COM 316 Syllabus - Monday Only PDF

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1 COM 316: Gender and Communication (10073) The Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, Arizona State University Spring 2021: January 11th – April 23rd Monday Night 6pm - 8:45pm Arizona Time via ZOOM Instructor: Dr. Rosalie Fisher Email: [email protected]

Office: Zoom Office Hours: T/Th 4pm-5pm * All meetings by appointment only.

I will be teaching this course during our assigned class time, however it will be remote. As students, you will not physically interact with me in a classroom, but there will be real-time live instruction using Zoom during the scheduled class time. Attendance will be taken at each Zoom meeting and it is expected that you will participate in class discussions. Please read the ZOOM ETIQUETTE document to see the requirements and expectations for this class in our twice-weekly meetings via Zoom. Our personal Zoom meeting room link is https://asu.zoom.us/j/9463096147 It can also be found on your MyASU page.

Required Textbook: The Process of Gender, edited by Jennifer Linde & Belle Edson (2019) 4th Edition.

Note: This book is available in hard copy or in digital format. Either one is acceptable. These readings are very dense and full of information, so I personally find it bett er to have a hard copy that I can highlight, underline, circle words, write definitions in the margins, etc. So consider this when deciding which format works best for you. You should have this book immediately in your possession by the start of the semester. You can purchase the book in print or digital form from the following link. If you purchase the print version from this link, you will automatically have access to the digital version as well.

https://he.kendallhunt.com/edson_linde.

2 Course Description: This course is about the relationship between gender and communication. Our method of study will be a combination of reading, small group discussion, lecture, research, writing and analysis, with a goal of coming to a broad definition of gender. We examine how this knowledge connects with our personal identity, experiences, and position in society. As the textbook suggests, we will examine gender as a process. More specifically, we will learn about gender and communication through six approaches to studying the process of gender. 1. The Process of Defining Gender: An introduction to terms, definitions, and concepts relating to gender and sex, and the placement of these definitions in the field of communication. 2. The Process of Becoming Gendered: A discussion of how gender reflects and is influenced by our lifelong construction of our identities. In this section we will study the topics of femininity, masculinity, and transgender. 3. The Process of Communicating Gender: A focus on gender as an influential discursive tool. We will examine gender and language, gender and nonverbal communication, gendered communication within relationships. 4. The Process of Examining Gendered Violence: An assessment of the relationship between communication and gendered violence. 5. The Process of Understanding Gendered Social Systems: A broader discussion of how gender and communication exists within a societal framework. In this section we will study gender and communication within the topics of the media, education, and organizational institutions. 6. The Process of Critiquing Gender: A critical assessment of gender and communication through a discussion of gendered social movements. Our goals are: 1. To understand the definitions and theoretical explanations of gender and communication. 2. To examine how gender intersects with our personal identity. 3. To raise self-awareness concerning our communication behaviors within a gendered context. 4. To foster an open mind so that we may fully comprehend the complex social constructs that influence gender and communication. 5. To critically evaluate the impact gender has as a tool of power 6. To explore the idea that gender is a process Important: The content of this course may contain adult language, sexual situations, violence, or some material that may be considered offensive by some individuals. You should review the course syllabus and textbook articles and watch trailers of our films to determine if you are comfortable with this material. Your continued enrollment in the course indicates to me that you have done so. GENERAL POLICIES Your Responsibilities: Your responsibilities to this class, and to your education as a whole, include attendance and participation. You have a responsibility to help create a classroom environment where all may learn. At the most basic level, this means you will respect the other members of the class and the instructor and treat them with the courtesy you hope to receive

3 in return. Specifically, racist, sexist, homophobic or other discriminatory language or behavior will not be tolerated. Disability Accommodations: Qualified students with disabilities who will require disability accommodations in this class are encouraged to make their requests to me at the beginning of the semester. Note: Prior to receiving disability accommodations, verification of eligibility from the Disability Resource Center (DRC) is required. Disability information is confidential. Establishing Eligibility for Disability Accommodations: Students who feel they will need disability accommodations in this class but have not registered with the Disability Resource Center (DRC) should contact DRC immediately. Their office is located on the first floor of the Matthews Center Building. DRC staff can also be reached at: 480-965-1234 (V), 480-965-9000 (TTY). For additional information, visit: www.asu.edu/studentaffairs/ed/drc. Their hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday .

