Engaging Justice
GWSS 1005
Department of Gender Women and Sexuality Studies
Professor Zenzele Isoke
Spring 2014
Course Time: T-Th 1:15-2:15
Course Location: Fol 108
Office Hours: Wed. 1-3pm
Office Phone: 612-626-8954
Office Location: 437 Ford Hall, East Bank
Email: isoke001@umn.edu
COURSE OVERVIEW
In this introductory course, we explore the various ways that women have expressed their
voices in order to participate in civic life and society in the U.S. and abroad. We consider
how feminists have theorized justice and politics in their writings, activisms, and social
movements, emphasizing the strategies that women deploy to challenge inequality,
violence, and marginality. In this course we explore answers these baseline questions:
What is justice? What are the injustices that women have sought to challenge in their
activisms? What is social justice?
As we learn to think about justice, we will also think about how identity, social location,
and citizenship status inform our understandings of justice, social equality and fairness.
Key to this discussion is understanding the relationship between power, domination, and
identity by considering the concrete ways that justice been attained by people of color,
gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people, poor people, and disabled people. In
this course, we illuminate alternative forms of justice that vulnerable communities have
used to confront serious and entrenched social problems like poverty, rape, sex
trafficking, homophobia, racism and sexism. We will consider important human rights
issues including forms of human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual violence,
terrorism, rape, and genocide.
Statement on Liberal Education and Ethics
Liberal education can be defined as an approach to learning that empowers individuals to
deal with complexity, diversity and change.1 Ethics is a central component of liberal
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This definition of liberal education was taken from the Association of American Colleges and Universities
2011 Statement.
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education in the twenty-first century. Ethics serves a guide for individual and societies to
make informed decisions about issues that concern us all (i.e social welfare, the
environment, whether or not to wage war). It determines what we will or will not tolerate
in our speech and actions toward other human beings, and even the earth itself. Some
define ethics simply as classifying actions and behaviors as right or wrong (or
good and evil), while others see it as a morality that shapes the relationship
between the self and others. In this course we think about ethics in relation to positive
mutuality between individuals, communities, societies, and governments. We explore
how feminists have theorized and practiced empathy, compassion, and the possibility of
peacefully coexistence in their diverse quests for justice around the globe.
Student Learning Outcomes
Can identify, define, and solve problems.
In this course students will learn to think carefully about long-term patterns of social
inequalities that are either tolerated, ignored, or not recognized in their daily lives.
Through short writing assignments and blogs, they will learn to pair injustices that are
discussed in readings and lectures with personal experiences. The course blog
assignments will allow students to read and comment on each other’s work. This will
facilitate the sharing of information and perspectives that are relevant to the questions of
justice and social and political engagement. Toward the end of the semester, groups of
students will be presented with a carefully selected case study that will allow them to
critically assess, discuss, and sketch a viable solution to a social problem. Students are
also required to write two formal essays in which they objectively examine a particular
form of contemporary injustice and advocate for a particular course of social action to
alleviate this injustice.
Can locate and critically evaluate information
The course readings are packed with empirical studies of justice, however these are
enhanced with qualitative data and case studies. Students will learn how to successfully
read and interpret interdisciplinary scholarship, and make sense of and make use of
different forms of evidence and different styles of argumentation. The use of blogs and
digital media throughout the course will enable the use of film clips and short
documentaries in class to explore diverse social issues from multiple perspectives, by
making extensive use of social context, affect, and social positionality. Student’s will
need to sort through, analyze and make use of information from a variety of sources—
scholarly and non-scholarly—and learn to distinguish between the two. Students will also
learn how to access the reliability, credibility and applicability of different forms of
evidence as they will be required to write both exploratory and argumentative essays
about a social justice issues. For example, students will need to bring in a social justice
topic of their choice taken from newspaper, blog, or podcast. After presenting the issue,
the class will have a brief discussion surrounding the quality and reliability of the source
with the presenting student responding to probes by their classmates and discussion.
