ATLANTA METROPOLITAN COLLEGE

The Division of Social Sciences

Course Outline Fall 2007

COURSE ABBREVIATION SOSC 2245

CREDIT HOURS 3

COURSE TITLE Introduction to Women's Studies

PREREQUISITES Exit from Learning Support English, Reading, and Math;

(PSYC 1101: Introduction to Psychology or  SOCI 1101: Introduction to Sociology recommended)

INSTRUCTOR Michelle Geisert, Assistant Professor

Office S156

Phone 404-756-4711

Office Hours: M/W 11:45-12:30; 3:30-4:30 and by appointment 

 email michellegeisert@aol.com or mgeisert@atlm.edu

TEXTBOOKS

WOMEN ACROSS CULTURES: A Global Perspective (2005) 2nd edition

Author: Shawn Meghan Burn Publisher: McGraw Hill ISBN: 0-07-282673-8

Additional handouts

CATALOG DESCRIPTION

This course examines current theory and research on women’s experiences and behaviors in the areas of psychology, sociology, education, economy, politics, and religion. Emphasis is placed on class, racial, and ethnic variations in experience. Coverage includes historical perspectives, and issues of choice as they relate to stereotypes, status, psychological adjustment, and diversity in women. Gender differences and the theories advanced to understand such differences are evaluated critically.

COURSE GOALS Students read material and analyze explanations for women’s status and power worldwide, including biological, sociocultural, historical, and religious components. Students investigate issues affecting women, utilizing their own experiences, and integrating these aspects in order to make connections between the male- dominated social institutions of family, education, politics and law, the economy, and religion with the similarities and differences of women’s status in the United States and worldwide. Students explore the rationale for shared political action across national, regional, cultural, and gender lines and develop steps that can be taken to improve circumstances of all people.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Personal/Social Development

Successful students will:

a. Familiarize themselves with historical and current women’s issues.

b. Be able to understand and appreciate the diversity and commonalities among women throughout the world.

2. Oral Proficiency

Successful students will:

a. Demonstrate confidence in ability to communicate the feminine perspective orally and on paper.

b. Contribute constructively to class discussion on women’s issues.

c. Use terminology appropriate to the Social Sciences.

3. Reading Proficiency

Successful students will:

a. Draw inferences and generalize from material presented in textbook and use a dictionary for unfamiliar terminology.

b. See similarities and differences in their views and the views of the author/s as they pertain to women’s concerns.

4. Writing Proficiency

Successful students will:

a. Conduct scholarly research utilizing appropriate sources and technology that focuses on historical, current, and global position of women.

b. Formulate and express thesis topic.

c. Provide adequate support for topic.

d. Develop a paper with a clear focus, logic and order.

i. Understand the difference between plagiarism and paraphrasing and quoting as well as write and cite sources according to professional guidelines.

ii. Use words, sentences and paragraphs that are complete, clear, correct, and concise.

iii. Proofread for grammar and spelling.

e. Write a word processed scholarly paper using APA, MLA, or other approved format.

COURSE CONTENT

The following activities will take place in the course:

a. Lecture and discussion of assigned readings.

b. Writing assignments appropriate to readings and projects.

c. In class group projects.

d. Oral presentation of research paper.

ASSESSMENT:                                                     Course Grade

Exam 1                                      100 pts                   90% and above (360-400 pts) = A

Exam 2                                      100 pts                   80-89% (320-359 pts) = B

Exam 3                                      100 pts                  70-79% (280-319 pts) = C

Oral Report/Projects              100 pts                   60-69% (240-279 pts) = D

  Total                                       400 pts                Below 60% ( 0-239 pts) = F

CONTENT OUTLINE: (Any changes will be announced in class.)

1. Introduction to Cross-Cultural Study of Women's Issues

2. Women’s Low Status and Power

3. Reproductive Rights

4. Lesbians in Cross-Cultural Perspective 

5. Women’s Work

6. Women and Development

7. Women and Globalization

8. Women and Religion

9. Women in Politics 

10. Gender Equalilty Movements 

11.  Women's Rights as Human Rights

CLASS CALENDAR

Week    Topic

1           Introduction to course

             Introduction to Cross-Cultural Study of Women's Issues

2           Chapter 2: Women’s Low Status and Power

           Documentary: Bride Burning and Fistulas

3        Chapter 3: Reproductive Rights

4       Test 1 Chapter 1-3       

        Chapter 4: Lesbians in Cross-Cultural Perspectives

5      Film: If these walls could talk part 2

6       Chapter 5: Women’s Work  Film: Mona Lisa Smiles or Monster

7       Chapter 6: Women and Development 

Start Individual Presentations 

8       Chapter 7: Women and Globalization 

 9        Chapter 8: Women and Religion      

10       Movie Memoirs of a Geisha

11      Test 2 Chapters 5-8   

12      Chapter 9:  Women in Politics

13      Chapter 10: Gender Equality Movements

14      Chapter 11: Women's Rights as Human Rights

Final Exam Chapters 9-11

Last Class:  

