Introduction to Feminist Studies
Elizabeth
Green Musselman (“Dr. GM”)
Fall Semester 2005
Feminist Studies | course #04-103-01
Southwestern University
TuTh 9:30-10:45 a.m. | Olin 322
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description
This course will introduce you to the theoretically and thematically diverse
bodies of knowledge and activism that have developed in the
name of feminism. We will focus on the ways that gender – in dialogue
with other significant social categories of analysis such as race,
class, sexuality, religion, and nationality – shapes our lives
and our social institutions. Throughout the semester, we will be attentive
to social change and how feminist movements strive to reconceive difference
so that it no longer entails domination. We will also spend much of
the semester discussing what the limits of feminism are.
As part
of the learning process, we will maintain a feminist classroom
– encouraging participation (which means both speaking and listening),
focusing on the mutuality of learners (the instructor is also a
learner), engaging the texts and each other with respect, and realizing
that we will not all agree while still encouraging each person to
voice her/his thoughtful position.
I encourage you to contact
me by e-mail, rather than voice mail. Come see me
during my office hours for issues that are better discussed face-to-face.
| office | Mood-Bridwell 216 |
| greenmue@southwestern.edu I do not generally check e-mail over the weekend. |
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| telephone | 512.863.1595 |
| office hours | XXX or by appointment (please try to schedule an appointment rather than just drop in) |
In this course, you must complete the following assignments. To calculate your final grade, I will multiply each of your assignment grades by the percentage given for each assignment, and add those numbers together. See the policies section for more information about grading.
1. critical reflection journal (30% of final grade):At the beginning of the semester, I will assign you randomly into a group with two other students. Your group will collaborate throughout the semester on a reflection journal. Each time you are cued to do so in the schedule below, the group must record three pages of written reflection on the question provided. These reflections must be typed.
What style should we use in writing this journal? In each entry you should reflect on the specified question or exercise, and how our course readings help to make sense of that question or exercise. Every entry should involve some close work with the course readings, including citing particular pages in the texts that support your arguments. Use MLA style to cite evidence for your arguments. You can find an explanation of MLA style on this web site.
You may sometimes reflect on your own personal experiences and feelings, but do not treat this journal like a diary. Rather, use what you have learned in class to better understand these experiences or feelings. Also, remember that – to put it bluntly – not everything is about you. Use this opportunity to step beyond yourself to try to understand other positions and radically different experiences from your own.
How do we write collaboratively? You may do this in one of several ways. [1] You may decide to sit down as a group and write your three pages a week together. In this case, you should rotate which person actually writes down the group’s thoughts. Make sure the final text is coherent but also reflects any disagreement within the group. [2] You might decide to each write one page a week (totalling three pages a week for the group). In this case, rotate who writes the first, second, and third entry. The second entry should respond to the first person’s entry. The third entry should respond to the first and second. [3] From week to week, you might alternate the above two styles of collaborative writing. [4] If you have another idea about how to write collaboratively, discuss it with me first.
A few words about collaborating effectively: if you disagree with a member of your group on a particular issue, do so respectfully. Discuss your disagreement, and root out where its core is. Honestly examine your own beliefs to determine whether they are well-founded or simply assumptions you have long held dear without having any particularly good evidence to support them.
Why are we writing these journals in groups? Feminism involves collaborative work at its very core. We form our best ideas in conversation with other people; in fact, some of our best ideas develop out of respectful disagreements with people who hold radically different views. Whether you are a radical feminist, a conservative skeptic, or just confused, I want you to work to hone and seriously challenge your views. You are doing no one any good if you build your politics on an unexamined platform.
What do we do if a member of the group is not participating fully? I encourage you to communicate with me anytime during the semester if a group member is not participating fully in this project. In addition, each time I collect the critical reflection journals, each member of the group should hand in a brief, typed report indicating any problems with equal collaboration in the group. I will use these reports to determine whether a group member should receive a lower grade for insufficient participation.
When will you collect the journals? I will collect this journal three times during the semester. See the schedule below for dates. On each of these dates, the journal must be up-to-date (i.e., must have the appropriate number of pages written).
Criteria for grading this assignment: depth of reflection on the course issues, texts, and discussions (more than just dashed-off musings); citing specific places in the text to support arguments (all arguments supported with evidence; all borrowed information, ideas, and quotes cited; correct use of MLA style); serious engagement with other group members’ ideas; clarity of writing (logical organization; no grammatical or spelling errors; legibility).
