Introduction to Women’s Studies
Humanities 140…TR, 11:00-12:15…3 Credits…No Prerequisites….Summer, 1999
Dr. Hollace Graff
Course Description
This course offers an interdisciplinary survey of the concepts and methods which disciplines such as political philosophy and psychology have used to define women roles in various arenas such as the labor force, the health care delivery system, and educational institutions. This course will examine how gender-laden philosophies have affected our scholarship and therefore our understanding of ourselves.
Learning Objectives
In terms of learning objectives, students will:
1. Become aware of gender bias and prejudice in various areas of learning
2. Engage in scholarly pursuits through which they will demonstrate that awareness.
3. Be willing to investigate common assumptions which demonstrate gender prejudice.
4. Read broadly in the liberal arts in to recognize preconception based on gender stereotypes.
5. Understand a number of competing theories that attempt to explain the situation of women with an emphasis on their philosophical basis of each theory.
6. Understand that these theories lead to different strategies for ending the subordination of women.
7. Understand the ways in which gender and race interact.
8. Be able to formulate and articulately express one’s own views on all of the above controversies.
Academic Integrity
The very nature of higher education requires that students adhere to accepted standards of academic integrity. Therefore, Oakton Community College has adopted a Code of Academic Conduct and a statement of Student Academic Integrity. These may be found in the Student Handbook. You may also find a summary of the Code of Academic Conduct in the College Catalog. Among the violations of academic integrity listed and defined are: cheating, plagiarism, falsification and fabrication, abuse of academic materials, complicity in academic dishonesty, falsification of records and official documents, personal misrepresentation and proxy, and bribes, favors, and threats.
It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of behaviors that constitute academic dishonesty.
Pursuant to the due process guarantees contained in the Policy and Procedures on Student Academic Integrity, the minimum punishment for the first offense for a student found in violation of the standards of academic integrity is failure in the assignment. In addition, a disciplinary record will be established and kept on file in the office of the Vice President for Student Affairs for a period of three years.
Instructional Materials
1. Women: Images and Realities edited by Kesselman, McNair and Schniedewind
2. Feminist Thought by Rosemary Tong
3. Some students will choose to read a third book selected from a list that I will provide.
Outline of Topics and Tentative Schedule
We will not be reading all the pages listed below. I will make exact reading assignments on a weekly basis and try to accommodate special interests and concerns of class members. We will be viewing a number of films. These films are an integral part of the course and should be treated as you would reading assignments. If you miss a class, you must make an alternative arrangement for viewing the film.
June 14….Introduction and Film: One Woman, One Vote
June 15…..Women: Images and Realities .....Selections from Part VII: Changing Our World…..Articles 130, 131, 132
June 16…..Selections from Part I: What Is Women's Studies?…..Articles 1, 2, 3, 5, 12
June 17…..Selections from Part II: Becoming a Woman in Our Society…..Articles 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31
June 21, 22, 23, 24…… Selections from Part IV: Institutions that Shape Women's Lives…..Film: The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter
June 28, 29, 30, July 1….. Selections from Part V: The Differences Among Us and Part VI: The Consequences of Sexism
July 6, 7, 8….. Selections from Part VII: Changing Our World
July 12…..Optional Exam
July 12……Feminist Thought by Rosemary Tong, Chapter 1, Liberal Feminism
July 13, 14…..Chapter 2, Radical Feminism…..Film: My Husband Is Going To Kill Me
July 15, 19…..Chapter 3, Marxist and Socialist Feminism …..Film: The Child Behind the Label
July 20…..Chapter 4, Psychoanalytic Feminism
July 21, 22….Chapter 7, Global and Multicultural Feminism…..Film: Scarred for Life
July 26…..Journals due
July 26, 27..... Optional Class Presentations
July 28……Optional Final Exam…..Presentations
July 29 Last class Journals returned Optional exam
Web sites relevant to this course
Links to Women's Sites on the World Wide Web
Documents from the Women's Liberation Movement - Duke Special Collections
Duke Women's Archives: WWW Sites
Eighties/Nineties Feminism - Women's History - Net Links
National Women's Studies Assoication - NWSA
Outline of Topics and Tentative Schedule
The schedule below is tentative. I will try to accommodate special interests and concerns of class members. Miscellaneous articles and documents available on the Internet may be added to the assignments listed below. We will be viewing a number of films. These films are an integral part of the course and should be treated as you would reading assignments. If you miss a class, you must make an alternative arrangement for viewing the film.
Methods of Instruction
Methods of instruction will include lecture, discussion, and films. Since the requirements for this course are chosen by individual students, some students will do presentations and attend events outside of class that are relevant to the course.
