Sociology 3046-002/001

Topics in Sex and Gender

Fall 2001

 

Instructor: Eleanor A. Hubbard

Class: 002 9:30-10:45 a.m., Hum 1B90;  001 11:00-12:15 a.m.,  Muen E114

Office: Ketchum 11A   Mailbox: Ketchum 219 (Sociology Department)

Office Hours:  Before or after class, by email or phone, or by appointment.

Home Phone: 303-494-9718 Email: hubbarde@stripe.colorado.edu

 

 

Course Description

 

The focus of this course is to investigate sexuality and gender in more depth and to learn to think, speak,  and write critically about sexuality and gender.  Although our primary “lens” will be sexuality and gender, we will also look at how they impact and are impacted by  race, class, age, disabilities, and sexual orientation, and other forms of diversity. We will work primarily in teams researching different aspects of sexuality and gender.  You will not be a passive recipient of knowledge in this class, because you will be expected to actively participate in in-depth study, lively discussions, written and oral assignments, and individual and group assignments.

 

 

Required Texts

 

None

 

Course Requirements

 

1. Three (3) topics in sex and gender assignments; see separate assignment sheet for details, due 8/30, 9/6, 9/20 (worth 15% of your grade)

 

2. Two (2) team topics in sex and gender assignments; see separate assignment sheet for details, due 9/18, 10/2 (worth  15% of your grade)

 

2. Midterm due 10/9 (worth 15% of your grade).

 

3. Individual and group in-class activities, due throughout the semester (worth 15% of your grade).

            A. Attendance and participation

            B. Short  oral and written activities, as assigned

            C. Article discussions

            D. List postings

           

4. A Topics in Sex and Gender Research project; see separate assignment sheet for details,  (worth 40% of your grade)

            A. Final research project paper, due at final exam (worth 30% of this grade)

            B. Research discussion, due at final exam (worth 10% of this grade).

           

 

 

 

 

 

Course Rules

 

1. Attendance/participation: Attendance is expected, as is class participation. Students are expected to actively engage the course, by being prepared for all class sessions and participating in them. No student will be penalized for missing class or assignments due to religious holidays, but of course the student is expected to complete all work.

2. Assignments: All individual assignments must be the work of the individual student. Any material copied from another source without proper citation (including term paper sites on the web) is plagiarism and will be punished according to university guidelines.  All group assignments must be (as nearly as possible) the equal work of all members.  This means that each member attend all preparation meetings, that work is distributed by mutual agreement, and that presentations, both oral and written, reflect the work of all the participants.  If group work is a hardship for any student, the professor may negotiate an alternate assignment; otherwise, students are expected to participate actively in any group assigned.

3. Written work: Standard English is expected, as is careful editing of all written assignments for spelling, punctuation, and grammar. In addition, all papers must be typed double-spaced, and page numbers included.  Appropriate parenthetical citations from scholarly sociological sources are expected whenever you use an idea which is not your own.  Either American Psychological Association (APA) or Modern Language Association (MLA) style may be used but APA is preferred.  A style sheet is available at Norlin Library or on-line at http://www-libraries.colorado.edu/ps/ref/handouts/doc/ 7_APA_parenthetical.doc

4. Late assignments policy: All written assignments are due at the beginning of the class of the day it was assigned. Late assignments may be turned in at any time until the end of the semester with a penalty of two letter grades lowered. If students know they will be unable to complete an assignment on-time, they may notify me in writing prior to the due date that the assignment will be late and indicate a date on which it will be completed. If  students, due to an emergency, do not know they will be unable to complete an assignment on-time, they may notify me in writing up to five days after the assignment was due with proper documentation included (a doctor’s note, or a funeral notice; for instance).  No excuse is necessary if the professor is notified prior to the assignment’s due date, and no penalty will be exacted if students meet their own deadlines.  However, late papers will not be graded until all on-time assignments have been graded and will not receive written comments from the professor.  Any assignment handed in no later than the class prior to the due date will be given a 5% increase in grade. These will be graded with the on-time assignments.  All oral assignments must be presented on the date negotiated between the professor and the student or group, unless the professor is notified, and other arrangements can be made (this is usually impossible). If a student cannot do all the necessary work for a group assignment and/or appear on the date of a scheduled oral presentation, that student must do a written assignment, negotiated with the professor.

