WMNST 336:
Women of Color in the U.S.
Dr. Irene Lara
Fall 2011
Office: AL-353
Telephone: 619-594-7151
Email: ilara@mail.sdsu.edu
Office Hrs: Tues. & Wed. 3-4pm & by appointment
Graduate Assistant (GA): Adriana Martinez; Email: ama_noriega@yahoo.com
Class Buddy #1:
Class Buddy #2:
Course Description
This course examines the experiences, worldviews, and struggles for social justice of U.S.
Women of Color through the study of personal essay/autobiography, oral history,
poetry/spoken word, literature, film, visual art, theory, historical and philosophical
scholarship, and other interdisciplinary genres. Our focus is on understanding the
knowledges, creative expressions, experiences of oppression and resistance, and
complexity of Native American/Indigenous women, Chicana/Latina women, African
American/Black women, Asian American/Pacific Islander women, Arab American
women, and multiracial women as individuals and as members of different communities
or groups. A course rigorous in reading, writing, and self-reflection, we will reflect on a
multitude of creative works and scholarship from diverse Women of Color perspectives.
The major themes that interweave throughout the course are culture, identity, voice,
representation, empowerment, privilege, oppression, healing, and social change. Love,
heartbreak, and decolonization are also significant, related concepts that will frame our
analysis this semester. In addition, we will engage knowledge from communities inside
and outside of the university through various guest speakers, opportunities for
participating in relevant community events, and an oral history project.
Our Learning Goals
1. To better understand the complex personhood of women of color across similarities
and differences, and privileges and oppressions, within historical, political, and social
contexts.
2. To demonstrate through speaking, writing, and listening an understanding of the ways
that women’s lives are impacted by, and impact, culture and society, across the
intersecting social categories of race, ethnicity, nationality/citizenship status, class,
gender identity, sexuality, age, religion, and ability.
3. To analyze the role of social location and power in the production and circulation of
ideas, histories, representations, and other forms of knowledge (including our own) in
relation to women of color in the U.S.
4. To identify mechanisms of oppression and strategies of resistance and transformation
in relation to sexism, racism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia,
oppositional binaries (e.g. us vs. them; self vs. other, whites vs. people of color, men vs.
women, first world vs. third world, straights vs. queers, teachers vs. students) and other
forms of ideological and institutionalized power.
1
5. To enact and have a critical understanding of feminist and decolonizing practices of
life-storytelling through an extensive oral history research and/or arts project.
6. To practice “engaged pedagogy” (bell hooks) and “Sentipensante [sensing/thinking]
pedagogy” (Laura Rendón) by a. working to bring our whole selves, our bodymindspirits,
to all aspects of the course, b. nurturing conocimiento, “that aspect of consciousness
urging you to act on the knowledge gained” (Gloria Anzaldúa), and c. striving to make
connections between what we are learning and our participation in the world that we
are all a part of.
7. To nurture deep listening, truthful speaking, and contemplative practices as a way to
enhance knowledge about, and love toward, our selves and each other as
bodymindspirits who are connected within a social, global, and cosmic web across our
differences and similarities.
General Education Explorations Course in the Humanities and Fine Arts
Courses that fulfill the 9-unit requirement for Explorations in General Education take the
goals and skills of GE Foundations courses to a more advanced level. Your three upper
division courses in Explorations will provide greater interdisciplinary, more complex and indepth theory, deeper investigation of local problems, and wider awareness of global
challenges. More extensive reading, written analysis involving complex comparisons, welldeveloped arguments, considerable bibliography, and use of technology are appropriate
in many Explorations courses.
This is an Explorations course in the Humanities and Fine Arts. Completing this course will
help you to do the following in greater depth: 1) analyze written, visual, or performed texts
in the humanities and fine arts with sensitivity to their diverse cultural contexts and historical
moments; 2) describe various aesthetic and other value systems and the ways they are
communicated across time and cultures; 3) identify issues in the humanities that have
personal and global relevance; 4) demonstrate the ability to approach complex problems
and ask complex questions drawing upon knowledge of the humanities.
Required Texts (available at KB Books and Course Reserves at Love Library)
1. Anzaldúa, Gloria and AnaLouise Keating, eds. This Bridge We Call Home: Radical Visions for
Transformation. New York: Routledge, 2002. (This Bridge We Call Home)
2. Lorde, Audre. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches: Trumansburg, N.Y.: Crossing Press,
2007. (Originally published in 1984.) (Sister Outsider)
3. Hernández, Diasy and Bushra Rehman, eds. Colonize This! Young Women of Color on
Today’s Feminism. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2002. (Colonize This)!
4. Rojas, Maythee. Women of Color and Feminism. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2009.
Recommended but not Required
1. Incite! Women of Color Against Violence, eds. Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology.
Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2006. (INCITE!)
Course Outline
NOTE: Unless the above titles are noted, all readings are on Blackboard (BB) under “Course
Documents.” You are required to read everything by the beginning of class on the dates
noted unless I have written “Optional” next to the title. Always bring your readings, notes,
and journal/notebook to class.
