Monday and Friday, 10:00 - 11:20 Briggs Road
Dr. Pat Kalata AC 314
894-9311, ext. 7621 Briggs 109
Materials:
A NEW PSYCHOLOGY OF WOMEN BY HILARY M. LIPS
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolfe
The Subjection of Women by John Mills
Rationale: Women have always had an important role in all the spheres of human activity. However, since the recorders of these events were often men writing for men, much of women's experiences went unnoticed. The truth is that women have been responsible for much of what contemporary people may take for granted. This course provides an overview of women's roles in many areas.
Learning Objectives: By the completion of this course,
1. Students should be familiar with the contributions of both groups of women and of individual women.
2. Students should be aware of the perceptions of women influenced by the media and the view of history commonly promoted.
3. Students should be familiar with the major theories of feminism.
4. Students should be able to identify social forces that hinder women's achievements and those that promote women's achievements.
5. As a result of gaining knowledge of women's history, students should be able to analysis situations and make judgments as to appropriate actions.
Attendance: Students are expected to attend every class period. In any case, students are always responsible for class activities and assignments. No quiz, midterm, or final can be made up.
Learning Outcomes:
Introduction to the course and overview of women's studies: (chapter 1)
At the end of this session, a student will be able to identify the subtopics of women's studies and the expectations for the course.
Gender Differences: ( Chapter 2 and chapter 3) At the end of this assignment, a student will be able to
* determine whether there are cognitive and psychological gender differences
* determine if gender is a social construct
* determine if and how biology is destiny
Women in History: (The Subjection of Women) After the lectures on important women in history and the part groups of women played in historical movements, a student should be able to
* name individual women who made significant historical contributions
* name ways in which women contributed to historical movements, including educational reform and the Civil Rights movements
* list the problems women have traditionally faced in society
Women in the Media ( chapter 4, chapter 10 pages 238 - 244) After studying this material and viewing television and film presentations of women, a student should be able to
* identify the common stereotypes of women in the media, including the madonna, the whore, the handmaiden, the crone
* identify the expectations of women and men presented by television, film and magazines
* identify the types of power given to men and women by the media
The Psychology of Women: ( chapter 5, chapter 9) After this assignment, a student will be able to
* identify the spoken and unspoken expectations of women from families, school and society in general
* identify the conflicts experienced by girls and women because of messages about their social roles
* analysis the results of society's expectations
Women and language/ social relationships ( chapter 6) Upon completion of this section, a student will be able to
* identify the male and female styles of language and the widely held views of each
* identify the topics of male and female speech
* identify nonverbal communication styles of males and females
* list the ways in which society determines language patterns
* define the components of friendships of males and females
Feminisms: ( A Room of One's Own) At the end of this class period, a student will be able to :
* name at least three types of feminisms
* define the strengths and weaknesses of these
* take a stand on which feminism or which combination of feminisms is most logical and present support for this judgments
Women and Work ( chapter 13 and chapter 14) Having studied this material, a student will be able to:
* identify discrimination against women in the work force
* identify gender stereotypes in work
* analysis problems of working women
* give examples of working women in history
Women, the Law and Politics ( chapter 12) A student should be able to
* give examples of laws regarding women's rights and responsibilities
* give examples of laws concerned with sexual violence
* give examples of ways in which social views impact laws
* give examples of women's political actions
Women, Marriage and Families ( chapter 7) A student should be able to
* analysis the difference types of family structures
* identify changes in marriage patterns
* identify changes in parenting
Women and Health ( chapter 8) A student will be able to
* identify common health problems for women
* identify treatment patterns for men and women
* identify international health problems for women
* analysis the biological and cultural interrelationship in health services
* identify the common stereotypes encountered by women and men in the health field
Women's Sexuality ( chapter 11) A student should be able to
* identify the views of women's sexuality in different historical periods
* be aware of international views of women's sexuality and contraception
* define the double standard of sexual conduct
Note: Women of color are not treated in a separate unit but attention will be paid to the ways in which their experiences are different in various areas.
Learning Outcomes Assessment:
Woman of the Year Award paper( 15 points) Due ________ . Choose a woman from any period of history and from any field and give your reasons for nominating this person for the Woman of the Year award. You need to indicate a particular year and and at least three reasons for the nomination. You should also include at least one source for your information. This paper should be no longer than three pages.
Quizzes, five unannounced short quizzes will be given during the semester. These cannot be made up. (5 pts. each)
Midterm ( 20 pts. )
Then and Now paper ( 25 pts.) Due _____________.. The student is to choose an area of interest and look at the present situation and the situation as it applied to women in one selected period of the past. For example, the student could look at Women in Unions in the 1920s and today. Or a student could research the media portrayal of Native American women in the Hollywood Westerns of the 1940s and today. Or a student could look at the place of motherhood in the Middle Ages and in the last decade. A student should choose a topic that would provide an historical perceptive on a particular area. This paper should be ten pages long with a separate title page and separate Works Cited page.