SPECIFIC POLICIES Turning in Assignments: I will post instructions for assignments in Canvas as we review them in class. Do not depend on me (or Canvas) to send you reminders. It is your responsibility to keep an eye on the calendar at the end of this Syllabus. I recommend printing it out so you can check it every day. Assignments will not be accepted via email. If you have an issue with your computer, there are computers on campus that are available to you, so plan your time accordingly – no late submissions will be accepted. If at any time you have a system error on an assignment submission, please contact Canvas Tech Support the moment this happens. Retrieve a Ticket # and copy/paste the error message (and/or screen shots) into an email to me right away. You should also attach your completed assignment to the email, so I see that you indeed had it completed by the deadline. However, it will not officially be considered “submitted” until you submit it in the correct location via Canvas. Strategies for Improvement: This course requires a high level of reading and engagement with the readings, it will be difficult to succeed in this class if you do not dedicate time to doing this. Please feel free to speak with me at any time about ways to improve your performance during the course. I strongly suggest that you do not wait until the end of the semester to discuss strategies for improvement. I highly recommend creating flashcards to study the key vocabulary terms and general take-aways from each of the readings. Questions or Concerns about Graded Assignments: I spend time carefully evaluating your work and expect that you will take time to read my comments. Therefore, I will not discuss your graded assignments until 24 hours have passed from the time I return the assignment to you. After that time, I will be happy to discuss the assignment with you. The attitude brought to office hours should be focused on what can be done to improve your performance on the next assignment, rather than disputing the grade itself. I will be happy to discuss any questions you have.

4 Contacting the Instructor: Speaking in person is the most direct and efficient way to communicate (even when it’s via Zoom). You can always touch base with me before or after class if you have any questions or want to set up a meeting. It’s helpful to even say, “I’m going to send you an email,” to put a face to the name. This is why attendance is imperative. Please be aware that emails may not be answered on weekends, so plan accordingly. Attendance/Participation: Many years of teaching have proven to me that there is a strong correlation between class attendance and performance on assignments. You should also recognize that simply showing up to class does not guarantee or entitle you to a passing grade. Your participation in class discussions will contribute significantly to how much you and your classmates learn in this class. You are fully responsible for all information covered during class meetings and contained within the readings (including any changes related to the syllabus or the course calendar). Please note that you are responsible for obtaining any information missed due to absences, which does not mean you come to me to tell you what you missed. Check the course calendar at the end of this syllabus, complete the assigned reading, review the corresponding Power Point posted in Canvas, and read all of the announcements I send out to ensure that you are on top of things. Technical Difficulties: If you have internet connectivity issues which prevent you from accessing the Zoom meeting in real-time, be sure to communicate with me. Due to the sensitive nature of this subject matter, I will not be recording our lectures. It is up to you to attend the class in real time. You will be allotted 3 excused absences, just like an in-person class. That means you’ve communicated with me about your reason for being absent and provide any documentation whenever possible. Check Announcements! My primary method of communicating with the class is through Announcements. If I have internet connectivity issues which prevent me from holding a live Zoom session, I will always send out an announcement. The announcement will always contain a task to complete in place of having class, so read the message all the way through. I am not responsible for you NOT reading the entire message and missing an assignment. You should be getting Canvas announcements sent directly to your ASU email, and if not, then be sure to contact Canvas Tech Support to change the settings accordingly. Of course this is in addition to looking at the course calendar at the end of this document, which is your primary resource for all daily activities. I rarely deviate from this calendar. Do not rely on Canvas “To Do” items, which do not correspond to assigned readings and other scheduled events on the calendar. Deadlines and Due Dates: I must approve any excuse for missing a paper/exam/activity (p/e/a) deadline PRIOR to the due date of that p/e/a. Missing a due date without receiving prior approval will result in a zero on that p/e/a, and no opportunity will be provided to “make up” the grade. There will be NO EXCEPTIONS to this rule. Prior approval requires that you talk to me and that I accept the reason for your request. Please note that papers and other assignments may only be made up in cases of legitimate, officially documented excused absences.

