Chabot College
November 1999
Removed Fall 2010
Course Outline for General Studies 30
INTRODUCTION TO WOMEN'S STUDIES
Catalog Description:
30 - Introduction to Women's Studies
3 units
Interdisciplinary readings on the struggles and contributions of women in education, government and
politics, religion, social science and the arts. Study of patterns of resistance and triumph through the
study of particular historical situations as well as of individual women. Topics examined from both
international and national perspectives, including current events. Consideration of ethnicity, race,
language, immigration, colonialism, and post-colonialism. Strongly recommended: Eligibility for
English 1A. 3 hours.
[Typical contact hours: 52.5]
Prerequisite Skills:
None
Expected Outcomes for Students:
Upon completion of the course the student should be able to:
1. demonstrate familiarity with current issues in women's studies;
2. demonstrate familiarity with women's struggles and achievements in the public realm;
3. place into cultural and historical context current topics--such as reproductive freedom and violence-and understand their impact on women;
4. demonstrate knowledge of and ability to use the Chabot College Learning Resource Center and
the World Wide Web to locate information related to Women's Studies and to the contributions of
women, particularly in their major area of study;
5. demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the course content and aspects of their
own lives.
Course Content:
1. Non-fiction readings on the past and present status and contributions of women in the areas of
education, government and politics, religion, and the arts
2. At least one full-length literary work focusing on one woman's expression of cultural, political, or
personal struggle
3. Secondary sources available in libraries regarding women's studies and accomplishments
4. Introduction to national, international, and community agencies and networks providing information
relevant to Women's Studies, particularly those which may be relevant to the student's major
5. Newspaper, magazine, television, radio excerpts
6. Resources from the U.S. and elsewhere reflecting the particular issues of race, ethnicity, language,
immigration, colonialism, and post-colonialism
Methods of Presentation:
1. Lecture
2. Discussion-large and small group
3. Films and Videos
4. Guest Lecturers
5. Student presentations
Assignments and Methods of Evaluating Student Progress:
1. Typical Assignments
a. write a brief researched essay on a woman whose work is/was significant but underrepresented
b. create a 3-dimensional, multi-media work or film or a topic related to issues in Women's Studies
c. organize, write, and present a brief oral presentation on some aspect of Women's Studies
2. Methods of Evaluating Student Progress
Chabot College
Course Outline for General Studies 30, Page 2
November 1999
a. graded written and oral work
b. class participation/journal work
c. quizzes and Final examination
Textbook(s) (Typical):
The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future, Riane Eisler, Harper San Francisco, 1988.
A World Full of Women, Martha C. Ward, Allyn & Bacon, 1996.
Women's Realities, Women's Choices: An Introduction to Women's Studies, Second edition, Hunter
College Women's Studies Collective, Oxford University Press, 1995.
Persistent Inequalities: Women and World Development, Irene Tinker, ed., Oxford University Press, 1990.
Gender in the Classroom: Power and Pedagogy, ed. Susan L. Gabriel and Isaiah Smithson, University of
Illinois Press, 1994.
The Political Integration of Women: Roles, Socialization, and Politics, Virginia Sapiro, University of Illinois
Press, 1984.
Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her, Susan Griffin, Harper and Row, 1978.
Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo, Ntozake Shange.
No More Masks!: An Anthology of Poems by Women, ed. by Florence Howe and Ellen Bass, Anchor
Books, 1973.
Special Student Materials:
None
dk 11/30/99
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