Women in Contemporary Global Context
COURSE NUMBER: EWS 380
WINTER 1997
PROF. PARVIN ABYANEH
OFFICE HOURS: MWF 8-9,
MW 10:30-11:30
OFFICE PHONE NUMBER: X3598
E-MAIL pabyaneh@csupomona.edu
OFFICE/BLDG: 94/RM 334
Course Statement: This course explores two major aspects of gender in the global context . First, it will explore cultural Imperialism and Western construction of gender in general and of third world gender in particular. Second, it will explore other cultures and societies and their construction of gender in their own terms and from a feminist perspective. National cultures, economic, religion, and public policies will be explored as they affect and are affected by women. The course is designed to accomplish the following goals:
· Understanding and exploration of the ways "West" creates "other" and "self"
· Analysis of theoretical perspectives that help explain the production and reproduction of gender inequality
· Distinction and understanding of gender differentiation and gender inequality
· Analysis of social policies as they affect women and are effected by them
Required Textbooks and Other Reading Materials:
Culture and Imperialism, by Edward W. Said, 1993
Reading National Geography, by Luts and Collins, University of Chicago Press, 1993
Handouts:(On Reserve)
· Peasant Women and Divorce in Preindustrial Japan by: Laurel L. Cornell in Signs 1990, Vol. 15 no.41, Pp.710-732
· Women and Gender in Islam, (Introduction) by Leila Ahmed. 1992
· "New England Missionary Wives, Hawaiian Women and `the Cult of true Womanhood' by Patricia Grimshaw in Gender In Cross-Cultural Perspective, Caroline B. Brettel and Carolyn F. Sargent (eds) 1993
Assignments:
There is also a research paper that is due at the end of the quarter.
POLICY ON LATE ASSIGNMENTS:
· All assignments must be typed. Handwritten assignments and papers will not be accepted.
To minimize problems turn in your Late assignments ON THE LATE ASSIGNMENT DATE.Late assignment date is Monday March 3rd, that is the first day of the last week of classes. This is to give a second chance to those who did not turn in their assignment on time. You will receive 50% of the score except for those that are late due to emergencies. Late assignments due to emergencies will receive full credit.
· Do NOT turn in assignments the following session when you come back to class. This could result in your paper being missplaced or lost if it is not turned in on the due date.
· Do NOT leave your assignment in my mailbox, under the door of my office, etc.
ATTENDANCE AND CLASS PARTICIPATION:
Attendance is expected and students are fully responsible for lectures, hand outs, films and any other materials presented during the sessions missed. Some of the films will be borrowed from outside campus and hence no access to it will be available if missed. GRADES are based on the following breakdowns:
GRADES AND EXAMS
Grades will be based on exam; assignment; final project (final paper); and class attendance, participation and class discussion .
GRADES are based on the following breakdowns:
90-100% A
80-89% B
70-79% C
60-69% D
<60 F
Readings and Tentative Schedule:
Week One: Introduction
Week two: Readings: Imperialism and Culture, Introduction (xi-xxviii)
A look at culture and cultural norms of "west"
Assignment #1 due (Review of Edward Said)
Week Three : Readings: Cultural Imperialism (1-61)
"Introduction" by Leila Ahmed (On Reserve)
Assignment #2 Readings on Leila Ahmed
Week Four: Recent constructs of "other" women
Female circumcision, veil, etc.
Week Five: Cultural Construction of Womanhood(cont.)
