Course Syllabus

Course Information

Fall 2010
GST/SOC 2300.001 Introduction to Gender Studies
Tues. / Thurs. 4 – 5:15 p.m.
GR 2.530

Professor Contact Information

Prof. Erin A. Smith

School of Interdisciplinary Studies
Office Phone: (972) 883-2338
Email: erins@utdallas,edu
Website: www.utdallas.edu/~erins
Office: Green 2.208
Office Hours: Tues. 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Thurs. 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
And by appointment

Course Description

This course is an introduction to the study of gender as a category for social and cultural analysis.
We will examine the ways gender, sexuality, class, race/ethnicity, and nationality interact to
shape our experiences, our culture, and the social institutions we inhabit. The topics we cover
include biological arguments about gender and sexuality; the cultural construction of gender in
different societies; the psychology of sex roles; the ways gender shapes families, workplaces, and
other social institutions; and cultural representations of gender. We will survey the variety of
theories available to us to explain social inequalities, and examine the roles of individuals and
institutions in creating, maintaining, and challenging them.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes

1. Students will be able to describe the ways gender shapes the lives of women and men by
privileging certain definitions of masculinity and femininity and regulating expressions of
sexuality.
2. Students will be able to explain how gender structures social institutions (families,
workplaces, schools, religious institutions, etc.) and our ways of thinking.
3. Students will be able to give examples of gender, race, class, nation, religion, and
sexuality as interactive systems.

Course Syllabus Page 1

Required Textbooks and Materials

Michael S. Kimmel, The Gendered Society 4th ed. (Oxford UP, 2011)
Michael S. Kimmel, The Gendered Society Reader 4th ed. (Oxford UP, 2011)
Allan Johnson, Privilege, Power and Difference 2nd ed. (McGraw-Hill, 2006)

All texts available at Off-Campus Books, the UTD bookstore, and Stanza Books

Readings on e-reserve at:

http://utdallas.docutek.com/eres/coursepage.aspx?cid=871

Additional course materials available on eLearning.

Assignments & Academic Calendar

Thurs. 19 Aug.

Intro. to Course

Tues. 24 Aug.

Kimmel, chap. 1, “Introduction,” 1-17

In Our Genes? Biology and Gender

Thurs. 26 Aug.

Kimmel, chap. 2, 21-57

Tues. 31 Aug.

Sapolsky, “Testosterone Rules,” Reader 22-26

McCaughey, “Caveman Masculinity: Finding Manhood in Evolutionary Science,” Reader 11-22

Carol Tavris, “The Mismeasure of Woman,” Feminism and Psychology 3.2 (1993): 149-68 (e-
reserve)

Gender in Cross-Cultural Context

Thurs. 2 Sept.

Kimmel, chap. 3, 58-85

Tues. 7 Sept.

Peggy Reeves Sanday, “The Socio-Cultural Context of Rape: A Cross-Cultural Study,” Journal
of Social Issues 37.4 (1981): 5-27 (e-reserve)

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Sex Roles, or How Individuals Learn Gender

Thurs. 9 Sept.

Kimmel, chap. 4, 86-110

Tues. 14 Sept.

Hyde, “The Gender Similarities Hypothesis,” Reader 95-112

Pascoe, “‟Dude, You‟re a Fag‟: Adolescent Masculinity and the Fag Discourse,” Reader 113-24

The Social Construction of Inequality and Difference

Thurs. 16 Sept.

Kimmel, chap. 5, 111-38

Tues. 21 Sept.

Ridgeway, “Framed Before We Know It: How Gender Shapes Social Relations,” Reader 190-
200

West & Zimmerman, “Doing Gender,” Reader 200-13

West & Fenstermaker, “Doing Difference,” Reader 214-36

Thurs. 23 Sept.

Film: You Don’t Know Dick

Power, Privilege and Difference: Interlocking Systems

Tues. 28 Sept.

Johnson, chap. 1-2, 1-40

Thurs. 30 Sept. – NO CLASS

Tues. 5 Oct.

Johnson, chap. 3-5, 41-75

Thurs. 7 Oct.

