Disclaimer: Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor. In the event that there are changes to the syllabus, I will notify you both in-person and electronically.
Course Schedule:
Week 1: Foundations – What is Gender?
W 8/27
Introductions and overviews
F 8/29
Read: Judith Lorber, "The Social Construction of Gender" (PDF)
Watch (before class): Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “We Should All Be Feminists" (link on Canvas)
Week 2: Intersectionality and Identities
M 9/1
No class – Labor Day
W 9/3
Read: Audre Lorde, "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House" (PDF)
Listen: Podcast Episode: “Introduction to Intersectionality” from Theoryish (link on Canvas)
F 9/5
Read: Gloria Anzaldua, "La Conciencia de la Mestiza" (PDF)
Week 3: Biology, Bodies, and Science
M 9/8
Read: Anne Fausto-Sterling, "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough" (PDF)
W 9/10
Read: Emily Martin, "The Egg and the Sperm" (PDF)
F 9/12
Read: Boston Women's Health Book Collective, Course Introduction to "Our Bodies, Ourselves" (PDF)
Week 4: Feminist Movement History
M 9/15
Watch in Class: She's Beautiful When She's Angry and Storming Caesar's Palace
W 9/17
Watch in Class: She's Beautiful When She's Angry and Storming Caesar's Palace
F 9/19
Watch in Class: She's Beautiful When She's Angry and Storming Caesar's Palace
Week 5: Gender Identity
M 9/22
Discuss both documentaries from last week
W 9/24
Read: “Chapter 4: Performances” from Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions (PDF)
F 9/26
Read: Juliet Jacques, "What Sort of Woman Do I Want to Be?" (link on Canvas)
Week 6: Aging, Beauty, and Representation
M 9/29
Read: Susan Sontag, "The Double Standard of Aging" (PDF)
Read: Naomi Wolf, "The Beauty Myth" (PDF)
W 10/1
Watch in class: Killing Us Softly 4
F 10/2
Watch in class: Killing Us Softly 4
Week 7: Masculinity Studies
M 10/6
Read: Alan Johnson, "Can a Man Be a Human Being?"(link on Canvas)
W 10/8
Read: Allison Pugh, "Men at Work"(link on Canvas)
F 10/10
Read: C.J. Pascoe, “Making Masculinity: Adolescence, Identity, and High School” (PDF)
Week 8: Family, Marriage, and Motherhood
M 10/13
No Class – Fall Break
W 10/15
Read: Emma Green, “The Case for Having Lots of Kids” (PDF)
F 10/17
Due: Midterm Exam
Listen: Podcast: "A Former Trad Wife on What It Actually Takes to Leave" (link on Canvas)
Read: Claire Cain Miller, “Millennial Men Aren't The Dads They Thought They'd Be” (PDF)
Week 9: Work and the Economy
M 10/20
Read: Arlie Hochschild, excerpt from The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home (PDF)
W 10/22
Read: Marianne Cooper, “Why Women (Sometimes) Don’t Help Other Women” (PDF)
F 10/22
Watch: Documentary: 9to5: The Story of a Movement
Week 10: Reproductive Rights and Health
M 10/27
Finish 9to5 film and discuss
W 10/29
Read: “Introduction to the Turnaway Study” (link on Canvas)
Watch (before class): “What Happens When We Deny People Abortions?” (link on Canvas)
F 10/31
Listen: Podcast: Tested, Episode 1: The Choice (link on Canvas)
Watch in class: Documentary: Period. End of Sentence
Week 11: #MeToo and Sexual Violence
M 11/3
Read: Alexis Okeowo, "What Happened to the Women of #MeToo" (PDF)
W 11/5
Read: Ellie Batten, “The Shifting Dynamics of College Hookup Culture”
Listen: “The Death of Feminism” (link on Canvas)
F 11/7
Read: Excerpt from In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (PDF)
Week 12: Media and Representation
M 11/10
Watch in class: Documentary: Breaking the News
W 11/12
Watch in class: Documentary: Breaking the News
F 11/14
Watch (before class): “The Bechdel Test for Women in Movies” (link on Canvas)
Watch (before class): “We Should Scrap the Bechdel Test” (link on Canvas)
Week 13: Technology and Feminism
M 11/17
Read: Donna Haraway, “A Cyborg Manifesto"(PDF)
W 11/19
Listen: “Why Tech Needs Feminism” (link on Canvas)
F 11/21
Listen: “Invisible Women” (link on Canvas)
Week 14
11/24-11/28 – No Class – Thanksgiving Break
Week 15: Contemporary Debates and Future Directions
M 12/1
Read: Sara Ahmed’s “A Killjoy Manifesto” (link on Canvas)
W 12/3
Read: Kat Rosenfield, “Should Your Husband Tie Your Shoes” (PDF)
Read: “Why Women are Weary of the Emotional Labor of ‘Mankeeping’” by Catherine Pearson (PDF)
F 12/5
Last Day of Class
Read: Faith Hill, “First Came Tea. Then Came Male Rage” (PDF)
Finals Week:
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 1:00 pm, Final Projects Due