Introducing Women's and Gender Studies: a Collection of Teaching
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Introducing Women’s and Gender Studies: A Teaching Resources Collection 1 Introducing Women’s and Gender Studies: A Collection of Teaching Resources Edited by Elizabeth M. Curtis Fall 2007 Introducing Women’s and Gender Studies: A Teaching Resources Collection 2 Copyright National Women's Studies Association 2007 Introducing Women’s and Gender Studies: A Teaching Resources Collection 3 Table of Contents Introduction……………………..………………………………………………………..6 Lessons for Pre-K-12 Students……………………………...…………………….9 “I am the Hero of My Life Story” Art Project Kesa Kivel………………………………………………………….……..10 Undergraduate Introductory Women’s and Gender Studies Courses…….…15 Lecture Courses Introduction to Women’s Studies Jennifer Cognard-Black………………………………………………………….……..16 Introduction to Women’s Studies Maria Bevacqua……………………………………………………………………………23 Introduction to Women’s Studies Vivian May……………………………………………………………………………………34 Introduction to Women’s Studies Jeanette E. Riley……………………………………………………………………………...47 Perspectives on Women’s Studies Ann Burnett……………………………………………………………………………..55 Seminar Courses Introduction to Women’s Studies Lynda McBride………………………..62 Introduction to Women’s Studies Jocelyn Stitt…………………………….75 Introduction to Women’s Studies Srimati Basu……………………………………………………………...…………………86 Introduction to Women’s Studies Susanne Beechey……………………………………...…………………………………..92 Introduction to Women’s Studies Risa C. Whitson……………………105 Women: Images and Ideas Angela J. LaGrotteria…………………………………………………………………………118 The Dynamics of Race, Sex, and Class Rama Lohani Chase…………………………………………………………………………128 Introducing Women’s and Gender Studies: A Teaching Resources Collection 4 Syllabi with Supplementary Materials Introduction to Women’s Studies Astrid Henry………………………..……………………………………..………………….133 Sociology of Gender Lesleigh J. Owen………………………………………….……………………………….152 Men, Women, and Society Danielle M. Currier………………………………………………………………………….162 Evolution of an Introductory Course (2001-2006) Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies (2001) Natalie Kampen and Sherry Ortner………………………………………………….173 Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies (2006) Lila Abu-Lughod & Kate Bedford………………………………………………………182 Classroom Activities for Undergraduate Students……………………………189 Women and/in Media Jessica Ketcham Weber………………………………………………………...…………….190 Research Project on Abortion Jessica A. Nathanson………………………………………………………….……..………193 Graduate Introductory Women’s and Gender Studies Courses…………….......198 Feminist Theory Vivian May…………………………………………………………...…………………...……199 Introductory Courses on Special Topics………………….……………………207 Introduction to Women’s Studies: African(ist) Perspectives Alicia C. Decker…………………………………………………………………………….208 Women and Health Julie A. Wilbert……………………………………………..………………………..………216 Gendered Bodies and Social Control Simona J. Hill…………………………………………………………………………………221 Women and Sport Wendy A. Burns-Ardolino…………………………………………………………………….228 Women and Violence Danielle M. Currier………………………………………………………………...………….234 Single Motherhood in the Contemporary U.S.: Myths and Realities Debbie Byrd………………………………………………………………………………..…245 Practicum in Feminist and Gender Studies Gay Victoria……………………………………………………………………………………257 Introducing Women’s and Gender Studies: A Teaching Resources Collection 5 Additional Resources………………………………………..…………………...278 Books Journals Listservs NWSA Publications Online Resources Introducing Women’s and Gender Studies: A Teaching Resources Collection 6 Introduction Introducing Women’s and Gender Studies: A Teaching Resources Collection 7 Introducing Women’s and Gender Studies: A Teaching Resources Collection By Elizabeth M. Curtis I remember sitting with a mentor discussing my concerns about the discussion sections I would be leading as a graduate teaching assistant in the upcoming semester. I was especially worried the lack of creativity in the syllabus I had crafted. After listening carefully, my mentor shared something with me that an advisor had told her during her graduate career: Research should be original; teaching should be derivative. Although there was nothing that was so groundbreaking about this don’t-reinvent-the-wheel or if-it’s-not-broke sensibility, I had not thought about my academic experience in that way before. While the continuation of scholarly dialogues and the creation of new intellectual conversations depend on a constant evolution of ideas, maintaining rigorous standards for students depends on educators’ ability to replicate teaching techniques that prove to be successful and useful. And, as my conversation with my mentor proved, learning what strategies often prove successful does not have to be something that one discovers on one’s own. It is in this