Women’s Studies 101: Introduction to Women’s
Studies
University of Wisconsin-Marathon County
Instructor: Dr. Holly Hassel
Fall 2012
Meets: T/R 11:30-12:45 in Room 241
Office Hours: 1-3 T/R or by appointment, Office
#307
Office: 261-6265
Email: holly.hassel@uwc.edu
I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves.
--Mary Wollstonecraft
Course Description
The UW Colleges course
catalog describes WOM 101 as “An
introduction to the major issues
addressed by women’s studies with
an emphasis on interdisciplinary
social science theories and
methodologies involved in gaining
accurate knowledge about women’s
lives and contributions to society,
both within the United States and
around the world. Perspectives,
texts, and methodologies from
across the social science disciplines
ranging from history, economics,
sociology, political science, public
health, criminal justice, psychology,
and others will be used to
understand the experience of
women and the cultural construction
of gender.” In other words, we will be
exploring gender and individual
experiences of gender within social
structures—gender as a system.
Our course will invite you to
read and discuss the current debates, dialogues, and controversies within the field of Women’s Studies and among
feminist writers, scholars, and activists. I’ve tried to incorporate a variety of voices and types of readings, ranging
from scholarly articles by academics to reports and studies to news stories, columns, and personal narratives. Each
offers insight into the conversations that are happening publicly about the role and status of women in the US and
globally. In addition, you’ll be asked to read some lectures on power point provided via D2L. Typically, these
readings present data and more traditionally collected empirical evidence on the various topics we’ll discuss—
gender role socialization, sexism, racism, work-life balance, reproductive choice, intimate partner violence, sexuality,
body image and media, religion, and the many other issues that interest feminist writers and that impact women’s
lives.
Women’s Studies courses ask you to challenge prevailing assumptions, think critically about gender and
sex, and engage with ideas that are new and uncomfortable. At the same time, it is often an invigorating and
liberating opportunity to think and talk about social problems, contemporary controversies, social change, gender
norms and roles, and the empowerment of women. You can expect lots of hands-on activities, small and large group
discussion, and lively debates and exchanges in addition to lecture. We’ll be working hard, but it will be worth it. I’m
glad you’re here!
Course Objectives:
According to the UW Colleges Women’s Studies Program Mission Statement, Women’s Studies has several
overall goals for students:
 Improve critical thinking and provide students with the intellectual means to question prevailing assumptions
 Promote social responsibility through revealing the connections between personal experience and political
activity and validating student contributions and voices
 Relate learning in the classroom to lives in communities
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Integrate knowledge and experience
Respond to the media actively and analytically
Engage with ideas that are new, challenging, and sometimes uncomfortable
Develop gender consciousness
Develop an informed understanding of feminism and women’s studies
Shaw and Lee, in their text, Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions, articulate a few additional goals of a women’s
studies course, specifically an introductory one, are as follows:
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To understand the social construction of gender and the intersection of gender with other systems of
inequality in women’s lives
To learn about the status of women in society and ways to improve that status through individual and
collective action for social change
To experience how institutions in society affect individual lives and to be able to think critically about the role
of patterns of privilege and discrimination in our own lives
To improve writing and speaking skills, gain new insights, and empower self and others
Course Approach: Our course is organized around 4 threshold concepts in women’s studies; threshold concepts
are, in current learning theory, those concepts that are considered to be vital to developing a command of an
academic discipline/field of study. This semester, I’ve identified four of the threshold concepts that are critical to the
interdisciplinary field of women’s studies: social constructionism, privilege and oppression, intersectionality, and
feminist praxis, along with the basic introduction to the field’s history and scope. In the first few weeks, as a
foundation for understand the four threshold concepts, we’ll learn more about feminism as a social and political
movement and women’s studies as an academic discipline. Each subsequent unit of study and cluster of readings
and their associated learning activities is intended to help you develop a master of the threshold concept and, by
extension of the key underpinnings of the field.
Required Texts:
 Various handouts and power point readings available on D2L
Course Requirements: Note that this section has been designated “Writing Intensive” which fulfills transfer
institution requirements for writing emphasis coursework.
 Citizenship: (10%) Citizenship means being present in class as well as being active, engaged, and thinking.
Students who earn high grades for citizenship typically miss few if any class periods, always come prepared
with reading completed and notes and questions on the day’s topics, participate actively in discussions,
contributing thoughtful questions and comments, and generally approach new ideas with an open mind and
intellect.
 Short Papers: (4 papers at 15%, totaling 60%) Several times throughout the semester, you’ll be asked to
write a short paper (about 2-3 pages in length) in response to a specific prompt based on the assigned
readings.
