SYLLABUS: INTERSECTIONS OF GENDER, RACE, CLASS AND SEXUALITY
SUMMER 2005

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.


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.

GRADING

GRADING SCALE

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/POSTS: 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 discussions and responding to classmates posts online to have a dialogue about the readings in ways that are different from in-class discussions.


CURRENT EVENTS/QUESTIONS: There are 6 class meetings or discussion board times when we have readings assigned. For 5 of these times (i.e. choose 5 out of 6), post one well formulated question on three different readings for that day (before we meet for the online chat on Mondays by 7 p.m. or by midnight on the Friday options). Also, post a link to a current event that has some bearing on the readings for the day. To do this... research on the web for events that relate to the issues brought up in the readings for that day. When you find an interesting article or story, please post the URL, or the link to that current event along with your questions for the day.

The links where you can post your questions and "current event link" are on the "schedule" page of the class website.

In order to get points for the questions, they must be thoughtful and insightful, designed to evoke discussion of the reading. You will not be given any points for questions that ask for factual, superficial information, or questions that invite “yes/no” type of answers. Designing a good question entails taking time to do the reading, and to reflect on the issues brought up in that reading. We will often use your questions to guide online chats for the readings, so dedicate some time to designing good discussion-oriented questions. For a question to be accepted for points, it MUST be turned in on the day that the reading is due.

RESPONSE PAPER: You will do one response paper for this class on the Anti-War section of the course. For this papers, 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 2) analyze the authors' arguments theoretically and in-depth; and 3) discuss your emotional response to the reading. 3-4 pages, double-spaced.

AUTO-ETHNOGRAPHY (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.

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 one or two concepts 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 specific texts including the author’s name and page number
3) Write one to three paragraphs in which you analyze the event for the ways in which race maybe read on the body and how it shapes our lives. Your analysis of what happened, your negotiations with whiteness/white privilege/racism/etc. will be key in determining your score for your paper. So go beyond description to an in-depth analysis.

EXAM: the exam will be based on all the readings 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.

GROUP PROJECT: Begin by finding other classmates you can work with. Use this forum to find others with similar interests:

Group Forum

You will collectively post an online presentation as a group and individually write a 5-7 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 [20-25 pg] research paper.

Groups should consist of 3-5 members. You are basically constructing a group webpage. If anyone in the group 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 there is no group member who knows how to construct a webpage, please use Word's webpublishing tools or download Netscape Communicator, a free program. You can use Netscape Composer (one of Netscape's components) to construct a simple webpage. 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. You are also free to use any other program or webpublishing site you are familiar with or have access to. In order to "publish" your page, please use CSUN's server... or you can email it to me and I will publish it for you.

USEFUL WEBPAGE TOOLS

You have different options for this project. Make sure that for any topic you choose... you consider at least two of the four dimensions (gender, race, class, sexuality) studied in this class and how they intersect with each other.

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 the Tsunami disaster unfolding in South Asia.

3). Research the “War on Terror” from a gendered, racial and/or class perspective. What are some of the issues of power in this “war.” How do we understand the historical and political circumstances that have brought us to this juncture, “who counts and who doesn’t?” {Roy}.

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.