Contact the professor Celebrating Women website ACS Women's Studies Conference	Reading list	Information about Service Learning; Service-learning placements
Course description	Assignments; Groups for group presentations	Useful bibliography (Leyburn course guide)
Objectives	Final grade	Helpful links
Methodology; Service Learning	Class schedule	Women's Studies Homepage

According to the Catalog, "This course illustrates the rationale and necessity of women studies and women issues, presents a plurality of feminist perspectives in a dialogic manner, and broadens the views and knowledge of students with regard to various theories that have developed over the past several decades in the area of feminist thought.  Furthermore, the course familiarizes students with some major achievements by women thinkers, artists, performers, writers, scientists, and scholars and the contributions that these achievements have made to knowledge and to our lives in general.  The course is interdisciplinary in approach and methodology, and draws ideas and theories from the various disciplines and areas of artistic and intellectual expression, with a view to present a rich and complex understanding of the issues concerning women and feminism, as well as of the important roles that women have played throughout history, in shaping our world."

Objectives

This semester we want to focus on four areas in order to accomplish the goals outlined in the course description:  (1) understanding the impact of feminist theory and Women's Studies on the production of knowledge in the academy, (2) learning about topics and ideas that have been central to the field of Women's Studies, (3) applying Women's Studies topics and ideas to other academic disciplines, and (4) applying these topics and ideas to non-academic environments, especially in a service-learning context.

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• This class requires active participation in class discussion and presentation of material by individuals and groups.  Tuesday classes will focus on discussion of assigned readings, student presentations, and occasional viewing of films.  Thursday classes will focus on discussion of assigned readings, service learning experiences, and presentations by guest speakers.  For each guest speaker's visit, students must consider material already covered in the course and how it might relate to the speaker's topic in order to write 2-3 questions that can generate good discussion with the invited speaker.
• Students are expected to complete reading assignments outside of class, participate actively in class, work for two hours a week (in Weeks 2 through 10, for a total of 20 hours) in a service learning context, submit bi-weekly journal entries about their service-learning experiences (to be submitted every other Tuesday, beginning on Tuesday, January 17), and complete bi-weekly written assignments (to be submitted every other Tuesday, beginning on Tuesday, January 10).  There is a final exam.
• Class discussions are constant and lively.  We will depend upon a sense of mutual respect in order to establish a collaborative learning environment.

• Service Learning

Each student works for two hours a week during weeks 2 through 10 in the Rockbridge community to learn more about women's issues outside the classroom.  Students should contribute as much as they can in their work environment and also apply what they are learning in class to what they are observing at work.  Every other week, students write 150-200 word journal entries (typed and kept in a journal folder) in which they discuss their observations about women's issues that arise in the service-learning environment.  Journal entries, which can be considered "field notes" for class discussion, are due in class every other Tuesday.  Students are placed in organizations that focus on women and: families, work, the legal system, health, reproductive rights, violence.  In addition, in 2006, there are placements available with the Habitat for Humanity Women's Build and with WLUR's "She Speaks" women's issues radio program.

Link to service-learning placements.

Link to Shepherd materials on service learning.

 top of page / Mayock homepage / Women's Studies homepage / W&L homepage

• Sheila Ruth:  Issues in Feminism.  An Introduction to Women's Studies.  Mountain View, CA:  Mayfield, 2001.  Fifth Edition. / available in the Bookstore
• Arlie Russell Hochschild (with Anne Machung):  The Second Shift.  New York:  Penguin, 2003.  (Originally published in 1989) / available in the Bookstore
• Other readings, as assigned / distributed by professor

     Recommended reading: 

• bell hooks:  Feminism is for Everybody.  Passionate Politics.  Cambridge, MA:  South End, 2000.  (A brief, coherent summary of the major issues addressed by feminist politics) / Available from www.amazon.com, or the Bookstore can order it for you.

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• Students complete weekly writing assignments, which are due in class by 1:00 p.m. each Tuesday.  Deadlines are firm.  There are standard writing assignments due every other Tuesday and journal assignments due on the Tuesdays in-between.  These journal entries can work like "field notes" and therefore can serve as a starting point for discussion of service-learning experiences in class on Tuesdays.
• All written work should be typed, double-spaced, in a standard font (Times New Roman) with standard margins.  Assignments should include a title at the top of the first page and should be pledged (in class we will discuss the parameters of the Honor System for each assignment).
• As assigned, groups of 5-6 students prepare and present reports and discussion questions on complementary materials for the course (on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays).  Groups must provide a one-page handout for all students and the professor for all oral presentations.  Presentations will last no longer than 10 (!) minutes.  Therefore, the groups must organize carefully their format, content, handout, and discussion questions and must be prepared to answer questions from the class for an additional 4-5 minutes.

GROUPS FOR THE WHOLE TERM:

GROUP A:   Laural, Blaire, Lauren, Lizzy, Allie, Stephanie J.

GROUP B:  Grace, Eli, Ligia, Elizabeth L., Ellen, Iris

GROUP C:  Calvin, Polly, Katherine, Regina, Andrae, Sharyn

GROUP D:  Kim, Courtney, Margaret, Stephanie D., Bethlehem, Megan

GROUP E:  Elham, Ted, Kristen, Taylor, Ashley

• PLEASE NOTE:  Students will also work in these groups to research the history, scope, and mission of one feminist academic journal.  During Week 10, the group as a whole will give a 2-3 minute presentation to the class about the journal.  This presentation should provide a lot of information in a short amount of time and should represent true group work.  Each student will also write a 3-4 page paper in which she or he describes and analyzes the content of the journal and the place of feminist scholarship in the discipline it represents.  The paper should incorporate a brief discussion of two exemplary articles published in the journal.  Students should consider choosing journals related to their academic interests (economics, law, psychology, sociology, literary studies, politics, interdisciplinary fields, etc.) and consulting with professors from those fields.  Students need to make sure to choose a legitimate academic journal (targets an academic audience, peer reviews submissions, has an editorial board of scholars). 

Final Grade
 

*Please note:  Each student must plan to attend three campus events related to women's issues.  The professor might require one specific event, depending on scheduling.  Please consult the Celebrating Women homepage for a listing of events and let Professor Mayock know which events you have attended.

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