2
Week 1
8/30
Introduction to Course
From course objectives to course policies, from readings to assignments
In-Class Hand-out: Joy Harjo’s “The Creation Story”
9/1
Education as the Practice of Freedom: Liberatory Pedagogy
Assignment: Answer the Reflection Questions posted on Blackboard “Documents” in
your Sentipensante Journal for today’s readings.
Key Terms: Liberatory Pedagogy; Engaged Pedagogy; Sentipensante; Borderlands
In-Class: Student Introductions; Storytelling-Listener Exercise; Co-create Class Guidelines
Readings: 1. bell hook’s “Engaged Pedagogy.” BB
2. Jennifer Ayala, Patricia Herrera, Laura Jiménez, and Irene Lara’s “Fiera, Guambra, y
Karichina! Transgressing the Borders of Community and Academy.” BB
Optional: Laura I. Rendón’s “Sentipensante Pedagogy.” BB
Week 2/3
In Lak’ech, You are my Other I:
Constructing Identity/ies, Loving the Self, and Loving the “Other”
9/6
Key Terms: The Erotic; Dichotomy; Bodymindspirit; Conocimiento; Native Communal
Ethics
In-Class: Student Introductions; Exploring Diverse Cultural Models (Stephanie A. Sellers’
Native American Women’s Studies excerpt)
Readings: 1. Audre Lorde’s “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power,” Sister Outsider, 53-59.
2. Irene Lara’s “Healing Sueños for Academia,” This Bridge We Call Home. 433-38.
9/8
In-Class: Student Introductions/Class Buddies; Conocimiento Walk
Reading: 1. Gloria Anzaldúa’s “now let us shift… the path of conocimiento… inner
work, public acts,” This Bridge We Call Home. 540-78.
9/13
Assignment: Due by class today-Online Quiz based on all required readings through
9/13
Key terms: Social identity; Social location; Essentialism; Intersectionality
In-Class Handout: Mitsuye Yamada’s “Masks of Woman” poem
Readings: 1. Gwen Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey’s “Identities and Social Locations:
Who Am I? Who Are My People?” BB
2. Maythee Rojas’s “Defining Identities,” Women of Color and Feminism (pages 1-10
only)
Optional: Abby Ferber’s “Constructing Identities and Examining Intersections.” BB
Week 3/4
9/15
Teaching and Learning about Oppression and Privilege:
Guidelines, Key Terms, and Theoretical Approaches
Key terms: Privilege, Race, Racism, Whiteness, Matrix of Oppression, Ally, “El Mundo
Zurdo [Left-handed world]”
In-class Handouts: Matrix of Oppression; Social Location & “Unpacking the Knapsack”
assignment
3
Readings: 1. Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege and Male Privilege. A Personal Account
of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women’s Studies.” BB
2. Handbook on Oppression and the Meaning of Being an Ally. BB
3. AnaLouise Keating’s “Forging El Mundo Zurdo: Changing Ourselves, Changing the
World,” This Bridge I Call Home. 519-530.
9/20
Assignment: Due in class today: Social Location & “Unpacking the Knapsack”
assignment
Readings: 1. Dena R. Samuels’s “Sounds and Silences of Language: Perpetuating
Institutionalized Privilege and Oppression.” BB
2. Rebecca Aenerud’s “Thinking Again: This Bridge Called My Back and the Challenge
to Whiteness,” This Bridge I Call Home. 69-77.
Optional: Audre Lorde’s “The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism,” Sister
Outsider. 124-33.
Week 4/5
Who are U.S. Women of Color? What are Women of Color Feminisms?
Key Terms: Women of Color; Third World; Internally Colonized; Womanist; Difference
9/22
In-class: Screening of a presentation by Loretta Ross, Director of SisterSong: Women of
Color Reproductive Health Collective; Demographic overview nationally, in California,
and at SDSU
Readings: 1. Maythee Rojas’s “Defining Identities,” Women of Color and Feminism.
10-31.
From This Bridge Called My Back: Writings By Radical Women of Color (1981; 2002)
2. Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa’s “Introduction, 1981.” BB
3. Combahee River Collective’s “A Black Feminist Statement.” BB
4. Barbara Cameron’s “Gee, You Don’t Seem Like An Indian From the Reservation.”
5. Mitsuye Yamada’s “Asian Pacific American Women and Feminism.” BB
6. Mirtha Quintanales’s “I Paid Very Hard for My Immigrant Ignorance.” BB
9/25
In-class Handouts: Alice Walker’s “Definition of Womanist;” Stephanie A. Sellers’s
“Feminism” & “Ecofeminism” excerpts from “Women’s Studies Terminology and
Concepts from a Native Perspective”
Readings: 1. Audre Lorde’s “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining
Difference,” Sister Outsider.
2. M. Jacqui Alexander’s “We Have Recognized Each Other Before,” This Bridge We
Call Home. 89-97.
Optional: Nada Elia’s “The ‘White’ Sheep of the Family: But Bleaching is Like
Starvation,” This Bridge We Call Home. 223-31.
9/27
Readings: 1. Maythee Rojas’s “Social Struggles,” Women of Color and Feminism. 73105.
From Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism:
2. Bushra Rehman and Daisy Hernández’s “Introduction,” xvii-xxviii.
3. Siobhan Brooks’s “Black Feminism in Everyday Life: Race, Mental Illness, Poverty,
and Motherhood,” 99-118.
