WMST 0001. Introduction to Women's Studies
Units: 3
Prerequisite: Eligibility for ENGL N
Hours: 54 lecture
Introduction to the origins, purpose and methods of Women's Studies. The subject matter will explore a wide range of social issues affecting women of diverse backgrounds and identities. Gender will be studied as it intersects with race, ethnicity, sexuality, class, dis/ability, age, religion, nationality and other systems of difference. (C-ID SJS 120) (CSU, UC)
WMST 0001 - Introduction to Women's Studies
http://catalog.sierracollege.edu/course-outlines/wmst-0001/
Catalog Description Prerequisite: Eligibility for ENGL N Hours: 54 lecture Description: Introduction to the origins, purpose and methods of Women's Studies. The subject matter will explore a wide range of social issues affecting women of diverse backgrounds and identities. Gender will be studied as it intersects with race, ethnicity, sexuality, class, dis/ability, age, religion, nationality and other systems of difference. (C-ID SJS 120) (CSU, UC) Course Student Learning Outcomes CSLO #1: Explain the complexity in defining sex and gender within a culture. CSLO #2: Define and unpack/deconstruct explicit and implicit privilege including, but not limited to, white privilege, male privilege, economic privilege and heterosexual privilege. CSLO #3: Critically analyze and evaluate how relations of power shape structures and the lives of women and girls. CSLO #4: Define and critically analyze the concept of positionality theoretically and demonstrate application within one's own life. CSLO #5: Explain how gendered social values have historically led to the valuing or devaluing of products and ideas. Effective Term Fall 2020 Course Type Credit - Degree-applicable Contact Hours 54 Outside of Class Hours 108 Total Student Learning Hours 162 Course Objectives 1. Analyze how gender intersects with other social identities. 2. Analyze how gender oppression intersects with other forms of oppression and systems of power. 3. Analyze key concepts and different types of feminisms. 4. Appraise issues surrounding women's sexuality and health. 5. Define women's work and illustrate the impact of globalization on work. 6. Analyze the causes and effects of violence against women as well as paths to healing. 7. Evaluate issues of security and environmental sustainability as they relate to women. 8. Define and assess women's approaches to social change. 9. Analyze differences between feminist and non-feminist academic criticism and methodology. General Education Information Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability AA/AS - Multicultural Studies AA/AS - Social Sciences CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval) CSUGE - D4 Gender Studies Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval) IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval) IGETC - 4D Gender Studies Articulation Information Methods of Evaluation Classroom Discussions Example: A lecture on the current data concerning real-world economic outcomes associated with women's sexual health viability will be presented. Presentation of a selected short documentary film follows. After the film viewing, students will discuss how economics, geographic location, literacy, motherhood mandate, and other gender disparities within particular social systems impact the health of women transnationally. Essay Examinations Example: Write a ten page Manifesto discussing at least one issue you believe to be critical for the advancement of women in society. Only choose a subject that you are passionate about or at least deeply interested. Think of the assignment as your "perfect" argument for an idealized aspect in women's lives. This assignment will be graded on depth of the research and thoroughness of proposed outcome suggestions. In your paper, address the following four elements for each of your issues. A. Statement (e.g., "Childcare should be governmentally subsidized") B. Contextual research-based support (How do you know it is an issue?) C. Ideal State (What the perfect status would look like) D. Getting There (What steps could manifest such an outcome) Objective Examinations Example: Describe the official US process of categorizing economic status relative to the defining of "poverty." Read each of the following familial structure scenarios and identify which of the ten US agencies could assist them best for maximum improvement economically. Standard Assessment will be utilized. (A=90%+, B=80-89%, C=70-79%, D=60-69%) Projects Example: Students will be given a large piece of butcher paper. Using Blomberg's "Body Project" or one of the other major readings from class text, create a six foot high depiction of a women's body as either seen or treated within the social system of your choosing. Be as creative as you wish and culling directly from text sources, label the body. You must use quotes from the text either on the body or "footnoted" on the front of the depiction. All projects will be presented in class and grades will be based on thoughtfulness of application to both the paper "body" and the oral explanation of justifying your approach to the project. Presentations are limited to five minutes. Reports Example: Look at map #18 Under the Knife in Seager's Atlas. On the class DB, choose a country from the map and report the latest information you can find on FGM practice, prevalence and legality. Please choose a