Northeastern
State University
College of
Liberal Arts
Department of
Communication, Art, & Theatre
Tahlequah, OK
Fall 2011
syllabus for
WGS 4003/COMM
4523/COMM 5523
Rhetoric of
U.S. WomenÕs Movements
(last updated 06.27.11)
Professor:
Amy Aldridge Sanford, PhD
Office: 351
SH (Tahlequah Campus)
Ext.: 3608
E-mail:
aldridga@nsuok.edu (This
is the best way to contact me)
Office Hours: See
Contact Info on webpage.
Facebook:
Amy Aldridge Sanford
Class Meetings: Mondays,
5:30-8:10 p.m., SH 227
Your professorÕs philosophy of
education: I am a facilitator of learning.
The participants in any given classroom enter with different paradigms and truths.
I aid in the exploration of those truths. I do NOT believe that the
instructor is THE holder of Truth; therefore we must all participate to
co-construct knowledge and create synergy. When a student starts to feel
uncomfortable in his/her existing paradigm that means s/he is growing as a
scholar. My desire is that all of my students feel the joy of
discomfort from time to time.
Grading Philosophy: I
prefer intrinsic motivations, and therefore, am not a fan of letter grades.
I believe this extrinsic reward is too often the only motivation for students
to complete assignments. A college education should be viewed as a
privilege and an opportunity to become learned and scholarly. However,
until there is a better system, grades will be assigned in this class.
Work that meets the minimum requirements of an assignment,
is completed on time and displays average involvement with the course content
is deserving of a ÒC.Ó Higher grades are awarded to work that goes above
and beyond the minimum standards to produce papers and presentations that
reflect superior intellectual effort, excellence in critical analysis and
overall creativity in the approach towards any given assignment. In other
words, grades are earned in this class. An ÒAÓ is attainable but will
require far more than minimal effort.
Pre-requisites:
Officially there are no pre-requisites for this class; however, a course in
rhetorical criticism will be helpful to you.
Description of Course: 3
Hours. A critical look at feminist rhetorical artifacts
dating back to pre-Suffrage up to modern day. The relationships
between rhetor, message, and audience will be
explored.
Course Purpose: This
course gives students the opportunity to learn about the history of women in
the United States for the last century. This history has been left out of
many textbooks.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the course, you will haveÉ
Articulated a definition of feminism, therefore placing yourself
in the discourse;
An understanding of U.S. womenÕs social movements and waves since the late 19th
Century;
Read and rhetorically critiqued artifacts (i.e., literature, television,
speeches, movies, etc.) significant to said movements;
Written a rhetorical criticism about an artifact related to womenÕs movements;
Presented your final paper to your classmates; and
Attended class regularly and participated in academic discussions.
Required Text:
Kolmar, Wendy K. and Frances Bartkowski. (2010). Feminist theory:
A reader. Boston: McGraw Hill. ISBN:
9780073512266.
Recommended Texts:
Foss, Sonja K.
(2009). Rhetorical criticism: Exploration and practice.
(4th ed.) Waveland Press. ISBN:
1-57766-586-4.
Publication Manual of
the American Psychological Association (APA).
(6th ed.) (2009). American
Psychological Association. ISBN: 9781433805615.
Attendance:
An attendance sheet will be passed out
at the beginning of every class period. NOTE: You are absolutely,
positively 100% responsible for signing the attendance sheet each class period.
If you are late, you must get the sheet and sign it after classÉ ÒI forget to
sign itÓ or ÒIÕm sure I was thereÓ will not be sufficient to document your
attendance at the end of the semester.
The emphasis on performance and
participation in this class requires close attention by students and the
instructor to attendance. You are allowed three hours of unexcused
absences (i.e., three unexcused absences for a MWF class, two unexcused
absences for a T Th class, or one three hour session
in the summer or with an evening class). For every unexcused absence over
the limit, 2% will be deducted from your final grade. Absences
will be excused only under the following circumstances:
Absence while under a doctorÕs care (written documentation
required).
Absence due to participation in an authorized college activity
(advance notification and written documentation required).
Absence due to attendance at legal proceedings requiring your
presence (advance notification and written documentation required).
Absence due to the death or serious illness of an immediate family
member (written documentation required).
I consider an excused absence one
in which the absence is beyond your control. (For example, the time of a check
up or a dental appointment can be controlled). I will not excuse
an absence in which you have to take somebody else to the doctor, hospital,
dentist, court, etc. That is why I give you the three unexcused absences.
Use them wisely. I think good attendance is very important.
Documentation is due by the last day of classes before finals week.
An excused notes will only excuse one day of absence
unless a memo is attached explaining why multiple dates should be excused.
