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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "GDR/SOSC 200"
COURSE NAME: "Introduction to Gender Studies"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2025
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Tara Keenan
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: MW 11:30 AM 12:45 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES:
OFFICE HOURS:
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines gender and sexuality. This course offers an introduction to historical and current debates taking place within gender studies. Students will explore historical and contemporary feminist, masculinity and queer theories, paying close attention to both local and global issues, and learning the tools for critically engaging issues related to gender.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

The course will adopt an intersectional perspective which illustrates how relationships between systems of oppression surrounding race/ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, ability, age, and citizenship are interconnected and historically bound. As an introductory course, it is designed to offer a range of interdisciplinary tools and methods for understanding and analyzing issues at stake.

The course will consider a wide variety of texts—from personal narratives and historical documents to films and cultural criticism across a range of disciplines. Students will develop tools to critically analyze the ways in which social and cultural forces shape us as gendered individuals in the context of the world in which we live.

TEXTBOOK: All readings are available at the Frohring library or on the internet.

Students might find this basic limited bibliography resource helpful for the projects:

Gender Studies

-      Fixmer-Oraiz, N., & Wood, J. T. (2019). Gendered Lives (13th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage. Hard Copy at Frohring Library (note there are two books with this title!)

 -      Kimmel, Michael and Amy Aronson (2017). The Gendered Society Reader, 6th Edition, Oxford University Press. Hard Copy at Frohring Library

-      Kang, Miliann (2012). Introduction to Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies. University of Massachusetts – Amherst . Open Source and Online

-      Rajunove and Duane, Nonbinary, Columbia University Press, 2019. Frohring Library has a digital copy.

Articles

-     Beauvoir, S. D. (2015). Feminist writings. University of Illinois Press. Sections: Ch. 4, 10 - Short Feminist Texts Frohring Library. And Iseult Gillespie: The meaning of life according to Simone de Beauvoir | TED Talk

-      Butler, J. (Dec., 1988) "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory" .Theatre Journal, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 519-531. Frohring Library.

-       Butler, J. (2024), Who's Afraid of Gender? Allen Lane. Frohring Library.

-      Crenshaw, K. "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics", in Feminism and Politics, edited by Anne Phillips, Oxford University Press, 1998. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.jcu.idm.oclc.org/lib/johncabot/detail.action?docID=1173598. Frohring Library.

-      hooks, bell. (2015). Feminism is for Everybody. Routledge. And bell hooks on interlocking systems of domination

 - Le Guin, Ursula. “Is Gender Necessary? Redux,”  In The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction, edited by Susan Wood. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992. 160.; Frohring Library.

-      Mohanty, C. "Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses" , in Boundaries, Vol. 12, no. 3 - Vol. 13, no. 1, On Humanism and the University I: The Discourse of Humanism. Duke University Press, 1984, Frohring Library.

-     Rodrigues, Laís. “Decolonial Feminism: María Lugones’ influences and contributions”. Revista Estudos Feministas, Florianópolis, v. 30, n. 1, e84278, 2022. Frohring Library.

-      Segato, R.L. "A Manifesto in Four Themes" Critical Times, Vol.1, 2018, Frohring Library.

-     Srinivasa, Amia. (2021) "Who Lost the Sex Wars?"  The New Yorker.

-     Srinivasan, R. T. (2020). ``Can the Subaltern Speak″ to My Students? Feminist Formations, 32(1), 58–74. Frohring Library

-     Wolfe, Cary. "Introduction," and Haraway, Donna J.."A Cyborg Manifesto" in Manifestly Haraway, University of Minnesota Press, 2016. Frohring Library.

 

 
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of the course, students should achieve the following:

  • Demonstrate an introductory understanding of the field of gender studies, and apply interdisciplinary methodologies for understanding and analyzing sex, gender, and sexuality in culture.

  • Develop a critical understanding of feminist, transfeminist and queer approaches to the social and cultural construction of gender and sexuality, and their complex intersections with other social, cultural, and biological categories, including but not limited to sex, race, ethnicity, class, nation, sexuality, ability, and age. 

  • Cultivate a language framework for thoughtfully articulating the critical vocabulary in the field of gender studies.

