Women’s Studies 1100 YDE
Madonna to Madonna: Women’s and Gender Issues
Fall 2015/Winter 2016
Dr. Jen Chisholm
Office – TBA
Office hours – Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:30am-1pm
*Please feel free to drop in to my office hours*
Email –TBA
Phone –TBA
Class:
Online
Welcome to Women’s Studies 1100! This course is an introduction to the interdisciplinary field
of women’s and gender studies. We examine how gender intersects with class, race, age, ability
and sexuality to shape different women’s lives in complicated ways. Together we will explore
how gender operates as analytical category in conjunction with other categories, and study how
what we consider ‘normal’ and permanent about gender is culturally and historically produced.
Required Texts: (Available in the LU Bookstore)
Margaret Hobbs and Carla Rice, Gender and Women’s Studies in Canada: Critical Terrain
(Toronto: Women’s Press, 2013).
Fall Semester Assignments:
Participation
Bibliography
Proposal
Exam:
10%
10%
15%
15%
Evaluated during the semester
DUE: October 20
DUE: November 19
Scheduled by the university
Winter Semester Assignments:
Participation
Social Location Assignment
Research Paper
Exam
10%
5%
15%
20%
Evaluated during the semester
DUE: January 28
DUE: March 24
Scheduled by the university
NOTE: The exams will be scheduled by the registrar and cannot be changed for your personal
plans. Do NOT make assumptions about holidays, travel or departure from Thunder Bay until the
exam schedule is posted.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course you should be able to:
-articulate (orally and in writing) the major concepts in Women’s Studies, including feminism,
intersectionality, patriarchy, oppression, privilege, difference, identity, heteronormativity,
decolonization, agency and resistance
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-demonstrate an understanding of women’s historical and contemporary participation and
contribution to social change
-demonstrate an understanding of how Women’s Studies generates new knowledge
-understand, synthesize and contribute to scholarly discussions in Women’s Studies through the
research process and in class discussions
Skills Outcomes
At the end of this course you should be able to:
-demonstrate an awareness of some of the ways gender and sex function as well as the
relationship to other categories of analysis and identity (intersectionality)
-conduct secondary scholarly research using a variety of scholarly resources
-communicate research results in writing clearly and effectively
-engage in oral discussion regarding key issues and debates in Women’s Studies
A note on participation and discussions:
Discussions require that everyone participates (speaks and listens) in a meaningful and civil way.
This applies to online discussion as well. Student are expected to participate and contribute via
online discussion posts. While there will be lots of disagreements and debates, everyone is
expected to participate in a way that is respectful to everyone in the class and their ideas. Please
be aware that some of the material we are reading is of a sensitive nature. Some readings may be
upsetting or disturbing. I ask that we all use respectful language and be sensitive of one another
during our discussions.
Personal attacks, gender and racial slurs, disrespectful comments on ability or able-bodiness, or
other such disrespectful behaviour will not be tolerated. Please keep in mind that this is a
scholarly environment and professionalism is expected at all times. In this course we will deal
with many sensitive issues and will encounter historical language no longer appropriate. Please
be reminded that respect for the people we study and other students is essential to a productive
discussion. Engaged listening is important. Disrespectful behaviour and/or comments about
people in class or being studied will not be tolerated.
On Campus Help Available to Students:
Student Success Centre: Additional help regarding academic matters can be found at the Student
Success Centre located in SC 0008 or phone 343-8018 or online at - HYPERLINK
"http://academicadvising.lakeheadu.ca/" http://academicadvising.lakeheadu.ca/
Student Accessibility Services: For assistance with accommodations for a disability, please visit
Student Accessibility Services located in SC 0003 or phone 343-8047 or online at HYPERLINK "http://learningassistance.lakeheadu.ca/" http://learningassistance.lakeheadu.ca/
Student Health and Counselling Centre: For help with personal and/or medical issues, please
visit the Student Health and Counselling Centre located in the University Centre 1007 (across
from Security) or phone 343-8361 or online at - HYPERLINK
"http://healthservices.lakeheadu.ca/" http://healthservices.lakeheadu.ca/
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Assignment Guidelines - General
Note: Assignments will also be discussed in class.