1. Make-up Exams: Missed examinations are at the discretion of the instructor. Students are expected to notify the instructor as soon as possible and provide written verification of emergency.

2. Additional Assignments: Outside assignments are due when assigned and acceptance of late assignments is at the discretion of the instructor. Students who know in advance they will miss a class are encouraged to email the assignment no later than the due date. In class assignments cannot be made up.

3. Attendance

Attendance is strongly encouraged as group activities occur in class, receive participation points, and may not be made up.

4. Cheating and Plagiarism

Cheating is passing off someone else’s work as your own and includes copying exam answers, using notes or books during examinations, and handing in someone else’s work. Plagiarism is the copying of materials directly from a source without quotation marks and the appropriate citations. It is claiming another person’s work, ideas as your own. If there is a suspicion of plagiarism, the students will be asked to submit notes and copies of research materials (books and articles). Cheating and plagiarism is grounds for failure in this class and dismissal from AMC!

5. Students should provide scantrons and #2 pencils for exams.

6. Cell phones should be turned off or silenced during the class period. No cell phone use is permitted during exams.

7. No taping devices are permitted during class without a letter from Disabled Student Services requesting permission.

8.  The individual oral report must include copies of references and notecards to be turned in.

9.  To receive credit on approved extra credit activities, students must type a one page paper about the activity and include supporting documentation such as a ticket stub. 

Books: Supplemental Reading

Andersen, Margaret M. (1997). Thinking about Women. 4^th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Baca Zinn, Maxine, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, and Michael A. Messner (eds.). (1977). Through the Prism of Difference: A Sex and Gender Reader. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Bernard, Jesse. (1972). His and Her Marriage. In John J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 2^nd edition, pp. 250-256. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Dorkenoo, Efua and Scilla Elworthy. (1992). Female Genital Mutilation. In John J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 4th edition, pp. 382-389. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Edgerton, Robert B. (nd) Sick Societies. In James M. Henslin (ed.) Down to Earth Sociology, 8^th edition, pp. 347-354. New York: The Free Press.

Epstein, Cynthia Fuchs, Carroll Seron, Bonnie Oglenshy, and Robert Saute. (1999). The Part-Time Paradox: Time Norms, Professional Life, Family and Gender. New York: Routledge.

Espiritu, Yen Li. (1997). Racial Construction of Asian American Women and Men. In Susan J. Ferguson (ed.) Mapping the Social Landscape, 2^nd edition, pp 356-368.

Fernea, Elizabeth W. and Robert A. Fernea (nd). A Look behind the Veil. In Garth Massey (ed.) Readings for Sociology, 3^rd edition, pp. 107-113. New York: W.W. Norton.

Friedan, Betty. (1993). My Quest for the Fountain of Age. In John J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 4th edition, pp. 251-257. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Gupta, Giri Raj, Love, Arranged Marriage, and the Indian Social Structure. (1979). In John J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 2^nd edition, pp. 262-270. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Gilligan, C. (1982). In a Different Voice: Pyschological Theory and Women’s Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Hole, Judith, and Ellen Levine. (1979). The First Feminists. In Jo Freeman (ed.), Women: A Feminist Perspective. Palo Alto, DA: Mayfield.

Hostetler, John A. (1980). Amish Society. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

James, Stanlie M. and Abena P. A. Busia. (1993). Theorizing Black Feminism. New York: Routledge.

Lopata, Helena Znaniecka. (1996). Widowhood in Israel. In John J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 4th edition, pp. 258-262. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Lorber, Judith. (1994). Paradoxes of Gender. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Mead, Margaret (1935). Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies. In John J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 3rd edition, pp. 209-214. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Mitford, Jessica. (1992). Fashions in Childbirth. In Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life, 2^nd Edition, pp. 74-84. Newman, David M. (ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Pipher, Mary. (1994). Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. New York: Ballantine.

