INTERSECTIONS OF GENDER, RACE, CLASS AND SEXUALITY
SYLLABUS: WINTER 2009

Instructor
Sheena Malhotra, Ph.D.
Office Jerome Richfield 340
Phone 818-677-7217
email sheena.malhotra@csun.edu
Class Time Mondays and Wednesdays 6-8 or 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES

“Intersections Of Gender, Race, Class And Sexuality” examines race, class, gender as social constructions that are negotiated within specific historical and material locations. We will study the connections between images in popular culture, history, and social practices in our daily lives. From this perspective we will explore how the social roles we perform and consume every day produce and sustain uneven social relations between and among differently situated people and groups. Of particular interest is the way in which gender intersects with other social categories such as race, class, sexuality, and national origin in our daily lives and popular images. By studying these intersections from the perspective of women living them, we move marginalized women from their typically marginal position to the center of the curriculum.

The central aim of the course is to understand gender not as a singular category, but to see the ways in which gender intersects with other axes of power within specific historical contexts to interrogate the complexities of the social forces that shape our lives in contradictory ways. For instance, how does class privilege relate to gender oppression? How does gender privilege intersect with racial oppression? Upon which axes of power are you privileged and/or marginalized? How are we empowered and/or marginalized by social systems that go beyond our immediate lives and yet influence them so deeply? These considerations take place within the material and historical contexts that shape the possibilities of experience that social groups may have.

The course is designed to enable students to become critically reflexive about the cultural representations that we consume and daily practices we perform in which gender, race, class, sexuality, and nation are constituted. Readings, class activities, and homework assignments aim to enable students to analyze and write about gendered identity formation and the political significance of social categories. One desired outcome of the course is to increase students’ sensitivity towards societal issues relating to discrimination, exploitation, and domination.

We will have a special focus on the “War on Terrorism” and the Anti-War movement… particularly as it relates to intersections of gender, race, class & sexuality.


Link to the Main Class Webpage



REQUIRED TEXTS

Alexander, M. J., L. Albrecht, et al., Eds. (2003). Sing, Whisper, Shout, Pray! Feminist Visions for a Just World. New York, Edgework.

WS 350 Reader. Available at “ASAP Copy & Print.” 9250 Reseda Blvd. On the corner of Reseda and Praire. Ph: 818-700-7999.



CLASS POLICIES

Class Participation/ Readings: Class participation is crucial to “getting” the concepts put forth in this class. The content of this course is not “merely” theoretical or political, but rather, it involves our personal lives—our relationships, our careers, our families. The course is designed to “denaturalize” social categories that are political, which does not mean that they are not extremely personal. Having one’s social privilege/ marginality marked, as this course aims to do, is not always a comfortable process to undergo. Yet it is productive. In order to facilitate a “safe” environment—particularly for those students who are taking risks in exploring the forces that marginalize and/or privilege them—students are expected to contribute in meaningful, sensitive, and self-reflexive ways to online class discussions.

Also, because some of the theoretical and critical issues we will deal with in this course are complex, it is important that students stay current on the reading. Reading should be done in advance of class and students should be prepared to contribute well thought-out and relevant questions and content to the discussion. Respect for every student’s experience and opinion will be expected. Please do the readings before logging into the class chats or posting to the discussion boards as they are essential for meaningful discussions to occur. This is part of your participation grade.

Late Work: Turn in papers and projects on the date they are due, unless you have a legitimate university-approved reason (such as a medical emergency). Late work will loose points and may not be accepted if it is submitted more than one week after the due date.

Academic honesty and plagiarism: All assignments must be the student’s own original work. Please cite sources in your papers and familiarize yourself with CSUN guidelines on academic honesty. Plagiarism and cheating are grounds for university action and will not be tolerated. It is the responsibility of the instructor to report any cases of plagiarism to the administration and can result in an “F” on the assignment, in the class.

Attendance: This course covers 2-3 weeks worth of material in every class session. Therefore, if you miss one meeting, you're missing a large chunk of the class. If you miss more than one class session, you will receive an automatic "F" in the course, as it would be the equivalent of missing 5-6 weeks of class in the semester.

 

GRADING

Attendance (online) and Participation level in discussions/chats 15
Online Discussions Boards 15
Response Paper on WAR 10
Auto-Ethnography Paper ... focus on Race 10
Exam 30
Final (Webpage/Blog) Project & Paper 20
TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE 100

 

GRADING SCALE

97-100 A+
87-89 B+
77-79 C+
67-69 D+
93-96 A
83-86 B
73-76 C
63-66 D
90-92 A-
80-82 B-
70-72 C-
60-62 D-

ASSIGNMENTS

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION: This portion of your grade will come from your attendance and participation in the online classroom chats we will have on a weekly basis. Please login on time and be prepared to participate having read the material assigned. It is important to make meaningful contributions that demonstrate your engagement with the material, rather than making comments that are not based on the readings. If you have more than one unexplained/unexcused absence online, your grade will be affected adversely.