4. Rebecca Hurdis’s “Heartbroken: Women of Color and the Third Wave,” 279-92.
5. Susan Muaddi Darraj’s “It’s Not an Oxymoron: The Search for an Arab Feminism,”
295-311.
4
Optional: Melanie L. Johnston’s “SES, Race/Ethnicity, and Health.” BB
Optional: Adriana López’s “In Praise of Difficult Chicas: Feminism and Femininity,” 119132.
Week 6
Oct. 4
Theory in the Flesh/Speaking from the Bodymindspirit:
Focus on Writing and Language
Assignment: After reading today’s assigned readings, write a letter addressed to
either Anzaldúa, Lorde, or any other writer we have read so far. Write to them
about what they are inspiring in you, what they are making you think and feel, what
questions you would ask them if you could, what you would like to create art
about… (1.5 to 2 double spaced pages; hand in during class & include in your
Sentipensante Journal)
In-Class: Handout, Cherríe Moraga’s “Entering the Lives of Others: Theory in the
Flesh;” Screening of Mayda Del Valle’s “The Gift”:
http://www.goldmic.com/video/Def-Jam-Poetry-Mayda-Del-Valle-quottheGiftquot/22017
Readings: 1. Audre Lorde’s “Poetry is Not a Luxury,” Sister Outsider. 36-39.
2. Gloria Anzaldúa’s “Speaking in Tongues: Letter to Third World Women Writers.”
BB
3. Maythee Rojas’s “Creative Expressions,” Women of Color and Feminism. 107-34.
Optional: Audre Lorde’s “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s
House,” Sister Outsider.
Oct. 6
Theory in the Flesh/Speaking from the Bodymindspirit:
Focus on Identity, Family, and Community
In-Class: Poem handouts, Chrystos’s “I am not Your Princess” and Aurora Levins
Morales’s “Child of the Americas;” “I am” poem draft
Readings: From This Bridge We Call Home:
1. Evelyn Alsultany’s “Los Intersticios: Recasting Moving Selves,” 106-10.
2. Shefali Milczarek-Desai’s “Living Fearlessly With and Within Differences: My
Search For Identity Beyond Categories and Contradictions,” 126-135.
From Colonize This!
3. Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha’s “browngirlworld: queergirlofcolor
organizing, sistahood, heartbreak,” 3-16.
4. Christina Tzintzun’s “Colonize This!,”17-28.
5. Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz’s “Organizing 101: A Mixed-Race Feminist in Movements for
Social
Justice,” 29-39.
Optional: Mitsuye Yamada’s “Invisibility is an Unnatural Disaster: Reflections of an
Asian American Woman.” BB
Week 7
Legacies of Colonialism: Focus on Native American and Indigenous Women
Oct. 11 [October 12 is International Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People/Dia de la Raza]
In-Class Handouts: Deborah Small’s “New World [Women];” colonial
representations; and Deborah Miranda’s “Dear Vicenta” Letter.
5
Readings: 1. Antonia Castañeda’s “Gender, History and Counter Colón-ialismo.” BB
2. Haunani-Kay Trask’s “The Color of Violence,” INCITE! 81-87. BB
3. Stormy Ogden’s “Pomo Woman, Ex-Prisoner, Speaks Out,” INCITE! 164-69. BB
4. Kahente Horn-Miller’s “Bring Us Back into the Dance: Women of the Wasase,”
Colonize This! 230-44.
Optional: Deborah A. Miranda’s “What’s Wrong with a Little Fantasy? Storytelling
from the (Still) Ivory Tower,” This Bridge We Call Home. 192-202.
Optional: Sarah Deer’s “Federal Indian Law and Violent Crime: Native Women and
Children at Mercy of the State,” INCITE! 32-41. BB.
Oct. 13 Assignment Due: SENTIPENSANTE (sensing/thinking) JOURNAL I
In-class: Film Screening: “Lakota Woman”
Reading: 1. Mary Crow Dog’s Lakota Woman, selection. BB.
2. Stephanie A. Sellers’s “Native American Women Today.” BB
Week 8
Feminist Decolonizing Research Theories and Methods
Oct. 18 In-class: Review of the Oral History Project (OHP)
Readings: 1. Aurora Levins Morales’s “The Historian as Curandera.” BB
2. Yolanda Broyles-González’s “An Oral History with Chumash Elder Pilulaw Khus.” BB
Optional: Mary Marshall Clark’s “Oral History: Art and Praxis.” BB
Oct. 20 Assignment Due: OHP Proposal
Readings: 1. Valerie Matsumo’s “Reflections on Oral History: Research in a Japanese
American Community.” BB
2. Cherrie Moraga’s “Circle in the Dirt: El Pueblo de East Palo Alto” excerpt. BB
Optional: Carol Ekinsmyth’s “Feminist Methodology.” BB
Optional: “Common Threads…” BB
Week 9
Not Your Exotic: Resistance to Racialized and Sexualized Representations
Oct. 25 In-Class: Spoken Word screenings (e.g. Suheir Hammad’s “Not Your Erotic, Not
Your Exotic;” Yellow Rage’s “I’m a Woman, Not a Flava;” Irene Lara’s “Brujandera”)
Readings:
