:00 and by appointment [See section instructor first]
Total 400 Points
You may make up the midterm and final only in the case of documented illness. Late assignments are accepted only in extreme and extenuating circumstances and will be considered on a case by case basis.
E-Learning: You will need to access the Elearning site for this course in order to see your syllabus online, keep up with your grades, etc. You will also need to register your clicker on the class elearning website. You may access elearning through your Mybama account.
Tegrity: In addition to lecture material presented in class, you will also have access to recorded lectures captured using Tegrity. Tegrity captures the lecture presentation and allows you access to each recorded lecture. Through your course in eLearning, you will be able to review each lecture, including the PowerPoint slides and the audio recorded during class. Because Tegrity captures the audio in this class, your voice may be recorded. Tegrity tutorials are available at http://tegrity.ua.edu.
Assignment Descriptions:
Class Preps: Due each Thursday, class preps are designed to help you actively engage the reading material. Class preps are composed of three parts: a précis, a brief glossary of keywords or concepts, and a set of questions that you have about the readings. The précis is an introductory statement of 150-250 words in which you will succinctly summarize the daily reading (s). By summary, I mean that you will provide a precise description of each text by giving the primary thesis of the article and a statement about the types of evidence or warrants that the author uses to support her/his claims. You should group all readings together in the précis, and if it is relevant, you can address each reading by making one or two statements within the précis about the thesis and arguments. In the glossary section, you should identify key concepts that the author attempts to explore, interrogate, and/or explain in the reading. Provide a brief definition of these concepts either through a quotation from the text or through what you can glean from context clues. In this section you should contextualize your concepts by identifying the readings from which they come. Finally, your class prep should contain your questions about the reading. You can ask questions about concepts or arguments you did not understand, challenge the author’s interpretation of material, or pose questions for class discussion. You should write at least three (3) thoughtful substantive questions about the reading. You will submit two (2) class preps each week. One for Tuesday’s reading and one for Thursday’s reading.
E-learning Modules: These short modules are designed to supplement materials that you encounter in class. You should follow the instructions in the module and complete any requested assignments by the due date listed on the syllabus.
Media Notebook: You will be asked to create a media notebook
that explores the social construction of gender in visual culture, particularly within media. You will provide a pictorial analysis of images and text from either written or visual media and you should provide a 3-5 page analysis that thematizes and contextualizes your choices and provides a sense of how your treatment of these images relates to broader issues in the course. More information will be given on this project later in the semester.
Short Paper: In 3-4 pages, you will critically analyze some aspect of the novel Push by applying at least two concepts that we have encountered in the class discussion. Your papers must have a thesis, and your argument must be supported by examples from the text. More instructions will be given as the due date for assignment nears.
Course Schedule
Week 1:
Tu, Jan 12: Introductions, Reading of Syllabus, Review of Course Policies
Th, Jan 14: Introduction to seminar logistics and discussion on feminism
Week 2:
Tu, Jan 19: FF6, Lorber; FF12, Richardson; Read Ms. Magazine, Fall 2009, “Keeping Score”
Th, Jan 21: Read: GCR—Seneca Falls Declaration; Sojourner Truth, Ain’t I A Woman?; NOW Statement of Purpose—Class Prep due; class prep; E-learning module 1.
Week 3:
Tu, Jan 26: Read: FF2, McIntosh; Male Privilege Checklist; Black Male Privilege Checklist
Th, Jan 28: Read: SCUM Manifesto; Redstockings Manifesto [e-learning]
Week 4:
Tu, Feb 2: Read: FF9, Zinn and Dill; FFBox, p.38—Lorde; FFBox, p.114—Womanist; FF24, GCR, Combahee River Collective Statement;
Th, Feb 4: Read, Kang and FFBox, p. 266, Reskin, Ms. Magazine, Summer 2009 “What a Difference a Latina Makes” Class Preps due.
Week 5:
Tu, Feb 9: Read: FF26, Morrison; GCR, Adrienne Rich: Compulsory Heterosexuality; FF21, Rupp
Th, Feb 11: Read: FF27, Lewis; Ms. Magazine— “The F Word on the L Word” Winter ’08 Class preps due.
Week 6:
MidTerm:
Tu, Feb 16: Midterm Review
Th, Feb 18: Midterm Exam
Week 7:
Tu, Feb 23: FF13, Taylor and Johnston; FF39, Davis
Th, Feb 25: GCR: Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth; Riley, The Black Beauty Myth Class Preps due.
Week 8:
Tu, Mar 2: Read: Push, 1st Half
Th, Mar 4 Read: Push, 2nd Half – Prospectus due for short paper
Week 9:
Tu, Mar 9: Angela Davis, Reproductive Rights (e-learning)
Th, Mar 11: FF49, Mink
Spring Break, March 16th and 18th
Week 10:
Tu, Mar 23: Read: E-learning module 2; In-class Documentary
Th, Mar 25: FF42, Martin and Hummer; FFBox, p. 482, Naguib
Class preps due
Week 11:
Tu, March 30: Screening Documentary Thin --Papers on Push due.
Th, Apr 1: FF38, Thompson; Ms. Mag
Week 12:
Tu, Apr 6: FF34, Hill Collins; FF16, Sharpley-Whiting:
Th, Apr 8: E-learning Module 3
Week 13:
Tu, Apr 13: Read: FF15, Banks/ In class documentary
Th, Apr 15: Read: Ms. Mag Class preps due.
Week 14:
Tu, Apr 20: FF41, Ehrenreich; FFBox, p.95, Garland-Thomson; FFBox, p.467, Clare
Th, Apr 22: Media Notebook Presentations
Week 15:
Tu, Apr 27: Concluding Lecture; Final Review
Th, Apr 29: Media Notebooks Presentations
Final Exam: Date TBD
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