SYLLABUS

WS 120: Intro to Women's Studies Jean Potuchek, #6196, #6789
Weidensall 402 Fall 1998 G 010:MW 9-10,2:15-3:45 & by appt.
M,W,F 1:10 PM Jan Powers, #6790
W 311:T, Th 2-4 PM & by appt.


In this course we'll use an interdisciplinary approach to consider some of the themes, questions, methodologies and findings of women's studies scholarship. Through readings, films and class discussion, we'll engage in a critical examination of theories of gender and their social implications. Also, we'll explore various aspects of women's experience, both with public institutions and with personal relationships; consider cultural representations of women; and see how women's and men's lives have been shaped by structures of gender inequality. Finally, we'll focus on women as a force in social change. By examining personal experiences and ways in which they fit, or do not fit, patterns revealed through women's studies scholarship, we'll come to better understand how women and men relate to a larger society.

Texts: 1. Zinn,Hondagneu,&Messner, Through the Prism of Difference [readings marked (T)]
2. Marge Piercy, Women on the Edge of Time
3. Rigoberta Menchú, I, Rigoberta Menchú
4. Mariamma Bâ, So Long a Letter
5. Adrienne Rich, Blood, Bread, and Poetry
6. Course Readings (green) [readings marked (R)]
Films: [all films shown in Weidensall 110]]
1. The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love ( 94 min.)Sept. 17, 6 PM
2. Hell to Pay (52 min) October 29, 6 PM
3. Hearts and Hands (60 min) November 17, 6 PM
4. Votes for Women (17 min) November 17, 7:00 PM


Reading Schedule:

August 26 Introduction to Women's Studies, the syllabus, each other
28 Marge Piercy, Women on the Edge of Time (1-95)
31 Women on the Edge of Time (96-257)
Sept. 2 Marilyn Frye, "Oppression" (R, 5); Women on the Edge of Time (258-381)
(submit Presentation preferences)

Difference and Gender

4 Barrie Thorne, "Children and Gender: Constructions of Difference" (T, 39-51)
(form Presentation teams)
7 M.Baca Zinn & B.Dill, "Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism;" E. Acosta-Belén &C.Bose, "Colonialism, Structural Subordination" (T,23-39)

Bodies and Control

9 B.Thompson,"A Way Outa No Way"; B.Richie and V. Kanuha ,"Battered Women of Color in Public Health Systems"(T, 93-104;121-130)
11 P. Bart and P. O'Brien, "Stopping Rape: Effective Avoidance Strategies" (R, 2)
14 Student Presentation: Rape on Campus
16 D. Nathan, "Abortion Stories on the Border;" R.Rapp, "Constructing Amniocentesis; B. Rothman, "On 'Surrogacy' " (T, 151-170)

Sexuality

18 Film: The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love; Tolman (T,173-186)
21 Adrienne Rich,"Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence"(BBP,23-75)
23 C. Enloe, "It Takes More Than Two;" E. Accad, "Sexuality and Sexual Politics" (T, 193-205;221-231)

Identity and Relationships

24 WS Lecture: Kathryn Edin, "Women, Families, and the New World of Welfare,"
Lyceum (Penn Hall, 3rd floor center), 7:30 PM
25 S. Drakulic,"A Letter from the US"; G.Anzaldúa,"La Conciencia de la Mestiza,"; A. Higginbotham,"Chicks Goin' at It" (T, 233-234;240-248; 249-253)
28 I, Rigoberta Menchú (Intro. + pp. 1-101)
30 I, Rigoberta Menchú (101-171) Hand out mid-term exam questions
October 2 I, Rigoberta Menchú (172-247)
5 Student Presentation: Women's Friendships
7 Nancy Chodorow (no assignment: mid-term exam due)
9 N. Scheper-Hughes,"(M)Other Love"; P.Hill Collins, "The Meaning of Motherhood in Black Culture" (T, 257-264;264-276)