Readings: "Reading National Geographic"
First mid-term
Week Six: Assignment #3 due (Example of National Geographic)
Readings: "New England Missionary Wives, Hawaiian Women and `the Cult of true Womanhood' (On Reserve)
Week Seven: Historical Perspective and Gender Inequality
Divorce in pre-Industrial Japan( On Reserve
Week eight: State Policies and Gender
Readings: Handout
Week nine: Presentations
Week Ten: Presentations
Final Exam
TERM PAPERS:
All students are expected to write a 12-15 page term paper. Papers are due March 5. NO LATE PAPER WILL BE ACCEPTED.
we will have more discussion on term paper. The following questions, however, could be helpful in preparation of your term paper:
a) What problem are you researching? Be very specific and define the problem in very simple terms.
b) Why is this problem important to contemporary American society?
c) What have been some of the most recent research findings on the social problem as it relates to gender roles?
d) What are some of the major arguments surrounding debate on the social problem? Are there conflicting points of views?
e) Present the policies that could derive from each argument and present your own analysis and solution to the social problem.
f) Conclusion.
g) References (Bibliography): Your research paper must include a reference page that lists at least five sources from books, professional journals, magazines/newspaper articles, etc. These sources must also be incorporated into your discussion within the text of your paper. Materials that have been read but not used in the context of your paper should not be included in your reference.
RECOMMENDED READING LIST FOR WOMEN IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
Azari, Farah, women of Iran: the conflict with fundamentalist
Islam (1983)
Bernstein, Hilda, for their triumphs and their tears: women in
Apartheid South Africa (n.d.)
Bowes, Alison, "Women in the Kibbutz Movement" Sociological
Review, 26 (2), 1978, Pp. 237-262;
"The experiment that did not fail: Image and Reality
in the Israeli Kibbutz", International Journal of
Middle East Studies, 22 (1990), 85-104
Croll, Elizabeth, Feminism and Socialism in China (1978):
Chinese women after Mao (1983)
Deere, Carmen Diana and Magdalena Leon:(ed) Rural Women and State
Policy: Feminist Perspectives on Latin American
Agricultural Development. Boulder, Colo. and London
Westview Press, 1987
Garfield, E. Women Voices from Latin America: Interviews with Six
Contemporary Authors
Gronewold, Sue, "Women in China: A Revolution of their own" Trends in History: A Review of Current Periodical
Literature in History, Vol. 4, No. 1 (1985)
Hale, Sylvia: The Elusive Promise: The Struggle of Women
Development Workers in Rural North India. Center
for Developing-Area Studies, Monograph Series
no. 20. Montreal: McGill University, 1987
Jayawardena, K. Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World (1986)
Jelin, Elizabeth, ed., Women and Social Change in Latin America
(1990)
Kishwar, Madhu and Ruth Vanita, eds., In Search of Answers:
Indian Women's Voices from "Manushi" (1984)
Lazreg, Marnia
"Gender and Politics in Algeria: Unraveling the
Religious Paradigm" Signs, 1991, V. 15, N.4. Pp.755-780
Latin American and Caribbean Women's Collective, Slaves of slaves
Meyer, D. Sex and Power: The Rise of Women in America, Russia,
Sweden, and Italy (1987)
Musisi, Nakanyike B. "Women, 'Elite Polygyny', and Buganda
State Formation" Signs: 1991, Vol. 16, No. 4
Near, H., "Paths to Utopia: The Kibbutz as a Movement for Social
Change," Jewish Social Studies, 48 (3/4), 1986, pp
189-206
Nord, Epstein Deborah
"Neither Pairs nor Odd": Female Community in Late
Ninteenth-Century London" Signs V. 15, 4.Pp. 733-754
Schmidt, Elizabeth " Patriarchy, Capitalism, and the Colonial
State in Zimbabwe" in Signs 1991, V. 16 No. 4
Silman, Janet (Compiler), Enough is Enough: Aboriginal Women
Speak out (1987)
Stamp, Patricia "Burying Otieno: The Politics of Gender and
Ethnicity in Kenya" Signs 1991, Vol.16 No.4
Tabara, A. and N. Yeganeh, The Shadow of Islam: The Women's
Movement in Iran (1982)
Toubia, Nahid, Women of the Arab World: The Coming Challenge
(1989)
Wallace, Ben, Rosie Mujid Ahsan, Shahnaz Huq Hussain, and Ekramul
Ahsan , The Invisible Resource: Women and Work in Rural
Bangladesh. Boulder, Colo. and London. Westview Press
Young, Marilyn, eds., Women in China: Studies in Social Change
(1973)