Syllabus WGSS 7700Introduction to Graduate Studies in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Autumn 2013Prof. Linda Mizejewski 286D University Hallmizejewski.1@osu.edu 292-2467Office hours Thursdays 11-2 and by appointment

Accommodation of students with disabilities. Students who need to have an accommodation for disability are responsible for contacting the professor and TA as soon as possible. The Office for Disability Services (150 Pomerene Hall; 292-3307; 292-0901 TDD) verifies the need for accommodations and assists in the development of accommodation strategies.

Course description: This course is an introduction to scholarship in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The goal is to introduce you to the major theoretical debates and issues in the field and to train you in academic scholarship through a series of increasingly sophisticated written and oral assignments.

Required Texts: (available only at SBX Bookstore)

Braidotti, Rosi ,Metamorphoses: Towards a Materialist Theory of Becoming. Cambridge, UK: Polity, 2002.

Butler, Judith. Bodies That Matter. New York and London: Routledge, 1990. ---. Gender Trouble. New York and London: Routledge, 1993. Foucault, Michel. History of Sexuality: An Introduction. 1978. Trans. Robert Hurley.

New York: Vintage, 1990. Harding, Sandra, ed.. Feminist Standpoint Theory Reader. New York and London:

Routledge, 2004. (available as online rental)Richardson, Diane et al. eds. Intersections between Feminist and Queer Theory. 2006.

Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.Sandoval, Chela. Methodology of the Oppressed. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 2000.

Our web tool is Carmen. The syllabus, power point presentations, and some of the reading assignments will be posted on Carmen. At carmen.osu.edu, use your internet username (last name.#) and password to log in. PC users may do better on Firefox than on Internet Explorer; Mac users should use Safari.

Bibliography of essays on Carmen:

Coleman, Jenny. "An Introduction To Feminisms In A Postfeminist Age." Women's Studies Journal 23.2 (2009): 3-13.

Coles, Tony. "Negotiating the Field of Masculinity: The Production and Reproduction of Multiple Dominant Masculinities."  Men and Masculinities 12.1 (2009): 30-44.

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Connell, R. W.  "The Social Organization of Masculinity."  Masculinities. 2nd Ed. Berkeley and L.A.: U of Cal. P, 2005.67-86.

Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review 43.6 (1991). 1241-1299.

Hewitt, Nancy A. "Feminist Frequencies: Regenerating The Wave Metaphor." Feminist Studies 38.3 (2012): 658-680.

hooks, bell. “Solidarity.” Writing Beyond Race: Living Theory and Practice.New York and London: Routledge, 2013. 39-57 ( e-book at OSU library)

--- and Tanya McKinnon. "Sisterhood: Beyond Public And Private." Signs: Journal Of Women In Culture & Society 21.4 (1996): 814-829.

Matua, Athena D. "The Multidimensional Turn: Revisiting Progressive Black Masculinities." Unpublished essay.

Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses.” Feminist Review 30 (1988): 61-88

Nash, Jennifer C. “Re-thinking Intersectionality.” Feminist Review (2008) 89, 1–15. Tomlinson, Barbara. “To Tell the Truth and Not Get Trapped: Desire, Distance, and

Intersectionality at the Scene of Argument.” Signs 38. 4, (Summer 2013). 993-1017.

Assignments and grading:

Professionalism: Graduate students are expected to be present and on time for every class and to submit assignments at deadline. In all graduate classes, you are expected to have read all the assignments and marked them with questions and comments. Thoughtful participation in class discussions is also required. In the spirit of intellectual curiosity, I encourage you to question the texts and each other in a respectful manner and in the discourse of critical thinking.

For every class: Please bring in at least two written questions for each essay or chapter assigned. We will use these to facilitate discussions. In addition, for this class and any graduate class, you should bring to class all readings marked and annotated for passages that are important or need clarification.