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Understand diverse philosophies and cultures within and across societies
The question of justice is approached using the writings and perspectives of feminist
scholarship around the world. The students’ introduction to feminism and social justice,
is multiracial, multiethnic, and transnational. While the form of writing explore is
typically empirical and/or theoretical, poetry, prose, testimonials and case study research
is interwoven into many of the essays. In this course the perspectives of AngloAmericans, African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican/Mexican-American, South
Asian, Eastern Europeans, Muslim and Middle Eastern feminists are explored. We also
consider writings written by gay, lesbian, transgendered, and disabled feminists in the
U.S.
Can communicate effectively
In this course students will be learn to master the use of the essay to explore social
problems and their own stakes in them. Students are required to present a current event
about a social event of their choice and respond to questions by their classmates. Students
will also learn how to write short, concise and hard-hitting paragraphs by posting and
responding to blogs. Finally students must complete a group project whereby they
critically analyze a case study and formulate and present a collective solution to the
problem under scrutiny.
Textbook
Confronting Global Gender Justice by D. Bergoffen, P.R. Gilbert, T. Harvey, and C.
McNeely. New York and London: Routledge Press, 2011. Available at UM Bookstore in
Coffman.
Coursepack available at UM Copy Center in Coffman Student Center.
Course Websites:
Grades, assignments, and attendance: Moodle2.umn.edu
Blogs, comments, digital content, and announcements: blog.lib.umn.edu
Directions: Please log in with your x500 to access the course websites. If you are enrolled
in the course, then you should immediately have access to all content after you log in. Be
sure to view the tutorial on Moodle2 to familiarize yourself with the navigation tools.
You can also visit the Help Center at Coffman Student Center or call the CLA Helpline at
612-624-4357 (4-HELP) if you need additional assistance.
Course Requirements
Midterm Exam
Final Exam
Current Events/Blogs
Discussion Paper 1
Discussion Paper 2
Group Case Study Project
20%
20%
20%
10%
10%
20%
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Writing Clause
Success in GWSS requires that students be able to read and write across the humanities
and social sciences. Writing about race, class, gender and other social identities requires
that you be comfortable reading first person narratives, novels, and prose, as well as
dense theoretical essays and fact-based studies. The contributors of our textbooks write as
sociologists, political scientists, historians and anthropologists. Some refuse to write from
any disciplinary standing at all—they write simply as people.
Your writing assignments will take the form of an exploratory essay on justice and an
argumentative essay on social justice. In your papers, you are expected to make
connections between the readings, as well as develop an informed and sensible
perspective of your own. By the end of the semester, you will have produced
approximately ten pages of polished writing.
Midterm Exam: Multiple Choice, 40 Questions (20%), Oct. 31
Final Exam: Multiple Choice, 30 Questions and 3 Short Essays (20%), Dec. 17
Current Events Blog (20%) You are required to respond to five blogs, and to create two
blog entries on our course website. You may choose to free-write about a particular social
justice issue being covered in the mainstream media. You should connect this event to a
particular reading, or you may link it to an important and/or controversial point made in
class. On occasion, you will be asked to respond to a direct prompt assigned by the
instructor. Each blog should be one to two fully developed, concise (heavy-hitting)
paragraphs in length. Each blog entry must be presented orally before the class, and
student must answer questions about sources of the information blogged about in class.
Feel free to upload images, videos and other media to clarify your ideas and spark
discussion.
Due Dates: Sept 12, Sept. 26, Oct. 15, Nov. 5, Nov. 19, Dec. 10
Discussion Papers (20%) Students are required to write two formal essays responding to
an essay prompt assigned by the instructor. These papers should be between three to four
pages in length, typed, double spaced, and submitted in class on the due date. Please
see the “Guidelines for Discussion Papers” on page 9 of the syllabus.
Due Dates: Oct. 10, Dec. 3
Group Case Study Project (20%) Your group is required to do a research project and
multimedia presentation on the specific social problem that is presented in your assigned
case study. Your group must work together to identify the key issues, the injustices
featured in the case, and proposed solution to the problem. Your presentation should be
about 6-8 minutes long. You will be stopped at the end of your allotted time.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
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This course is based on lecture and group discussions. After the first two absences,
students will receive a 2-point penalty for each class session missed. For example, if you
miss four class sessions, four percentage points will be deducted from your final grade.
