SWMS210 Fall Class Syllabus (Belcher) PDF

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Summary

The 2021-2022 class syllabus for Social Analysis of Gender with Professor Christina Belcher. It contains all the information on necessary assignments, books, and readings....

Description

SWMS 210mgw 34900R Social Analysis of Gender Fall 2021 | T / TH 2:00 – 3:20pm Location: MHP 101 Professor Chris Belcher, PhD (she/they) E-mail: [email protected] Office Hours: https://usc.zoom.us/my/chrisbelcheroffice Mon/Wed 10am – 11am, or by appointment Email me to book time in office hours. I will not be sitting on Zoom if I have no bookings, but I will always have this time available to make bookings with students who email me in advance.

Teaching Associates: Melissa Chadburn: [email protected] Eli Dunn: [email protected] Allison Ross: [email protected]

Course Platforms: Blackboard Zoom (if necessary) Texts and Materials:      

bell hooks, Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics (2000) South End Press Susan Stryker, Transgender History: The Roots of Today’s Revolution 2nd ed. (2017) Seal Press Jane Ward, The Tragedy of Heterosexuality (2020) New York University Press HBO account, to stream I May Destroy You (Michaela Coel) Netflix account, to stream Disclosure (Sam Feder) Kanopy (film streaming, USC Libraries)

Course Objectives and Description: SWMS 210 is a multidisciplinary survey of gender assumptions in relation to sexuality, mental health, social and political relations, and artistic expression; put simply, it will introduce students to the interdisciplinary work of gender studies. The course will not be organized chronologically through feminist “waves,” but thematically, through discrete units of special issues and topics in the field. Through popular, legal, medical, political, and philosophical discourses, we will consider

how gender and sexual identities are constructed in the public sphere, and how they contribute to differentials of power between groups and individuals. We will explore how key gender studies concepts regarding race, gender, class, and sexuality might guide us towards possible futures, actions, and interventions in social forces that systemically marginalize and oppress.

Content Warning: This course contains content that is both violent and sexually explicit. Many if not most historical and political writing and speech, as well as cultural production, within the field of gender and sexuality studies deals explicitly with violence, sex, and abuses of power. Please familiarize yourself with the syllabus and assess your comfort early on so that you might choose another course if this material is not the right fit for you. Statement on Fostering an Anti-Racist Classroom: Together, we can create a classroom environment that reflects equity and justice. In service of this creation, all of us must be invited to speak out against microaggressions, bias and injustice if we encounter them in the classroom. You might speak out verbally in the moment (during a lecture Q&A or discussion), or you might speak out in an alternatively impactful manner: via an email to me or to your TA, or by filling out this anonymous Google form. We must strive to support each other, and make it safe to be fully ourselves in class, meaning that everyone should feel free to speak, knowing that if they unintentionally make a misstep that feels bad for another student or instructor, they will be given the compassionate opportunity to learn from it. And on the flipside, if you’re hurt, we will take collective responsibility for addressing it. I will do my best to implement instructional strategies that support and allow for deep explorations of identity, which requires awareness of, and attention to, structural racism as it marks the classroom space and our lives.

In regards to classroom conduct, respect for others' racial, ethnic, and class backgrounds, nationalities, immigration statuses, religious and political beliefs, sexual orientations, and gender expressions is the norm and standard. This norm should be respected in your written work, as well as in class discussion. There is no room for disrespect of systemically marginalized populations in our academic discourse community. In this class, “respect” will require that we do more than ignore race: we will confront racism, and its intersection with other systemic injustices, such as sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, ableism. As such, you can expect that SWMS 210 will present moments that feel uncomfortable. We will have to work together to allow discomfort to exist in the classroom, realizing that anti-racist work is uncomfortable for white people especially, because our broader culture prioritizes white comfort. Course Policies

