WMS 201 Fall 2003

Dr. Sara Zeigler Dr. Kendra Stewart

214 McCreary/Miller 210 215 McCreary

24389 (POL) /22913(WMS) 24390

Sara.Zeigler@eku.edu Kendra.Stewart@eku.edu

The following required text is available in the bookstore.

Kesselman, McNair and Schniedewind, Women: Images and Realities. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2003. 3^rd Edition.

Supplementary readings will be provided as handouts or made available on the course web page or on Blackboard.

Course Description: In WMS 201, we will explore the richness and diversity of feminist scholarship. An interdisciplinary field, Women’s Studies integrates contributions from many disciplines, including biology, psychology, anthropology, political science, history, literature, sociology and criminal justice. Women’s Studies both supplements and complements traditional disciplinary studies by analyzing women’s experiences and unmasking assumptions based upon male perspectives and men’s realities. We will examine the forces which construct masculinity and femininity and the effects of those societal norms on the lived experiences of actual men and women.

Objectives: Upon completion of the course, students will be able to explain the difference between sex and gender, identify the role of gendered expectations in influencing decisions and behavior at both individual and societal levels and will be able to apply feminist analysis to work in their own disciplines. Through completion of course requirements, students will further develop their communication (written and oral) and critical thinking abilities.

Course Requirements and Procedures:

1. Three Generations of Women Project: For this project you will conduct interviews with your grandmother, your mother, and yourself focusing on how being women has affected your lives, your thoughts and feelings on feminism, etc. You will need to prepare a set of questions to submit to the instructors prior to beginning your interviews. 100 points

2. Feminist Activism Project: You must complete a total of three activities, one each in September, October and November:

1) You may participate in the Women’s Equality Day Voter Registration Drive on August 26 at the Richmond Mall. See Dr. Zeigler for details.

2) You may interview somebody local who is active in the women’s movement

3) You may attend an approved event related to Women’s Studies. Events already approved include the following: (a) Travis Fritsch, “Justice or Just the Way it Is,” a presentation on intimate partner violence, 6:30pm September 16, Posey Auditorium; and (b)Kathy Reichs, a presentation on the use of forensic anthropology in criminal investigation, followed by a book signing, October 29, 6:30pm, SSB Auditorium. Other events will be added to the calendar as we receive information on them.

4) You may perform community service which benefits women in some capacity.

Whichever options you choose, you must write a 2 page paper summarizing the event and reflecting upon your experience, for each event. 50 points per event.

3. Group Project: The class will be divided into groups of 3-4 students. Each group will select one of the weeks 5-12 and plan a cooperative learning activity around the topic for the Wednesday class period of that week. 75 points
4. Midterm Examination: The midterm will be an all-essay in class examination on materials covered in the assigned readings and in class. 100 points
5. Final Examination: The final exam will be a take home essay examination, due at the schedule examination time for this course. 100 points
6. Participation in class discussions: 75 points (see section on attendance for details)

Policies, Procedures, Admonitions and Advice:

1. Attendance Policy: The course is designed as a conference and the success of that format depends upon the presence of well-prepared conferees. Students who neglect to attend class demonstrate contempt for their classmates, the instructor and themselves. This will not be tolerated. More than eight unexcused absences (approximately 25%) will result in automatic failure of the course. Because I regard failure to fulfill responsibilities to one’s group as a particularly egregious dereliction of duty, an unexcused absence on a day when your group is “on” will count as two absences and will also result in a grade of “0” for the group project. For the purposes of this course, “excused absences” include verifiable medical or family emergencies, university approved activities (accompanied by a university excuse), documentable illness (yours or your child’s) and other unforeseen circumstances that the instructor deems to be reasonable excuses for an absence.

2. Preparation: Students who have not read the assigned texts are not welcome in class.

3. Make-up Examinations: Students who have an excused absence on the day of an in-class examination will be permitted to take a make-up exam, to be scheduled by agreement of the student and instructor. The make-up exam may differ from the exam given to the class at the scheduled examination time. Take-home make-up examinations will be held to a higher standard of quality.

4. Late Papers: A five-point per day penalty will be imposed on late papers. The take-home final may not be submitted after the deadline, except in emergencies (as defined by the instructors). If it is necessary for a student to submit a final exam after the deadline, the student may receive an Incomplete so that the submission of other students’ grades will not be delayed.