 Final Project: Feminist Praxis: (20%, including proposal, progress report, and final paper): In this
final paper, you will be able to choose among several options for approaches to a final paper that will
demonstrate your understanding of “feminist praxis,” and that will allow you to take on an independent line of
inquiry into a subject that is of interest to you within the field of women’s studies. This may involve some
outside research, and we will be discussing location and use of sources during the semester. More
information on project options will follow in a separate handout.
 Final Exam: (10%) This cumulative final exam will be a timed essay and short answer exam during the final
exam period that will cover the four threshold concepts of the course.
Policies and Procedures
Grades: Grades are equal to the following percentages:
A
93-100
C70-72
A90-92
D+
67-69
B+
87-89
D
63-66
B
83-86
D60-62
B80-82
F
59 and below
C+
77-79
C
73-76
I reserve the right to assign borderline grades as I deem appropriate.
Attendance: Our class is primarily discussion based; being in class, with the reading done, ready to participate in
discussion is absolutely essential to success in this course. Students should plan to attend every class meeting.
Work done in class cannot be made up unless exigent circumstances present themselves, and excessive
absenteeism will adversely affect your final citizenship grade. Anything more than two absences (one week of class)
is considered excessive.
Study Partners: Early in the semester, we will set up study partnerships. Your partner will be responsible for
providing detailed notes and handouts for you if you are absent, but it is your responsibility to contact your partner if
you are absent. He or she will just gather handouts and take notes for you. List the contact information below.
Partner Name ________________
Backup Partner Name ____________
Email or phone number __________________________
Email or phone number __________________________
Academic Dishonesty: Plagiarism is a kind of academic dishonesty that involves the use of another person’s
language/words or ideas without proper citation. If you use more than four words in a row from another source, you
should put quotation marks around them. If you borrow an idea from a published source, you need to use
parenthetical documentation to give proper credit to that source. Any quote, paraphrase, or indirect quote must be
cited appropriately. The consequences of plagiarism are spelled out in the Student Rights and Regulations
handbook. For the purposes of this course, deliberate misuse of language or ideas will result in, at the least, failure
of the assignment or paper, and possibly failure of the course with referral of the student to a disciplinary committee
for further action by the university.
Policy on Late Work: Late work will be accepted with a full grade deduction for each day late. Assignments are
due on the date listed in the syllabus. Students will be granted one 24-hour grace period. One major assignment
may be turned in or exam taken late using this “coupon” without grade penalization.
Technology Policy: This is a discussion-based course, not a lecture course, and therefore while I do not prohibit
laptops from the classroom, I will say that if it becomes obvious your computer is hindering rather than helping your
ability to be a member of the classroom community, I will ask you to leave it in your bag. Second, texting during
class via cell phone is prohibited. Even if you think you’re being discreet, you’re not—you’re distracting me and
your classmates from the work of the course. It’s also just rude. If I observe texting at any time during a class period
, you will automatically receive a ½ grade deduction from your citizenship grade for the course—for each offense. I
will not alert you to this fact unless you ask me.
Assessment: ASSESSMENT: The UW Colleges-wide assessment program was established to enhance the quality
and effectiveness of the curriculum, programs, and services of the institution. The institution-wide assessment
activities focus on analytical, quantitative, communication, and aesthetic skills because they are of primary
importance in the general education of our students. This semester, students in some women's studies courses will
be assessed on their ability to read, observe, and listen with comprehension and critical perception. We will also
conduct an assessment of student learning specific to the discipline of women's studies.
Students with Disabilities: Students with disabilities that will in any way affect their work in this course should let
me know so that I can work with you most effectively. Also, please contact Annette Hackbarth-Onson in Student
Services to make arrangements for any necessary special services.
Policy Policy: Ideally, this syllabus would cover every contingency of every possibility that might arise in the course
of the semester. Of course, reality dictates that will not be the case. Thus, I reserve the right to make changes to this
syllabus as the need arises.
Dates
Course Focus
Reading, Homework Assignments, and Due Dates
Learning Goals: After this unit of study, students will be able to
 Define and apply a “feminist epistemological stance”
 Explain key moments in the historical development of feminist movement and women’s studies
Week One:
What Is
 Introduction to the Course and to Each Other
September 4 and 6
Feminism and
 Read: History of Feminism and the Women’s Movement
Women’s
(D2L)
Studies?
Week Two:
What Is
 Read: Power Point Handout and Discussion: Global
September 11 and 13 Feminism and
Contexts for Understanding Women’s Status and Power
Women’s
in the US and Internationally (D2L)
Studies?
 Read: “Introduction,” The Gendered Society, Michael
Kimmel
Week Three:
What Is
 Read: “Reflections on Male-Bashing,” Sue Cataldi
September 18 and 20 Feminism and
 Read: “What Is Feminist Pedagogy?” by Carolyn
Women’s
Shrewsbury
Studies?