1. Abstract, one page, double-spaced: The abstract is the foundation of academic writing. It requires that you pinpoint the main thesis and the supporting arguments of an essay or book. An abstract is descriptive, not critical. Your job is to explain what the author is doing. An abstract should be no more than one paragraph long and should begin with a full bibliographical citation. I will give you feedback on this assignment but won’t grade it. It will serve as a diagnostic for your writing.

2. Short response paper on standpoint theory or hooks essay, 1 page double-spaced, for presentation to the class. Please email your paper to me by 10 p.m. the night before class so that I can post it on Carmen. A response paper does not summarize the essay but goes directly into a critical dialogue with the writer. This is a short response paper that will focus on one particular argument or point made by the writer. Response

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papers should open up that point or argument by complicating it, making a comparison, or extending the argument. The response paper should end with a critical question for further debate. (10% of final grade)

3. Collaborative response paper on a theorist, 2 pp. double-spaced: This response paper is similar to the one described above but is longer and can take up more than one critical issue in the reading. Because the team will then lead a 30-minute discussion, the paper should end with several questions that can open the conversation. (20% of final grade)

4. Events journal, due last day of class: As an exercise in becoming part of the academic community, you are required to attend three campus or-off-campus lectures, forums, or conference papers, taking notes for a summary and response to the event. This journal should contain one double-spaced page for each of the three events you attended. Your one-page response should summarize the main points you took away from the talk or forum. I will post on Carmen the campus lectures and conferences that are announced throughout the semester. If you are a WGSS major, I highly encourage you to attend at least one day of the National Women’s Studies Conference in Cincinnati, Nov. 7-10. (20% of final grade)

5. Team presentations: In presenting the three essays assigned that day and teaching the class, the team should have three pedagogical goals. First, what do the essays teach us about feminist theory and methodology? Second, how can we bring the essays into dialogue with each other and with students in the class so that we engage in critical conversation? The third and final aim of each class session is to work with the class in setting up the main components of a review essay encompassing the day’s material. That is, each of these classes should be practice sessions for your final paper. Introduce important terms, including glossary terms or terms to add to the glossary. Use handouts if you’d like. (20% of final grade.)

6. Review essay, 8-10 pages double-spaced. Your final course paper will enable you to use your skills in connecting ideas, responding to arguments, posing critical questions, and engaging in a critical conversation. Your assignment is to find three academic essays on a topic you select, preferably one that fits your academic interests: feminist theory (Black feminist theory, feminist and queer theory, feminist poststructuralism, etc.), a woman of color issue, a transnational issue, a health issue, body issue (eating disorders, makeovers), reproductive rights, motherhood, maternity policy, mother-daughter relations, ecofeminism, rape, global sexual rights, women and the workforce, sex workers, women and violence, women and welfare, women and sports, lesbian identity/lifestyle, queer or transgender issues, sexual harassment, women and addiction, feminist activism. Check with me if your topic is not on this list. You can use essays from anthologies for your review, but you cannot use more than one essay from one anthology. Similarly, you cannot use more than one article from a “Special Issue” of a journal. The point is to get very different perspectives in these three essays. Your bibliography of the three articles is due Nov. 5, and the final paper is due Dec. 9 by 4 p.m. in my mailbox in UH 286.

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This paper should show the skills of critical response and engagement in critical conversation. Make sure your essay briefly sums up each of the articles you have selected before you go into your analysis. Your essay should make connections, comparisons, and contrasts among them. You can conclude with a critical question or with a summary of what you’ve learned about this topic from these three essays. (30% of final grade)