A Note on Submitting Assignments: All assignments must be submitted in hard copy (i.e. on
paper) and stapled to ensure pages do not get lost. It is your responsibility to ensure that I receive
your assignment. I prefer that you to hand in your assignment in class, but please do not
interrupt the class to submit your paper. If, however, you cannot submit your assignment in
class, please have it time and date stamped at security and slide it under my door. Email me to
ensure that I have received your paper. Papers that get ‘lost’ will be penalized as if they were
submitted late. Electronic submission of assignments (i.e. email) will not be accepted.
Late Policy: All assignments are due by 11:59pm on the due date indicated in the course outline.
Assignments received after the due date will be penalized 5% per day. Requests for extensions
must be made prior to the due date and will ONLY be given in extenuating circumstances and
may require documentation (e.g. a doctor’s note). Extensions will not be granted where good
time management skills could have avoided the problem; i.e. extensions will not be granted for
students who have a number of assignments due at the same time during the semester or for
students who have decided to take an overload of classes this semester.
Style and grammar: Marks are not directly deducted for poor writing style and grammar.
However, you simply cannot achieve a good grade if the paper is difficult to read and the
argument difficult to discern. It is essential to proofread.
Referencing: Assignments must be entirely your own work. If the exact words or phrases of
another author are used they must be in quotation marks with an accompanying reference.
Material that is paraphrased – that is, an idea from another author but put into your own words –
must also be accompanied by a properly formatted citation. Please use appropriate style (either
MLA or Chicago) and form in a consistent manner throughout the paper. References are
essential and have four purposes. They indicate the source of the “quotations,” acknowledge the
interpretations and ideas of others, provide authority for facts which might be challenged or
result from the research of others, and point to other sources or interpretations of the same topic.
In general, they acknowledge the use of another person’s ideas and are essential in avoiding
plagiarism. Failure to provide adequate references constitutes plagiarism.
Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty:
Plagiarism is a serious academic offence. Presenting an idea, words or an exact phrase of
another author as your own work constitutes plagiarism. All students are required to know what
constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it. If you have questions about what constitutes
plagiarism you can consult the Lakehead University calendar available online at HYPERLINK
"http://calendar.lakeheadu.ca/current/contents/regulations/univeregsIXacdishon.html"http://calen
dar.lakeheadu.ca/current/contents/regulations/univeregsIXacdishon.html or the professor. All
cases of plagiarism will be dealt with in accordance with the Code of Student Behaviour and
Disciplinary Procedures approved by Senate and the Board of Governors. Other instances of
Academic Dishonesty, including but not limited to double submission, purchasing of
assignments (either online or from another student on campus), or copying of assignments will
also dealt with in accordance to the University regulations on Academic Dishonesty. Students
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may obtain a copy of the “Code of Student Behaviour and Disciplinary Procedures” from the
Office of the Registrar for more information. Please do your own work.
Specific Assignment Guidelines
Participation:
Your voice is important!
Class discussion is a significant component of the course, and will be facilitated online through
discussion forums. Students are expected to contribute to and participate in lively and thoughtful
discussions based on the readings and topics for each week. Each semester, students will be
required to make at least 10 posts to the online discussion. At the beginning of the year, students
will be split into two groups. Each week, one group will be responsible for posting questions
related to the readings and course content for the week, and the other group will be responsible
for responding. By the end of each semester, students will have posted at least 5 questions and 5
responses.
Each post, whether a question or a response should include some background and
explanation to contextualize the question/response. Posts will be evaluated on their relevancy to
course material, thoughtfulness and creativity. This exercise helps students evaluate and analyze
course material, and learn to develop thoughtful, pointed questions, like those you might ask in a
research essay.
Discussion will be centred on the readings listed for each week on the course outline.
Readings are complementary to other course components (lectures, assignments, et cetera).
