I. ASCRC General Education Form (revised 1/27/11)
Use to propose new general education courses (except writing courses), to change existing
gen ed courses and to remove designations for existing gen ed courses.
Note: One-time-only general education designation may be requested for experimental courses
(X91-previously X95), granted only for the semester taught. A NEW request must be
submitted for the course to receive subsequent general education status.
Group
III. Language
VII: Social Sciences
(submit
III Exception: Symbolic Systems * VIII: Ethics & Human Values
separate forms
IV: Expressive Arts
IX: American & European
if requesting
V: Literary & Artistic Studies
X: Indigenous & Global
X
more than one
VI: Historical & Cultural Studies
XI: Natural Sciences
general
w/ lab  w/out lab 
education
group
*Courses proposed for this designation must be standing requirements of
designation)
majors that qualify for exceptions to the modern and classical language
requirement
Dept/Program WGS
Course #
195
Course Title
Women’s Rights and Women’s Roles around the World
Prerequisite
N/A
Credits
3
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office
Please type / print name Signature
Date
Instructor
Elizabeth Hubble/Anya Jabour
Phone / Email Anya.jabour@umontana.edu
Program Chair Elizabeth Hubble/Anya Jabour
Dean
Jenny McNulty
III. Type of request
New
One-time Only X
Renew
Change
Remove
Reason for Gen Ed inclusion, change or deletion
New GLI seminar
Description of change
New GLI seminar
IV. Description and purpose of new general education course: General Education courses
must be introductory and foundational within the offering department or within the General
Education Group. They must emphasize breadth, context, and connectedness; and relate course
content to students’ future lives: See Preamble:
http://umt.edu/facultysenate/archives/minutes/gened/GE_preamble.aspx
This Global Leadership Initiative course offers a comparative perspective on women’s
participation in family, community, and political life around the world. By emphasizing
common themes across national borders, this course encourages students to place human
behavior into broader context and to see themselves as members of a world community. By
providing students with comparative perspectives on current issues and with the opportunity to
design and implement a service-learning group project, this course will prepare UM students
for civic engagement and global leadership.
V. Criteria: Briefly explain how this course meets the criteria for the group. See:
http://umt.edu/facultysenate/documents/forms/GE_Criteria5-1-08.aspx
Comparative Approaches
This course will use a comparative approach
to familiarize students in the Americas,
Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Transnational Themes
This course will examine transnational
themes that range across time and place.
Indigenous Perspectives
The course will include indigenous women’s
experiences and contributions and will
examine the interactions between and among
indigenous groups and other groups.
VI. Student Learning Goals: Briefly explain how this course will meet the applicable learning
goals. See: http://umt.edu/facultysenate/documents/forms/GE_Criteria5-1-08.aspx
Broad Framework
By emphasizing common themes across
national borders, this course encourages
students to place human behavior into
broader context.
Diverse Behavior
By examining the diverse ways women
around the world structure their social,
political, and cultural lives, students will
increase their intercultural knowledge and
gain insight into cultural rules, values, and
biases and how these shape a culture’s
history, politics, and economy.
Global Citizenship
By providing students with comparative
perspectives on current issues and with the
opportunity to design and implement a
service-learning group project, this course
will encourage students to see themselves as
members of a world community and prepare
them for civic engagement and global
leadership.
VII. Justification: Normally, general education courses will not carry pre-requisites, will carry
at least 3 credits, and will be numbered at the 100-200 level. If the course has more than one
pre-requisite, carries fewer than three credits, or is upper division (numbered above the 200
level), provide rationale for exception(s).
VIII. Syllabus: Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form.  The syllabus
should clearly describe how the above criteria are satisfied. For assistance on syllabus
preparation see: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/syllabus.html
WGS 163: Women’s Rights and Women’s Roles around the World
Overview:
This Global Leadership Initiative course, offered under the rubric of Women’s and Gender
Studies (WGS), offers a comparative perspective on women’s participation in family,
community, and political life around the world. The course is divided in two parts. In the first
part of the course, students will learn about women’s oppression and organization in global
context, emphasizing cross-cultural comparisons. In the second part of the course, students will
craft a service-learning project to address an issue or set of issues they have identified in the
first part of the course.
Big and Enduring Questions:
This course will pose such questions as: How do women participate in family life, community
building, and political activism? What is the relationship between women’s rights and human
rights? Why is women’s activism important and necessary?
Global Issues and Intercultural Competence:
This course offers a global perspective. Students will be exposed to diverse national cultures
and multiple ethnicities and encouraged to analyze both cultural differences and cross-cultural
exchanges. The thematic structure of the course will assist students to make connections across
time and space. For instance, during the week on public policy and social welfare, students will
learn about the origins of the welfare state in the U.S. and about the different structures of the
contemporary welfare state in Sweden and the U.S. During the week on sex trafficking,
students will learn about sex trafficking in different countries and across national borders, as
well as about both local and international activism to combat sex trafficking.