OR
Service Learning project: A student may choose to volunteer fifteen hours with a social service agency working primarily with women. the student should discuss the Service Learning experience in terms of issues discussed in the class. Some questions that can be addressed in the final paper might be: What did I learn about women in general and women in a particular situation from this experience? What did I learn about myself from this experience? What did I learn about the views of women in society from this experience? However, the paper does not have to be limited to these questions. Students can refer to the Service Learning website for information and ideas.
OR
Oral History project: A student may choose to prepare a written report of the oral history of one woman as her life relates to the history, culture and expectations of women during her life. The paper should focus on the person's story as she reflects on her experience and relate to what events were occurring at the same time. This paper should be at least seven pages long with three references in addition to the oral history.
Final ( 25 pts.)
What is women's studies? Women's Studies is a way of examining the world from women's points of view, understanding the way the world works now and making changes.
Women's Studies also takes into account the other factors which affect us like our race, ethic background, class, sexuality, age and level of ability.
One way to start looking at the world is to examine our own views:
1. What does it mean to be a woman or a man?
2. What do women have in common with each other?
3. How were you molded by your gender?
4. How are you being limited by what is expected of you because of your gender?
5. What kinds of possibilities can you imagine for yourself based on changes in gender expectations?
6. In what ways are women different from each other?
What is Feminism?
Feminism is a comprehensive ideology which is rooted n women's experience of sexual oppression, engages in a critique of partiarcy as an essentially dysfunctional system, embraces an alternative vision for humanity and actively seeks to bring this vision to realization. By an ideology is meant a scheme or coordinated body of related concepts. By sexual oppression, women have suffered because of the social systems within which we all live.
People involved in feminism often describe themselves by being liberal, cultural, socialist or radical.
Liberal feminism is concerned with the political and legal situation of women n society, and its major goal is the achieving of equal rights for women within the prevailing socio-political system. This view wants a social order in which women will have political status and legal rights equal to those of men.
Cultural feminism is concerned with what it regards as the special contributions of women to the construction of a better world. This view envisions a world enriched by the many, equal contributions of women and men to the ideal of humanity.
Socialist feminism is concerned with the economic class structure, based on relationship to the ends of production. In this view, patriarchy as a set of social relations among men which is supported and maintained by their control over women. The desire here is to have a totally classless society.
Radical feminism regards patriarchy as the foundation of all inequality and all forms of social domination. This system is based on the social role assumed by or assigned to adult male household heads in the social structure. This view desires the equality of persons as human beings.
Psychoanalytic feminism takes into account the importance of the unconscious, maintaining that it is not just what happens in society as contributing to inequity but also how men and women think about their relationships and places in the larger society.
In what ways do you agree or disagree with these views?
Which of these is closest to your own view?
Women's Movement: usually used to denote the widespread social and political movement of women, first in Europe in the 19th century, then in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century, and later in third world countries. ( Note: there is a movement to refer to countries traditionally called third world as 2/3 world, reflecting the number of people in these areas)
Women's Emancipation: the movement for women's political and legal equality in the Untied States, starting in the first decade of the 20th century and culminating in the passage of the 19th amendment.
Women's Liberation: the contemporary movement that envisions that
all people will be completely equal.
Reference Works: A list of possible sources of information
Als, Hilton, The Women. New York: The Noonday Press, 1996.
Anderson, Bonnie and Judith Zinsser. A History of Their Own New York: Harper and Row, 1988.
Bateson, Mary Catherine. Composing a Life. New York: Plume books,1990.
Beckles, Hilary Mcd. Natural Rebels: A Social History of Enslaved
Black Women in Barbados. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press,
1989.
Blodgett, Harriet. Centuries of Female Days: Englishwomen's Private Diaries. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press: 1988.
Clinton, Catherine and Nina Silber. Divided Houses: Gender and the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Conway, Jill Ker. When Memory Speaks: Exploring the Art of Autobiography. New York: Vintage Books, 1998.
Dubeck, Paula and Kathryn Borman, eds. Women and Work. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1997.
Eichenbaum, Luise and Susie Orbach. Between Women: Love, envy, and competition in women's friendships. New York: Penguin Books, 1987.
Ellis, Peter Berresford. Celtic Women: Women in Celtic Society and Literature. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995.
hooks, bell. Talking back: thinking feminist, thinking black. Boston: Southend Press, 1989.
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, edited by Jean Fagan Yellin. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987.
Koven, Seth and Sonya MIchel,eds. Mothers of a New World: Maternalist Politics and the Origins of Welfare States. New York: Routledge, 1993.
Mansbridge, Jane J. Why We Lost the ERA. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986.
Nochlin, Linda. Representing Women. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1999.
Smith - Rosenberg, Carroll. Disorderly Conduct: Visions of Gender in Victorian America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.
Worhole, Robyn and Diane Price Herndl. Feminisms: an anthology of literary theory and criticism. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1993.