Students are encouraged to relate material in the readings to each other, contemporary or
historical events, and/or real life examples from their experience. Ultimately, a discussion should
become a forum for the analysis and expression of ideas based on evidence from the readings,
and for integrating the information/ideas presented in the varied components of the course.
In evaluating the readings consider the following:
What are the key points or ideas?
Can you describe (in your own words) what the reading is about?
How do the readings fit together? What are some common themes of the readings? How
do they complement this week’s lectures? How do they fit with other readings/lectures
from the course?
Participation from all members of the group is crucial if a discussion is to be both interesting and
instructive. Discussion requires preparation which includes reading the articles and thinking
critically about them before attending class. It is necessary that students critically read the
materials in advance so they are fully prepared to speak about and ask questions about the
readings. Participation marks are based on active involvement in the discussion and on the
content of the student's comments.
Preliminary Research Assignment – Bibliography:
Due October 22
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This preliminary assignment is designed to get you thinking about and exploring the resources
for your final paper (due in March). This research will form the basis of your final paper and
therefore you need to perform this research carefully and seriously. It requires research done
primarily through the library website and in the library. (Note: You can connect to the library
website off campus using the proxy server. On the Library homepage click on Connect from
Home and login using your LU email address and password.) You will need to have a working
research question included at the top of your bibliography. A good research question is on a
subject that will sustain your interest over the course of the research, is specific enough to limit
to research so that you are able to complete in a reasonable timeframe. Your research can be
global or local in orientation as well as either historical or contemporary. The question should
reflect both a time period and a place or when and where things happened. This will inform your
research and evaluation of the sources.
For this assignment you are required to pick a topic of your choice in Women’s and Gender
Studies. Using the library you will find a variety of sources (including, but not limited to books,
journal articles, and internet sites) that will be useful in writing the paper. This still requires that
you critically think about the sources you find in order to evaluate whether or not they will be
useful in conducting your research. You will hand in a bibliography of potential sources in
proper bibliographic style. (You are also encouraged to save your research findings in RefWorks,
but please keep in mind that RefWorks isn’t perfect so you will still have to edit your
bibliography for style.) Your bibliographic listing will also need to include 3-4 sentences
describing/analyzing the source.
You are encouraged to search broadly for any potential sources. You need to ensure that all of
your sources have a connection to your topic and all of the secondary sources must be scholarly
sources.
Each bibliography must include:
2-3 books
2-3 journal articles
2 online sites (specific, educational sites related to your topic – not Wikipedia or the like. Look
for websites ending in .edu and .org or containing .gov.ca.)
representative primary sources (newspaper and magazine articles relevant to your topic)
Please note: Course materials cannot be used for this assignment
Your assignment will be graded on the following criteria:
Strength of thesis statement – specific, well-thought out and articulated
Strength of research – excellent, relevant sources that will provide a strong foundation for further
research development
Accurate, concise, and clear explanations of individual bibliographic entries
Proper bibliographic style
Secondary Research Assignment – Outline:
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Using your previous assignment and the feedback you received on it, develop a detailed
2-3 page outline of your paper including: introductory hook, research question, thesis
statement, key points and evidence to be used for each. (Every paper should have 2-3
key points used to prove the thesis.) Students are required to submit a 2-3 page detailed
outline including a research question, thesis statement, and key arguments of the paper
with examples of evidence. This outline should be a preliminary ‘skeleton’ of the
paper.
Essential components:
A research question developed during first assignment preparation.
A working thesis statement that is a concise statement of your argument that answers your
research question.
Sub-points (key points) that form the whole of your thesis and at least 2-3 pieces of properly
cited evidence used to support them. At this point each of these pieces of evidence should
include a direct quote from the material and a brief 1-2 sentence analysis of that evidence that
shows how it supports your thesis statement. Analysis here means logical statements of
interpretation and conclusion drawn from the evidence, not personal opinion on it.
Please note: Course materials cannot be used for this assignment
Exam: The midterm exam will be made up of short answer questions and a long answer/essay
question. The midterm will be cumulative from the beginning of the course. The exam will
incorporate all learning from lectures, readings, discussion, and assignments. A detailed
overview of the exam will be done during the last week of class.