2. take-home exams (35% of final grade: 15% for midterm + 20% for final):
There are two take-home exams in this course. On these exams, you may use your class notes, critical reflection journal, and course texts. However, you may not discuss these exams with anyone else. (One exception: you may take your exam to the Writing Center.)
You must support each argument that you make with evidence from the course’s required readings. While you are welcome to voice your opinions in these exams, you must support those views with evidence. I expect you to grapple with as many texts as are relevant to the questions you answer; in other words, unless specified in the question, do not just rely on one text to answer a question. Use MLA style to cite evidence for your arguments. You can find an explanation of MLA style on this web site.
Your exam answers will be relatively short (about 5 pages for each exam), so I expect you to choose your words carefully. Write as though you were writing a paper, not a hurried, in-class exam.
To prepare for the final: click here to read some exemplary responses to the take-home midterm.
Criteria for grading this assignment: thoroughness (do you answer the whole question? do you consider all the possibilities and evidence?); thoughtfulness and depth (do you make subtle arguments that you have thought through carefully instead of sweeping generalizations that you cannot support?); clarity of your writing (have you organized your answers logically and provided transitions from one point to the next? is your exam free from grammatical and spelling errors and awkward writing?); use of specific, appropriately cited evidence (do you work carefully with the readings in your answer? do you cite your evidence not only when you quote directly, but also when you borrow any ideas or information? do you follow MLA style?).
3. collaboration in final project (20% of final grade):
Over the course of the semester, you and a self-selected group of fellow students in the class (anywhere from 2-6 students) will design and execute a creative/activist project that reflects and extends one or more themes from the course.4. participation (15% of final grade):
What should this project be? The sky’s the limit. You might stage a student-led teach-in on a particular issue. You might request permission from the administration to paint a mural or erect a sculpture somewhere on campus. You might collectively volunteer at a feminist-related project in the area. You might conduct a campus survey or anthropological study on a feminist-related issue and publish your findings in the Megaphone. You might write and stage a performance piece for the class, the campus, or the broader community. You might develop lesson plans for local schools on a feminist issue. You might write a short story to contribute to the campus literary magazine. You might pinpoint a feminist change you would like to make in the local culture (not enough recruitment of African-American students? bad wheelchair access somewhere on campus? insufficient wages for housekeeping staff?), and become serious activists toward that change.
Just make sure you define a project that your group can reasonably complete within a semester. (You might initiate a project that you plan to continue past the end of the semester. For the purposes of this class, though, define a portion of that larger project that you can complete by the end of the semester.)
Earlier in the semester, your group will write a 2-3 page project proposal, in which you outline the nature of your project, what course themes it will address, what steps you need to take to execute the project, a schedule for completing each of those steps, and how you plan to divide the work.
I expect you to work on this project throughout the semester. We will occasionally devote class time to discussing your projects. At each point, your group must demonstrate significant progress toward completion.
On the due date (see schedule below), your team will collectively present the project to the class. Your presentation should last about 10 minutes and should explain how the project elaborates on particular themes from the course. If your project is itself a performance, you must arrange with me by 20 April to have more time.
As with the critical reflection journals, I encourage you to communicate with me throughout the semester if a group member is not participating fully in this project. In addition, on the project due date, each member of the group should hand in a brief, typed report indicating any problems with equal collaboration in the group. I will use these reports to determine whether a group member should receive a lower grade for insufficient participation.
Criteria for grading this assignment: depth and clarity of your project’s reflection on course themes; creativity in the design and execution of the project; careful execution of project details; coherence of your presentation of the project; evidence of steady progress during the semester (coherence and feasibility of project proposal; ability to state progress toward completion during each in-class discussion of final projects).
This is not primarily a lecture course, so not only does part of your grade depend on your prepared participation, but so does the entire success of the course. You do not need to say fantastically clever and insightful things whenever you open your mouth; all I ask is that you do the required reading diligently, be willing to take some risks, and try out some ideas with the rest of the class.Return to top
Your participation grade will reflect your overall participation in class discussions and your performance on short assignments made during the semester. I will also take account of office visits in which we discuss course material. I will give unannounced quizzes if it becomes clear that much of the class is not keeping up with the reading.
Criteria for grading this assignment: quality of work on short assignments made throughout the semester; frequency of your participation (this includes asking intelligent questions); quality of your comments (especially evidence that you have done the required reading carefully and thoughtfully); listening carefully and responding respectfully to other students’ ideas; your ability to get other students talking by raising questions or debating other students directly; regular and alert attendance; extra quizzes, if necessary.
