GEND 4205 Honours Seminar
Critical Research, Epistemology and Structural Violence
Wednesdays 12:30 to 3:30 pm, Room A255
Fall-Winter 2013-2014
Instructor: Dr. Rosemary Nagy
Office hours: Tuesdays, 1-3 pm or by appointment
Office: A335 or ext. 4156
rnagy@nipissingu.ca
COURSE DESCRIPTION: The production of knowledge is embedded within relations
of power. The ways in which we claim to know truth and the sorts of knowing we
accept as valid or legitimate contribute to the structures of violence in society.
However, critical research aimed at “making explicit the political practices of creating
knowledge” may help foster the conditions for social justice and change (Potts and
Brown, 2005: 255). In this course we start with an investigation into the myriad ways
that Western imperialism, history, writing, research and theory have been mutually
constitutive. We theorize connections between epistemology and methodology (what
can we ‘know’ and how can we ‘know’ it) through the lenses of gender, race, sexuality
and colonization. We then apply these theories in domestic and international contexts:
legal and media representations of Reena Virk; the imprint of colonization on the body
of Frank Paul, an Aboriginal man who died in police custody; White Canadian women’s
narratives of doing development work in Africa; ethnographies of the violence of poverty
in Brazil and Haiti; and queerness, race and gender in the “war on terror.” The end of
the first term and most of the second term are dedicated to working together and
independently on your own research projects that will incorporate fundamental concepts
from contemporary anti-oppressive theories.
Required Texts - The required readings are available as a coursepack through the
Nipissing University Bookstore. A couple of readings can be found in the University
Library’s website.
LEARNING EXPECTATIONS
By the end of the course students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate a considerable familiarity with the key theories and methodologies
informing social justice and equality analyses primarily in the West and
particularly over the 20th century
2. Understand and use an intersectional approach/methodology in written and oral
analyses of injustice and inequality
3. Clearly articulate how the central identity categories of sex, gender, race, class
and sexuality continue to operate to mediate power and privilege across global
and local contexts and in relation to the specific theme of the chosen topic
4. Demonstrate a sophisticated ability to apply the conceptual and theoretical
lexicon of the discipline to ‘real world’ examples of injustice and inequality.
5. Develop a clear, coherent thesis proposal and abstract.
6. Construct and sustain well-reasoned analytical arguments in consistent, coherent
and grammatical prose and express these analyses in a substantial written
project/essay.
7. Demonstrate an advanced ability to construct and sustain well-reasoned verbal
analyses as well as an enhanced capacity to work collaboratively
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Successful graduates of this course will demonstrate:
1. Significant depth of knowledge and familiarity with the key issues, methodologies
and theoretical concerns critical to developing a sophisticated understanding of
the social and political production of inequality and injustice
2. A significantly enhanced ability to apply complex theory such as, feminist antiracism interlocking oppressions theory, to the research and examination of the
effects of power on everyday life in local, national and global contexts.
3. A comprehensive ability to assess, critically reflect upon, and critically engage
complex theory and arguments both individually and collaboratively with others.
EVALUATION
Attendance / participation
Individual facilitation of class reading(s)
Research proposal
Conference presentation
Final research essay
15%
15%
15%
15%
Ongoing
Anytime between Oct. 30 and Jan. 22
Due December 4, 2013
Due April 2, 2014
40% Due April 4, 2014
Regular attendance and reading are (obviously) required in a fourth-year seminar.
More importantly, you are expected to come with your own questions and thoughts
regarding the readings. Facilitation notes and questions will also be posted on
Blackboard in advance of each class to help facilitate our discussions. For the week
that you are facilitator, you are requested to prepare a set of facilitation notes and
questions for the class and to act as lead discussant on the basis of these notes.
Please have your facilitation notes ready by Tuesday at noon at the latest. Evaluation
of individual facilitation is based on the written notes and oral presentation.
Guidelines for proposal and essay will follow separately.
Academic Integrity is fully expected. See Nipissing University's policy on academic
dishonesty, including the definitions, penalties and procedures for dealing with
plagiarism at
http://www.nipissingu.ca/calendar/studentpolicies_academicdishonesty.asp or in the
calendar.
Late penalties will be applied in this class. If your assignment is submitted after the
deadline, you will be penalized 10% for the first day, 1% for every following day, up to a
maximum of one week late. You may not submit any assignments more than one week
after the original deadline. Extensions will be considered only in advance of the deadline
and under truly exceptional circumstances. Extensions are not available for the final
research essay.
Students with a range of learning styles and needs are welcome in this course. In
particular, if you have a disability / health consideration that may require
accommodations, please feel free to approach me and / or the Accessibility Services
Office as soon as possible. The Accessibility Services staff (located in B210) are
available by appointment to assess specific needs, provide referrals and arrange
appropriate accommodations at ext. 4362. The sooner you let us know your needs the
quicker we can assist you in achieving your learning goals for this course.
Course Readings:
1. Sept. 11
Introduction
KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION IN THE WEST
2. Sept. 18
Power/Knowledge and Discipline
*class ends
today at 3:00
Wilchins, R. (2004). Queer theory, gender theory: An instant primer (Los
Angeles, CA: Alyson Publications. Ch. 5, “Homosexuality: Foucault and the
Politics of the Self”, and chapter 6, “Foucault and the Disciplinary Society.”
(pages 47-70)
Foucault, Michel. 1990. The History of Sexuality: An Introduction. (New York:
Vintage Books). ISBN: 0-679-72469-9. Pages 92-102.
3. Sept. 25
Power/Knowledge and Discipline
Foucault, Michel. 1990. The History of Sexuality: An Introduction. (New York:
Vintage Books). ISBN: 0-679-72469-9. Pages 103-114; 135-145.