country not already selected by another person by listing it on the other DB for FGM. On this DB, please post your entry along with the URL from the websites where you got your data. Repeatable No Methods of Instruction Lecture/Discussion Distance Learning Lecture: A lecture on the current data concerning real-world economic outcomes associated with women's sexual health viability will be presented. Presentation of a selected short documentary film follows. After the film viewing, students will discuss how economics, geographic location, literacy, motherhood mandate, and other gender disparities within particular social systems impact the health of women transnationally. Distance Learning Instructor will assign two opposing view journal articles discussing developing-world women's health programs and efforts to reduce obstetric fistulas. Students will be assigned to small on-line groups to create and justify an argument for or against the use of women's health programs from "outside" non-governmental agencies. Student Groups will post their outcome of group deliberations on the Discussion Board. Typical Out of Class Assignments Reading Assignments 1. Read the article titled "Should Caster Semenya be Allowed to Compete Against Women" by Daniel Engber AND read the article titled "Sports, Sex and the Runner, Caster Semenya" by Ariel Levy. Consider the issue of sex determination and sports. In three pages, please argue whether there is (A)an unbiased method to determine sex of an athlete, (B) what should be done, if anything, about bodies which are "above average" in ways that give advantages in sports performance and (C) what solution do you propose in the case of Semenya and Olympic eligibility. 2. Read "Persepolis" and "Bookseller of Kabul." Contemplate how graphic biographies differ from traditional biographies. Interview a woman asking her about a critical turning point in her life. Using a graphic approach, create a minimum of 12 panels to depict this event in the woman's life. Using an essay format, write two pages depicting the same event. Write a brief response to the benefits and costs of using each approach to biographies. Writing, Problem Solving or Performance Students will write a minimum of 2500 words during the semester and will include analytical and argumentative writing in the investigation of concerns related to the full diversity of women's experiences. 1. WRITING: The Body. One of the important contributions of feminism is to bring the body back into the conversation and to challenge the violence inflicted on bodies, especially feminized/queer/raced/disabled/ marginalized bodies. The body is a site of knowledge, it is a place of pleasure and pain. What our bodies look like, what they can do or not do, how they are read by others, and who they desire are ALL issues which become political in some way or another, all issues which enter into play in relations of power. These two weeks we look at how the body is socially constructed as male, as female, as trans, as (dis)abled, as raced. Your work in this assignment is to tell me how this matters, for you. Basing your work on the readings and films from this week (i.e. citations-- treat this as a research paper in which your sources are your own experiences and assigned readings and films), I want you to think about: What is YOUR embodied experience? Some sparks to get you thinking: What does your body "know" that other bodies may not know? What do others *think* they know about your body? What about your body is most political, public, or fraught? Is your body valued? Is it safe? What is it a source of? (Pride, health, fear, power, beauty, radicalized politics, ignorance, experience, birth, genetics, divinity, illness...) Compared to what other kinds of bodies? What are the forces that most challenge and most shape how you experience living in your body? (These may be social, personal and intimate, or public. They may be familial or patriarchal, about race or ability or class or ability or age...) Also remember-- I am a social-cultural psychologist, and I am a mandated reporter (so I must report any evidence of sexual harassment or violence to the school's Title IV counselor). This essay is absolutely a place for you to be open, vulnerable, and truthful-- but also to take a step back, and to look at how your relationship with your body is socially determined. It is a place to think about your experience living in your body, for your body is both incredibly personal, and also shaped by social forces. Your body is and is not yours. Please think about this, in writing, for me. (3-5 pages, in whatever form you wish-- essay, journal entry, poetry, song...of the highest quality you can manage). Proof-read and properly cited. Via email, please let me know if you have any questions or need further support. 2. WRITING: "Nervous Conditions" A. Consider the narrative from three levels of analysis: individual, social/familial and structural. Following one strand of the narrative (e.g., Tambu's education), discuss with a partner how each of these levels interact with each other, and that none alone, create the final outcome. B. Individually, write a two page essay discussing your analysis. 