5 Academic Integrity: The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication strongly believe in academic integrity; thus, instructors do not tolerate cheating and plagiarism. Instructors who find compelling evidence of academic dishonesty will actively pursue one or more of the following actions: assigning a grade of XE ("failure through academic dishonesty") to the student, advocating the suspension or expulsion of the student from the College, and/or referring the student to Student Judicial Affairs. Please read the Student Academic Integrity policy and the code of conduct for the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at: http://humancommunication.clas.asu.edu/undergraduate/major-information.

Cheating: Cheating will result in an immediate zero on the assignment, and potentially the course. It is considered cheating (or academic dishonesty) any time you: • Do work for other students • Pass other’s work off as your own original work (i.e. taking information from the internet and not using quotation marks or citing the original source of the information) • Paraphrase someone else’s work without citing the source • Provide information/ideas that are not your own without citing the source • Copy/paste any portion of information from another source. (All written work should be directly typed by you. No copying/pasting whatsoever.) • Borrow someone else’s paper and change up the words intermittently • Do an assignment with a classmate and turn in the same work (unless explicitly instructed by your teacher to work with a partner) • Provide your completed assignment to another student to help them see how an assignment should be done. (If you’ve given your assignment to someone to refer to and they end up turning it in as their own work, you both are held responsible for academic dishonesty in this case.) The best way to ensure that you do not take credit for someone else’s work is to become deeply familiar with the process of citing your work. In Communication, it is required to use the APA (American Psychological Association) format for citations. You can find this site extremely helpful, in order to make sure you are citing things correctly, giving credit where credit is due: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/08/. All papers and speeches which require you to use outside sources must be accompanied by a bibliography in APA format. We will review this extensively in class. You can start here:

Basic Format for Books: Last name, First initial. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher. *Only the first word in the title is capitalized. The second line should always be indented. Note: For "Location," you should always list the city and the state using the two letter postal abbreviation without periods (New York, NY). Example: Calfee, R. & Valencia, R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

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Disruptive Student Policy: I want to build a classroom climate that is comfortable for all. In a communication class, it is especially important that we (1) display respect for all members of the classroom, (2) pay attention to and participate in all class sessions and activities, (3) avoid unnecessary disruption during class time, and (4) avoid racist, sexist, homophobic or other negative language that may unnecessarily exclude members of our classroom or campus. This is not an exhaustive list of behaviors; rather, it represents examples of the types of things that can have a dramatic impact on the class environment. Your final grade may be reduced each time you engage in these sorts of behaviors, and can also result in being dropped from the class.

Assignments: There are 2 papers, 3 exams, 10 writing prompts, 1 individual presentation, and a participation score. Grades: Papers (2@100points) Exams (3@100points) Attendance & Participation Individual Presentation & Write-up In-class Writing Prompts Total

200 300 60 40 100 (10 discussion write-ups @ 10 points each) 700

A quick glance at Assignments: *Paper #1: Produce a creative account of what it is like to “perform” your gender in minute detail. This should also include your observations of others around you, and their gendered behavior. Incorporate the course material (examples, vocabulary, specific studies) into your analysis. *Paper #2: Produce a critique focused on how a media text attempts to gender us. Incorporate the course material (examples, vocabulary, specific studies) into your analysis.