5. Grading: Grades will be distributed on a standard scale of 90-100 % equals A, etc.  Any student who disagrees with a grade should contact me as soon as possible. Extra credit will be given only in extreme circumstances, negotiated between the student and the instructor.

6. Disabilities: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 stipulates that no student shall be denied the benefits of an education "solely by reason of a handicap" and that reasonable accommodation must be made for students with disabilities. If you believe you qualify for accommodation due to a disability or need more information, please see the Coordinator of Services to students with disabilities in the Disability Services Office, Willard 322 (phone 303-492-8671), who will provide you with appropriate documentation.  Then talk to me as soon as possible.

Socy 3046-002/003

Course Outline

 

Week            Date                        Topic                                                                  Assignment

 

    1            8/28                        Introductions and Assessment                                               

           8/30                 Introduction to Topics                                   Assignment # 1 due

 

   2            9/4                        Understanding Gender/Sexuality        

           9/6                   Team Day: Assignment # 1                    Assignment # 2 due

                                                                                                      Student Info Sheet due

 

   3            9/11                        Understanding Gender/Sexuality

           9/13                 Team Day: Assignment # 1                                                                                                                                             

   4            9/18                        Researching Gender/Sexuality                        Team Assignment #1                                                           

           9/20                 Team Day: Assignment # 2                               Assignment # 3 due

                                  

   5            9/25                        Analyzing Gender/Sexuality

           9/27                 Team Day: Assignment # 2                                                         

                                                                      

              6            10/2                        Putting It All Together                   Team Assignment # 2 due                                                                                                                                       

Fall Break

                                  

    7            10/9                        Mid-term

           10/11               Team Day: Proposal                                                                                                                                                                                               

    8            10/16                                                                                            Proposal due

           10/18                                                                                                              

    9            10/23, 25                                           

   10            10/30, 11/1                

   11            11/6

           11/8                                                                             Annotated bibliography due      

   12            11/13, 15                                                                                                       

   13            11/20                                                                       

 

Thanksgiving Break

                                                                      

   14            11/27

           11/29                                                                                       Rough draft due           

   15            12/4, 6                     

   16            12/11, 13       

Final Exam Schedule

Final Paper due and Research Discussions

002, 12/14, 7:30-10:00 p.m.

003,  12/17, 7:30-10:00 a.m.

 


TOPICS IN SEX AND GENDER ASSIGNMENTS

 

 

The purpose of the topics in sex and gender assignments is for you and your assigned teams to demonstrate from your own experiences and research your knowledge of the concepts presented in this class. Each assignment should be typed double-spaced,  and is due Thursday of the week assigned. Using the conceptual framework outlined in lectures is crucial. Sources  for the assignments may be any article listed on the bibliography or from any other appropriate source. My main criteria for grading these papers will be how well you have used your sociological imagination and your understanding of sex and gender.

 

Assignment # 1 (due 8/30)  Write a two-page critical analysis of a sociological scholarly article of your choice concerning either sexuality or gender.  Any of the sources suggested on the bibliography may be used or you may choose any article you think is appropriate.  Make sure you have given complete bibliographic information for the article you chose.  If the article is not from a book on reserve, you must include a copy of the article.

    

Assignment # 2 (due 9/6)  Write a two-page critical analysis of a sociological scholarly article of your choice concerning work and gender.  Any of the sources suggested on the bibliography may be used or you may choose any article you think is appropriate.  Make sure you have given complete bibliographic information for the article you chose.  If the article is not from a book on reserve, you must include a copy of the article.

 

Assignment # 3 (due 9/20)  Write a two-page critical analysis of a sociological scholarly article of your choice concerning advertising or the media and  either sexuality or gender.  Any of the sources suggested on the bibliography may be used or you may choose any article you think is appropriate.  Make sure you have given complete bibliographic information for the article you chose.  If the article is not from a book on reserve, you must include a copy of the article.