3. PROJECT: Resisting a Single Story Narrative About Yourself (Problem Solving) A. Read annotated transcript "The Danger of a Single Story" by Adichie. B. This project is an opportunity to consider your complex identity and the forces that may aid you in achieving a goal or may hinder you and create a visual model of how that looks for you. Sometimes, points of "privilege" can be both and advantage and a disadvantage. For example, growing up poor can be oppressive (such as having to attend a sub-standard school) and can also be a force that compels you (growing a strong work ethic). Often, something like poverty intersects with other oppressions, such as race, gender, and language. We all have intersectional narratives. Although your personal goal might be a specific achievement, forces associated with oppressions or privileges you have (such as intelligence, health, skin tone, geography) all factor into how you are either helped along on that path or challenged along the way. This does not mean you abuse those privileges or are even conscious of the advantage of that privilege. As you read in the Adichie essay, our society makes simple stories about success, citizenship, gender, race and so forth. What you are asked to do in this project is to consider, in the most complex way you can, the story of who you are in relation to a goal. This can be done in any manner you see fit on a 11X17 piece of paper. It can be visual in terms of symbols, it can be in concentric circles as Danelle suggested, or it can be in a flowchart similar to the ones your group did to understand The American Plan (they are posted in a previous Module). C. Posted below are two articles that discuss more deeply this idea of Oppression and Privilege as a system. Read it optionally if you feel you do not understand the theory. One way to help you think about privilege and oppression in terms of yourself is to make a list. You began this process with the "wheel" in class. In addition, you have the handout which takes the system and depicts the specific ways in which systems are layered, with you in the middle and major social forces (such as capitalism) as the outer ring. Consider those forces. Also, consider the following questions as you create your story model. What parts of your identity do you choose for yourself? What parts of your identity do you feel are determined by others, by society, or by chance? Whose opinions and beliefs have the greatest effect on how you think about your own identity? What dilemmas arise when others view you differently than how you view yourself? What aspects of your identity do you keep private in order to be accepted? What aspects of your identity are you willing to change to fit in? Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.) 1. PROJECT: Control and Domination of Women Consider the issue of domination, control and violence against women from a transnational perspective. You are challenged to choose a country or a region (not already taken by another student) with significant issues from two of the following Seager's Atlas maps: Map #7, Domestic Abuse, Map #8, Murder, Map #19, Global Sex Trafficking or Map #20, Rape. What factors do you think might make a woman most vulnerable to experiencing this type of violence and how can these factors be influenced? You may find it useful to choose your region/country and look at other maps in the book to see if you can find some correlations with factors that de facto control women’s ability to be independent. Contemplate your findings. (A) Create a specific action plan of what could be done to lower these types of violence in your chosen country/region. This should take about three or four pages. (B) Go on-line and determine if organizations exist that directly address a portion of your action plan and post them as well. (C) Summarize your findings and indicate what actions a person, not unlike yourself, could do to help. 2. TERM PAPER: The Manifesta A Manifesta is a vision of how things can be: it is an essay based on research (how are things now? Where are things different? What, if anything, has worked well?), but driven by your passion and interest in a subject area. The basic outline of the paper is: This is what I want. This is why I want it (something must be wrong...). This is how it could be, and this is how to get there. The best manifestas are based on solid research, well argued, and creative and effective in their recommendations. The manifesta is an opportunity to consider how you feel about the general content of this course and articulate it as a personal statement. Your grade will be based on the quality of your personal reflection, the quality of your documentation, and the clarity, relevance, and creativity of your declaration. You should expect to approach this as you would a major project. (The Manifesta should be 6-8 pages long, and cite material from the course, including concepts, ideas, authors, and films-- as well as outside research). Please include a works cited page. In general, consider a topic relevant to this course and dig deep: Write only on subjects you feel passionate about. Have a strong opinion. Have your own opinion. Base it on well-researched, well reasoned evidence. A. Make a declaration – a concise statement of what should happen or be. (e.g. “Women should not be penalized in the workforce for their parenting roles.”) B. Describe the current status of your concern. (e.g. “Women feel they must choose between work and career…”) C. Provide historical/research evidence of the problem. How is this either a new – or not new – issue? Include evidence from the