ONLINE DISCUSSION BOARDS: The content of this course is not “merely” theoretical or political, but rather, it involves our personal lives—our relationships, our careers, our families. Readings should be done well in advance to class. You should be prepared to contribute well thought-out and relevant content to the discussion questions posted online. You will be expected to demonstrate your preparation by posting to discussion boards on particular days (refer to class schedule) and by responding to classmates posts online to have a dialogue about the readings.

For each of the discussion boards... do 2 "original posts" on 2 of the readings... picking from the questions that I have composed for that day. These original posts should be 2-3 paragraphs in length. Then, do 2 "response posts" to 2 other readings from that day... here you are responding to the original posts your classmates have written... which could be the start of a dialogue between you. Your response posts should be at least a small paragraph in length. (You will not get credit for responses that basically stop with one sentence that says things like, "I agree with you." or "I like your reading of the article.") Your responses should be thoughtful and should somehow build on your classmates posts, or tease out another aspect of the reading for them to consider.

AUTO-ETHNOGRAPHY PAPER (FOCUS ON RACE): this project asks you to think about the ways in which your everyday life is personally affected by race and privilege (you may bring in other aspects like gender, class and sexuality... but the focus of this paper should center on race). You will write one short paper (4-5 pages double-spaced). There are three components to the paper that I will be evaluating: description, definition, and application. Guidelines are:
1) Write one to three paragraphs describing an event in your life that was a pivotal in your identity formation with regard to race and privilege. Perhaps it was especially confusing at the time, but now you have a better sense of it through the readings in this class.
2) Write one to three paragraphs in which you outline, clarify, and define a concept from the readings that you will later apply to the event. You should draw directly on the reading for this portion of the paper, citing a specific text including the author’s name and page number
3) Write your analysis of the event for the ways in which race operated in that situation. Use the readings (bring in at least 2 readings we have done in the class) and develop your thesis statement with thoughtfulness and complexity.

ANTI-WAR SECTION RESPONSE PAPER: You will do one response paper for this class on the Anti-War section of the course. For this paper, choose two of the readings from that section to focus on and write a response paper in which you: 1) identify a key concept that links the authors and 2) analyze the authors' arguments theoretically and in-depth. If you wish, you may discuss your emotional response to the reading, however the main focus of the paper should be building your argument (based on readings). (3-4 pages, double-spaced).

ONLINE EXAM: the exam will be based on all the readings & videos assigned for this class as well as on all in-class discussions and materials presented. The exam will be in varied format: multiple choice, short answer questions and long essays.

FINAL WEBPAGE/BLOG PROJECT: You may do this project on your own, with a partner or with 2 others of your classmates.

You will post an online presentation on your own or in a group and individually write a 4-6 page paper in which you incorporate at least three reading sources from the class and three outside scholarly sources. If you are taking this class as a capstone course for the Liberal Studies major, your paper will be a longer [12-15 pg] research paper.

You are basically constructing a webpage, or a blog. If you can group with someone who knows how to set up a simple webpage, please use their expertise. You can also call CSUN's ITR helpdesk for help on this @ 818-677-1400.

If you do not know how to construct a webpage, please use Word's webpublishing tools or download other free webpublishing programs to construct a simple webpage. You can also use any blog site to do a blog. These programs use commands that are very similar to the commands you find in Word and do not need any complicated computer knowledge if you are constructing a simple page. In order to "publish" your page, please use CSUN's server or any other server you have access to. Please email me the link to your webpage/blog when you are done. Your email should include the names of all your group members (please send me one email per group, so it doesn't get confusing).

USEFUL WEBPAGE TOOLS


Useful Webpage Development instructions from CSUN's ITR Department

 Web Development Materials

Webpage publishing instructions from CSUN


 Web Publishing Instructions

You have different options for this project.

1). Do a “cultural study” of any popular text. Choose a cultural text, such as a music video, a song, a movie trailer, or a commercial. Analyze and critique the ways in which race, gender, class, and sexual orientation get played out within the text in ways that challenge and/or reinscribe dominant social norms.

2). Do a race/class/nation-based analysis of any current event (such as Hurricane Katrina).

3). Research Prop 8 - and the various issues surrounding it. It has been framed as a civil rights issue by those who support gay marriage, and as a religious issue by those who oppose it. You are free to take your own approach, but make sure to do so in a way that is respectful, as well as one that builds strong arguments based on evidence.

4). Research a topic of your choice that focuses on the intersections of at least two power dimensions discussed in this class [gender, race, class, sexuality, ability, etc.]. This third possibility has been kept intentionally very broad to allow you to research and explore further any topic or issue that has engaged you the most.