I suggest you look at some review essays in journals to get a sense of how these essays combine description and analysis. For starters, see the Springer review of hooks and Mesa-Bains in Signs 2008. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Plagiarism: As defined by University Rule 3335-31-02, plagiarism is “the representation of another’s works or ideas as one’s own; it includes the unacknowledged word for word use and/or paraphrasing of another person’s work, and/or the inappropriate unacknowledged use of another person’s ideas.” Plagiarism is one of the most serious offenses that can be committed in an academic community; as such, it is the obligation of this department and its instructors to report all cases of suspected plagiarism to the Committee on Academic Misconduct. After the report is filed, a hearing takes place and if the student is found guilty, the possible punishment ranges from failing the class to suspension or expulsion from the university. Although the existence of the Internet makes it relatively easy to plagiarize, it also makes it even easier for instructors to find evidence of plagiarism. It is obvious to most teachers when a student turns in work that is not his or her own and plagiarism search engines make documenting the offense very simple. Always cite your sources. Always ask questions before you turn in an assignment if you are uncertain about what constitutes plagiarism. Always see your TA professor if you are having difficulty with an assignment. To preserve the integrity of OSU as an institution of higher learning, to maintain your own integrity, and to avoid jeopardizing your future, DO NOT PLAGIARIZE! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Class schedule

(Essays are available on Carmen unless marked as FSTR=Feminist Standpoint Theory Reader or IBFQT (Intersections between Feminist and Queer Theory )

I. Major issues and basic academic skills

Aug. 27 Course introduction and overview of assignments.Workshop on academic writing

Sept. 3 Feminist TheoriesColeman, “An Introduction to Feminisms”Hewitt, “Feminist Frequencies”Mohanty, “Under Western Eyes”Workshop: critical analysis and writing an abstract

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Sept. 10 Intersectionality Crenshaw, “Mapping the Margins”Nash, Jennifer C. “Re-thinking Intersectionality.” Tomlinson, Barbara. “To Tell the Truth and Not Get Trapped” Due today: abstract of the Crenshaw essay. For

the other two essays, please bring to class your critical questions/responses as usual.

Workshop: writing a response paper.

For the following three classes, our discussions of each essay will begin with the assigned one-page response papers, which will be posted on Carmen by 10 p.m. the night before class. You are responsible for reading the response papers by class time. For the essays for which you are not writing a response paper, please bring to class your critical questions/responses as usual.

Sept. 17 Standpoint theory I

Hartsock, “The Feminist Standpoint” FSTRHaraway, “Situated Knowledges” FSTRHarding, “Rethinking Standpoint Epistemology” FSTR

Sept. 24 Standpoint Theory IIhooks, “Choosing the Margin” FSTRSandoval, “U.S. Third World Feminism” FSTRCollins, “Learning from the Outsider” FSTR

Oct. 1 (bell hooks campus events this week)hooks, “Solidarity” hooks and McKinnon, “Sisterhood”bell hooks lecture at 4 p.m., 131 Hitchcock Hall

II. Poststructuralism and Feminist Theory

For the following five classes, each student will be part of a team assigned a two-page response paper for a chapter or group of chapters. Your team will present the paper to the class as a way to start a 30-minute discussion of the reading. On days when you are not part of a team, please bring to class your critical questions/responses as usual. Oct. 8 Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Vol I,

Oct. 15 Butler, Gender Trouble, Chapters One and Two

Oct. 22 Butler, Bodies That Matter, Introduction, Chapters One and Three

Oct. 29 Braidotti. Metamorphoses, Prologue and Chapters One and Two

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Nov. 5 Sandoval. Methodology of the Oppressed, Parts Two and FourBibliography of your three articles for review essay due.NWSA at end of week.

III. Entering a critical conversation

For the following three classes, teams will teach a grouping of three essays and lead the class in a collaborative writing of the outline for a review paper of the essays. These sessions are practice workshops for your review paper due at the end of the course. See assignment 5. On days when you are not part of a team, please bring to class your critical questions/responses as usual.

Nov. 12 Coles, “Negotiating the Field of Masculinity”Connell, “Social Organization of Masculinity”Matua, “Multidimensional Turn,” Carmen

Nov 19 Richardson, “Bordering Theory” IBFQTJackson, “Heterosexuality, Sexuality and Gender” IBFQTMcLaughlin, “Return of the Material” IBFQT

Dec. 3 Garber, “On the Evolution of Queer Studies” IBFQTHalberstam, “Boys Will be . . Bois?” IBFQTHennessy, “Value of a Second Skin” IBFQTEvents journal due today

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