LATE POLICY
Papers submitted late will receive a full grade deduction for each day it is submitted after
the due date. Exceptions will be granted in the case of a documented emergency, at the
discretion of the instructor. If you anticipate having a difficult time meeting a deadline,
notify the instructor at least 5 days prior the announced deadline to avoid penalty.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY/PLAGIARISM
The Modern Language Association (MLA) defines plagiarism as the use of another’s
ideas or expressions without giving proper credit to the source. This can include
paraphrasing, copying segments of writing word for word, or simply using someone
else’s ideas in your paper without proper citations. The instructor will strictly abide by
the UMN Student Code of Conduct in circumstances in which a student is suspected of
plagiarism or other any other form of scholastic dishonesty. For more information about
plagiarism please refer to http://writing.umn.edu/tww/plagiarism and/or your UMN
student handbook.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
The University of Minnesota is committed to providing for the needs of enrolled students
or admitted students who have disabilities. The University is required to make
reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities on an individualized and
flexible basis. If you have any disability (physical, cognitive, sensory, learning,
psychiatric/psychological, etc.) please notify the instructor early in the semester so the
necessary accommodations can be made. For more information please refer to
http://www.class.umn.edu:81/cgep/2.html.
Jan. 21:
Course Introduction/Overview of Syllabus
Jan. 23: Acknowledging Whiteness
McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” in White
Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism. New York: Worth
Publishers, 2008.
Smith, Andrea. “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy” in
Color of Violence: The Incite! Anthology by Incite! Women of Color Against
Violence. Cambridge: South End Press, 2006.
Jan. 28: Understanding Oppression and Marginality
Blog #1 Due
Young, Iris Marion. “Five Faces of Oppression” in Justice and the Politics of
Difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.
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Jan. 30: Colonialism and the Problematics of Western Feminisms
“Under Western Eyes” in Feminisms Without Borders by Chandra Talpade Mohanty.
Feb. 4:
Joint Session with Richa Nagar Blog #2 Due
Under Western Eyes Revisited—Solidarity Emphasis/Lecture with Input. Work in
Pairs.
Richa and Zenzele talk about joining the class
Richa talks about the first piece
Student’s bring in clips of examples of white feminism
Blog Due for Richa’s Class
Feb. 6:
Justice and State Sanctioned Violence
Chomsky, Noam. “Terrorism and Justice: Some Useful Terms” in Hegemony or
Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance. New York: Metropolitan Books,
2003.
Puar, Jasbir. “Abu Ghraib and U.S. Sexual Exceptionalism” in Terrorist
Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times. Durham: Duke University Press,
2007.
Zenzele introduction and lecture on U.S. Exceptionalism
Ten minute clip of pbs documentary,
Richa’s student reflections
Discussion
Lecture
Discussion session with Richa’s students
Sept. 26: Trans-Gendering Justice and the Limits of “Knowing”
Valentine, David. “’I Know What I Am’: Gender, Sexuality, and Identity” in
Imagining Transgender: An Ethnography of a Category. Durham: Duke University
Press.
Film: Still Black
Oct. 1:
Race-ing and Gendering Justice: An Intersectional Approach
Cohen, Cathy. “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of
Queer Politics? In The Journal of Gay and Lesbian Studies (1997).
Film: Pariah by Dee Rees
Z&R TUE FEB 18:
(E) REVIEW OF THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SARA BAARTMAN:
HTTP://WWW.H-NET.ORG/REVIEWS/
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SHOWREV.PHP?ID=14956
(E) HERSHINI BHANA YOUNG (2011). "RUDE" PERFORMANCES:
THEORIZING AGENCY, IN
REPRESENTATIONS AND BLACK WOMANHOOD: THE LEGACY OF
SARAH BAARTMAN, ED.
NATASHA GORDON-CHIPEMBERE, NEW YORK: PLAGRAVE
MACMILLAN, PP. 47-63.