Reading Days
Oct. 14 P. Fernández Kelly, "Delicate Transactions"; E. Higginbotham and L. Weber, "Moving Up with Kin and Community" (T, 313-323; 337-347)
16 Mariamma Bâ, So Long a Letter (1-46)
19 Mariamma Bâ, So Long a Letter (46-89)

Work

21 Kathryn Edin, "Surviving the Welfare System: How AFDC Recipients Make Ends Meet in Chicago" (R, 4)
23 Women and Work in the US (no assignment)
26 P. Giuffre and C. Williams, "Boundary Lines"; E. Chow, "Asian American Women at Work" (T, 372-388;408-418)
28 K.Hossfeld, "'Their Logic against Them'"; T.Amott, "Shortchanged: Restructuring Women's Work" (T, 388-408)
30 Film: Hell to Pay; J. Ballinger,"The New Free Trade Heel" (R, 1)
Nov. 2 Student Presentation: Women in the Garment Industry

Ideology

4 P. Hill Collins,"The Construction of Black Feminist Thought" (R,3)
5 WS Lecture: Susan Douglas, "Changing Images of Women in the Family"
Lyceum, 7:30 PM
6 C. Gilligan (no reading); C. Stack,"Different Voices, Different Visions"(T, 51-58)
9 C.Kidwell, "Indian Women as Cultural Mediators" (T, 457-464)
11 Student Presentation: Images of Women as Sexual Objects

Politics and Change

13 T. Ehlers, "Debunking Marianismo;" Stacey and Gerard, "We Are Not Doormats" (T, 486-509)
16 D.Kandiyote, "Bargaining With Patriarchy;" Hondagneu-Sotelo, "Overcoming Patriarchal Constraints" (T, 467-485)
18 Films: Hearts and Hands and Votes for Women; Rich, "What a Woman Should Know" (BBP 1-10)
20 M. Pardo, "Mexican American Women Grassroots Community Activists;" Gilkes, "Building in Many Places" (T, 509-527)
23 H. Safa, "Women's Social Movements in Latin America" (T, 528-538) + xeroxed Working Women's Forum materials

Thanksgiving Break

Re-envisioning the Future

30 A. Lorde, "Age, Race, Class, and Sex;" hooks and West, "Breaking Bread" (539-544;554-559)
Dec. 2 Student Presentation: College Students and Feminism
4 Piercy Critique from the vantage points of various writers
7 Evaluation; Hand out Final Exam questions; Check-out


Expectations:

1. Regular attendance at class. Every student has two "free" absences. More than that will affect your grade adversely.
2. Faithful reading of assignments and full participation in class discussion. Always bring assigned readings (or copies of them) to class. Note: Monday readings are usually longer, so allow extra time for reading them.
3. One 2-3 pp.reflection paper each week (due on Friday): compare and contrast any two course assignments for a particular week (including films, lectures, readings). Try not to repeat observations that have already been made in class, but rather try out new ideas and explore thoughts in unique combinations.
4. One team presentation: with your group, prepare a full-length class presentation on an assigned topic, using whatever creative means you can muster (eg., video, interviews, posters, surveys, role plays, lecture-demonstrations, ?)
5. Attendance at two lectures and four films outside of class time (cf. syllabus listings).
6. Two take-home exams, one at mid-term (due October 7) and a final exam (due in either professor's office at, or any time before, the end of the regularly scheduled exam).


Grading:

Exams (Mid Term 20%) (Final 25%) 45%
Reflection Papers (13) 25%
Team Presentation 15%
Class Participation 15%


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"When those who have the power to name and to socially construct reality choose not to see you or hear you, whether you are dark-skinned, old, disabled, female, or speak with a different accent or dialect than theirs, when someone with the authority of a teacher, say, describes the world and you are not in it, there is a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked into a mirror and saw nothing. Yet you know you exist and others like you, that this is a game with mirrors. It takes some strength of soul--and not just individual strength, but collective understanding--to resist this void, this nonbeing, into which you are thrust, and to stand up, demanding to be seen and heard."
Adrienne Rich, "Invisibility in Academe" (BBP, 199)