SOC 238/WOM 138: Sociological Perspectives on Gender (3cr.)

Spring 2003

UW-Marathon

 

Instructor:  Dr. Ann Herda-Rapp                                       

Office:  325 North Hall                                                        

Office phone:  715/261-6269          

Email:  aherdara@uwc.edu                                          

Meeting time:  TR 2:30-3:45

 

Office hours:     T 10:00-11:00

                            W 4:00-4:45

    R  10:00-11:00

                            or by appointment

Office hours are set up for you, so please take advantage of them.  Sometimes it is hard for me to determine if students are having difficulties;  thus I hope you will visit during office hours if you have problems or simply want to visit.  My door is always open (though perhaps not literally).

 

Course Overview

A sociological examination of roles assigned to women and men in society, including the experiences of marriage, parenthood, employment and occupational attainment.  Pays particular attention to gender role socialization and its cultural reinforcement, to patterns of gender relations and to ongoing changes.

 

Required Texts

The following is required for this course.  You can purchase it at the bookstore. 

 

Kimmel, Michael.  2000.  The Gendered Society.  New York: Oxford University Press.

 

We will also complete several exercises from another book, Sex and Gender: Student Projects and

Exercises by Cheryl Rickabaugh (McGraw Hill, 1998).  This book will be on reserve in the library

(go to the Circulation desk and ask for the Soc. 238 reserve book) but you might want to purchase

it.  It is available at the bookstore.

 

 

Course Requirements --- Assignment dates and the course structure are subject to change.

Total course points = 425 total points

 

·         Exams (2) ---    Each worth 100 pts.

      Total exam points:  200

Two exams will be administered over the course of the semester, one a mid-term exam and the other a comprehensive final exam (see pgs. 3-4 for dates of exams).  Both exams will consist of multiple choice, short answer and essay questions. 

Make-up exams will be given only in cases of medical or other emergencies, and will require written documentation from a physician or counselor (the latter in the case of deaths or other personal tragedies).  There will be no exceptions.  You must notify me of your absence prior to the scheduled exam date. 

 

·         “Doing Gender” Exercises  --- 210 pts.

Over the course of the semester, you will complete 14 different projects/exercises from Rickabaugh’s book (on reserve at the library).  Each exercise is worth 15 points. 

 

§         Theatre Event --- 15 pts.

You will be required to attend one of two theatre events on campus this semester: The Vagina Monologues (Feb. 14) or The Laramie Project (March 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, and 15). You will then write a 3 page (typed, double-spaced) reaction paper consisting of no more than one page of summary; the remainder would be your reaction to the play and application of course concepts. In other words, you will use course ideas to think about, respond to, react to the play.

 

§         Class Participation

While there are no points allotted for class participation, this class will flop without it.  We all have a vested interest in making this a lively and intellectually engaging class.  Since this class is structured around the readings --- we use them organizationally and as points of discussion --- you MUST come to class prepared.  Plan on spending at least a few hours reading (i.e., studying) each week.  And come to class ready to talk about those readings.

 

Late paper policy

The “Doing Gender” exercises and theatre reaction paper will be due by the start of class time, 2:30.  However, over the course of the semester, you will be permitted to turn one paper in late but under the following conditions:

·         You must contact me—by calling my office (and following up with a written note) or e-mailing me (see syllabus for both)—at least 24 hours before the paper is due to notify me that the paper will be late. 

·         You have one week after the paper’s due date to get the paper to me without penalty.  The paper is still due at that start of class.  So, if a paper is due on a Tuesday, you would be able to turn the paper in by the next Tuesday at 2:30 and not lose points.

·         If you don’t get the paper in after that week, it will lose one point (out of its 15) for each business day it continues to be late.

Beyond that one late paper, I will NOT accept late papers.  I do not want to be (and will not be) inundated with papers at the end of the semester as students try to shore up their grade. 

 

Grade Scale

The grade scale followed for this course is that established by the university.  Below I give corresponding points for this course.

A = 90%-100% = 383-425 pts.

B = 80%-89% = 340-382 pts

C = 70%-79% = 298-339 pts.

D = 60%-69% = 255-297 pts.

F = 59% or lower = 254 or less

[+ and – grades will be assigned for the highest & lowest point values in each grade category]

 

 

Miscellaneous Notes

Academic integrity:  Plagiarism in/of papers will not be tolerated.  Students who plagiarize either by copying a paper or using sources improperly (i.e., using the author’s words without citation) may receive a 0 for the assignment.   Severe infractions may result in an F for the course.  