Course Practices Required and Methods of Evaluating Student Progress
1. All students will keep a philosophical journal in which they react to the assigned reading by evaluating these readings and by commenting on the applicability of these reading to their own lives. Journals should not be simple summaries of the works or classroom notes. In evaluating journals I will look for evidence that the student has done all the reading and has made a genuine attempt to come to terms with the material. The journal will represent 40% of your grade. I will be glad to give you a preliminary evaluation of your journal at any time. A completed journal would probably be about 25 typewritten pages.
2. 20% of your grade will be based on class participation. Two absences drops your grade one level. You can receive extra credit that erases absences by outstanding participation in discussion or by attending events at Oakton relevant to this class such as Women's Day.
3. You may choose from several options in fulfilling the other 40% of your course requirements. These options include:
a) One or two exams each worth 20% of your final grade.
b) You may read an additional book, a part of a book, or several articles of your own choice (but approved by me) chosen from a list that I will provide. You will give a class participation on what you have read for 20% of your grade. This presentation must demonstrate knowledge of the course material as well as the chosen book. I strongly encourage students to consider working together on the presentations. If you write a paper as well as give a presentation, this can count for 40% of your grade.
c) You may choose to participate in a service learning project and to report on this to the class for 20% of your grade. (If you want to do this, you must speak with me immediately.) If you do an unusual number of hours and/or write a paper on your experiences, this can count for 40% of your grade.
e) You may choose to attend four events relevant to this course for 20% of your grade. One of these events will be Women's Day at Oakton. I will suggest a number of possibilities, and you may suggest possibilities. You would write very brief accounts of these events. In some cases I would want you to give brief oral reports to the class. You could do more events for more credit. Examples of appropriate events would be the presentations by authors frequently scheduled at Women and Children First Bookstore.
Schedule of events at Women and Children First
4. By the second week of class, you should let me know how you intend to fulfill course requirements. This doesn't mean that you can't change your mind, but if you do, you need to inform me.
Form for indicating the course requirements choices
5. The Oakton Community College Catalog states:
Oakton Community College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, disability, age, sex, sexual orientation, or marital status in admission to and participation in its educational programs, activities and services, or employment practices. The College does not tolerate sexual harassment or sexual assault by or of its students or employees.
In keeping with this policy of tolerance and non-discrimination, in this class all of us (myself included) should strive to listen and give careful consideration to all ideas expressed in class, especially those that are different from our own, without attacking or demeaning the people who have those views. We should also strive to avoid using insulting terms or telling offensive jokes when talking to or about individuals or groups.
Disabilities
If you have a documented learning, psychological, or physical disability, you may be entitled to reasonable academic accommodations or services. To request accommodation or services, contact the ASSIST office in Instructional Support Services. All students are expected to fulfill essential course requirements. The College will not waive any essential skill or requirement of a course or degree program.
Office Hours
Des Plaines Office….. 2807
Des Plaines Telephone….. 635-1919
E-mail……hgraff@oakton.edu
Please feel welcome to stop by to chat, and be sure to see me to
get paper topics approved or if you are having any difficulties in the course. My office
hours are as follows:
Fall, 1999
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
| 7:30 | Office Hours 2807 | Office Hours Room 2807 |
Office Hours 2807 | Office Hours Room 2807 |
|
| 8:00 | Intro to Philosophy, Room 2440 |
Intro To Philosophy, Room 2440 |
Intro to Philosophy, Room 2440 |
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| 8:30 | |||||
| 9:00 | Ethics, Room 1603 |
Ethics, Room 1603 |
Ethics, Room 1603 |
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| 9:30 | Ethics Room 2440 |
Ethics, Room 2440 |
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| 10:00 | Office Hours 2807 | Office Hours 2807 | Office Hours 2807 |
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| 10:30 | |||||
| 11:00 | Logic, Room 1605 |
Women's Studies, Room 2836 |
Logic, Room 1605 |
Women's Studies, Room 2836 |
Logic, Room 1605 |
| 11:30 | |||||
| 12:00 | Sometimes in my office | Sometimes in my office | |||
| 12:30 | Faculty Meetings | Sometimes in my office | |||
| 1:00 | |||||
| 1:30 | Office Hours 2807 |
Office Hours 2807 |
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| 2:00 | Faculty Meetings | Sometimes in my office | |||
| 2:30 | Sometimes in my office | Sometimes in my office | |||
| 3:00 | |||||
| 3:30 |
Author: Hollace Graff
Oakton Community College
Updated: July 29, 1999