1. attendance: I expect you to attend every class except for those days on which you have a documented medical or other legitimate emergency. Every absence will harm your final grade, since you will not have participated fully in discussions and will not have heard all the lectures. I also factor multiple, unexcused absences into your participation grade.
2. lateness: Do not arrive late to class. Lateness is disrespectful not only to me, but also to your fellow students.
3. grading: The maximum percentages
awarded for course assignments add up to 100. I use a standard
grading scale:
| 97–100 | A+ | 73–76 | C |
| 93–96 | A | 70–72 | C– |
| 90–92 | A– | 67–69 | D+ |
| 87–89 | B+ | 63–66 | D |
| 83–86 | B | 60–62 | D– |
| 80–82 | B– | 0–59 | F |
| 77–79 | C+ |
If your grades consistently improve over the course of the semester, your class presence is consistent and attentive, and your final grade is on the cusp between two grades, I will consider shifting your final course grade up to the next level. For example, if your final course grade worked out to an 86, but your grades had consistently improved during the semester and you were a consistent and attentive class participant, I would consider shifting your final grade up to a B+.
4. late assignments: I do not accept late assignments except under the following limited circumstances. If you have a documented medical excuse or other genuine emergency, you may discuss special arrangements with me as long as you do so in a timely fashion. If you know in advance that you will be away for a legitimate reason (e.g., a university-sponsored trip), you must notify me in a timely way of your pending absence and turn in your assignment in advance of the due date. All other late assignments will receive a 0.
5. honor code issues: You must hand-write and sign the full honor code on each assignment in this class. That means writing out and signing your name after the following:
I have neither given nor received aid on this examination [paper, etc.], nor have I seen anyone else do so.You may not write P.I.F. or any other variant of the honor code. You also may not submit any assignment (except the debating points) via e-mail or attachment, since such a submission would not bear a signed honor code. By university regulations, I cannot grade your assignment if you have not written and signed the full pledge. If you cannot sign the honor code in good faith – or if you have any questions about what constitutes an honor violation – please come talk to me.
6. internet sources: You may not cite internet sources in any of the written assignments in this course. The following are exceptions to this rule and may be used, since they are clearly of a scholarly nature: articles from full-text databases like JSTOR and Project Muse; online primary sources (texts written by historical actors that have been re-published on the web); internet pages that I have approved well in advance of your turning in the assignment.
7. disabilities: Southwestern University will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. Students should register with the Office of Academic Services, (3rd floor Cullen, 863-1286). Professors must be officially notified by the Academic Services Coordinator that documentation is on file at least two weeks before the accommodation is needed.
You will find the following at the university bookstore. No Turning Back and My Gender Workbook are also available on reserve at the library.
Each date listed below tells
you what topic we will discuss in class, and what you need
to have read in preparation for that day’s class.
= date on which an assignment is due.
Tu Aug 30: Introduction to the course
Unit 1 – Where feminism came from: a look at
history
Th Sep 1: Why feminism? Where did it come from?
read: 1. course syllabus
2. Freedman, pp. 1-42
in class:
You will receive group assignments for the critical reflection journal.
Tu Sep 6: Historical emergence of feminisms, part 1
read: 1. Freedman, pp. 45-94
Th Sep 8: Historical emergence of feminisms, part 2
read: 1. Freedman, pp. 95-119
note:
Your group must write an entry in your critical reflection journal.
- Each group member should interview several friends and/or family members about how they define feminism. Use what we have read so far in Freedman’s book to interpret the replies you receive.
Tu Sep 13: Work and family, part 1
read: 1. Freedman, pp. 123-169
in class:
select groups for final project
- Before class, you should have either found a group of students with whom to work on your final project, or you should have contacted me with a preliminary idea of what you would like to do. In the latter case, I will help you to find a group of students with similar ideas for a final project.
Th Sep 15: Work and family, part 2
read: 1. Freedman, pp. 170-199 Tu Sep 20: Health and sexuality, part 1
read: 1. Freedman, pp. 203-252 Th Sep 22: Health and sexuality, part 2
read: 1. Freedman, pp. 253-302
in class:
Come prepared with one or two ideas about what you might do for your outrageous act. See 2 March below.
Tu Sep 27: Feminist visions and strategies
read: 1. Freedman, pp. 305-347 note:
Your group must write an entry in your critical reflection journal.
