University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
Instructor: Dr. Lynn Walter
Office Hours: MWR 10-12.
Phone: 465-2474
E-mail: walterl@uwgb.edu
Class E-mail: c5415@uwgb.edu and c5416@uwgb.edu
Classroom: MAC 223
Class Time: MW 2-3:15
Course Description: From our various locations in the matrices of gender, race, culture, sexuality, country, generation, and socioeconomic class around the world, we will study the commonalities and differences among women and the effects of social stratification on their lives. Four themes are special foci for this semester's offering of the course. The first is interconnected identities and categories. The second theme is human rights and women’s rights. The third theme is the social welfare state, and the fourth is activism and empowerment. We will study the historical struggles for women’s rights, from the right to vote to the right to a decent standard of living. Focusing on the ideals of international human rights in relationship to the concept of cultural relativism, we will compare the issues that have been defined by women in the various national locations and historical and sociocultural contexts. Finally, we will examine the impact of global processes of change on women’s lives and on the possibilities of translocal and transnational forms of women’s activism. The course format is primarily discussion, reading, and writing.
Walter, Lynn, ed. 2001. Women’s Rights: A Global View, Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Hong Kingston, Maxine 1989. The Woman Warrior, Memories of a Girlhood among Ghosts, New York: Vintage International Edition
Articles (all on E-RESERVES ):
Cole, Johnetta 1986. “Commonalities and Differences” In All American Women, Lines That Divide, Ties That Bind, New York: The Free Press, pp. 1-30.
Colen, Shellee 1995. “'Like a Mother to Them’: Stratified Reproduction and West Indian Childcare Workers and Employers in New York” In Conceiving the New World Order, The Global Politics of Reproduction, Faye D. Ginsburg & Rayna Rapp, eds., Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 78-102.
Lim, Shirley Geok-lin 2000. “The Center Can(not) Hold: American Studies and Global Feminism” American Studies International, Oct. Vol. XXXVIII (3): pp. 25-35.
McIntosh, Peggy 2001. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” In Race, Class and Gender in the United States, Paula Rothenberg, ed., New York: Worth Publishers, pp. 163-8.
Mohab, Shahrzad 2001. “Theorizing the Politics of ‘Islamic Feminism’” Feminist Review, Winter, pp. 124-46.
Murungi, Kagendo 2003. "Small Axe at the Crossroads: A Reflection on African Sexualities and Human Rights" In Sing, Whisper, Shout, Pray!, M. Jacqui Alexander, Lisa Albrecht, Sharon Day, and Mab Segrest, eds., Edgework: www.edgework.com, pp. 489-501.
Naples, Nancy 2002. "Changing the Terms: Community Activism, Globalization, and the Dilemmas of Transnational Feminist Praxis" in Women's Activism and Globalization, Nancy A. Naples and Manisha Desai, eds., New York: Routledge, pp. 1-14.
Nyman, Charlotte 1999. “Gender equality in ‘the most equal country in the world’? Money and marriage in Sweden” The Sociological Review, pp. 766-93.
Walter, Lynn 2003. “Women’s Movements” In The International Encyclopedia of Marriage and the Family, 2nd edition, Vol. 4, pp. 1714-20.
Whitehorse, Emmi 1995. “In My Family the Women Ran Everything” in Messengers of the Wind, Native American Women Tell Their Live Stories, Jane Katz, ed., New York: Ballentine Books, pp. 55-65.
Course Requirements % of Grade
Five Reading Papers 25
Issues Case Study Paper 40
Mid-term Exam 25
Class Participation 10
Each week we will discuss the assigned reading for that week. Everyone is expected not only to have read the assigned material but also to participate in the discussion. Attendance is a requirement for passing the course, since so much of the class work is based upon student participation. Effective discussion participation requires listening and constructive responding as well as willingness to contribute.
Topics:
Pick one of the following topics on which to focus your five reading papers and Issue Case Study Paper:
1. Education
2. Employment and
a. Jobs and careers
b. Salaries and wages
c. Promotions and benefits
3. Economic resources, property and inheritance
4. Suffrage and election to political offices
5. Domestic violence
6. Prostitution and sex trafficking
7. Health
8. Infant and childcare
9. Violence in the public sphere (including war-related violence)
10. Poverty, housing, and nutrition
11. Body image, through such cultural practices as: surgeries, eating and fasting, exercising, clothing, and cosmetics
12. Reproduction
13. Marriage, post-marital residence, divorce, and child custody.
For five of the class readings, address the following questions regarding your topic in a two-page, double-spaced, 1-inch margins all-around, 12-point-type essay. Not every reading will provide the data, concepts, or theories that will address every aspect of these questions. So, just ask yourself which of these questions are addressed with data, concepts, and/or theories that are relevant to your topic and address those.
1. What are the identities (e.g., socioeconomic class, race, ethnicity or national identity, sexual identity, generation, and country) of women and girls are being described and analyzed by the author(s) of this reading and over what period of time?