(E) GABEBA BADEROON (2011). BAARTMAN AND THE PRIVATE: HOW
CAN WE LOOK AT A FIGURE
THAT HAS BEEN LOOKED AT TOO MUCH? IN REPRESENTATIONS
AND BLACK WOMANHOOD: THE
LEGACY OF SARAH BAARTMAN, ED. NATASHA GORDONCHIPEMBERE, NEW YORK: PLAGRAVE
MACMILLAN, PP. 65-83.
IN CLASS: EXCERPTS FROM THE FILM, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF
SARA BAARTMAN
Z&R THU FEB 20:
(E) DESIREE LEWIS (2011). SCRIPTED BODIES: INTRODUCTION,
SOCIAL DYNAMICS: A JOURNAL OF
AFRICAN STUDIES 37:2: 193-199
(E) KATARINA JUNGAR & ELINA OINAS (2011), BEYOND AGENCY AND
VICTIMISATION: REREADING HIV AND AIDS IN AFRICAN CONTEXTS, SOCIAL DYNAMICS:
A JOURNAL OF AFRICAN
STUDIES 37:2: 248-262.
IN CLASS: EXCERPTS FROM THE FILM, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF
SARA BAARTMAN
Oct 3:
The Consequences of Hate
Perry, Barbara. “Defending the Color Line: Race, Difference, and Hate Crime” in In
the Name of Hate: Understanding Hate Crime. New York and London: Routledge
Press, 2007.
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Oct 8:
Women’s Rights as Human Rights, A Transnational Perspective
Bergoffen, Gilbert, and Harvey. “Introduction: women’s lives, human rights” in
Confronting Global Gender Justice by Debra Bergoffen, Paula Gilbert and Tamara
Harvey. Routledge Press, 2011.
Oct. 10
Neo-Liberalism and Economic Justice
Berkovitch and Kemp. “Economic Empowerment of Women as a Global Project:
Economic Rights in the Neo-liberal Era” in Confronting Global Gender Justice by
Debra Bergoffen, Paula Gilbert and Tamara Harvey. Routledge Press, 2011.
Oct. 15:
Justifying Violence: Nation-States, Borders, and Boundaries
***PAPER 1 DUE***
Falcon, Sylvanna. “National Security” and the Violation of Women: Militarized
Border Rape at the US-Mexico Border” in Color of Violence: The Incite! Anthology
by Incite! Women of Color Against Violence. Cambridge: South End Press, 2006.
Oct. 17: Sex Work, Immigration, and Women’s Bodies
Moloney, Deirdre M. “Policing Bodies and Borders: Women, Prostitution, and the
Differential Regulation of US Immigration Policy” in Confronting Global Gender
Justice: Women’s Lives, Human Rights. New York: Routledge Press, 2011.
Oct. 22:
Terrorism and “Justice”
Oct. 24
Film: The Torture Question by Frontline, a PBS Documentary
Oct. 29
Midterm Review Session
Oct 31
MIDTERM EXAM, IN -CLASS
Nov. 5
The American Genocide Project
Smith, Andrea. “Sexual Violence as a Tool of Genocide” in Conquest: Sexual
Violence and American Indian Genocide. Boston: South End Press, 2005.
Nov. 7
The Practice of War and Genocidal Rape
Sjoberg, Laura. “Women and the Genocidal Rape of Women: The Gender Dynamics
of Gendered War Crimes” in Confronting Global Gender Justice: Women’s Lives,
Human Rights. New York: Routledge Press, 2011.
Nov. 12
Human Trafficking
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Shelley, Louise. “Human Trafficking: Why is it Such an Important Women’s Issue?”
in Confronting Global Gender Justice: Women’s Lives, Human Rights. New York:
Routledge Press, 2011. New York: Routledge Press, 2011.
Chernush, Kay. “Human Trafficking: A Photographic Essay” in Confronting Global
Gender Justice: Women’s Lives, Human Rights. New York: Routledge Press, 2011.
Film: Human Cargo by Linda Svendsen and Brian McKeown.
Film: Human Cargo
Nov. 14 Ethnocentric Religious Ideologies and Trafficking Discourse
Peach, Lucinda. “Sin, Salvation, or Starvation” The Problematic Role of Religious
Morality in U.S. Anti-Sex Trafficking” in Confronting Global Gender Justice:
Women’s Lives, Human Rights. New York: Routledge Press, 2011.. New York:
Routledge Press, 2011.