Reinharz, Shulamit. (1992). Feminist Research Methods. In John J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 3rd edition, pp. 22-28. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Richardson, Laurel, Verta Taylor, and Nancy Whittier (eds.). (1997). Feminist Frontiers IV. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Richmond-Abbot, Marie. (1992). Masculine and Feminine: Sex Roles over the Life Cycle. 2^nd Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Romero, Mary. (1992). Maid in the U.S.A. . In John J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 4th edition, pp. 277-283. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Ronai, Carol Rambo, Barbara A. Zsembik, and Joe R. Feagin (eds.). (1998). Everyday Sexism in the Third Millennium. New York: Routledge.

Sudbury, Julia. (1998). Other Kinds of Dreams: Black Women's Organizations and the Politics of Transformation. New York: Routledge.

Sidel, Ruth. (1996). Keeping Women and Children Last: America’s War on the Poor. New York: Penguin.

Smith, Jane I. (1987). Women and Islam. In John J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 4th edition, pp. 340-346. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Stack, Carol B. (1990). "Different Voices, Different Visions: Gender, Culture, and Moral Reasoning." In Faye Ginsburg and Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing (eds.), Uncertain Terms: Negotiating Gender in American Culture. Boston: Beacon Press, pp. 19-27.

Tannen, Deborah. (1990). You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation. New York: Ballantine Books.

Thorne, Barrie. (1993). Boys and Girls Together…But Mostly Apart. In Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life, 2^nd Edition, pp. 102-113. Newman, David M. (ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Wolf, Naomi (1990). The Beauty Myth. In John J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 3rd edition, pp. 215-221. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Wikan, Unni. (1982). Behind the Veil in Arabia: Women in Oman. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Periodicals: Supplemental Reading

Ahn, J. N. & Gilber, N. (1992). Cultural Diversity and sexual abuse prevention. Social Service Review, 66, 3, 410-427.

Amott, Theresa. (1993). Caught in the Crisis: Women and the U.S. Economy Today. New York: Monthly Review Press.

Blackwood, Evelyn. (1984). Sexuality and Gender in Certain Native American Tribes: The Case of Cross-Gender Females. Signs, 10, 27-42.

Jacobs, J. (1993). Gender, race, class and the trend towards early motherhood: A feminist analysis of teen mothers in contemporary society. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 22, 4, 442-462.

Lye, D. N. & Biblarx, P. J. (1993). The effects of attitudes toward family life and gender roles on marital satisfaction. Journal of Family Issues, 14, 2, 157-188.

Riley, Nancy E. (1997). Gender, Power, and Population Change. Population Bulletin, 52 (May): entire issue.

Rogers, Susan Carol. (1978). Women’s Place: A Critical Review of Anthropological Theory. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 20, 1, 123-162.

Simon, Rita J., Angela J. Scanlan, and Pamela Madell. (1993). Rabbis and Ministers: Women of the Book and Cloth. Sociology of Religion, 54, 1, 115-122.

Sociologist’s for Women in Society. (1986). Facts about Pay Equity. (April): entire issue.

Weitzmaq, Lenore J., Beborah Eifler, Elizabeth Hokkada, and Catherine Ross. (1972). Sex-Role Socialization in Picture Books for Preschool Children. American Journal of Sociology, 77, 1125-1150.

West, Candance, and Don Zimmerman. (1987). Doing Gender. Gender & Society, 1, 125-151.

Online resources

1. African-American Family History Texts Bibliography

http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~women/bibs/bibl-aframerfam.html

2. African American-American Women On-line Archival Collections Special Collections Library, Duke University http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/collections/african-american-women.html

3. All About Families http://www.allaboutfamilies.org/ 

4. American Women’s Self Defense Association (AWSDA) http://www.awsda.org

5. Angela Shelton-Break the Silence http://www.searchingforangelashelton.com

6. Asian American Concerns and Issues

7. Center for Multilingual, Multicultural Research: Native American Resources

http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~cmmr/Native_American.html

8. Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education

9. Colonial Life: Redefining Family http://history.org/life/family/essay.htm

10. The National Organization for Women http://www.now.org

11. 21^st Century feminism http://www.ifeminists.com

12. Women and Gender in Ancient Egypt http://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Exhibits/WomenandGender/intro.html

13. Women’s magazine founded by Gloria Steinem- leader in feminism http://www.msmagazine

14. http://www.brenau.edu/womenscenter/news.htm

15.  Crime and other Statistics by zipcode  http://www.kw.com/kw/framed/city_reports_frame.jsp