Individual Presentations & Write-up: This is an in-class presentation with a corresponding written component (1-2 pages) exploring a particular issue pertaining to something we’ve covered in the class during that unit. In other words, you are expanding upon or illustrating a concept we’ve learned about in class, providing examples from your own experience/observations and showcasing your knowledge of the course material. This should help others understand these concepts even more, making them better prepared for the test. Get creative with this!

Writing Prompts: Writing prompts are questions posed at the end of some of the lectures that you are expected to answer in a written reflection. Some of these will take the form of individual/private

7 reflections. Others may take the form of a Discussion Board post in which you respond to a classmate. They are meant to help you reflect upon the pertinent “take-aways” from the readings, think critically about what was covered in a lecture/discussion, and help prepare you for the content you can expect to see on exams. I highly recommend composing your reflections in a Word document that you save and can review for the test, rather than typing directly into the textbox in Canvas. Exams: There are 3 “closed-book” tests consisting of some combination of multiple choice, true/false, matching questions, fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and essay questions. We will be having a test review day prior to each exam, and you will be provided a study guide.

Course Calendar Please note: The assigned readings must be read BEFORE the class meeting. I highly recommend PRINTING out the following calendar, so you can keep an eye on everything on a daily basis. Do not depend on me (or Canvas) to send you reminders. It is your responsibility to keep an eye on these due dates. At the beginning of each unit in the textbook, key vocabulary terms and definitions are listed on the introductory page. I’ve highlighted each unit here, so pay attention to that page and jot down the key terms in your notes. These will be on exams and will help you understand the readings. The due dates listed reflect the absolute latest time and date that you may submit an assignment. I encourage you to plan ahead and submit your assignment prior to that time.

Week 1 M 1-11

Topic/Reading

In Class Syllabus Overview & Introductions Review Presentation Sign-up

UNIT 1 pg. 1 Reading by Judith Lorber pgs. 27-33 Viewing: Killing Us Softly 4 Online Access: https://av.lib.asu.edu/media/FBOiCqdxzr82/

Week 2 M 1-18

Topic/Reading MLK Day - No School

In Class MLK Day - No School

Reading by Kate Haas pgs. 41-53

Writing Prompt #1 – due Friday 1/22 by 11:59pm

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Week 3 M 1-25

Week 4 M 2-1

Topic/Reading Briefly review Haas reading. Reading by DeFrancisco & Palczewski pgs. 3-24

In Class

Viewing: Orchids: My Intersex Adventure

Writing Prompt #2 – due Wednesday 1/27 by 11:59pm

Topic/Reading “The Epidemic of Loneliness” article reading. UNIT 2 pg. 39 Reading by Nancy Finley pgs. 67-80

In Class Presentation Day

Viewing: Tough Guise 2 Online Access: https://av.lib.asu.edu/media/xS_3SsGuExci/

Writing Prompt #3 – due Wednesday 2/3 by 11:59pm

Week 5 M 2-8

Topic/Reading

In Class Presentation Day Exam Review Exam #1 Writing Prompt #4 due before class time on Monday 2/15.

Week 6 M 2-15

Topic/Reading Reading by Kristin Norwood pgs. 8799

In Class Review WP 4 Assign Paper #1

UNIT 3 – pg. 105 Reading by Julia Wood pgs. 107-120

Week 7 M 2-22

Topic/Reading The Power of Language

In Class Paper Reminder

Reading by Elizabeth Gilbert pgs. 123-131 If you have the electronic book, you’ll have to get this reading from “Files” on Canvas. It is not available in the digital ebook.

Writing Prompt #5 due before class time on Monday 3/1.

9 Week 8 M 3-1

Week 9 M 3-8

Topic/Reading

In Class Paper 1 Due by 11:59pm

Reading by Robin Boylorn pgs. 135143

Review WP 5

Topic/Reading UNIT 4 pg. ...