1. Maythee Rojas’s “Embodied Representations,” Women of Color and Feminism. 33-71.
2. Mira Jacobs’s “My Brown Face.” BB
3. bell hooks’ “Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance” (focus on pages 21-31). BB
Optional: Joane Nagel’s “Sex Matters: Racing Sex and Sexing Race.” BB
Optional: Suheir Hammad’s “Not Your Erotic, Not Your Exotic”
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xarc5PFknfw]
Optional: Yellow Rage’s “I’m a Woman, Not a Flava”
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjctiSKn96o]
Optional: Erin J. Aubry’s “The Butt: Its Politics, Its Profanity, Its Power.” BB
Oct. 27 Assignment Due: Anonymous Mid-Course Evaluation (download from Blackboard)
Reading: Marilyn Chin’s Revenge of the Mooncake Vixen, selections.
In-Class: Women of Color Artist Guests: Professors Anh Hua & (possibly) Marilyn Chin
6
Week 10
Let’s Talk About Sex!:
Healing the Wounds of Sex, Sexuality, Homophobia, & Transphobia
Key terms: Cultural Construction of Sex and Sexualities; Sexual Identity;
Heteronormativity; Homophobia; Transphobia
Nov. 1 In-class: Poetry Handout, Maiana Minahal’s “Poem on Trying to Love Without Fear”
Readings: 1. Tanith Tyrr’s “Sacrament.” BB
2. Khalida Saed’s “On the Edge of Belonging,” Living Out Loud: American Muslim
Women Speak. BB
3. Stephane A. Sellers’s “Koskalaka and Winkte,” excerpt from “Native American
Terminology for the Women’s Studies Classroom.” BB
4. Brown Boi Project’s Freeing Ourselves: A Guide to Health and Self Love for Brown
Bois, excerpt. BB
Optional: Soyon Im’s “Love Clinic,” Colonize This! 119-132.
Optional: “50 Under 30: Masculinity and the War on Americas Youth. A Human
Rights Report.” BB
Nov. 3 Assignment Due: Oral History Project Journal Entry #1
In-Class: In your Sentipensante Journal: respond to at least two “Panocha Pláticas”
zine questions
Readings: 1. Panocha Pláticas: Healing Sex and Sexuality in Community Zine by
Sophia Arredondo, Jessica Heredia, Irene Lara, and Eneri Rodriguez. BB
2. Sandra Cisneros’s “Guadalupe the Sex Goddess.” BB
3. Monica Palacio’s “Tomboy.” BB
*FYI: Friday, Nov. 4
Women’s Studies Community Engagement Opportunity:
“Reproductive and Sexuality Justice Healing Circle and Training” (9am-5pm)
Week 11
Reproductive Justice
Nov. 8 In-Class: Guest Presentation by Women’s Studies Professor Kimala Price
Readings: 1. Kimala Price’s “What is Reproductive Justice? How Women of Color
are Redefining the Pro-Choice Paradigm.” BB
2. Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice’s “A New Vision for Advancing
Our Movement for Reproductive Health, Reproductive Rights & Reproductive
Justice.” BB
Nov. 10 Readings: 1. Loretta Ross’s “The Color of Choice: White Supremacy and
Reproductive Justice,” INCITE! BB
2. Patricia Justine Tumang’s “Nasaan ka anak ko? A Queer Filipina-American
Feminist’s Tale of Abortion and Self-Recovery,” Colonize This! 370-381.
3. Stella Luna’s “HIV and Me: The Chicana Version.” Colonize This! 71-84.
Week 12
Healing Private and Public Violences
Nov. 15 & 17 Assignment Due: Community Healing Table
Readings: 1. Joy Harjo’s “I Give You Back.” BB
2. Aurora Levins Morales’ “Radical Pleasure: Sex and the End of Victimhood.” BB
7
3. Audre Lorde’s “Transforming Silence into Action & Transformation,” Sister Outsider.
40-44.
4. Inés Hernández-Avila’s In the Presence of Spirit(s): A Meditation on the Politics of
Solidarity and Transformation,” this bridge we call home. 530-538.
5. Additional Reading TBA
Week 13
Nov. 22
Assignment Due in Dr. Lara’s office, AL353:
Sentipensante Journal II
Nov. 24
School Holiday, No Class (a good time to work on your OHP)
Week 14
Solidarity, Healing, and Building Social Justice Movements:
Focus on Spiritual Activism
Nov. 29 Assignment: Oral History Project Journal Entry #2 Due.
In-Class June Jordon’s “Where is the Love?” excerpts. We will do some in-class
writing based on your readings this week.
Readings: 1. Irene Lara’s “Fear of La Bruja Within and Without: Re(con)ceiving the
Other“ and “Postscript: Enacting a Bruja Positionality,” excerpt from “Bruja
Positionalities: Toward a Chicana/Latina Spiritual Activism.” BB
2. Maythee Rojas’s “Loving Selves,” Women of Color and Feminism.
Dec. 1 Readings: From This Bridge We Call Home, choose at least two selections:
1. M. Jacqui Alexander’s “El Mundo Zurdo and the Ample Space of the Erotic,” 97103.
2. Arlene Istar Lev’s “Tenuous Alliance,” 473-483.
3. Indigo Violet’s “Linkages: A Personal-Political Journey With Feminist-of-Color
Politics,” 486-494.