Social Location Assignment:
750 Words (double spaced, one inch margins) DUE January 28
The ability to recognize and reflect on your own “social location” is important in the
development of a feminist consciousness. It is also critical to feminist study to recognize the
importance of the valuation of women’s lived experience in the past and the present. This
assignment is designed to help you define your own social location, to explore your lived
experience and to reflect on how both shape your worldview and the issues that matter to you.
Your social location impacts how you view the world and the people in it, and how you construct
or interpret reality. Your social location might include: gender, age, family situation,
race/ethnicity, cultural background, religion, socio-economic status, citizenship status, age,
sexual orientation and ability. Some components of your social location may be more dominant
than others or intersect with others in important ways i.e. race and gender. Each individual’s
lived experience is likely a reflection of his/her social location and in many respects a person’s
social location impacts their lived experience. For example a white, young, middle class,
student, straight, able-bodied, single, female would likely view the world and what is happening
in the world quite differently than someone who doesn’t share her social location and lived
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experience even when they have grown up and live in the same city or town. Even your
experience of shared events may be different based on ‘where you stand’.
In this assignment you are asked to define your social location in reference to your historical
context (and being sensitive to differences in the past), and explore your lived experience in
relation to work, relationships and family.
Part 1:
In no more than two paragraphs you are asked define your own social location. Use full
sentences and describe who you are based on your age, social class, gender, education,
race/ethnicity/culture, religion, ability, sexual orientation and so on.
Part 2:
Taking into consideration your social location you are asked to describe and analyze your lived
experience and how you believe it may have shaped who you have become, and how it may have
had an impact on your worldview in relation to the roles of men and women in the public and
private sphere.
Questions you may wish to consider are:
1. What is your experience of work? What do you do to earn an income? What do you want to do
to earn an income and why? How long do you expect to work? What barriers in regard to gender,
race, class, or sexuality might you face in attaining work in your chosen field? How has your
social location determined what avenues you have taken? Has it lead you towards a particular
career path? Has it made you exclude or not even consider other options? What options do you
see as possibilities for work? What do you see as impossible for you based on your social
location and why?
2. How has your social location determined how you have seen recent global and/or local events?
What factors do you use to determine your opinions of other people and their life situations?
How might your social location determine those opinions? How might you challenge them?
3. Imagine your ideal life in the future. What does it look like? What does this say about your
social location?
Research Paper:
2000 words due March 24.
(12 point font, one inch margins, covers page and bibliography, MLA or Chicago style
references)
Your final research paper builds upon the background assignments (bibliography and outline)
completed during the first semester. Be sure to pay close attention to the feedback that you
received from your assignments in the fall semester to ensure that you are able to produce your
best work. Please note: changes of research paper topic from the fall semester assignments will
not be allowed.
Your research paper should follow the same format as identified for your outline. The
introductory section should include an introductory hook, a clearly stated research question, a
thesis statement (or what your main argument will be) and an indication of the key points or
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subtopics that will be addressed in the paper. In the main body of the paper you should
sequentially develop your main points providing evidence throughout from the books and
academic articles you have read on your topic.
Each major topic should be a separate paragraph and all information in that paragraph should
clearly link to the topic. Your paper should end with a strong conclusion that restates your main
points and ties up your argument. You may find using subtitles helpful to mark transitions
between major sections of the paper, for example, “Introduction”, “X” thematic title,” “X”
thematic title,” … “Conclusion”.
As noted in the general guidelines above, proper referencing is mandatory for academic research
papers. References must be given for all information you have taken from other sources whether
you are directly quoting, or paraphrasing in your own words. Either MLA or Chicago format can
be used. Carefully check that all of your sources are fully cited in the body of the paper (author,
year of publication and page number) and also that all of your sources are listed alphabetically
and with full information in the bibliography.
