WGS 1000 - Introduction to Women and Gender Studies (4)

Oakland University, College of Arts and Sciences, Women and Gender Studies Program

Syllabus

Course Information:
CRN: 10779
Campus: Main Campus
Schedule Type: Lecture

Interdisciplinary and comparative overview of fundamental women’s concepts and topics as they relate to history, culture, literature, economics, class, ethnicity, race, theories and methods. Satisfies the university general education requirement in the social science knowledge exploration area or may be used in lieu of one of the College of Arts and Sciences’ distribution categories, not both. Satisfies the university general education requirement in U.S. diversity for 2005-2006.

Professor Information:
Instructor: Sue Rumph
Women’s Studies Office 217 Varner Office Phone: (248) 370-2154
Office Hours: Via WebEx virtual office per request

Learning Outcomes:
Social Science
The student will demonstrate:
- Knowledge of concepts, methods and theories designed to enhance understanding of human behavior and/or societies.
- Application of concepts and theories to problems involving individuals, institutions or nations.

U.S. Diversity
The student will:
- Demonstrate knowledge of how diverse value systems and societal structures are influenced by at least two of the following: race, gender and ethnicity.
- Identify major challenges and issues these raise in society.

Social Science Objectives
This course is the introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Women’s Studies, which developed as the feminist critique of the construction of knowledge in the traditional academic disciplines, all of which exhibit male bias.
*The students will be presented with women’s studies concepts, methods and theories designed to enhance understanding of human behavior in U.S. society and globally. Examples include the processes in social institutions whereby gender norms of behavior are constructed, theories of the social processes and structures involved in the creation and maintenance of patriarchal societies such as the U.S., and research methods developed from women’s standpoints and experiences that critique the widespread representation of men’s experiences and viewpoints as universal ungendered societal and behavioral norms.
*They will be able to analyze how major institutions of society are structured by culturally constructed categories and ideologies of gender, race, ethnicity and class.
* Critical analysis is employed as students learn the feminist methodology and theories designed to bring back women’s voices and viewpoints that have been suppressed from academic knowledge.
* Students learn how to apply these concepts and theories to problems involving the individual and the institutions. The subject of women’s studies is uniquely applicable to students’ lives, including how the construction of gender affects social expectations and behaviors of students.
*Students gain insight into their own lives in the experiential process employed in the classroom as well as in smaller groups and research. This consciousness raising prepares the students to make informed decisions about their own life choices, in the light of new understanding about sexism in our culture.

Diversity Objectives
WGS1000 addresses diversity by examining the major issues of all three categories of gender, race, and ethnic inequities in American values and social structures, and fosters discussion of possible solutions to these inequities.
*The students will learn to analyze how societal structures and value systems vary according to different genders, races and ethnic groups. The course focuses on the diversity of women’s experiences in American social institutions as seen in the complex intersections of gender, race, and ethnicity.
*Students will identify major challenges and issues raised in society as seen through the lives of women of different races and ethnic groups. For instance, students learn how discrimination multiplies for women who are also African American, in contrast to the privileges of elite white women in American society.
*The students will also be presented with information about overlooked contributions to American society and culture by individuals and groups combining a variety of gender, racial, and ethnic affiliations and identities.

CROSS-CUTTING CAPACITIES:
The student will demonstrate:
- Critical thinking
- Social Awareness
- Effective communication

Textbooks and Materials:
Required textbook
Introduction to Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies: Interdisciplinary and Intersectional Approaches -L.Ayu Saraswati, Barbara L. Shaw, and Heather Rellihan ISBN # not available

Required video: Only available at WGS office and Kresge Library - on reserve. Also available in WGS office

Voices From the Streets: Countdown to a March - Directed by Sue Rumph

Recommended (meaning you are not tested over them and you do not have to buy them)
1) Why So Slow: The Advancement of Women -Virginia Valian
ISBN # 0262220547

2) Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center -bell hooks
ISBN# 0896082210

3) Teaching Sex: the shaping of adolescence in the 20th century -Jeffrey P. Moran
ISBN # 067400227X
4) SLUT! Growing Up Female with a Bad Reputation -Leora Tanenbaum
ISBN# 0060957409

5) I Am Not a Slut: Slut-Shaming in the Age of the Internet -Leora Tanenbaum

ISBN # 9780062282590
6) Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture -Ariel Levy
ISBN# 139780743249898

7) Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel -Jean Kilbourne
ISBN# 0684865998

8) Powering UP: How America’s Women Achievers Become Leaders -Anne Doyle
ISBN# 97814568117417

Assignments and Grading:
Students are evaluated based on weighted grades for the semester.

ASSIGNMENTS
Course Assignments	Weight of Grade
Quizzes	30%
Final Exam	30%
Critical Thinking	20%
Participation	20%
Total	100%
Extra Credit	10%

%	Grade	%	Grade	%	Grade	%	Grade
100	A
95	A-	89	B+	79	C	69	D+
		86	B	76	C	66	D
		83	B-	73	C-	59	F

Classroom and University Policies