Administrative Withdraws:
Students who enroll this course and
have poor attendance and/or poor participation (as determined by the
instructor) may be administratively withdrawn (involuntarily). Students who
are administratively withdrawn will be responsible for payment and repaying
any financial aid received for the course or courses that must be returned to
the provider. If you are concerned about your absences, progress, or
success in a particular course, meet with your instructor immediately.
Missed Classes and Late
Assignments:
Assignments
should be turned in on or before their due dates. If they are not, there
will be a 10% penalty for every 24 hours an assignment is late (including
weekends). If you plan to be
absent from class, please arrange to get anything due that day to me BEFORE you
miss class. Please contact your classmates to get any homework or notes
from the day you miss class. Do not contact me until you have tried to
reach at least two classmates.
Class Participation:
You are expected to attend class regularly and be prepared so that you may
intelligently discuss assigned material. Proper preparation means reading
the assigned chapters and completing daily assignments. Warning:
This professor is well known for counting students absent when they are not
prepared for class.
Food and Drink: Feel
free to bring food and drink to class. Just be sure to dispose of it
properly when you are finished.
Classroom Climate: The
success of this course is directly related to the sense of community that we
will develop in this classroom. Participation is essential to this
process. I encourage you to share your views and listen to those of
others. Debate and discussion are an important part of the learning
process. While there will no doubt be disagreements, I expect the members
of this community (including myself) to challenge ideas in a manner that
reflects respect and recognition of opposing viewpoints without attacking
individuals. There is no doubt in my mind that controversial topics
will come up during the course of this class. They always do. If you are
a person who is easily offended by the topics of sex, alcohol, abortion, the
death penalty, racial stereotypes, and other potentially controversial topics,
then it is advised that you enroll in another communication course not taught
by this instructor.
Visitors in the Classroom:
We may have visitors in our classroom from time to time. Please make them
feel welcome. Encourage them to participate if they would like. Let
them know that we are happy to have more voices in our classroom.
Outline of Course: All
of the following assignments and point totals are considered tentative and may
change over the course of the semester due to your progress and interests. The
electronic readings (password: aldridga)
provided here are for educational purposes only. We will use them for
teaching, scholarship, research, criticism, and comment. You cannot
financially profit from these works.
|
Date/Topic |
Readings |
Lecture/Movies/Activities |
Assignment
due (Assignments
are explained in detail below) |
|
8/15 |
|
Syllabus; I was a Teenage Feminist |
|
|
WHAT IS
FEMINIST THEORY? WHAT IS FEMINISM? |
|
|
|
|
8/22 |
K&B: ÒReading Feminist TheoryÓ
(pp 2-6); #1 Treichler and Kramarae;
#6 Delmar, #7 hooks; Treckel |
|
Name Tents RR1 (see below) |
|
8/29 |
Foss, Ch 1 and 2 |
Discuss final papers |
RR2 |
|
A BRIEF
HERSTORY |
|
|
|
|
9/5 NO
CLASS-LABOR DAY |
|
|
|
|
9/12 |
GenderSpeak,
prologue; Sally Roesch Wagner |
|
RR3 Defining Feminism essay (see below) |
|
FIRST WAVE 1792-1920 |
|
|
|
|
9/19 |
K&B: ÒIntroductionÓ (pp 62-63);
#9 Wollstonecraft; Griffin |
The story of
Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony |
RR4 |
|
9/26 |
K&B: #11 Stanton; #13
Truth; #17 Anthony; #19 Douglass |
The story of
Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony (cont) |
RR5 Proposal due for final paper |
|
10/3 |
Keith |
Iron Jawed
Angels |
RR6 |
|
10/10 |
K&B: #27 Jones; Tonn & Kuhn |
ERA
(YouTube) |
RR7 |
|
SECOND WAVE 1963-1985 |
|
|
|
|
10/17 |
K&B: ÒIntroductionÓ
(pp196-197); #42 Friedan; #44 NOW; #45 Freeman |
|
RR8 |
|
10/24 |
K&B: ÒIntroductionÓ (pp
290-291); #74 Gilligan; choice from Part V |
Free to beÉyou and me |
RR9 Outline due for final paper |
|
10/31 |
Dow |
Stepford
Wives (1975) |
RR10 |
|
THIRD WAVE 1985-today |
|
|
|
|
11/7 |
Faludi,
Backlash Ch 5; Gamber |
|
R11 |
|
11/14 |
K&B: ÒIntroductionÓ (pp
530-531); #95 Bikini Kill, #100 Baumgardner &
Richards; Caddes |
The Vagina Monologues |
RR12 |
|
11/21 |
Fairclough |
Wife Swap |
RR13 |
|
11/28 |
|
|
Final Paper Presentations |
|
12/5 |
|
Katie Couric:
A WomanÕs World?; Shelby Knox? |
|
|
12/12 |
|
|
Final Paper due |
Grading:
Defining Feminism Essay (20%): In
an essay not to exceed 2 pages (double spaced, 12 pt, Times New Roman, at most
1Ó margins), define what feminism is to you. Feel free to draw on the
assigned readings and the movie from the WHAT IS FEMINIST THEORY? WHAT IS
FEMINISM? section of the above schedule. You may
also quote from additional sources. In addition to defining feminism, you
must answer one question: According to your definition of feminism, are
you a feminist? Please include a bibliography of any sources used.