  • Develop critical thinking skills towards a deepened understanding of how social, cultural, and biological categories shape our lives, and our understandings of the world.
TEXTBOOK:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberCommentsFormatLocal BookstoreOnline Purchase
Introduction to Women's, Gender, and Sexuality StudiesSaraswati, L. Ayu, Barbara L. Shaw, and Heather RelihanOxford University Press9780190266066, 0190266066HQ1180 .I5757 2018Hard copy available at the Frohring Library. If you cannot find it, ask. Hard Copy  
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Midterm Midterm will consist of questions that relate to class discussions and readings.20%
Research projectStudents will write 3000-word paper on a topic of their choice agreed with the professor beforehand that connects the readings to current events. 50% of the project grade will be written and 50% of the project grade will be a presentation. See rubric. 30%
Final examFinal will consist of questions that relate to class discussions and readings20%
Shorter Assignments Connecting Reading to Class (Annotations, etc.)These may be annotations, reflections - How these are graded: - Do you understand how the writer/speaker/filmmaker is building the argument? - What does this connect to that we have been discussing in class? - How does this connect to other readings? What do you need to look up (names, concepts, other sources)?20%
Course engagementSee course engagement rubric.10%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
A Work of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course. (90-92 = A-; 93-100 = A)
B This is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluate theory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture and reference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments. (80-82 = B-; 83-86 = B; 87-89 = B+)
C This is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings. (70-72 = C-; 73-76 = C; 77-79 = C+)
D This level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail. (60-62 = D-; 63-66 = D; 67-69 = D+)
F This work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant. (<60) Late assignments will be capped at 75%. It is the student's responsibility to approach the instructor to schedule a makeup for any missed work (assignments as well as in-class work). Late assignments should be done within one week of the missed work.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Absences should be rare and reserved for unforeseen circumstances. You cannot make up a midterm or final without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Associate Dean’s office should not be involved in correspondence regarding any other type of routine absence. This means that if you need to return home for a funeral, if you need to go to the dentist, if you have a fingerprinting appointment, if you are ill, or for any other reason that I have not listed, you simply do not come to class that day and you contact a colleague to find out what went on in class. Let us all agree that if you need to be absent, I believe you and I trust that you will find out what you missed from a colleague. Let’s create a world in which we believe each other and trust that we would be in class every session if we could. Let us focus on building skills of direct student-professor communication rather than asking others to intervene on routine absence matters on our behalf.  It should go without saying that frequent absences will mean you are less prepared to meet the learning objectives of the course. Your grade will suffer because, simply put, you are unfamiliar with what we have done in class.

There are always one or two obvious common sense extreme exceptions to this aspiration, but generally it is best to avoid triggering institutional responses for routine short-term absences. The bottom line is that every student, including you, is a treasured resource for each class. We need you as much as you need us. Without you, it's just not the same.

At the 5th absence (5 is a lot!) you will be asked to withdraw from the course. A failure to attend 70% of the class meetings will result in an F. If you are unsure of what a superior level of classroom engagement looks like, please consult the Class Engagement Rubric posted to Moodle.

Late assignments will be capped at 75%. It is the student's responsibility to approach the instructor to schedule a makeup for any missed work (assignments as well as in-class work). Late assignments should be done within one week of the missed work.

ACADEMIC HONESTY

The very point of why we are all here is that we want to develop ourselves into well-rounded life-long learners. Cutting corners with paper-writing services and AI, or recycling older papers cheapens everyone’s experience of the course and professors tend to take it personally. A good rule is that if you have to ask, “Is this okay to do?”, it probably is not. If you are unsure, it can't hurt to ask.

___________
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
SCHEDULE

SCHEDULE 

(The most updated version is on Moodle) 

A note on readings and assignments – Gender studies is an interdisciplinary field; one cannot possibly read the entire canon in one introductory course. This means that assignments will make use of representative sources and consider some contributions that drove the various movements forward to get us to where we are today.

Week 1. What is Gender? Locating this concept and our connection to it, Le Guin, The Genderbread Person 

Week 2.What is Gender Studies? And how does it fit with what we are doing? The course, our studies, utility of wave metaphor? Butler 

Week 3. First and Second Waves of Feminisms. Contributions by Wollstonecraft, Declaration of Sentiments, Sojourner Truth, de Beauvoir, Firestone, Millett  

 Week 4. Gaining a Global Dimension. Transnational Women's Movement and the UN Women's Conferences 

Week 5.  Post-colonial/DeColonial Feminisms. Contributions by Mohanty, Spivak, Minh-ha, Lugones 

Week 6. The Third Wave.   Contributions by Walker, Baumgardner, Richards 

Week 7. Intersectionality. Contributions by Crenshaw, Hill Collins, Anzaldua, Lorde, hooks, Davis 

Spring Break 

Week 8. Masculinities. Contributions by Connell, Kimmel, Hearn 

Week 9. Queer Theory and Trans Studies. Contributions by Stryker, Halberstam, Butler, Sedgewick 

Week 10. Gender Future: Posthumanism, Data, Digital Divide. Contributions by Haraway, Braidotti, Buolamwini, Unicef 

Week 11. Gender and Violence. Buitin, Ali, Frameworks and Theories, Kim 

Week 12.  Presentations. 

Week 13. The Fourth Wave and Empowerment. Transversality, MeToo, Call out Culture, Digital pros and cons, reactions to anti-gender and far Right political shift, Butler 

Week 14. REVIEW FOR THE FINAL