Outcomes: Students will increase their intercultural knowledge by gaining insight into cultural
rules, values, and biases and how these shape a culture’s history, politics, and economy. By
emphasizing common themes across national borders, this course encourages students to see
themselves as members of a world community, place human behavior into broader context, and
think about the diverse ways women around the world structure their social, political, and
cultural lives.
Multidisciplinary Approaches and Integrative Learning:
This is an interdisciplinary course. Students will read scholarship from a variety of disciplines,
including anthropology, history, literature, and sociology. Guest lectures will expose students
to different approaches to the study of women’s lives, work, and activism and with the range of
women’s activities around the world.
Outcomes: Students will practice integrative learning by using different disciplinary theories
and methods into the final group project. For instance, a documentary on sex trafficking in
Montana might include an overview of prostitution in the state (history); a survey of former and
current sex workers (sociology); interviews with social workers and social activists
(anthropology); and writing a script (literature) to accompany the footage (photojournalism).
Civic Engagement and Teamwork:
This course is a service-learning course. Students will collaborate on choosing a topic for
further research and in designing a final project for public consumption. Examples include
creating a website or blog; filming and editing a documentary; presenting at local schools; or
designing, conducting, and reporting on a community needs survey.
Outcomes: The service-learning component of this course will allow students to connect
classroom-based knowledge to civic engagement (integrative learning) and see how
community work may benefit both individuals and communities.
Because students will design and implement the project as a group, this is also a teamworkbuilding exercise. Facilitated meetings will emphasize team goals such as sharing ideas,
treating one another respectfully, completing tasks on deadline, and resolving conflicts.
The service-learning component of this course will allow students to connect classroom and
real-world experience, apply theoretical concepts to community situations, and integrate
different methods to explore complex issues in an informed manner.
By providing students with comparative perspectives on current issues and with the opportunity
to design and implement a service-learning group project, this course will prepare UM students
for civic engagement and global leadership.
General Education:
As a comparative course that examines women as actors in a global community, this course is
designed to fulfill the General Education Requirement of Global and Indigenous Perspectives.
This course will use a comparative approach to familiarize students with multiple societies in
the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia and examine transnational themes that range across
time and place. In addition, the course will include indigenous women’s experiences and
contributions.
For instance, students will compare the transnational theme of “women’s work” across time
and place by examining that issue in multiple societies and multiple contexts, such as slavery in
the African diaspora, forced labor in Europe; and low-wage labor in Asia, as well as in the
contemporary United States. To call attention to indigenous perspectives, this segment will also
explore Native American women’s roles in both hunter-gatherer and horticultural groups.
Outcomes: As a result of this course, students will place human behavior into a wider global
framework; increase their awareness of the diversity of ways in which humans structure their
social, political, and cultural lives; and both analyze and practice the responsibilities of global
citizenship.
For example, in the unit in “Community Organizing and Political Activism,” students will
examine a wide range of forms of civic engagement in multiple times and places—including
neighborhood initiatives, church-based charities, NGOs, political parties, and elected office—
and they will consider what elements of these different approaches to global citizenship they
wish to use in their own lives.
Instructors:
Elizabeth Hubble, Ph.D., Co-Director, Women’s and Gender Studies
Anya Jabour, Ph.D., Professor of History and Co-Director, Women’s and Gender Studies
Class Schedule
Part One: Learning (Instructor Lectures, Readings, Films, Discussions, and Guest Lectures)
Week One: Family Forms and Gender Roles
Week Two: Wage Work and Domestic Labor
Week Three: Community Organizing and Political Leadership
Week Four: Public Policy and Social Welfare
Week Five: Literature and Culture
Week Six: Sexuality and Reproduction
Week Seven: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
Week Eight: Sex Work and Sex Trafficking
Part Two: Doing (Instructor-Facilitated Group Meetings)
Week Nine: Identifying an Issue
Week Ten: Reporting on Research
Week Eleven: Brainstorming an Approach
Week Twelve: Selecting a Project
Week Thirteen: Assigning Tasks
Week Fourteen: Providing Status Updates
Week Fifteen: Presenting Results
Sample Unit: Sex Work and Sex Trafficking (Week Eight)
Films:
Born into Brothels
Dying to Leave: The Dark Business of Human Trafficking
Readings:
Lee, Maggy. 2011. "Contemporary Patterns of Human Trafficking." In Trafficking and Global
Crime Control, 37-58. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Queen, Mary. 2008. “Transnational Feminist Rhetorics in a Digital World,” College English,
Volume 70, Number 5, pp. 471-489.
Resnik, Judith. 2011. “Sisterhood, Slavery, and Sovereignty: Transnational Women’s Rights
Movements from 1840 through the Beginning of the Twenty-first Century.” In Women’s
America: Refocusing the Past, 7th Edition, pp. 781-790.
Guest Lecture:
Teresa Sobiesczyk, Sociology, “Thailand’s Human Trafficking Industry”
Please note: Approved general education changes will take effect next fall.
General education instructors will be expected to provide sample assessment items and
corresponding responses to the Assessment Advisory Committee.