Reading Responses (20%): Reading
responses are reflections you have on the reading (focusing particularly on
artifacts and rhetorical devices since this a rhetoric class). They
should be one to two pages and thoroughly thought out. Mark up your
book/articles while you are reading and discuss the most interesting things to
you in your reading response for that chapter. Reading responses
should include brief summaries of the text (be sure to use page numbers
when directly quoting from the readings), your analysis of the material, and
examples when appropriate. This will add depth to your responses.
At the end of your response, write some possible discussion questions.
Students will be chosen at random to share their responses and lead the class
in discussion. This will also affect your participation grade.
Final Paper (30%): You must
choose an artifact (e.g., book, play, website, speech, movie, television show,
song, poster) and write a feminist rhetorical criticism about that artifact.
You should model your paper after the rhetorical criticisms you have read in
class (see Griffin, Tonn & Kuhn, Dow, and/or Fairclough). Graduate studentsÕ papers should be at
least 14 pages in length (not including cover pages and reference pages).
Undergraduate papers must be a minimum of 8 pages (not including cover pages
and reference pages). They should be formatted in APA style (i.e., double
spaced, 12 point TNR font, 1Ó margins). Ideally IÕd like to see some of
your papers submitted to a scholarly conference. Please pay attention to
deadlines throughout the semester pertaining to this paper.
Final Paper Presentation (10%)
In a 6-8 minute speech, educate your
audience with the material you gathered in your final paper. This gives
your cohorts an opportunity to learn from your research efforts and rhetorical
criticism. Remember, you are the expert in this room on your particular
topic. You will be required to submit both an outline and bibliography
before your presentation. You may only use the outline during your
presentation. Please see the rubric
for the grading criteria. Visiting the Communication Lab (ext. 2875) will
help your performance.
Class Participation (20%):
Students will receive a zero (no
credit), 5 (half credit), or 10 (full credit) during each class to represent
his/her participation during that class session. Simply talking does
not guarantee full credit for class participation. Students are expected
to make intelligent verbal contributions to the class. A studentÕs
discourse should reflect his/her knowledge of the text and his/her ability to
synthesize that knowledge with further theoretical implications and
application.
Class Grievances:
I am willing to meet with you to discuss our class and/or particular
assignments. I ask that you please wait 24 hours after you have received
a graded assignment to come see me. Before we discuss your work, you are
required to type out a document detailing what particular elements of your work
you feel merit discussion.
Plagiarism: According
to WebsterÕs New Universal Unabridged Dictionary (1983, 2nd Ed.), to
plagiarize is Òto steal or pass of ideas or words of another as oneÕs ownÉto
use created productions without crediting the sourceÉto commit literary theftÉto
present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing sourceÓ
(p.1371). Students in this course will be responsible for authenticating
any assignment submitted to the instructor. If asked, you must be able to
produce proof that the assignment you submitted is in fact your own work.
Therefore, it is recommended that you engage in a verifiable working process on
assignments. Keep copies of all drafts of your work, make photocopies of
research materials, write summaries of research materials, keep logs or
journals of your work on assignments and papers, learn to save drafts or
versions of assignments under individual file names on computer diskettes, etc.
In addition to requiring a student to authenticate his/her work, the instructor
may employ various other means of ascertaining authenticity—such as
engaging in internet searches, creating quizzes based on student work,
requiring students to explain their work and/or process orally, etc.
Please go to http://offices.nsuok.edu/academicaffairs/SyllabiInformation.aspx
for required information pertaining to:
Academic Misconduct
American Disabilities Act Compliance
Inclement Weather/Disaster Policy
Teach Act
Accessibility
Release of Confidential Information
Common courtesies:
á
Please turn all cell phones on silent while you are in class. Check your
messages AFTER class and return the calls then. Do not text during class.
á
Do not pack up before I dismiss you. You never
know when I may say something important or give a last minute assignment.
YouÕre going to want to have that pen and
paper
handy.