2. What is the author(s)’ thesis or main point?
3. Describe how the author(s)’ data, concepts, and theories related to your topic? (This last question should constitute the major portion of your reading paper.)
Issue Case Study Paper:
Your Issue Case Study Paper will focus on an issue arising from your topic and will also focus on a particular culture or country. In 10-12 pages (double-spaced, 1 inch margins all-around, 12-point-type) you should address all of the questions listed below in order. Cite all of your sources with page numbers, including class readings, and for every source you cite, include a xerox copy of the page you cited with your Issue Case Study paper when you turn it in. Your five reading papers should lead toward writing your Issue Case Study paper.
1. Describe the issue that your topic raises for women in the specific culture or country that you select to focus on? Why did you choose to focus on this issue and why this specific culture or country?
2. Where does your case study fit in international comparison? Use the readings from class and additional international statistics and data. [See the CEDAW country reports, the United Nations databases, and the Encyclopedia of Women’s Issues Worldwide (in the reference section of the Cofrin Library) for helpful information.]
3. What are the commonalities and differences in various women’s position with respect to your issue within your culture or country?
4. What concepts and theories presented in the class readings, lectures, and discussions and your own research help to uncover the roots of the issue in your case study? Explain how.
5. How does the concept of human rights (as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and of women ’s rights (as outlined in CEDAW) relate to the issues raised by your topic?
6. How have people addressed this issue over time in your case study? How effective have they been?
The best papers will use the class readings effectively, demonstrating understanding not only of the data, but also the concepts and analysis presented by the authors. They will also demonstrate thorough research skills and excellent writing, as well as present an in-depth understanding of the complexities of the issue you are studying.
Week One: The Course Objectives, Methods, and Requirements
Jan. 17
Reading: Kalny on US in Women’s Rights (hereafter referred to as WR).
Week Two: Key Concepts and Issues: Privilege and Connected Identities and Categories
Jan. 22 & 24
Mon. Conceptions of Gender, Race and Culture as Sociocultural Practices and Processes
Readings: Cole
McIntosh
Week Three: Crossing Boundaries: China to U.S. Immigrant Stories
Jan. 29 & 31
Reading: Hong Kingston, Chapters 1-3
Week Four: Finding a Voice: Between Cultures and Generations
Feb. 5 & 7
Reading: Hong Kingston, Chapters 4-5
Wed.: Your Issue Case Study Paper issue and culture/country focus is due.
Film: “Maxine Hong Kingston talking story”
Film: "Small Happiness"
Week Five: Comparative Perspectives on Women's Issues
Feb. 12 & 14
Readings: Walter, Introduction to WR.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in WR
CEDAW in WR
Wed: First Reading Paper Due
Week Six: Women’s Rights as Human Rights: Civil, Social, and Political Rights
Feb. 19 & 21
Readings: Murungi
Villaroel on Bolivia in WR
Week Seven: Colonialism and First Nation Women
Feb. 26 & 28
Readings: Poupart on Ojibwe in WR
Whitehorse
Guest speaker Dr. Lisa Poupart on Wednesday.
Wed: Second Reading Paper Due
Week Eight: Postcolonial Perspectives on Women and National Identities
Mar. 5 & 7
Readings: Tashjian on Nigeria in WR
Desai on India in WR
Guest Speaker: Visiting Scholar from Slovakia, Lubomira Slusna, Artist/Feminist/Activist/Roma Specialist
Spring Break: March 10-18
Week Nine: Islam and Women’s Rights
Mar. 19 & 21
Readings: Sherif on Egypt in WR
Mir-Hosseini on Iran in WR
Mohab
Guest Speaker: Juliet Cole on Monday
Film: “Me and the Mosque”
Wed: Third Reading Paper Due
Week Ten: Employment, Motherhood and Childcare: Stratified Reproduction
Mar. 26 & 28
Reading: Colen
Shea on the EU in WR
Mid-term Exam Wednesday, March 28
Week Eleven: The Social Welfare State
Apr. 2 & 4
Reading: Walter on Denmark in WR
Nyman
Week Twelve: Socialist States and Women’s Rights
Apr. 9 & 11
Readings: Hom on China in WR
Alonso on Cuba in WR
Wed.: Fourth Reading Paper Due
Week Thirteen: Globalization and women’s movements
Apr. 16 & 18
Reading: Lim
Naples
Film: “Made in Thailand”
Film: "Stop the Traffick"
Week Fourteen: Activism and Empowerment
Apr. 23 & 25
Reading: Navarro on Argentina in WR
Walter
Wed.: Fifth Reading Paper Due
Week Fifteen: Presentations
Apr. 30 & May 2
Issue Case Study Paper due Monday, May 7.
Consistent with the federal law and the policies of the University of Wisconsin, it is the policy of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to provide appropriate and necessary accommodations to students with documented physical and learning disabilities. If you anticipate requiring any auxiliary aids or services, you should contact me or the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities at 465-2671 as soon as possible to discuss your needs and arrange for the provision of services.