Leave sufficient time before the due date to carefully proofread and edit your paper. Pay
particular attention to spelling and grammar. Use your computer spellcheck as a first step, but
remember that the computer program will not catch most grammatical errors, nor will it catch
many common spelling errors. For example, the spell check program will not flag words for
which spelling is context dependent, such as “principal” and “principle,” or “their” and “there.”
You will need to do your own careful proofreading to catch such errors. If you are uncertain
about a word spelling please take a few seconds and consult an online dictionary to get the
correct spelling and usage. Similarly, online grammar sources or reference texts in the LU library
should be consulted for questions of grammar. Assistance can also be found at the Student
Success Centre, however, during busy term time, there may be delays in accessing help.
Exam: The final exam will follow a similar format to the midterm. Students will be asked to
synthesize material from throughout the course, however specific questions will address material
from the second term (January-April). The exam will incorporate all learning from lectures,
readings, discussion, and assignments. A detailed overview of the exam will be done during the
last week of class.
Weekly Schedule for Lectures, Readings, and Tutorials
September 14-18: Welcome and Introduction: Why Gender and Women’s Studies? Why
Feminism?
Readings for September 17: Chapter 1, Supplement 1, Chapter 2
September 21-25: Feminism and Diversity
Readings: Chapter 3, Supplement 2, Chapter 4
September 28-October 2: Intersectionality
Readings: Chapter 5, Supplements 3&4, Chapter 6, Chapter 7
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October 5-9: Women’s Status and Rights
Readings: Chapters 8-10, Supplement 5 & 6
October 12-16: Sexing the Body
Readings: Supplement 7&8 Chapters 11-13, Chapter 16
October 19-23: Difference and Inequality
*Bibliography Assignment DUE OCT 20*
Readings: Chapter 14 & 15 Supplements 10 & 11
October 16-30: Intersex and Transgender Rights
Readings: Chapter 16, 17, 18, Supplements 9, 12, 13 & 14
November 2-6: Challenging Heteronormativity
Readings: Chapter 19, 20, 21, 22 and Supplements 15 and 16
November 9-13: Identity, Inequality, and Stereotypes
Readings: Chapters 23-26
November 16-20: Locating Gendered Violence
*Proposal Assignment DUE NOV 19*
Readings: Chapters 51-53 and Supplement 32
November 23-27: Media and “Rape Culture”
Readings: Ryan (2011) “The Relationship Between Rape Myths and Sexual Scripts: The
Social Construction of Rape” to be posted online.
December 1 and 3: Exam Review
Winter Break
January 5 and 7: Histories and Legacies of Colonialism
Readings: Chapters 27-30 and Supplements 17-18
January 12 and 14: Aboriginal Women’s Agency and Resistance
Readings: Chapters 31-34
January 19 and 21: Homelessness, Poverty and Structural Violence
Readings: Chapters 61-64 and Supplements 36 and 37.
January 26 and 28: Neo-liberalism, the ‘New Economy’ and Women’s Work
*Social Location Assignment DUE JAN 28*
Readings: Chapters 58-60
February 2 and 4: Global Restructuring and Transnational Activism
Readings: Chapters 54-57 and Supplements 33 and 35.
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February 9 and 11: Women’s Action for Social Change
Readings: Chapters 65-67 and Supplements 38-40.
February 16 and 18: Reading Week, No Classes
February 23 and 25: Transnational Feminisms and Global Social Movements
Readings: Chapters 68 and 69 and Supplements 41-44.
March 1 and 3: Representations and Body Politics
Readings: Chapters 35 and 36 and Supplements 19-23
March 8 and 10: Regulating Body and Desire
Readings: Chapters 37-39 and Supplements 24 and 25
March 15 and 17: Body Projects
Readings: Chapters 40-43 and Supplement 26
March 22 and 24: Women’s Health – Social Determinants and Intersectionalities
*Research Paper DUE MAR 24*
Readings: Chapters 44-47 and Supplements 27-29.
March 29 and 31: Reproduction and Body Politics
Readings: Chapters 48-50 and Supplements 30 and 31.
April 5: Reflections and Exam Review
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