 

Team Assignment # A (due 9/18)  Your team is expected to discuss and take notes on the jobs that each team member has or had.  Also informally interview other college students about their jobs and take notes.  Analyze your data using a gender and sexuality perspective, support your arguments with relevant research, write a 5-7 page paper discussing gender discrimination in the workplace. Please follow the Research Report Format (p. 6 in the syllabus) and use parenthetical citations. A works cited page is expected (see #2, p. 2 of syllabus).

 

Team Assignment # B (due 10/2)  Your team is expected to make observations at a local mall (my preference is Flatirons Crossroads Mall in Broomfield, but any mall in the Boulder/Denver area will be accepted) for the purpose of writing a paper about gender stratification.  At the least, the team needs to make observations in toy stores, t-shirt stores, department stores like Foley’s, outdoor outfitters,   bathrooms, common spaces, the food court, and the grounds.   Analyze your data using a gender and sexuality perspective, support your arguments with relevant research, and write a paper of 5-7 pages discussing gender stratification in malls. Please follow the Research Report Format (p. 6 in the syllabus) and use parenthetical citations. A works cited page is expected (see #2, p. 2 of syllabus).

 

 

 

 

 

The Individual and Group Research Experience

 

All learning is essentially an individual enterprise, although many students find that working cooperatively in a group enhances their individual learning. Although you will have opportunities to do both this semester, the main emphasis in this class will be on working in teams. Your attendance  and participation in class is individual as are assignments 1, 2, 3.  There are two team assignments and the research project must be done as a team.  A few students may be allowed to do their research project individually after consultation with the professor.

Article discussions:  For each of the three topics in sex and gender assignments, you are expected to critically analyze a scholarly article of your choice and be prepared to discuss it in class. You may use any appropriate source including but not limited to anything on the reserve bibliography.

List postings: As a student in this class, you must sign up for the list called gender and post at least 8 times during the semester. The educational purpose of this assignment is for students to have another way besides class discussions and written assignments to share their ideas about sex and gender with the professor and each other.  Students are encouraged to pose questions, comment on relevant events happening outside the classroom, or respond to comments made by other list subscribers.

Postings must be relatively short, relevant to the list discussion, and signed by the sender.  Disagreement with me or other students is encouraged; however, polite discourse is expected.  No flaming allowed. Always reply to the list not to the sender of the post.

If you want to communicate with me directly, please do not use the list but email me at hubbarde@stripe.colorado.edu.  These communications will of course not be considered postings.

 

To subscribe to the gender list:

open your email program

address a message to listproc@lists.colorado.edu

do not put anything in the subject line

in the message line put subscribe critstud your full name

           

At the end of the semester you must unsubscribe in order not to continue to receive postings sent to future classes.  To unsubscribe follow the above instructions, except in the message line put unsubscribe instead of subscribe.

I will regularly post announcements and assignments to the list, so check it regularly.  If this would be a hardship for you for some reason, please let me know and I will provide you with hard copies.

 

 

 

Topics in Sex and Gender Team Research Project

 

The sex and gender research project will use secondary research which is also known as library research.  Team research can be challenging, but it should also be fun. The most important way to make the project fun, or at least interesting, is to choose your topic carefully.  This is the first phase of research: choosing what you are interested in doing and deciding how you are going to accomplish it (the research proposal). The research proposal must include the question guiding your research (given you only have half a semester to complete your research, I suggest strongly that you have no more than one narrowly defined question).  The second phase of the research involves carefully collecting data.  In library research this means the selection of appropriate sources and the creation of an annotated bibliography.  The last phase of the research is to make sense of your data from a sex and gender perspective.  This will require a literature review, thoughtful analysis, and writing up your research.  This is not research which can be accomplished a few days before the research paper is due.

The team is expected to write a 12-15 pp. paper and to present their research findings during the final exam.  For the format of the written report, see research report format following.

 

Deadlines

Proposal--due 10/16

Annotated Bibliography--due 11/8

Rough Draft of Research Paper--due 11/29

Final Paper--due at final exam

 

 

RESEARCH REPORT FORMAT

Please follow this format for team assignments 1, 2 and the team research project.