Foucault, Michel. 1995 [1977]. Discipline and Punish. Trans. Alan Sheridan.
(New York: Vintage Books). ISBN: 0-679-75255-2. Pages 3-11.
Joanne P. Sharp, Geographies of Postcolonialism: Spaces of Power and
Representation (Sage: London, 2009). Ch. 3 “Landscapes of Power,” pp. 5568. ISBN: 978-4129-0779-8
4. Oct. 2
Western Imperialism and the Postcolonial
Edward Said, Orientalism. Vintage: New York, 1979. “Introduction,” pages 128. ISBN: 0-394-74067-X.
Joanne P. Sharp, Geographies of Postcolonialism: Spaces of Power and
Representation (Sage: London, 2009). Pages 16-28. ISBN: 978-4129-0779-8
5. Oct. 9
Western Imperialism…and the Postcolonial?
Smith, L.T. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous
Peoples. New York, NY: Zed Books. Chapter 1, “Imperialism, history, writing
and theory” and Chapter 2, “Research through Imperial Eyes.” (pages 19-57).
6. Oct. 16
READING WEEK!
7. Oct. 23
Becoming a Critical Researcher
Potts, K. & Brown, K. (2005). Becoming an anti-oppressive researcher (pp.
255-286). In Brown, L & Strega, S. (Eds.)Research as Resistance: Critical,
Indigenous and Anti-oppressive approaches. Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholars’
Press / Women’s Press.
*When the authors refer to “Social Work” in this chapter, consider mentally
substituting “Social Justice.”
Come to class prepared to speak for 5 minutes about your preliminary
research interests and ideas, and in relation to today’s reading. What
pressing issues or debates concern you? What is your (anti-oppressive)
purpose in researching this topic? Which theoretical concepts or
paradigms might assist you in undertaking this research?
THEORIES IN ACTION
8. Oct. 30
Representing and constructing respectability, innocence, and
culpability in the murder of Reena Virk
Batacharya, S. (2010). Hootchies and ladies: Race, gender, sexuality, and “girl
violence” in a colonial white settler society. In Rajiva, M. & Batacharya, S.
(Eds.) Reena Virk: Critical perspectives on a Canadian murder (pp. 35-81).
Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
9. Nov. 6
Governance in the colonial present
Razack, S. (2012). Memorializing Colonial Power: The Death of Frank Paul.
Law and Social Inquiry 37(4): 908-932. [find in library catalogue]
10. Nov. 13
Colonial continuities and the production of bourgeois
subjectivities
Heron, B. (2007). Desire for Development: Whiteness, Gender, and the
Helping Imperative. Waterloo, ON: Wilfred Laurier Press. Chapters 1-2.
(pages 1-54; endnotes, pages 157-168). [available as an e-book in library
catalogue]
11. Nov. 20
Presentation of research proposal to GESJ faculty
12. Nov. 27
Proposal boot-camp
*Peer review of draft research proposals
13. Dec. 4
Research proposals due.
14. Jan. 8
This week we’ll have one-on-one discussions in my office during class time to
discuss your research proposal and next steps.
15. Jan. 15
Ethnographies of violence
Farmer, P. (2005). Pathologies of Power. (Berkeley and Los Angeles,
University of California Press). “Introduction,” “Thoughts on Bearing Witness,”
and ch. 1, “On Suffering and Structural Violence.” Pages 1-19; 25-50.
Scheper-Hughes, N. (1992). Death Without Weeping: The violence of
everyday life in Brazil. Los Angeles: University of California Press. Excerpt
from ch. 1, “Everyday Violence.” Pages 217-239. ISBN:978-0-520-07537-5
16. Jan. 22
Queerness, Race and Gender in the “War on Terror”
Jiwani, Yasmin. "Trapped in the Carceral Net: Race, Gender, and the "War on
Terror"." Global Media Journal: Canadian Edition 4, no. 2 (2011): 13-31.
Richter-Montpetit, Melanie. 2007. Empire, desire and violence: A queer
transnational feminist reading of the prisoner ‘Abuse’ in Abu Ghraib and the
question of ‘Gender equality’. International Feminist Journal of Politics 9, no. 1:
38-59.
17. Jan. 29
Research time; no class.
18. Feb. 5
Peer review. You are required to email 3-4 pages of your work to your
designated reviewers by Friday, January 31. You will read each other’s work
and during class time you will meet to discuss each piece of writing. Please
consult the peer review handout posted on blackboard for what to do. Our
goal is constructive criticism.
19. Feb. 12
Peer review: Just like last week, you will email 3-4 new or substantially
revised pages of your work to your designated peer reviewers. We will repeat
the small group work of last week.
20. Feb. 19
READING WEEK!
21. Feb. 26
Essay Drafts due
22. Mar. 5
International Women’s Week – no class. Please attend IWW events.
23. Mar. 12
One-on-one meetings during class time:
Research essay drafts will be returned on or before this date. You will get a
“guiding grade” on your draft, but it will not count toward your final mark. The
feedback and the “guiding grade” are intended to give you sense of how you
are doing and how much improvement needs to be made in the next few
weeks. This week we will return to one-one-one meetings during class time to
have a final discussion about your research paper and discuss the feedback
you received on your draft.
24. Mar. 19
We will meet to discuss how to craft a presentation and to address any other
research and writing issues or questions.
25. Mar. 26
**reschedule
to March
25?
26. Apr. 2
Dress Rehearsal: in this class, you will each give a 10-minute presentation
based on your research paper. This is the dress rehearsal for the final public
presentations. Come prepared to offer and receive constructive commentary.
Public Presentations: GESJ faculty will attend your 10-minute
presentations, and you are welcome to invite anyone else you’d like.
April 4
Research papers are due. I cannot accept late papers after this date; to
submit beyond this date requires permission of the Dean of Arts and Sciences.