Northern Arizona University
Women’s Studies : Spring 2004
Instructor: Dr. Sanjam AhluwaliaOffice Hours: TTH 12.30-1.30
Office: LA 232and by appointment
Phone # : 523-8709Class Meetings: LA: 200
E-mail: Sanjam.Ahluwalia@nau.edu W: 11.15 - 1.45
Course
Prerequisites: None
WST 291: Introduction to Women’s Studies
IMPORTANT: Please look at the “Northern Arizona University Policy Statements” and the “Classroom Management Statement” at the back of this documentbefore reading the syllabus.
COURSE DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES:
This course will introduce us to the rich interdisciplinary field of women’s studies as it has emerged over the last few decades. This is a liberal studies class bearing the thematic focus “Valuing the Diversity of Human Experience.” It is in the “Social and Political Worlds,” distribution block. This course will address several of the essential skills which are features of the liberal studies program, including critical readings, critical and creative thinking, ethical reasoning, effective writing and oral communication.
We will explore numerous issues, themes, and debates that have animated feminist scholarship across the globe, making it a rich and vibrant area of intellectual inquiry. Rather than seeing women as a singular entity, we will seek to understand the complex and varied locations of women as political and social actors/subjects over time and space. Through the assigned readings, lectures, class discussions, films, fiction, and autobiographical accounts, this course will introduce us to current debates within the field of women’s studies on issues of reproductive health, violence, family, sexuality, globalization, and environment. The course will broaden our understanding and appreciation of gender issues and how they differently impact women and men’s lives across race, class, ethnic, national, and religious locations. The thematic foci and readings in this course will provide students an opportunity to familiarize themselves with current theoretical and ethical debates among feminists. We will conclude the course with imagining future goals and objectives for feminist politics and theory.
COURSE STRUCTURE
The class will be a combination of lectures and discussions, with expectations of increasing student participation and performance. Students should feel free to speak their minds, but not at the expense of other’s opinions and beliefs.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Students will be required to engage with weekly readings carefully and critically. Class discussions will be central to the course and, should be attended faithfully. This will contribute 15% of your class grade.
In-class Short Essays: In addition to the readings you will be expected to write short essays on questions from the assigned readings. The date for these in-class essays will be announced ahead of time. This will contribute 50% of your class grade.
In-class Quiz and Discussion: There will be a short in-class quiz and discussion on the assigned text, Brick Lane. This will contribute 25% of your class grade.
Take Home Essay: A 2-3 page response to a question handed out in class. This will contribute 10% of your class grade.
EVALUATION METHODS
Class Participation (10%) This includes attendance, short assignments based on readings for the week . It will also include media analysis. And most importantly ~ full participation in class and small group discussions. I’ll be looking at your mastery of critical reasoning, critical reading, effective writing and oral communication skills.
In-class Short Essay (50%) These will be short written responses to the assigned readings. It will ensure that you do all the readings and respond to each article. You will be evaluated for effective writing and reasoning. You will also be assessed for critical and ethical reasoning and thinking as part of your course grade.
In-class Quiz and Discussion (10%) There will be an in-class quiz on the assigned text Brick Lane, and a discussion on the themes raised in this novel. I will be looking for effective oral skills and ability to respond to any questions that your fellow students might ask of you about your reading of the text.
Take Home Essay (30%). It will be 2-3 pages of written response to a question handed out in class. I will be looking for your critical thinking skills, effective writings skills as well as your critical reading skills of the various material you will draw upon for this paper.
COURSE GRADES
Grades for the course will be calculated in the following way:
Class Participation 15%; In-class Essays 50%; Quiz and Discussion 25%; and Take home Essay 10%.
TOTAL FOR COURSE100%
The grading scale for the course will be as follows:
90%+
= A; 80 - 89%= B;
70-79%= C; 60-69%= D;
below 60%= F.
ASSIGNED TEXTS
1.Wendy Kolmar and Frances Bartkowski eds., Feminist Theory: A Reader. (Required) Henceforth: Textbook
2. Eve Ensler, Vagina Monologues. (Required)
3. Gloria Anzaldua and Analouise Keating, eds., This Bridge We Call Home(Required)
4. Angela Davis, An Autobiography.(Required)
COURSE POLICIES
ALL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE IN CLASS. NO LATE OR EMAIL SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
PLEASE NOTE: I do not give extensions, or incompletes, except in cases allowed for by University Policy.
Plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in any of the assignments, and will result in failing the course. Please consult the section on “Academic Integrity” in the NAU Policy Statements appended to this syllabus for further details. IT IS THE STUDENTS' RESPONSIBILITY TO FAMILIARIZE HERSELF/HIMSELF WITH THESE MATTERS AS DEFINED BY THE UNIVERSITY.
ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY
While
I will not take regular roll, frequent and repeated absence and/or lack
of punctuality could effect your grade. As pointed out above
15% of your class grade will depend on participation in the various class
discussions assigned in the syllabus.
Whatever your reasons for arriving late or missing a class, it is YOUR
RESPONSIBILITY to arrange to meet or call a classmate and find out
what happened in that class.
COURSE SCHEDULE: SUBJECT TO MODIFICATION
September 1 : Introduction.
September 8:Vagina Monologues, Class discussion.
September 15: Film, My Feminism andClass discussion.
Readings: Textbook,
September 22-29: Feminist Theories and Methodologies. Class lecture and discussion: We will cover different feminist theories and methodological tools deployed by feminist research within different disciplines. We will discuss the following feminist theories:
1. Liberal feminism
2. Radical feminism
3.Socialist and Marxist feminism
4. Post-modern feminism
5. Post-colonial feminism
Readings: All the above readings are from the Textbook.
October 6: Rethinking Families. We will examine feminist interrogations of the institution of family from various perspectives to understand its transformation over time and space.
Readings: All above readings are from the Textbook.
October 13: In class short essays. Please Bring blue books!
October 20-27; and November 3: Diaspora and Politics of Gender. Under this theme we will seek to unravel the meaning of the often used term diaspora. Through assigned readings and films we will seek to understand how politics of race, class, gender, nationality, and sexuality intersect to shape different diasporic communities in different parts of the world.
October 20: Film TBA.
October 27: Lecture& Discussion.
November 3: In class quiz on assigned readings.
Readings: Monica Ali, Brick Lane. Carla Trujillo, “Chicana Lesbians: Fear and Loathing in Chicano Community,” PP 402-406; Lisa Suhair Majaj, “Boundaries: Arab/American,” PP 439-442.
The last two readings are from the Textbook.
MARCH 17: No class–Spring Break!!
March 31-April 7: Women and Politics of Motherhood. Motherhood has been a subject of much debate and discussion among feminists. This week’s readings will highlight the importance of motherhood in shaping women’s identity within patriarchal societies. We will also seek to understand the terms of the debates around issues of reproductive rights, including abortion.
Readings:TBA Selections from Bearing Life. Ellen Willis, “Abortion: Is a Woman a Person?” PP333-336; Ani Difranco, “ Lost Woman Song,” PP 336; Ruth Hubbard, “Using Pregnancy to Control Women,” PP 345-349; Dorothy Roberts, “Killing the Black Body,” PP 349-351; Kathryn Kolbert, “Developing a Reproductive Rights Agenda for the Next Century,” PP 351-354. The last five essays are from the Textbook.
April 14: Feminism and Multiculturalism. What does the term multiculturalism refer to and the various feminist responses that have both embraced and rejected its importance in shaping feminist agendas for the future?-- will be some of the questions we will explore through discussion and class lecture.
Readings: Susan Okin, “Is multiculturalism Bad for Women?” PP 7-26; Bonnie Honig, “My Culture Made me do it,” PP 35-40; Bhikhu Parekh, “A Varied Moral World, ” PP 69-75. The above articles are taken from Joshua Cohen’s ed., Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?. (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1999). The articles will be placed on reserve in Cline library.
April 14: Short in-class essays. Please bring blue books to class!
April 21-28 “Third Wave Feminism?” A more recent terminology within feminist writings, we will seek to discern the various strands of intellectual and political agendas that are represented under this rubric. This will also be an opportunity for all of us to reflect back upon the semester long discussions we have had on the field of women’s studies and to debate the future of feminism both within the academy and outside.
Readings:“Voices of Women’s Studies Students,” PP 30; Danista Hunte, “Women’s Studies as a Growth Process,” PP30-31; Luana Ferreira, “Finding my Latina Identity Through Women’s Studies,” PP 31-32; Lucita Woodis, “What Women’s Studies has Meant for me,” PP 32-33; Deborah Lennon,“Why Women’s Studies?” PP 33; Evan Weissman, “Women’s Studies: A Man’s Perspective,” PP 34; Carol Christ, “The American University and Women’s Studies,” PP 35; Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, “Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future,” PP598-606; Lori Gross, “Voices of Women’s Studies Graduates: Real Life: Women’s Studies in Action,” PP 606-607; Colleen Farrell, “Bringing Women’s Studies to a Battered Women’s Shelter,” PP 607-608; Sharon Thompson, “Becoming a Feminist Physician,” PP 608-609. All the assigned readings are from the Textbook.
April 28:
Take home essay due in class!