4. Helene Lorenz’s “Thawing Hearts, Opening a Path in the Woods, Founding a New
Lineage,” 496-506.
Optional: Revisit Gloria Anzaldúa’s “now let us shift…,” 540-578.
Week 15
Dec. 6 & 8
Oral History Project Presentations
Finals Week Oral History Project Presentations & Projects Due
Thursday, Dec. 15 from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Course Requirements at a Glance:
1. ATTENDANCE/PARTICIPATION/QUIZZES: 200 points possible
2. SENTIPENSANTE (sensing/thinking) JOURNAL: 2 X 200 points = 400 points possible
3. ORAL HISTORY PROJECT: 400 points possible
4. EXTRA CREDIT (not required)
5. WOMEN’S STUDIES COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ALTERNATE ASSIGNMENT
*total points possible: 1000
8
Description of Course Requirements:
1. CLASS PARTICIPATION/ATTENDANCE/QUIZZES
200 points
Our class is conducted in a lecture-seminar style that values your discussion and participation.
Your attentive presence and active involvement in class is required. You can demonstrate your
involvement by completing all of the readings before class, being prepared with informed
discussion questions and comments focused on the readings, following class guidelines,
engaging in class discussion (either in the group as a whole or in small groups), and by visiting
office hours. You earn up to five points for every day you are fully present in class.
ENGAGED CLASS PARTICIPATION is absolutely essential to the success of the course. Students
must come to class prepared to actively contribute to the class discussion. Be sure to write in
your Sentipensante Journal and critically reflect on the readings before every class, and bring
your notes, as this will help you with class participation. If you do not usually participate in
class, make an office hours appointment with me so we can discuss strategies for your
participation as soon as possible. For example, if you have not participated during a class
period but would like to increase your participation grade, you may turn in class reflection
notes with your Sentipensante Journals (see below).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: As part of your participation expectations, you may be asked to
come to class prepared with at least two discussion questions or develop questions in
class. Good discussion questions:
1. are open-ended (that is, do not ask a question that can be answered yes or no)
2. refer to major themes of the reading (not minor points)
3. bring up constructive critiques of the readings
4. relate the readings to other sources
5. result in class discussion and debate
ATTENDANCE will be taken at the beginning of every class session through a sign-in sheet. I will
routinely ask if there are any questions at the beginning of class, regarding syllabus or
assignment clarifications for example. If you are absent or late, FIRST ask your class buddies
via email or the break and check Blackboard announcements regarding what you missed
(i.e. handouts, explanation of assignments, changes in schedule, etc.). You can also check-in
with the GA or Professor during scheduled office hours or make an appointment. However,
DO NOT ask questions before consulting the Syllabus or Blackboard “Announcements” or
“Assignments.” DO NOT report absences unless your urgent circumstances cause you to miss
more than one week of class (e.g. extended illness, death in the family).
QUIZZES: There will be at least one announced online quiz throughout the semester. There will
be no make-ups for quizzes.
2. SENTIPENSANTE (sensing/thinking) JOURNAL I and II (2 X 200 points = 400 points total)
Due Dates: Your completed journal is due two times throughout the semester: SENTIPENSANTE
JOURNAL I is due on Oct. 13 and SENTIPENSANTE JOURNAL II is due on Nov. 22. Please drop
them off in my office (AL353) before or right after class, between 10:00 a.m.-12:30 noon.
9
Description and Format: Over the course of the semester, you are required to compile a
reflection journal in which you thoughtfully engage the knowledge (and possible wisdom)
communicated through lecture/discussion, guest presentations, the readings, and films.
You are to critically engage the material from your bodymindspirit, that is, from your
multiple intelligences (e.g. emotional, spiritual, intuitive, and rational intelligences). You will
need to purchase a three-ring binder or folder and organize it by section. It must be typed
and include the following separate sections (use tabs to distinguish each section):
I. Lecture/Discussion and Guest/Student Presentation Notes: All class lecture/discussion
and guest/student presentation notes must be typed and include a corresponding date
and title for the lecture. Make sure to emphasize the definitions and significance of key
concepts presented. Integrate 10 minutes or so after every class to write your reflections
on how the seminar went that day. Consider at least three of the following questions:
What stood out for you and why? What troubled you and why? What do you wish you
would have said but didn’t? What do you wish you had not said or had perhaps worded
differently? Why? What is something you would like to raise or see addressed in the next
class? Length may vary from one to two double spaced pages.
II. In-class Writing: On a regular basis, I will ask you to write on a particular topic or
question in class, either individually or in a small group. You are expected to bring your
assigned readings to every class because you may be asked to write about them. You will
hand in these writings, the Professor or GA will check them, return them, and you will then
include them in your journal. (Includes “I am” poem, “Unpacking your Knapsack,” Letter
to a writer, the Community Healing Table assignment, and possibly other things.)
