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Womens Studies 1130:

Introduction to Womens Studies
Dr. Nancy Turner
Office: 152 Gardner Hall
Office phone: 342-1789
E-mail: turnern@uwplatt.edu

Office hours: MW 12-1, 2-3PM

T 3-4PM
Th 1-5PM
F 12-1PM
and by appt.

The purpose of gender studies is to help students come to a better understanding of themselves
as responsible individuals operating within a gendered cultural context, paying special attention
to perspectives involving women. A course that meets liberal arts requirements in gender studies
will enable students to engage in personal reflection and explore the implications of: 1) the
cultural constructs that create and perpetuate gender-based stereotypes and unequal power
relationships; 2) the contributions of diverse populations of women and persons of varied sexual
orientations in transforming knowledge; 3) the influence that students gender and experiences
have on their attitudes toward others.
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES: Women's Studies as a field seeks to theorize,
document, uncover, and revise our existing knowledge about women. By its very nature it is an
interdisciplinary field; therefore, using the lenses of the social sciences, history, science,
journalism, and the humanities, this course will explore the ways in which gender limits, as well
as expands, women's experiences of family, work, health, sexuality, and social relationships. It is
a major goal of this course to "shake you up"to alter your view of the world (at least a little) as
you are forced to think more deeply about what it might have meant in the past to be a woman,
what it means today to be a woman, and what it may mean in the future to be a woman. The
course will also explore why particular things are gendered feminine or masculine in a
particular society.
TEXTS: There are four books assigned for this course, each of which can be found in the
University Textbook Center. They are:
IF= Ruth, Sheila. Issues in Feminism, 5th Edition. Mayfield Publishing, 2001.
Ward, Martha C. A World Full of Women, 4th Edition. Allyn and Bacon, 2005.
Valenti, Jessica. Full Frontal Feminism, Seal Press, 2007.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Infidel, Free Press, 2007.
Handouts provided by the instructor.
EXAMS: There will be 2 (1-hour) exams in this course. Each exam will consist of 8-10
identification/definition items and one short essay. The exams will cover the material presented
in the readings, lectures, and the films/videos. There will also be one take-home exam dealing
with the information presented in the textbook A World Full of Women.
GROUP POWERPOINT PRESENTATION: Each student will participate with 2 to 3 other
students in preparing in a group PowerPoint presentation of a chapter from Martha Wards book ,

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A World Full of Women. Each presentation will be no more than ten minutes long, summarizing
for fellow students their chapters main points.
READING QUIZZES: A portion of most class periods will be devoted to a discussion of the
assigned readings or issues raised by the instructor. Each student is expected to participate
actively in the discussions and to ask and answer questions. Obviously this requires each student
to do the readings assigned for each class period and to pay attention in class. To encourage
students to keep up with the assigned readings, there will be 7 announced quizzes over specific
assigned readings. The format of these reading quizzes will be 3-4 short answer questions.
REACTION PAPER: One 2-3 page, double-spaced reaction paper is required. For this paper,
students must select one of the topics concerning women we have covered (for instance:
patriarchy, nature vs. nurture, women as wives and mothers, women and work, women and social
class, sexual harassment, abortion, rape, domestic violence, women and body image, women in
the Muslim world, or the early life of Ayaan Hirsi Ali) and write up, in paper form, their detailed
reaction to the topic as it was presented in class.
ATTENDANCE POLICY: Attendance will not be officially taken, but attendance at all
scheduled class periods is necessary and expected. If a student misses a class, s/he is responsible
for finding out what material was covered and what assignments or handouts were distributed
during the missed class period.
GRADING: 7 reading quizzes @ 9pts each
2 In-class exams @100pts each
1 Take-home exam
1 Group Chapter presentation
1 In-class paper
1 Reaction Paper
Total

=63pts
=200pts
=100pts
=50pts
=50pts
=50pts
513pts

Schedule of Assignments:
January 20

Introduction

25 RDG QUIZ Shira Tarrant, The Mens Auxiliary: A Brief History of Men
and Feminism (handout)
27 Patriarchy: "Basic Concepts" (IF 28-30); "Conceptions of Patriarchy" (IF 61-64;
73-74); Discrimination: the Effects of Sexism on Public Institutions
(IF 344-354)
February 1 RDG QUIZ Nature vs. Nurture: Judith Lorber, Night to his Day: The Social
Construction of Gender (handout); Karin A. Martin, Becoming a Gendered
Body: Practices of Preschools (handout); Girls math fears may start with female
teachers (handout)
3 Women as Wives and Mothers: "The Effects of Sexism on Women's Private
Lives" (IF 249-258); Friedan, "The Problem That Has No Name" (IF 570-574);
Hochschild, "The Second Shift" (handout); Judy Seyfer , Why I Want a Wife

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8 RDG QUIZ Women and Work: Legal changes open doors to working women
(handout); Women and the Business World (handout); Study finds youve come
too far on TV, Baby (handout); Many moms assume burden of child-care costs
(handout); Increasingly, wives earn more than husbands (handout); Men more
likely to leave spouse who has cancer (handout);
10 Sexual Harassment: Ellen Bravo and Ellen Cassedy, "What Sexual Harassment
Isand Is Not" (handout); The new sexual harassment is more subtle
(handout); Military more likely to kick out lesbians (handout); Women and
Social Class: Dorothy Allison, A Question of Class (handout)
15 Abortion: If These Walls Could Talk (video) Letters to a Young Feminist on Sex
and Reproductive Freedom (IF 320-324)
17 RDG QUIZ Abortion (IF 267-274); Voss The Easiest Choice I Ever Made
(handout); Newsweek The Abortion Evangelist (handout)
22 IN-CLASS EXAM #1
24 Rose Weitz, A History of Womens Bodies (handout); Rape: Rape: The Power
of Consciousness (IF pp. 329-340); Rape victims offer advice to todays college
women (handout); Girl, 9, details rape in Congo to photographer (handout);
March

1 Ward Group presentations

3 Ward Group presentations
8 Ward Group presentations
10 RDG QUIZ Domestic Violence; Violence (IF 274-280); Full Frontal
Feminism Chapter 4
March 15-19 Spring Break
22 Witnessing the Death of Love (IF 341-343)
24 Ward Take-home Exam due; Women and Body Image: Killing Us Softly IIvideo
29 Women and Islam
31 Muslim Women Uncover Myths about the Hijab (handout); Under the Abbaya:
Female TV Producers in Saudi Arabia (handout);

April

5 NO CLASS
7 RDG QUIZ; G. Brooks Whom No Man Shall Have Deflowered Before Them
(handout); Bible passages
12 IN-CLASS EXAM #2
14 Infidel pp. 1-88
19 RDG QUIZ; Infidel pp. 89-122; pp. 134-144; pp. 163-180
21 Infidel pp. 183-211; pp. 237-260
26 Full Frontal Feminism In-Class writing
28 Full Frontal Feminism

May

3 RDG QUIZ Shira Tarrant Constructing Masculinity: Putting the How and
the Why in the XY (handout)
5 Reaction Paper Due