 

Title Page: Title, authors’ name, course, date on a separate page

 

Abstract:  a summary of the paper on a separate page

 

·         research context and question

·         type of study

·         results and major findings

·         interpretation of the findings

 

Body of the Report

 

Introduction

·         grab the reader’s attention

·         present the research question and why your study is important

 

Literature Review

·         a theoretical perspective and why it helps to explain your study

·         a review of the relevant literature that supports your ideas

·         use appropriate sources cited parenthetically to support your arguments

 

Findings

·         present your results, highlighting the most important findings

·         explain and interpret your findings sociologically using your theoretical perspective

·         use appropriate sources cited parenthetically to support your arguments

 

Conclusions/Summary

·         restate your research question

·         review and summarize your findings

·         indicate if additional research is needed

 

Works Cited

·         alphabetical by author listing of all sources cited in paper

Appendix

·         any background information if needed for your reader to understand your paper

 

Socy 3046

Topics in Sex and Gender Bibliography

On Reserve at Norlin Library

Revised 8/29/01

 

.

Abelove, Henry, Michele Aina Barale and David M. Halperin (eds.) (1993) The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader.  New York: Routledge. 2c.

Adams, Maurianne et al. (eds.) (2000) Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. New York: Routledge.

Ashton-Jones, Evelyn, Gary A. Olson and Merry G. Perry (2000) The Gender Reader. 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Baumgardner, Jennifer and Amy Richards (2000) Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future.  New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Brod, Harry and Michael Kaufman (1994) Theorizing Masculinities.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.  

Chow, Esther Ngan-Ling, Doris Wilkinson and Maxine Baca Zinn (eds.) (1996) Race, Class and Gender: Common Bonds, Different Voices.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Digby, Tom (ed.) (1998) Men Doing Feminism.  New York: Routledge.

Disch, Estelle (2000) Reconstructing Gender: A Multicultural Anthology. 2nd ed. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co. 3c.

Findlen, Barbara (ed.) (1995) Listen Up: Voices From the Next Feminist Generation.  Seattle: Seal Press.

Johnson, Allan G. (1997) The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy.  Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Kimmel, Michael S. (2000) The Gendered Society. NY: Oxford University Press.

Kimmel, Michael S. and Michael A. Messner (1998) Men’s Lives.  4th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Kimmel, Michael S. with Amy Aronson (2000) The Gendered Society Reader. NY: Oxford University Press.

Kirk, Gwyn and Margo Okazawa-Rey (1998) Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives.  Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co. 2 c.

Levant, Ronald F. and Gary R. Brooks (1997) Men and sex: New psychological perspectives.  NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Messner, Michael A. (1997) Politics of Masculinities: Men in Movements.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing Co.

Ore, Tracy E. (2000) The Social Construction of Difference and Inequality.  Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co. 2c.

Rosenblum, Karen E. and Toni-Michelle C. Travis (2000) The Meaning of Difference: American Constructions of Race, Sex and Gender, Social Class, and Sexual Orientation A Text/Reader.  2nd ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Rothenberg, Paula S. (1998) Race, Class, and Gender in the United States: An Integrated Study. 5th ed. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Zinn, Maxine Baca, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo and Michael A. Messner (1997) Through the Prism of Differences: Readings on Sex and Gender.  Boston: Allyn & Bacon. 2c.

 

In Periodical Room at Norlin Library or On-line

 

GLQ: A journal of lesbian and gay studies HQ 75.15 G57

International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies HQ75 J68

Journal of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexal Identity HQ75 J68

Journal of Homosexuality HQ76 J67

Journal of Men’s Studies HQ1088. J68

Men and Masculinities HQ1088. M372

NWSA Journal HQ1101.N3

Signs HQ 1101.55

Women’s Studies International HQ1101.W775

Women’s Studies International Forum  HQ1101.I6

 

 

 

 

 

 

STUDENT INFORMATION SHEET

Due 9/6

 

In order for me to tailor this class to the needs of the students and to teach a particular group of students well, please complete the following information. I appreciate your cooperation. 

 

1. Name:

2. Name I would like used in class:

2. ID Number:

3. Email Address:

4. Phone Number:

5. A photocopy  of your University Photo ID (on this form please):

6. Please write a paragraph about yourself with information you think would help                  me know you better and provide you with good instruction.