- Discuss with your group members which aspects of which feminist movements you find the most compelling or persuasive. Why do you think these movements (or these particular issues or positions) are so important? Report your conversation in your journal, and how the group discussion did or did not change your individual, original ideas on this question.
read:
due:
first installment of critical reflection journal (containing two entries – see above)
remember to include your report on group collaboration (see assignment instructions)
due by 9:30 a.m. in Dr. GM’s office (Mood 216)
Unit 2 – Body politics: men,
women, and the rest of us
read: 1. Grewal & Kaplan, pp. xvii-xxii, 1-31 due:
proposal for final project
Th Oct 6: The science and medicine of women’s bodies in historical perspective
read: 1. Grewal & Kaplan, pp. 33-36, 42-52, 80-104 note:
Your group must write an entry in your critical reflection journal.
- As a group, find a mass-media article that reports what you believe to be a dubious or reasonable scientific claim about women’s and/or men’s bodies. (Include a copy of the article in your journal.) What about our readings has made you skeptical of, or willing to accept, this article’s claims?
- Need help finding your mass-media article? Click here to access the library’s on-line databases of newspapers and other current events periodicals.
Tu Oct 11: Reading day – class does not meet
read:
1. Bornstein, pp. 1-90
Take the time to read and work through this material carefully. I am giving you a spare day to approach this assignment with the sincerity and commitment it deserves.
note:
questions for the take-home midterm posted to this web site today
See XXX below for a link to the questions.
Th Oct 13: The gender police
read: 1. Bornstein, pp. 91-157
Tu Oct 18: Fall break – class does not meet
Th Oct 20: Seesawing on the gender playground
read: 1. Bornstein, pp. 159-211 note:
Your group must write an entry in your critical reflection journal.
- In this entry, reflect on your “outrageous acts.” (Click here for more information about this assignment.)
Tu Oct 25: Outrageous acts
read:
1. Bornstein, pp. 212-286
We will discuss your outrageous acts assignment in class today.
due: midterm due by 10:30 a.m. in Dr. GM’s office (Mood 216)
Click here to access the midterm questions.
Tu Nov 1: Population control and reproductive rights
read: 1. Grewal & Kaplan, pp. 105-128, 145-148 for further investigation:
Alan Guttmacher Institute:
Unit 3 – Gendered identities:
individual, community, nation, world
read: 1. Grewal & Kaplan, pp. 159-178, 187-200 due: second installment of critical reflection journal (containing two new entries – see above)
remember to include your report on group collaboration (see assignment instructions)
Tu Nov 8: Social movements, identity politics, community
read: 1. Grewal & Kaplan, pp. 201-235, 240-245
Th Nov 10: Feminist organizing across borders
read: 1. Grewal & Kaplan, pp. 247-270 note:
Your group must write an entry in your critical reflection journal.
- Discuss the three divergent identities of your group members. What grounds would you have for building a temporary community and taking some kind of collective action? What about your differences would make that collective action challenging?
Unit 4 – Representing gender: art, media,
consumption, cyberspace
Tu Nov 15: Consuming gendered images
read: 1. Grewal & Kaplan, pp. 271-293, 311-327 for further investigation:
Guerrilla Girls: an activist group that fights discrimination in the art world with “facts, humor, and fake fur”
Th Nov 17: Representing women in colonial contexts
read: 1. Grewal & Kaplan, pp. 329-345
Tu Nov 22: Advertising and beauty myths
read: 1. Grewal & Kaplan, pp. 347-56, 361-92 note:
Your group must write an entry in your critical reflection journal.
- Each member of the group should find one artistic/mass-media/advertising image of an American or European woman and one of a woman from Latin America, Africa, Asia, or the Pacific. What is the viewer supposed to understand from these images? Include the images in your journal.
note:
Questions for the take-home final posted to this web site today. See XXX below for link to questions.
Th Nov 24: Thanksgiving break – class does not meet
Unit 5 – Gender and feminisms
in the globalized world
read: 1. Grewal & Kaplan, pp. 409-455 due:
third installment of critical reflection journal (containing two new entries – see above)
remember to include your report on group collaboration (see assignment instructions)
Th Dec 1: Migrations, part 2: diaspora and immigration
read: 1. Grewal & Kaplan, pp. 457-500 Tu Dec 6: Globalization
read: 1. Grewal & Kaplan, pp. 501-530
Unit 6 – Completing final
projects
due:
Take-home final exam due by 9:30 a.m. in Olin 322. You will fill out course evaluations in class today.
Click here to access the final exam questions.
[Ran out of dates, but still 1 more needed for below...]
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in class: You must come to class to report on the progress of your project, and to ask any questions you might have.
due: All students should arrive in Olin 322 at 9 a.m. Each group will present and turn in their final project.