Attendance: It’s mandatory. I will use the Qwickly attendance function in Blackboard at the beginning or end of each lecture, so make sure you have a device that can access Blackboard each day (phone, tablet, or laptop). The limit on unexcused absences is 4. If you miss more than 4 lectures, make an appointment to discuss your situation with me in office hours. If you miss 5 - 6 lectures (for unexcused reasons), you will be ineligible for 10% of the participation grade, and if you miss more than 6 lectures (unexcused) you should withdraw from the course, as you are likely to fail. The limit on absences to Friday discussion section is 2. If you miss more than 2 you should make an appointment to discuss your situation with both me and your TA. If you miss 3 discussion sections (for unexcused reasons), you will be ineligible for 10% of the participation grade. If you miss 4 or more Friday discussions (for unexcused reasons) you should withdraw, otherwise you will automatically fail the course. If you miss class, please do not email me or your TA to ask what you missed – we will not reply. You are responsible for getting the homework, the notes, and any handouts/materials by consulting course materials and/or speaking with a peer. Make contact with some of your fellow students for this reason. The university grants students excused absences from class to observe religious holy days, and for documented, university-sponsored events (such as required athletic events). I also excuse absences for medical issues. If you are feeling sick, do not come to class. Please contact me or your TA in advance of any anticipated absences due to illness. While in-person attendance is expected of those who are well-enough to attend, if you have a high-risk covid exposure, absence is expected. If you’re diagnosed with covid19, absence is absolutely necessary, no matter your vaccination status. You will not be penalized for missing class due to a covid exposure or infection. Stay in touch with me if you need covid-related accommodations. Any student who has official accommodations from the Office of Student Accessibility Services that permits them to take the class online-only must be in touch with me at the beginning of the semester. Dornsife faculty are not currently required to record lectures, and I don’t plan to record our class, but I will work out accommodations on a case-by-case basis unless the university puts some other kind of plan in place. The Qwickly attendance tool on Blackboard will still send you an absence notice, but I will have noted the allowance in my gradebook. Late work: All due dates/times are listed on the syllabus. Late work will be penalized one grade step (i.e., from a B+ to a B) for each class day it is past due. That is, if an assignment is due on Friday and you don’t submit it until the following Friday, the final grade will be lowered two grade steps. Please note that we will not accept work handed in more than a week after the due date unless you discuss the matter with us before the due date passes. This is also the extension policy – you can turn in your work up to a week late, but there are penalties, so don’t choose to do so lightly.

Participation: This course will deal frankly, explicitly, and even provocatively with topics that some of you may deem controversial. The professor and teaching associates expect that you will engage with all of the course materials thoughtfully. Participation in lecture Q&A and your discussion section is worth 15% of your course grade and your TA will note who has contributed each week. Presence in class is not participation in class. Showing up just means that you won’t fail for lack of attendance, it does not mean you will earn 15% for participating. That portion of the grade starts at zero, and you earn it by contributing to small and large group discussions over the course of the semester. E-mail assistance: I accept and answer email M-F between the hours of 8am and 5pm. Once I receive your email, I will respond as soon as I can, usually within 48 hours, unless you email me late Friday afternoon, in which case I’ll respond on Monday or Tuesday. If you email me and I haven’t responded in 48 hours, it’s appropriate to re-send. Do not resend unless 48 hours have passed. ZOOM: I reserve the right to hold class on Zoom (for instance, if I have a minor cold or must travel for a conference or workshop, or if a significant number of your classmates have become sick and/or need to isolate). If this format becomes necessary, I will distribute a link for a meeting via email ahead of schedule. All small group meetings and office hours will be held on Zoom at my office link above. COVID-19: Students are expected to comply with all aspects of USC’s COVID-19 policy. Failure to do so may result in removal from the class and referral to Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards. Our classrooms and lecture hall will remain masked all semester, regardless of whether or not there are changes to the LA County or University-wide recommendations. Please do not make me mask-police you. If I see you pull your mask under your nose or take it off entirely once, I’ll ask you to replace it. If I see you do it twice, I’ll ask you to leave for that day. If you need to have a drink of water, go to the hallway or else do so quickly at your seat and then replace your mask over your nose and mouth. You cannot eat in class unless there’s a medical reason for which you need accommodations, in which case you should email me in advance. Course Requirements: Module Responses 1-4 (Midterm): 30% Module Responses 5-8 (Final): 30% Participation (in Discussion Section and/or Lecture Q&A) 15% Short Essay or Media Project: 25% All work will be graded on the Dornsife College 4-point grade scale:

A, 4 points; A-, 3.7 points; B+, 3.3 points; B, 3.0 points; B-, 2.7 points; C+, 2.3 points; C, 2 points; C-, 1.7 points; D+, 1.3 points; D, 1 point; D-, 0.7 points; F, 0 points

All written work will be turned in to your TA, on your section’s Blackboard. That is where you will receive graded feedback.