5. Academic Honesty:
Plagiarism, or presenting another’s works or ideas as one’s own, is a form of stealing.  The instructor reserves the right to examine any source used by the student before giving a grade on a paper, and to give an "incomplete" in the course if necessary, to allow time to obtain sources.  Students should be prepared to show source material to the instructor for the purpose of verifying information. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated.  Academic dishonesty includes the following offenses:
1) Claiming as your own work a paper written by another student.
2) Turning in a paper that contains paraphrases of someone else’s ideas but does not give proper credit to that person for those ideas.
3) Turning in a paper that is largely a restatement in your own words of a paper written by someone else, even if you give credit to that person for those ideas.  The thesis and organizing principles of a paper must be your own.
4) Turning in a paper that uses the exact words of another author without using quotation marks, even if proper credit is given in a citation, or that changes the words only slightly and claims them to be paraphrases.
5) Turning in the same paper, even in a different version, for two different courses without the permission of both professors involved.  
6) Using any external source (notes, books, other students, etc.) for assistance during an in-class exam, unless given permission to do so by the professor.

If a student is found to have committed one of the above offenses, he/she will receive a failing grade on the assignment or exam.  The case may also be sent to the Women’s Studies Advisory Committee or ultimately to the University’s Student Disciplinary Board (see Student Handbook).

Students with Disabilities: If you are registered with the Office of Services for Individuals with Disabilities, please make an appointment with the course instructor to discuss any academic accommodations you need. If you need academic accommodations and are not registered with the Office of Services for Individuals with Disabilities, please contact the office on the third floor of the Student Services Building, by email at disabilities@eku.edu or by telephone at (859) 622-2933 V/TDD. Upon individual request, this syllabus can be made available in alternative forms.

August 20: Introduction, review of requirements

Part One: Women’s Studies, Sex and Gender

August 22: What is Women’s Studies? Handout.

August 25: Is it sex or is it gender? Handout

August 27: Women’s Studies: Alternative Perspectives. Kesselman et al,, pp. 15-40.

August 29: Reading Day

September 1: Labor Day

September 3: Discontented Women, pp. 42-49.

September 5: Rites of Passage, pp. 50-68.

September 8: Gender and Success: Educational Equity and Girls’ Achievements, pp. 76-88.

September 10: Gender and Child Development, Handout.

September 12: Constructing Gender: Popular Culture, pp. 96-110.

September 15: Culture and Gender, Handout.

September 17: First in-class examination

Part Two: Our Bodies, Our Destiny?

September 19: Who is beautiful? pp. 123-128;

September 22: Body Image and health, pp. 133-143.

September 24: guest speaker

September 26: Exploring Sexuality, pp. 149-167/

September 29: Lesbian Sexuality, pp. 167-177.

October 1: Sexuality as Patriarchy, handout.

October 3: Sexist Medicine, pp. 312-328.

October 6: Reproductive Rights, pp. 333-343.

October 8: Reproductive Rights, continued, pp. 345-354.

October 10:.Biology and Gender, Handout.

October 13: Holiday

Part Three: Manifestations of Misogyny

October 15: Intimate Partner Violence, pp .444-468.

October 17: Reading Day

October 20: The Battered Woman’s Defense, Handout

October 22: Sexual Violence and Rape, 469-488

October 24: guest speaker

Part Four: A Woman’s Place

October 27: Women in the Workplace, pp. 187-194.

October 29: Sexual Harassment, pp. 207-213.

October 31: Housework and motherhood, pp. 195-201

November 3: The Feminization of Poverty, pp. 225-249

November 5: Family Life, pp. 250-256; 267-271.

November 7: Marriage and the Law, web.

November 10: Reconceptualizing marriage, pp. 217-280.

November 12: Dealing with divinity, pp. 282- 303.

November 14: Reading Day

Part V: Feminist Bigotry

November 17: Ain’t I a Woman? web

November 19: Racism within Feminism, pp. 360-367; 368-370.

November 21: Classism within Feminism, pp. 371-375; 387-393.

November 24: Heterosexism, pp. 394-411.

November 26-28: Holiday

December 1: Ageism, 412-422.

December 3: Backlash! Pp. 542-556

December 5 : Status of Women in the States

December 8: Review, Distribution of take-home final.