 

Language:  As a sociologist, I believe language is tremendously powerful in defining a situation or group of people.  With that in mind, I ask that students refrain from referring to adult women (over 18 years of age) as “girls”;  rather, they are “women”.  And likewise, adult men are “men”, not “boys”. 

 

Absences:  Attendance does not figure into your grade explicitly.  This is not to suggest that attendance and participation in class are not crucial.  Participation will make the ideas accessible and will foster a positive learning environment.  And, without attending regularly and keeping up with the readings, you will simply be lost.  We cover too much material—material often not introduced in the readings—to miss class.  Knowing this, students who miss class are taking a risk, particularly since it is the student’s responsibility to access the missed material (though not from the instructor) on their own.  Such responsibility for one’s own learning is the cornerstone of a university education. 

 

Students with special needs:  Students for whom English is a second language and students with documented learning disabilities should see the instructor at the start of the semester to discuss accommodations. 

 

Cell phones:  please turn them off when entering class.  Should it go off during class, please have the courtesy to shut it off immediately;  do not answer it in the classroom!

 

 

Course Outline

The assigned readings will be discussed on the day they are posted unless otherwise stated in class. On some days, there are no assigned readings.  You should not take this to mean we do not meet.  This schedule of readings and assignments is subject to change at the instructor’s discretion.

 

Date	Topic	Reading Assignment	Written Assignment
1/21	Intro. to course
1/23	Intro. to sociology and course perspective	Kimmel, ch. 1
1/28	Biological perspectives on gender	Kimmel, ch. 2
1/30	(cont’d)
2/4	Cross cultural perspectives on gender	Kimmel, ch. 3; Blackwood (handout).
2/6	(cont’d)
2/11	(cont’d)
2/13	Sex role perspectives on gender	Kimmel, ch. 4
2/14	(cont’d)   Reminder: The Vagina Monologues plays tonight at 7:00 and 9:00 in the UWMC theatre.
2/18	(cont’d)		Ex. 5.2, and Ex. 5.1 or 5.6 (remember to bring and present the letter included in your syllabus.)
2/20	The social constructionist perspective on gender	Kimmel, ch. 5; Thorne (handout).
2/25	(cont’d)
2/27	(cont’d)
3/4	(cont’d)		Ex. 1.4, and Ex. 1.1 or 1.2
3/6	The gendered family	Kimmel, ch. 6; Coltrane (handout).
3/7 & 3/8	Reminder: The Laramie Project plays both nights at 7:30 in the UWMC theatre.
3/9	(cont’d)   Distribute study guide for exam 1.   Reminder: The Laramie Project plays at 2:00.		Ex. 9.4, and Ex. 10.2 or 10.3
3/11	(cont’d)
3/13	Exam 1
3/13, 3/14, 3/15	Reminder: The Laramie Project plays at 7:30 in the UWMC theatre.
3/17-3/21	No classes – Spring break
3/25	Gendered educations	Kimmel, ch. 7; Sadker and Sadker (handout).; Sommers (handout)
3/27	(cont’d)
4/1	(cont’d)		Ex. 6.1 or 6.5
4/3	The gendered workplace	Kimmel, ch. 8; Kaufman (handout); “The Glass Ceiling” (handout).
4/8	(cont’d)
4/10	(cont’d)		Ex. 10.4, and Ex. 7.1 or 7.2
4/15	Gendered intimacies & gendered sexualities	Kimmel, ch. 9
4/17	(cont’d)
4/22	(cont’d)	Kimmel, ch. 10
4/24	(cont’d)		Ex. 9.1 and Ex. 9.2
4/29	The gender of violence	Kimmel, ch. 11; “A Boy’s Life” (handout); Gilmore (handout).
5/1	(cont’d)		Ex. 3.3 and Ex. 8.6
5/6	(cont’d)
5/8	Course wrap-up   Distribute review sheet for comprehensive final exam.	Kimmel, Epilogue	Ex. 12.1
5/13	Final Exam – 3:30-5:30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 17, 2003

 

 

To the Store Manager:

 

The student presenting this letter is completing an exercise for their Sociology course.  The exercise requires that they describe and analyze certain features of your store’s products.  This research may require that they examine the products and product placement.  The research may take as much as one hour.  Hence, the student might draw your attention.  For this reason, I have asked each student to present you with this letter.  All participating students understand that they are to conduct their research with respect for you and your customers.  I have every confidence that they will do so.  I hope that you will afford them the benefit of this research. 

 

Should you have any questions regarding the research or participating students, please feel free to contact me at 261-6269.  We appreciate your patience. 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Professor Ann Herda-Rapp

Department of Anthropology & Sociology