GNDR 103
Fall 2006
Dr. Valerie Lehr
84 Park St., #203
x5677
Office hours: Monday 10:00-12:00
This course introduces you to the concept of gender. We will explore questions such as the following: What is gender? How do we come to learn and perform gender? How is our gender identity connected to other facets of our identities, such as race, class, and sexuality? How do social institutions work to reinforce hegemonic understandings of gender? How do we develop the ability to challenge such dominant constructions? What is the relationship between studying gender and feminism? In order to addess these questions, we will begin by reading a classic text of 1970s feminism, one in which the author tries to both critique the society that she lived in and provide an alternative vision. This text will allow us to ask what has changed and what has remained, as well as challenge us to think about alternatives to our world and what it takes to make them real. Following this discussion, we will read more contemporary analyses that broadly explore gender and feminism. This will provide a framework for you to do research, writing, and a presentation on a topic of interest to you in the last part of the semester.
Required Texts:
Connell, R. W., Gender
bell hooks, Feminism is for Everybody
Marge Piercy, Woman on the Edge of Time
Reading Assignments:
| Tuesday, 9/5 | Woman on the Edge of Time, pp. 9-163 (Chapters 1-8) |
| Thursday, 9/7 | Woman on the Edge of Time, pp. 164-237 (Chapters 9-11) |
| Tuesday, 9/12 | Woman on the Edge of Time, pp. 238-301(Chapters 12-16) |
| Thursday, 9/14 | Woman on the Edge of Time, pp. 239-381 (Chapters 17-20) |
| Tuesday, 9/19 | Gender, pp. 1-27 |
| Thursday, 9/21 | Gender, pp. 28-75 |
| Tuesday, 9/26 | Gender, pp. 76-114 |
| Thursday, 9/28 | Gender, pp. 115-151 |
| Tuesday, 10/3 | Education and Gender: Barrie Thorne, selection from Gender Play. Available from e:reserve. http://eres.stlawrence.nnyln.net/eres/ "Girl Talk": Gender, Equity, amd Identity Discourses in School-Based Computer Culture, by Jennifer Jenson, Suzanne De Castell, and Mary Bryson. Women's Studies International Forum, Vol 26, No. 6: 561-73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2003.09.010 |
| Thursday, 10/5 | Education and Gender: Constance Weber, "Pitching, Dancing, and Budget Cuts," from Construction Sites:Excavating Race, Class, and Gender Among Urban Youth, edited by Lois Weis and Michelle Fine. NY: Teacher's College Press, 2000; and Ann Arnett Ferguson, Naughty By Nature, chapter 4. http://eres.stlawrence.nnyln.net/eres/ |
| Tuesday, 10/10 | Education and Gender: Is Single Sex Education Good? Readings: These are in Angel under course materials in a folder with the date. |
| Thursday, 10/12 | Education and Gender and Sexuality: Tolman, Deborah, "Doing Desire: Adolescent Girls' Struggles for/with Sexuality," Gender and Society, 8(3) 1994: 324-342 at http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0891-2432%28199409%298%3A3%3C324%3ADDAGSF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-9; James Earl Davis, "Forbidden Fruit: Black Males Construction of Transgressive Sexualities in Middle School," from Queering Elementary Education, edited by William J. Letts IV and James T. Sears. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1999; and Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli, "'My Moving Days': A Child's Negotiation of of Multiple Lifeworlds in Relation to Gender, Ethnicity, and Sexuality," from Queering Elementary Education http://eres.stlawrence.nnyln.net/eres/ |
| Tuesday, 10/17 | Youth, gender and sexuality. |
| Tuesday, 10/24 | hooks, pp. 1-60 |
| Thursday, 10/26 | hooks, pp. 61-120 |
| Tuesday, 10/31 | Paper due; We will plan for the rest of the semester in class. |
| Thursday, 11/2 | Preparation for leading class -- Read two essays on your topic and write abstracts of the essays. |
| Tuesday, 11/7 | Preparation for leading class -- read two essays on your topic and write abstracts of the essays. |
| Thursday, 11/9 | Preparation for leading class -- Read all of the abstracts from your group. Come to class with a 5 page paper in which you discuss what you group has found and how it is connected to Piercy, Connell, and hooks. |
| Tuesday, 11/14 | Reading to be assigned by student discussion leaders |
| Thursday, 11/16 | Reading to be assigned by student discussion leaders |
| Tuesday, 11/28 | Reading to be assigned by student discussion leaders |
| Thursday, 11/30 | Reading to be assigned by student discussion leaders |
| Tuesday, 12/5 | Reading to be assigned by student discussion leaders |
| Thursday, 12/7 | Reading to be assigned by student discussion leaders |
| Tuesday, 12/12 | Reading to be assigned by student discussion leaders |
| Thursday, 12/14 | Conclusion -- Review notes from the semester |
Course Requirements:
1) Responses to reading -- I will give you an assignment for about 10 -12 responses. Each will be short -- either a paragraph response or questions connected to the reading and a few thoughts about why they are important. I will select people to read their responses on each day that they are due. If you do not have a response to read, your grade will be reduced. If this happens twice, you fill receive a 0 for this portion of your grade. You should expect to be asked to read your repsonses about 5 times. I may also periodically skim your responses. So, collect them and bring them to class each day. -- 15%
2) Paper on education readings -- 20%.
3) Work connected to the topic that you research and present. You will have both group work and individual work on this project. -- 30%
4) Final Exam -- 25%. Your final will be on Monday, Dec. 18th from 1:30-4:30.
5) Outside event responses --You should attend two events outside of class that are connected to gender and write a 2-3 page response in which you analyze the event. You must turn one in before fall break. -- 10%
6) Attendance and participation -- I expect that you will be in class and that you will contribute to class. Failure to be present and positively engaged will lead to a reduction in your final grade. Specifically, if you miss more than two classes, your grade will be reduced by .25 for each additional missed class. If you are not participating adequately or your presence is not positive (for example, you fall asleep in class or you dominate class discussion), I will have a conversation with you and we will talk about what you need to change and what the consequences will be if you fail to do so.
Please Note: You are responsible for understanding and following the University's academic honesty policy. This policy applies to all assignments. If you have questions or are not sure about anything, it is your responsibility to speak with me.