Module Responses: Rather than traditional midterms and finals, I have designed reading responses that take their place. As such, you should treat the questions as exam questions, and answer them with the level of thought and care you would answer an open-notes/open-book exam. They will be graded, and they are worth a combined 60% of the course grade. A specific due date for each module is listed on our schedule. Each module will consist of four questions – they will remain the same for each module. The writing process should take around 1 hour each week (some modules span more than one week). Putting in less than the expected time will show in your responses. You will receive a grade on the entirety of Modules 1-4 after midterm (noted below on the schedule) and in the place of a class final, Modules 5-8. You will receive provisional grades as the modules move along so that you can track your progress to avoid any big surprises when the midterm and final grades are averaged. (For instance, you may have received a 3.0 B, 3.7 A-, 4.0 A, and 3.3 B+ on Modules 1-4, which would average into a 3.5, and would be bumped up to an A- or down to a B+ based on your engagement in class.) Because some modules span multiple weeks, you should consider the responses to be an ongoing project and should not skip reading and writing any week, or you will fall behind. Save drafts on weeks that responses are not due so that you can come back to them and finish on weeks they are due. If you miss a deadline, you should still turn in the assignment late because you’ll need it for the midterm and final calculations. If you miss a module, it will factor into your midterm or final grade as a 0/4. The late policy applies and late module submissions will lower your midterm and final grades. Final Projects: There are two options for the final project, but for either, you should make an original contribution to the theories and/or histories we covered in class. You should not simply summarize a module. The project should clearly articulate your perspective, but you can cite course materials, in addition to texts from outside our class. This distinguishes the final project from your module responses. The modules are meant to test your knowledge of the readings we engage together; the final project is meant to test your ability to apply what we studied in class outward, toward a topic or text of your own choosing. Media Project Option: Choose a module and respond to it through audio and/or visual media. Your responses can and should be creative: record a podcast on a course topic

that includes elements of storytelling, reportage, and interview. Create a visual artwork. Write a short story or poem and visually narrate it. A comic strip; a series of TikTok videos; a short film shot on your iPhone. These options are just off the top of my head – email me or your TA if you want to float an idea. Think about how you plan to submit a file/documentation of project – if you need accommodations for submission, email me. Remember that you must be original: if you record a “podcast” but all that podcast consists of is an interview with a professor or friend, you’ll have to work harder to show how that project was a product of your originality and creativity. All media projects should be attended by a ~750 word “artist’s statement” describing your intentions with the piece. This artist statement should engage with theories and texts from within and beyond the class. Finish the artist’s statement with a list of references/bibliography of work that influenced the project you produced. If you’d like to work with a partner or in a small group (no more than three students), I encourage that. There is a specific rubric on Blackboard to help you understand expectations. Short Essay Option: If you’d rather write a traditional academic essay as your final project, it should be ~6 double-spaced pages (~1500 words, 1750 max) in relation to one of the modules we covered. You cannot simply summarize the topic as we covered it in class. You should focus on an example from popular culture, current events, or history that you see as illuminated by the readings we did in class, supplement those readings with key readings you’ve chosen on your own, and make an original claim about your chosen example. For instance, we are covering a module on transgender rights. You might write an essay on the television show Pose and make a claim about the ability for representation to bring about social change. Cite your sources in MLA format or Chicago style. There is a specific rubric on Blackboard to help you understand expectations.

Tentative Schedule Schedule may be revised if the needs of the class and/or instructors require revisions. Readings should be completed by 2pm on the T/Th following their assignment. Module 1: Intersectionality Tues Aug 24 – Cover Syllabus – Watch Kimberlé Crenshaw TED talk on intersectionality Read: C.R.C “A Black Feminist Statement (1977) for 8/26 Thurs Aug 26 – Lecture – Intersectionality and the Combahee River Collective Friday Aug 27 – Discussion Sections: Intersectionality Read: bell hooks, feminism is for everybody (first half p. 1-60) for 8/31 Tues Aug 31 – Lecture – Feminism is for whom? Read: bell hooks, feminism is for everybody (second half p. 61- 118) for 9/3 Thurs Sept 2 – No Lecture Watch: documentary The Same Difference: Gender Roles in the Black Lesbian Community, Dir. Nneka Onuorah (stream on Kanopy thru USC Libraries) for 9/9 Friday Sept 3 - Discussion Sections: hooks feminism is for everybody Fri Sept 3, 5pm - Module 1 Responses Due via Blackboard Module 2: The Gender Construct Tues Sept 7 - No Lecture Read: Simone de Beauvoir, “Intro to Second Sex” (1949) for 9/9 Thurs Sept 9 – Lecture – Binaries Friday Sept 10 - Discussion Sections: Simone de Beauvoir Read: Monique Wittig, “One Is Not Born a Woman” (1981); Gloria Anzaldúa, selections from Borderlands/La Frontera (1987) for 9/14