spirit of creating a supportive community of praxis for women’s and gender studies practitioners that the National Women’s Studies Association offers this teaching resources collection of introductory-level materials. Introducing Women’s and Gender Studies: A Teaching Resources Collection contains 29 syllabi, lesson plans, and other instructional materials that educators are currently using to introduce students to theoretical and practical foundations of women’s and gender studies. These materials come from a diverse group of educators who are teaching women’s and gender studies in a variety of settings. Some of the practitioners who contributed their teaching resources are working in university women’s and gender studies programs while others are offering their classes through other college departments or non- academic institutions. Covering a range of dates from 2001 to 2006, this collection provides a sampling of what is going on – instructionally – in the field today. In compiling this collection as an editor, I attempted to be as inclusive as possible when determining which submissions would be incorporated here. For the most part, contributions were included when they focused on the wider overview provided in most introductory courses. As you can see from the “Introductory Courses on Special Topics,” however, some courses constructed around specific themes were included to show how courses that are structured in this way provide an alternative method to traditional survey method for introducing students to the discipline. The range of student populations that these teaching materials have been crafted for range from middle school to the graduate level. To help locate the reader who is navigating this wide range of resources, demographic information about courses and their instructor preface each item. Although attempts were made to recruit resources from K – 12 practitioners, only one submission in this area was received. While educators working with these groups may be disappointed, I am hopeful that a future collection focusing on K – 12 could be developed. Introducing Women’s and Gender Studies: A Teaching Resources Collection 8 Although this collection represents only a small sample of the important work that women’s and gender studies practitioners are doing at present in their respective institutions, these resources do reveal trends in the teaching methods utilized in the field. Even though there is a great diversity of pedagogical approaches, there are common syllabus elements and coursework that are evident here. To allow practitioners to see the many formatting possibilities for syllabi, I maintained contributors’ original formatting to the greatest extent possible. While the fonts and alignment deployed in syllabi vary widely, most syllabi included: a summary of the course and its goals or objectives, classroom expectations or guidelines; contact information for the instructors and instructions on finding course materials; required texts and reading schedules; assignments and grading standards; information about ability accommodations, writing support, and other on- campus resources; lists of the requirements fulfilled by the course and information about major or minor declaration; and a statement of an institution’s honor code or a professor’s policy on plagiarism; important dates, such as the add/drop or midterm period, that students should be aware of. Even though there is no one template for a women’s and gender studies syllabus, these inclusion of these common elements provide a good place to start in the construction of new syllabi. In terms of the type of coursework that professors assign in introductory courses, diversity flourishes again. In general, however, introductory women’s and gender studies courses require a high-level of student engagement through assignments that hold students accountable for both their reading, such as quizzes or reading reflection papers, and their participation both in and outside of class. In addition to asking students to contribute to class discussions, many professors utilized online discussion boards and made the attendance of events outside of class meeting time a requirement. Further, many assignments focused on putting theory into practice through civic engagement or activism projects. By far, however, the most popular assignment in introductory-level women’s and gender studies are short papers which range from informal journals to formal briefs that ask students to think critically about key concepts and to apply feminist theory to their own experiences. In addition, many of these assignments focus on popular culture analysis and media literacy. There is less standardization, however, of assigned texts in introductory women’s and gender studies courses. Instead of relying on canonized anthologies, practitioners more