Sex, Violence, Culture Syllabus

Dr. Lori E. Amy
Director, Women's and Gender Studies Program
Georgia Southern University

P.O. Box 8090 / Forest Drive 1127
Statesboro, GA 30460
(912) 681-0625/fax (912) 681-0739

Sex, Violence, Culture

Course Description:

Sex, Violence, and Culture uses feminist theories of gender, sexuality, and patriarchal culture to explore the relationship between public and private violence. Placing private violence in a global perspective, this course critiques the gender stakes of economies of domination and exploitation, the war system, and ideologies of family and nation.

At its most basic level, a course in Women's and Gender Studies asks us to examine all of our traditional concepts – concepts of “man” and “woman,” first and foremost, but also of church, family, nation, class, race, and economy – and to ask how these concepts rely on the subordination (or: disenfranchisement, marginalization, inequality) of certain groups of people. In this sense, a women's and gender studies course requires a detailed analysis of power – who has it, how it works, what its effects are – and of the cultural arrangements according to which power is distributed and circulated.

Because this is a cross-listed, interdisciplinary course, we have to remain aware of the fact that we are engaging with others who are staked in and see the world in very different ways. I want our classroom to be a space of collaborative community in which we can encounter not only ideas, but each other and ourselves. To really encounter ourselves, I believe that we must read the course material carefully and critically, with both our hearts and our minds fully engaged; we must, in other words, open ourselves to self-reflection, to an examination of old ideas and a consideration of new ideas. To encounter each other , we must come to class ready to listen compassionately, and to speak honestly and passionately but also with respect for the many differences in life experiences, world views, and subject positions from which we engage with each other. Outside of class, you will work on reading, writing, and in groups on projects. In class, we will work on community.

Student Activities and Evaluation
Reading and Attendance: 50%
This course requires a great deal of reading, possibly more reading than you are used to. I expect you to read -- you cannot pass this course if you do not keep up with the readings! Because I want you to read our course material and really explore the research I am offering you, and because I believe that our class discussions of the readings are crucial to your understanding of the material, class attendance and demonstration of reading comprehension are worth 50% of your grade. In order to get this 50% of your grade, you will need to turn in either:

Reading notes should track the key ideas of the readings and any questions you have about the reading. Reading responses may take up one or two points that struck a nerve with you, explain these points in detail, and trace your personal relationship to the points. You will receive a letter grade for each of your responses. Notes or responses are due within one week of the reading!

Research or Project Work: 50%
Research or project work will make up the remaining 50% of your grade. Depending on your interests, you may either pursue traditional research based on your interests, or you may take up a community/activism project. By the middle of the semester, you will have to decide which of these you want to pursue, and you and I will draw up a contract for your research or project work.

Requirements for Group Presentations
Your group presentations are a very big deal and will count as your 11th Response for class. I have tried very, very hard to put you in groups with people that I believe you will disagree with, but also with whom I believe, based on class discussions, that you will respect and have positive feeling for. Your group will be responsible for thoroughly reading, understanding, and "teaching" the readings scheduled for the day you present. You must know these articles inside out and guide our class discussion. You need to be ready to respond to any questions that your classmates bring up. I will speak very, very little during these presentations -- you are, literally, the teachers for your designated class period. You will be evaluated on your knowledge of the material, your ability to raise points, elicit and guide/facilitiate classroom discussion, and respond knoweldgeably to questions