Tues Sept 14 – Lecture – The Lesbian Solution to the Misogyny Problem? Wed, Sept 15, 5pm – Module 2 Responses Due via Blackboard Module 3: Trans History and Representation Thurs Sept 16 – Watch Screaming Queens documentary (together in lecture) Friday Sept 17 –No Discussion Sections – get started on reading Read: Susan Stryker, Transgender History (CHs 1 – 2) for 9/21 Tues Sept 21 - Lecture – Trans Histories Read: Stryker, Transgender History (CHs 3 – 5) for 9/23 Thurs Sept 23 – Lecture – Trans Histories cont. Friday Sept 24 - Discussion Sections: Stryker CHs 1 - 5 Watch: Disclosure (Netflix) for 9/28 Tues Sept 28 – Lecture – Trans Representation Read: Stryker, Transgender History (CH 6) for 9/30 Thurs Sept 30 – Lecture – Trans Issues Today Friday Oct 1 - Discussion Sections: Trans Representation Today Mon, Oct 4, 5pm – Module 3 Responses Due Via Blackboard Module 4: Sex and Sport Watch: Vox’s “The problem with sex testing in sports” for 10/5 Tues Oct 5 – Lecture – Race, Sex, Gender, and Elite Athletics Read: Erica Rand, “Court and Sparkle” (GLQ) for 10/7 Thurs Oct 7 – Lecture – Race, Sex, Gender, and “Fairness” in Sports Friday Oct 8 - Discussion Sections: Sex and Sport Mon, Oct 11, 5pm – Module 4 Responses Due Via Blackboard Module 5 - Heterosexuality Read: Jane Ward “Nowhere without It: The Homosexual Ingredient in the Making of Straight White Men” from Not Gay for 10/12

Tues Oct 12 – Lecture – Heterosexual Masculinity Read: Jane Ward, The Tragedy of Heterosexuality CHs 1-2 (pages 1- 74) for 10/19 Thurs Oct 14 – No lecture, fall break Friday Oct 15 – No discussion, fall break Tues Oct 19 - Lecture – The Intersections of Heterosexuality and Patriarchy Thurs Oct 21 - Lecture – The Intersections of Heterosexuality and Patriarchy cont. Friday Oct 22 - Discussion Sections: Heterosexuality and “Straight Culture” Mon, Oct 25, 5pm Module 5 Responses Due Via Blackboard Module 6: Rape Culture Read: Sharon Marcus, “Fighting Bodies, Fighting Words: A Theory and Politics of Rape Prevention” for 10/26 Watch: Start watching Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You (30 min per episode) Additional Content Warning: I find Coel’s work important. Important enough that I’m asking to engage it with you. There are visual depictions of sexual assault in this work, which the artist, Coel, also felt it important to depict. I’m sure the artist didn’t take this ask lightly. I don’t take this assignment lightly. That said, if you are unable to engage with this material, you can opt out and choose another text on sexual assault/rape culture to engage in your module response instead. If you want accommodations but need help choosing something else, be in touch with me via email to discuss. Tues Oct 26 – Lecture – The Language of Rape (Marcus) Watch: Continue I May Destroy You Thurs Oct 28 – No lecture – finish I May Destroy You Fri Oct 29 – Discussion Sections: I May Destroy You (If you had accommodations for engaging with the Coel text, let your TA know that you won’t be in discussion this day.) I will be visiting discussion sections. Tues Nov 2 – Lecture – Sexual Assault and Representation (If you had accommodations for engaging with the Coel text, let me know that you won’t be in lecture this day.) Read: Jane Ward, The Tragedy of Heterosexuality CH 3 (p. 75 – 112) for 11/4 Thurs Nov 4 – Lecture – Toxic Masculinity

Friday Nov 5 - Discussion Sections: Toxic Masculinity Mon, Nov 8, 5pm Module 6 Responses Due Via Blackboard Module 7: Queer Politics Read: Cathy Cohen, “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens” (p. 437 – 452) for 11/9 Tues Nov 9 – Lecture – The Problems with Queer Politics Read: Cathy Cohen, “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens” (p. 452 - ...