Contact the professor	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.

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

• This class requires active participation in class discussion and presentation of material by individuals and groups.  Monday classes will focus on discussion of assigned readings and service learning experiences.  Wednesday classes will focus on discussion of assigned readings, student presentations, and occasional viewing of films.  Friday classes will focus on assigned readings 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 4-6 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 a service learning context, submit weekly journal entries about their service-learning experiences, and complete weekly written assignments.  There is a final exam.
• Class discussions are constant and lively and depend on mutual respect in order to contribute to a collaborative learning environment.

• Service Learning

Each student works for two hours a week 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.  Each 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 on Mondays.  Students are placed in organizations that focus on women and: families, work, the legal system, health, reproductive rights, violence.

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.

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

• Students complete weekly writing assignments, which are due to my office (Office of the Dean of the College, Washington Hall 25 [second floor]) by 4pm each Friday.  Deadlines are firm.
• 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).
• In addition, after working two hours each week in service-learning placements, students submit each Monday journal entries of 150-200 words in which they document their experiences and react to them.  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 Mondays.
• As assigned, groups of 5-6 students prepare and present reports and discussion questions on complementary materials for the course (on Wednesdays).  Groups must provide a one-page handout for all students and the professor for all oral presentations.  Presentations will last no longer than five (!) 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 2-3 minutes.

GROUPS FOR THE WHOLE TERM:

GROUP A:   Emily Ballengee, Shaun Edwards, John Gaffney, Lindsey Kneipper

GROUP B:  Katie Duncan, Anne Hassell, Jessica Hopper, Liz Lyman, Kristi Williams

GROUP C:  Kristen Brown, Kate Lester, Akwugo Onuekwusi, Erin Rathbone, Sarah Tilbor

GROUP D:  Emily DeVoe, Wendy Kang, Jeonghae Pak, Kate Shellnutt

• Students also work in groups of two or three to research the history, scope, and mission of one feminist academic journal.  During Week 5, 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 two campus events related to women's issues.  This term, one specific one is required (Professor Cintron's Women's Studies Colloquium on May 5).  A small selection of events is listed on our course calendar.  Just let Professor Mayock know which other event you have attended.

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