course reading, lectures s as well as outside evidence. Research! Focus on facts. (e.g. “The wage gap provides evidence…..; Stanton’s (p288) main conflict….) D. State how things should be. Here is where you can run wild. No ideas are too radical. (This part should be creative and fun-- really think about how things could be different. We make so much of our world, how can we re-make it??). Be visionary, but also be concrete. Any examples of places/folks doing it well/right? Do a little more research (“childcare in Norway is….”) (e.g. “Care-taking roles should be rewarded in the workplace and acknowledged in the same way as donating to the United Way….”) E. State how we can get there. Once again, run wild if you would like but intelligently articulate your ideas. Consider and state what you can do to facilitate change in the direction you want. Have fun. (e.g. “Primary caretakers of children or the infirm should be well paid…”) It is my intention and hope that the Manifesta proves enjoyable for you to write. Yes, you need to do some research to do it well, and it does require careful thinking and college-level writing. But it is also an opportunity for you to think about some of the problems we've learned about in this class (or beyond) and to come up with ways to change them. What DOES a world free from gender based violence look like? How would your children's lives be different if the media was responsible about promoting healthy body ideals? Remember-- the guiding prompt is, What do you want, and how would the world be different if this was so? Choosing a topic: The challenge of choosing a topic is thinking of something that is: A) Of feminist concern B) Not so broad as to be impossible to research (it's usually possible to figure out a way to narrow down a topic-- better to go big than small-- but run it by me first!) Writing the paper: Use whatever citation system you prefer (APA, Chicago, MLA), double spaced, normal margins, proof-read... and truly. Have fun! What is your declaration? (Send me one juicy sentence). Make sure it's something you feel PASSIONATE about. Note: you need to read the Manifesta rubric (available in the Assignments tab and Assignments module) BEFORE you write your declaration. For example: No person should be at risk of sexual violence on college campuses Media should be responsive to and responsible about body image issues Children should be raised with tolerance for diverse gender identities Topics that don't work: "I want to write about racism and how it's really a problem that is complex and we should probably do something about it..." (i.e., too broad, and doesn't give me any direction around what you want to DO). ALSO-- your topic must have a gender focus. Required Materials Gendered Voices: Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings Author: Shaw and Lee Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication Date: 2019 Text Edition: 7th Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: Introduction to Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Author: Saraswati aand Shaw Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication Date: 2017 Text Edition: 1st Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: Feminism and You Author: Stimpson Publisher: Kendal Hunt Publication Date: 2017 Text Edition: 1st Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: Women: Images and Realities Author: Kelly and Parameswaran Publisher: McGraw Publication Date: 2016 Text Edition: 5th Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: Threshold Concepts in Women and Gender Studies Author: Launis and Hassel Publisher: Routledge Publication Date: 2018 Text Edition: 2nd Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.
LGBT 0001 - Introduction to LGBT Studies/Queer Theory
http://catalog.sierracollege.edu/course-outlines/lgbt-0001/
Catalog Description Formerly known as HUM 27 Also known as WMST 2 Advisory: Eligibility for ENGL 1A Hours: 54 lecture Description: A broad and general exploration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Studies and its relationship to Feminism. Emphasis on Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity and Expression and their intersections with Race/Ethnicity, Class, the LGBT Rights movement in the United States and globally. (C-ID SJS 130) (CSU, UC) Course Student Learning Outcomes Effective Term Course Type Contact Hours Outside of Class Hours Total Student Learning Hours Course Objectives General Education Information Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval) Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval) IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval) Articulation Information Methods of Evaluation Repeatable Methods of Instruction Typical Out of Class Assignments Reading Assignments Writing, Problem Solving or Performance Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.) Required Materials Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.
Course Identification Numbering System (C-ID)
...120 WMST 0001 SJS 130 LGBT 0001 SJS 130 WMST 0002 SOCI 110 SOC 0001...
Humanities
http://catalog.sierracollege.edu/departments/humanities/
...Introduction to Atheism LGBT 0001 Introduction to LGBT Studies/Queer Theory ( WMST 0002 ) LGBT 0002...
Sociology
http://catalog.sierracollege.edu/departments/sociology/
...Health SOC 0010 Feminism and Social Action WMST 0001 Introduction to Women's Studies Total...