 Paper One Due
Learning Goals: After this unit of study, students will understand
 how systems of privilege and oppression profoundly shape individual lives and social structures.
 how these systems play out via ideology and societal institutions, and are internalized by individuals.
Week Four:
Privilege and
 Read: “Where Are We?” The Gender Knot, Allan
September 25 and 27 Oppression
Johnson
 Read from White Like Me, “Preface” and “Born to
Belonging”
Week Five: October 2 Privilege and
 Read and discuss hooks “Ch 7: Feminist Class
and 4
Oppression
Struggle,” “Ch 8: Global Feminism,” and “Ch 10: Race
and Gender”
 Read, Suzanne Pharr: “Homophobia as a Weapon of
Sexism”
 View: Killing Us Softly 3
Week Six: October 9
Privilege and
 Video and discussion: The Pill (PBS American
and 11
Oppression
Experience documentary)
 Guest Speaker: Women’s Community
 Paper Two Due
Learning Goals: After this unit of study, students will
 Demonstrate how to apply a feminist epistemological stance that understands gender as socially
constructed
 Be able to provide examples of the social construction of gender in multiple contexts and to what
effect
Week Seven:
Social
 “Inequality and Difference: The Social Construction of
October 16 and 18
Constructionism
Gender Relations,” in The Gendered Society, Michael
Kimmel (D2L)
 Read: “Gender Inequity in School: Not a Thing of the
Past,” Zittleman and Sadker and “Reality Vs.
Perception,” and “Checklist for Inclusive Classrooms.”
(D2L)
 Read “Default Line: Is The Female Body a Passive
Construct?” by Natalie Angier, from Woman: An Intimate
Geography
Week Eight: October
Social
 Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. "Sanitizing Puberty: The
23 and 25
Constructionism
American Way to Menstruate." In The Body Project: An
Intimate History of American Girls.

Peggy Orenstein, “What’s Wrong with Cinderella?” from
Cinderella Ate My Daughter
 Read: “The Sexual Politics of Interpersonal Behavior” by
Henley and Freeman (D2L)
 Paper 3 Due
Learning Goals: After this unit of study, students will
Demonstrate an understanding of how systems of privilege and oppression intersect.
Week Nine: October
Intersectionality
 O'Connor, Patricia. "Private Ceremonies." Brainchild.
30 and November 1
 "An Overview of Abortion in the United States." Allan
Guttmacher Institute.
 Read: “Putting Women Back in the Abortion Debate,” by
Ellen Willis
 Power Point: Reproductive Rights, Global Context
Week Ten: November
6 and 8
Intersectionality
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Week Eleven:
November 13 and 15
Intersectionality
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Week Twelve:
November 20
Intersectionality
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Wurtzel, Elizabeth. “1% Wives Are Helping Kill
Feminism and Make the War on Women Possible.” The
Atlantic. 15 June 2012.
Hirshman, Linda. "Homeward Bound." American
Prospect. 21 November 2005.
Power Point Handout: Motherhood and Feminism:
Public Policy and Work-Family Balance (D2L
“The Rhetoric and Reality of Welfare Reform,” Hartmann
and Yi
Ehrenreich, Barbara. "Maid to Order"
“Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” The Atlantic, July
2012
“Who Said We Could Have it All?” Ruth Rosen, Open
Democracy
Begin Video and Discussion: Maid in America: A film by
Anayansi Prado
"The John Next Door," Newsweek.
Read: “Feminism, Sex Workers, and Human Rights,” by
Priscilla Alexander from Whores and Other Feminists
(D2L)
Friedan, Betty. Selection from The Feminine Mystique.
Read: PPT Lecture, “Globalization and Women’s Work”
Paper 4 Due
Learning Goal: After this unit of study, students will
 Be able to reflect on their own location within systems of privilege and oppression
 Analyze how systems of privilege and oppression operate in a number of contexts (for example, in
relationships, in body image, in social policy
 Generate visions for social change and strategies for bringing about that change
Week Thirteen:
Feminist Praxis
 Read from Manifesta, “A Day Without Feminism” and “A
November 27 and 29
Day with Feminism”
 Guest Speaker: Susan Carlson, Lay Midwife
Week Fourteen:
December 4 and 6
Feminist Praxis
Week Fifteen:
December 11 and 13
Feminist Praxis
Finals Week

“Vanilla Voices: Researching White Men’s Diversity
Learning Journeys,” Michael Welp (d2L
 “Redemption,” Tim Wise, from White Like Me
 Read: “Transnational Feminisms” from Women
Worldwide: Transnational Perspectives on Women by
Shaw and Lee
Final Project Paper Due
Final Exam