III. Reading Notes: You are required to take reading notes on up to four required readings
per week unless I have specifically stated otherwise. These reading notes should be
labeled with the name of the reading and author(s) listed on top of the page. They are to
be about 1 to 1.5, double-spaced pages long for each reading, unless otherwise
specified. They should either:
1. Answer the reflection questions when posed on Blackboard; OR
2. Discuss the principal theoretical question(s) addressed by the author and the
author’s answer(s) to the question and personally reflect on the readings by
responding to the following: What do you think and feel about the reading? Why?
What did you learn that was particularly significant for you? What is its significance
for you? You must directly engage the readings by quoting particularly compelling
statements and critically exploring the author(s)’ ideas/theories. For example: What
do you agree with or disagree with, and why? How is the reading helping to fulfill
one of the course objectives? OR
3. Explore the reading through poetry, artwork, a letter/blog post, or another creative
medium. If you choose this third creative option, also include at least one
paragraph that discusses the reason the particular reading inspired you to create
this specific work. *Note, this third option can be used up to five times throughout
each Sentipensante Journal.
IV. Film Responses: For each of the films shown in class, you are asked to write a one to two
page response paper. I may provide specific questions for you to answer OR you will need to
answer the following general questions: What is the film about? What did you think and feel
about it? What is one main point and/or image that was compelling to you? Why?
10
V. Oral History Project Journal Entries: See the description under 3.b. below. This section will be
scored separately.
3. ORAL HISTORY PROJECT 400 points total
You will conduct an Oral History Project (OHP) throughout the semester. You will need to
choose a woman of color to spend time with and interview about the topics we are covering
in the course. See the Blackboard assignment folder for official assignment details, but here is
a summary of the OHP requirements:
a. ORAL HISTORY PROPOSAL
50 points
Due: Oct. 20
This proposal will summarize your Oral History Project plan. A successful proposal
earning an “A” or “B,” must meet the following minimal requirements: Describe who
you will be spending time with and interviewing throughout the semester (one to two
hours a week for four weeks). Explain why you choose them. Include questions and
themes you have been and/or will be addressing and what kinds of activities you will
be participating in together. Discuss the ways that at least two class readings may be
helpful to you throughout the OHP. Your proposal must be two to three pages long,
double-spaced.
b. ORAL HISTORY JOURNAL
2 x 50 points each = 100 points
This is a critical reflection journal documenting each time you meet with your storyteller.
You will discuss the activities, thoughts, and observations regarding the person with
whom you are conducting an oral history. A successful journal entry earning an “A” or
“B,” must meet the following minimal requirements: include the when and where of the
interview meeting at the top; describe the setting and general feeling of the interview
meeting; discuss the ways that what you’re learning from your interviewee relates to
and/or doesn’t relate to our class lectures, discussions, and readings [direct
engagement with, and quoting from, texts is expected]; possibly respond to other
specific questions that I provide; be typed entries of at least two, double-spaced
pages each; have no grammatical or spelling errors. You will hand in the journal entries
two times throughout the semester.
c. ORAL PRESENTATION and OUTLINE/WRITE-UP 50 points
Due: Week 15 or Finals Week
You have two options:
[OPTION 1]
In a brief and creative power point presentation (4 minutes long), you will
a. Summarize who you are working with and your time spent together. Include a
photograph if you have your interviewee’s permission.
b. Link one of the readings and issues/key concepts dealt with in the course with your
project. How do the experiences of the person you are working with relate to
and/or change the theories/concepts in the reading? What new knowledge or
questions have arisen in the course of your project in relation to the course
material?
c. Submit a one-page typed outline of oral presentation responding to a. and b.
above. (I will collect them at the beginning of class, so bring two copies.)
11
d. Be prepared to field comments and answer questions from the class.
[OPTION 2]
In four minutes,
a. Create and perform a monologue or skit, read a poem, or design another creative
way to teach us about your interviewee and your time spent together.
b. Submit a one-page typed response to a. and b. from OPTION 1 above. (I will
collect them at the beginning of class, so bring two copies.)
c. Be prepared to field comments and answer questions from the class.
d. INTERVIEW AND TRANSCRIPTION
50 points
Due: Dec. 15
Document at least one of your interviews with a tape recorder, digital recorder, or
video camera for at least 60 minutes. Submit a typed transcript of 10 to 12 singlespaced pages prefaced with a list of questions asked and themes addressed. Make a
copy of the recording and transcript to give to your interviewee. More guidelines are
posted on Blackboard.
e. FINAL PAPER
150 points
Due: Dec. 15
Choose one compelling theme of the life story, research it in scholarly sources, and:
a. Write a research paper that focuses on the life story while contextualizing it in other
research sources. Consider what the interviewee would like the focus to be.
Integrate self-reflection or include a section on self-reflection. 7-9 pages.
OR
b. Write a creative writing paper inspired by your oral history project and research of
relevant scholarly sources. Examples include: a historically and socially grounded
play, a zine, monologue(s)/dialogue(s), a collection of poems, an art or historical
exhibit, etc. Either integrate into the creative paper or write an additional 2-page
self-reflection that addresses your process of transforming an oral history into a
creative piece. 7-9 pages.
*More guidelines will be posted on Blackboard, so make sure to review them.
4. EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES (e.g. mid-course evaluation)
5. WOMEN’S STUDIES COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ALTERNATE ASSIGNMENT
You can replace one week’s worth of writings in your Sentipensante Journal with the
Women’s Studies Community Engagement assignment. The Women's Studies
Department encourages students to explore the connections between theory and
activism by offering students the option to fulfill a percentage of their course
requirements through participation in colloquia, student organizations, and/or
community events relevant to Women's Studies. Students who choose this option will
attend a meeting or event that is at least 1.5 hours long and highlights issues of
significance for women, and write, minimally, a two-page reflection on the event.
Events must be previosuly approved by the instructor and may include: departmental
colloquia or brown bag lunches, meetings of student organizations, and/or lectures or
12
events sponsored by other departments or organizations in the broader San
Diego/Tijuana communities. If you are selecting this option for more than one Women's
Studies class per semester, you must attend different events and write different
reflections for each class. Turning in the same paper for credit in more than one class is
considered cheating.
If you choose this assignment, you must answer all of the following questions:
*What event did you participate in?
*How does this event/ presentation/organization/film/etc. relate to Women’s Studies in
general and the issues and ideas addressed in Women of Color in the U.S. in
particular?
*How did it challenge you to think differently and/or what is something new that you
learned?
*What else would you have liked to have seen/heard discussed at the event (that is
relevant)?
Be specific and refer to concepts, ideas, lectures, and/or readings from the course.
“A” and “B” papers will be those that thoughtfully integrate at least two concepts
and/or readings from the course. You must also describe what you did to fulfill the
assignment (e.g. participated in an organizational meeting, attended a museum
exhibit, etc.). I will regularly announce approved events in class as well as post them
on Blackboard, but if you have additional suggestions you are welcome to share them
with me. Your reflection is due as part of your Sentipensante Journal I or II under a
separate identifying tab. Remember, this will take the place of one week’s worth of
Journaling and Class Note-taking. Make sure to note what exact two days/week it is
replacing at the top of your paper.
*PLEASE NOTE: If you participate in the special day-long Teach-in on the Effects of
Budget Cuts on Women on Wednesday, October, 5th or The Reproductive and Sexual
Justice Healing Circle and Training on Friday, November 4th, you can replace two
week’s worth of writings in your Sentipensante Journal or get extra credit. Follow the
same instructions for the write-up above. For registration information about this event,
see the Women’s Studies Department home page.
13
Appendix 1: Grading Policies, Course Policies and Additional Information
Grading Policies
Grades are calculated on a standard scale, with pluses and minuses as appropriate. Late
submissions are only allowed for exceptional circumstances and with previous approval
from instructor. The Graduate Assistant and I will always make an effort to return assignments
within two weeks. Criteria for assigning grades is as follows:
A = outstanding, available for highest accomplishments
B = praiseworthy, above average
C = average, satisfactory performance
D = minimally passing, below average
F = failing
If you are taking the course for credit/no credit, you must earn a “C” to receive credit. If
you receive 73% or below you get a “no credit.”
The assignment of letter grades for 1000 points is as follows:
B+ = 870-890 C+ = 770-790 D+ = 670-690
A = 940-1000 B = 840-860 C = 740-760 D = 640-660
A- = 900-930 B- = 800-830 C- = 700-730 D- = 600-630
F = < 600
No curves
*Please note, there may be more or less points possible by the end of the semester.
Course Policies
STATEMENT REGARDING MATURE CONTENT, INCLUDING ABOUT SEX, SEXUALITY, &
VIOLENCE:
***Warning
Some of the assigned films and/or visual images studied in this course contain
graphic violence and/or sexual content, which may be perceived as offensive or
disturbing to some viewers. Any students with concerns about this should meet with
the instructor at least one week prior to our scheduled viewing of a film or visual
images to discuss those concerns.
SEEKING HEALING RESOURCES: Throughout the class we may have emotionally intense
readings and discussions that address experiences that impact one’s health and
wellbeing, such as: violence towards women and girls and racism, homophobia,
and other forms of oppression. If you would like to speak further about these issues, I
am available during office hours and email and can also refer you to relevant
organizations and trained counselors. I have also gathered some local resources for
your information and in the service of healing. I encourage you to consult trained
counselors at:
•SDSU’s Counseling and Psychological Services: 619-594-5220
•Family Justice Center: 619-533-6000
•San Diego Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault 24-hour Hotline: 1-888-DVLINKS or 1888-385-4657
14
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: Students who need accommodation of disabilities should
contact me privately to discuss specific accommodations for which you have
received authorization. If you have a disability, but have not contacted Student
Disability Services at 619-594-6473 (Calpulli Center, Third Floor, Suite 3101), please do so
before making an appointment to see me.
EMERGENCIES: If you have an unexpected emergency and miss turning in a major
assignment, you must notify me via email. Documentation of emergency is
required. However, there are no make-ups for quizzes.
ABSENCES: You do not need to notify me about the circumstances surrounding your
absence in general, unless you have an emergency or special circumstances and
would like to request the opportunity to turn in an assignment. If so, proper
documentation is required (e.g. signed and dated doctor’s note, towing company
bill, memorial flyer). By the end of the second week of classes, students should notify
me regarding planned absences for religious observances, athletic competitions, or
academic conferences or meetings. If you know you will be absent, submit your
work in advance.
RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES: Students whose religious obligations will require them to miss
class any time this semester should inform the instructor by the end of the second
week of classes. Religious observances are the only excused absences allowed.
APPEALING A GRADE: You can appeal a grade by using these guidelines:
1. Must be appealed within one week after assignments have been handed back.
2. Must include a typed explanation thoroughly outlining the reason(s) why you
think your assignment was not graded properly.
3. Must include the original copy of your graded paper.
If you do not feel that the professor’s decision is fair, you can make a meeting with
the Women’s Studies Department chair to discuss the issue further.
CHEATING & PLAGIARISM: Violations of academic integrity will be reported to the university
Disciplinary office. This includes: "recycling” or “borrowing” papers or parts of papers
from other courses or students, purchasing papers on-line or from other paper brokers,
plagiarizing and other forms of academic dishonesty. Plagiarism will not be tolerated.
Do not copy someone else’s work or ideas without giving them credit, and do not
summarize someone else’s ideas without giving them credit. Be very careful when
researching on the Internet. Always consider the source of the material, and make
sure to explicitly cite the website from which you gathered the information. Penalties
for plagiarism range from an “F” grade to expulsion from the university. If you have
questions about what might be considered plagiarism, please ask. Also see Appendix
2 starting on the next page. See the SDSU General Catalogue for more information at
this website: http://coursecat.sdsu.edu/catalog/up.pdf or SDSU’s High Tech Center
website: www.sa.sdsu.edu/htc/Plagiarism.pdf
CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR: Come to class with your readings, books and/or notes, readings
completed, and be prepared to discuss them. Expect that we will cover a wide range
of topics and will not always agree on which interpretations are best. But be prepared
15
to defend your point of view. At the same time, whenever you agree or disagree with
me or with other students, do so respectfully by drawing on course materials and
informed reflections.
It is important that you have a desire to participate in this class. You have a choice
in the courses you take. The nature of this course demands an engaged and openminded approach. Your participation is defined as being actively engaged in
lectures and class discussion through informed speaking, attentive listening, and
taking notes.
Courtesy Reminders:
*ARRIVE ON TIME; repeatly being late will result in point deductions.
*Turn off laptops, internet connections, cell phones, etc. during class.
*IT IS DISRESPECTFUL and UNACCEPTABLE to side-talk, read non-class materials, check
your phone, text message, and sleep during class. You will be asked to leave and will
be docked attendance/participation points.
*Do not start getting ready to leave until the class has ended.
*Let me know if you MUST leave early or arrive late and, if so, sit close to the door.
*Offensive remarks and disrespectful tones and body language are not
acceptable and will affect your participation points.
LAPTOP USE: Because students sometimes abuse laptop privileges (by doing work
unrelated to this class, browsing the Web, checking facebook, etc.) and laptop use
creates a cone of distraction extending around a student, using laptops is NOT
permitted in the class. If you have a special circumstance that requires use of a
laptop please speak to me after class or in office hours to make special
arrangements.
Thinking about a Major or Minor in Women's Studies?
The program offers exciting courses, is committed to women's issues and social justice, and
is adaptable to your interests and concerns. Women's Studies is not impacted! For more
information contact the Undergraduate Advisor: Dr. Doreen Mattingly at
mattingl@mail.sdsu.edu or 594-8033 and review the Women’s Studies Department SDSU
webpage.
16
Appendix 2: Cheating and Plagiarism
Cheating and plagiarism are serious offenses. You are plagiarizing or cheating if you:









for written work, copy anything from a book, article or website and add or paste it
into your paper without using quotation marks and/or without providing the full
reference for the quotation, including page number
for written work, summarize / paraphrase in your own words ideas you got from a
book, article, or the web without providing the full reference for the source
(including page number in the humanities)
for an oral presentation, copy anything from a book, article, or website and present
it orally as if it were your own words. You must summarize and paraphrase in your
own words, and bring a list of references in case the professor asks to see it
use visuals or graphs you got from a book, article, or website without providing the
full reference for the picture or table
recycle a paper you wrote for another class
turn in the same (or a very similar paper) for two classes
purchase or otherwise obtain a paper and turn it in as your own work
copy off of a classmate
use technology or smuggle in documents to obtain or check information in an
exam situation
In a research paper, it is always better to include too many references than not enough.
When in doubt, always err on the side of caution. If you have too many references it might
make your professor smile; if you don’t have enough you might be suspected of
plagiarism.
If you have any question or uncertainty about what is or is not cheating, it is your
responsibility to ask your instructor.
Consequences of cheating and plagiarism
Consequences are at the instructor’s and the Judicial Procedures Office’s discretion.
Instructors are mandated by the CSU system to report the offense to the Judicial
Procedures Office. Consequences may include any of the following:



failing the assignment
failing the class
warning



probation
suspension
expulsion
For more detailed information, read the chapter on plagiarism in the MLA Handbook for
Writers of Research Papers (6th edition, 2003); visit the following website
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml and talk to your professors
before turning in your paper or doing your oral presentation if anything remains unclear.
The University of Indiana has very helpful writing hints for students, including some on
how to cite sources. Please visit http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets.shtml for more
information.
17