Nov. 19 HIV/AID’s, Human Rights and Feminist Political Resistance
Njero, Esther. “Intersections of Gender, Race, and HIV/AIDS in Africa” in Resisting
Racism and Xenophobia: Global Perspectives on Race, Gender, and Human Rights.
Walnut Creek: Altamira Press, 2005.
Nov. 21
Wardlow, Holly with Mary Michael Tamia. “Sweet Electrical Greetings: Women,
HIV, and the Evolution of an Intervention Project in Papua New Guinea” in
Confronting Global Gender Justice: Women’s Lives, Human Rights. New York:
Routledge Press, 2011.
Nov. 26 Disability
Wilson, Amy T. “Human Rights and Girls with Disability in Developing Countries in
Confronting Global Gender Justice: Women’s Lives, Human Rights. New York:
Routledge Press, 2011.
Nov. 28 Ableism and Ableistnormativity
Cambell, Fiona Campbell. “The Project of Ableism” and “Internalised Ableism: The
Tyranny Withing” in The Contours of Ableism: The Production of Disability and
Abledness. New York: Palgrave MacMillan Press, 2009.
Dec. 3
Disability, HIV, and Blackness
Bell, Chris. “’Could This Happen to You?’ Stigma in Representations of the
Downlow” in Blackness and Disability: Critical Examinations and Cultural
Interventions edited by Christopher Bell. East Lansing: Michigan State University
Press, 2011.
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Bailey, Moya. “’The Illest’: Disability as Metaphor in Hip Hop Music” in Blackness
and Disability: Critical Examinations and Cultural Interventions edited by
Christopher Bell. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2011.
Dec. 5
New Perspectives on Domestic Violence
Walters, Julie. “The Institution of Domestic Violence Against Women in the United
States” in Confronting Global Gender Justice by Debra Bergoffen, Paula Gilbert and
Tamara Harvey. Routledge Press, 2011.
Dec. 10
PAPER 2 DUE
Durazo, Ana. “The Medicalization of Domestic Violence” in Color of Violence: The
Incite! Anthology by Incite! Women of Color Against Violence. Cambridge: South
End Press, 2006.
Dec. 12 Ethical Praxis (Praxis = Theory + Social Action/Practice)
Fernandes, Leela. “The Meaning of Ethical Practice” in Transforming Feminist
Practice: Non-Violence, Social Justice and the Possibilities of a Spiritualized
Feminism. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Press, 2003.
Bhavani, Kum-Kum. “Configuring Feminisms, Transforming Paradigms” in
Confronting Global Gender Justice by Debra Bergoffen, Paula Gilbert and Tamara
Harvey. Routledge Press, 2011.
Monday, Dec. 17 1:30-3:30 FINAL EXAM, IN CLASS
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Guidelines for Discussion Papers
Discussions papers are an important opportunity for students to develop a unique perspective on a
particular topic featured in the course. Discussion papers should raise one or two critical issues
that are featured in the relevant readings. Discussion papers should not merely summarize or
paraphrase major arguments featured in the assigned texts, rather they should critically review the
assumptions, justifications, and strategies of exposition of the reading toward the aim of crafting
an original response to the essay prompt.
Baker-Fletcher (2005) argues that critical responses paper should demonstration appreciation for
the authors’ contributions, critique perceived shortcomings in the arguments presented, and
provide constructive feedback to improve the flaws in evidence/argumentation. This is a standard
model that students may find helpful to follow.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
All papers should be typed, double spaced, and be approximately 4 pages in length.
Please use a standard font style. Type size should not exceed 12 points.
Papers should include a critical engagement with at least two full-length readings that
have been assigned and discussed in seminar.
All papers should use an acceptable citation and/or bibliographic style (see MLA
handbook for more information).
All papers should develop an original line of argumentation and make good use of
examples, quotations, logic, experience, and other sources of evidence to clarify the
student’s perspective.
Papers should be proofread closely and be free of grammatical, typographical and
formatting errors.
When relevant, appropriate, and insightful students are encouraged to make use of
personal experiences and encounters in their prose.
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