Johnson, chap. 6-7, 76-107

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Tues. 12 Oct.

Johnson, chap. 8-9, 108-53

Thurs. 14 Oct. – Midterm Exam – BRING A BLUE BOOK

Tues. 19 Oct.

Film: Step by Step: Building a Feminist Movement, 1941-77

Gendered Social Institutions: The Workplace

Thurs. 21 Oct.

Kimmel, chap. 9, 247-88

Tues. 26 Oct.

Williams, “The Glass Escalator: Hidden Advantages for Men in the „Female‟ Professions,”
Reader 389-401

Wingfield, “Racializing the Glass Escalator: Reconsidering Men‟s Experiences with Women‟s
Work,” Reader 401-14

Quinn, “Sexual Harassment and Masculinity: The Power and Meaning of „Girl Watching‟,”
Reader 592-604

Love, Friendship, Sexuality: Gender in Human Relationships

Thurs. 28 Oct. – Review Paper #1 due – Presentation of Findings

Kimmel, chap. 11, 317-38

Tues. 2 Nov.

Cancian, “The Feminization of Love,” Reader 545-54

England et al, “Hooking Up and Forming Romantic Relationships on Today‟s College

Campuses,” Reader 578-91

Thurs. 4 Nov.

Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, “The Female World of Love and Ritual: Relations Between Women in
Nineteenth-Century America,” rpt. in The Signs Reader: Women, Gender and Scholarship, ed.
Elizabeth Abel and Emily K Abel. (Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1983): 27-55 (e-reserve)

George Chauncey, “Christian Brotherhood or Sexual Perversion? Homosexual Identities and the
Construction of Sexual Boundaries in the World War I Era,” in Gender and American History
Since 1890, ed. Barbara Melosh (New York: Routledge, 1993): 72-105 (e-reserve)

Course Syllabus Page 4

The Gendered Body

Tues. 9 Nov.

Kimmel, chap. 12, 339-80

Thurs. 11 Nov.

Bordo, “The Body and the Reproduction of Femininity,” Reader 503-17

Gender and Violence

Tues. 16 Nov.

Kimmel, chap. 13, 381-407

Michael Kimmel, “”Gender, Class, and Terrorism,” Chronicle of Higher Education 8 Feb. 2002,
B11-12 (e-reserve)

Thurs. 18 Nov. – NO CLASS

Film: Tough Guise to be screened before 11/23 on your own

Tues. 23 Nov.

Discuss Tough Guise

Cohn, “Wars, Wimps, and Women: Talking Gender and Thinking War,” Reader 608-17

Sanday, “Rape-Prone Versus Rape-Free Campus Cultures,” Reader 631-40

Thurs. 25 Nov. – NO CLASS - Thanksgiving

Tues. 30 Nov.

Guest Presenter on domestic violence issues

Dobash et al, “The Myth of Sexual Symmetry in Marital Violence,” Reader 618-30

Thurs. 2 Dec. – Review Paper #2 due – Presentation of Findings

Final exam questions out / Wrap-up

Final Exam – Take-home exam due in my office by 5:00 p.m. on Thurs. 9 Dec.

Course Syllabus Page 5

Grading and Course Requirements

Participation -- You are expected to come to class prepared for discussion. Your
participation includes not only expressing your own ideas, but also the respect and
seriousness with which you treat the ideas of your colleagues.

Reading Questions –SIX (6) times over the course of the semester, you will hand in a one-page
(MAX) typed response to the reading. Goal is to (1) prove you‟ve done the reading; and (2) show
some thoughtful consideration of the issues or questions it raises. I will provide
prompts/questions on my website at www.utdallas.edu/~erins. You must hand in 3 reading
question write-ups by Thurs. 7 Oct. Questions are due on the day we discuss a reading.
Faxed or E-mailed questions will not be accepted. Late questions will not be accepted. No
one else may hand in questions for you. I will not accept questions from students not
attending class that day.

Midterm (Thurs. 14 Oct.) and Final Exams (Thurs. 9 Dec.) -- essay and short-answer questions
designed to test your mastery of course readings and class discussion, and your ability to
synthesize the material and think critically about it. Midterm is in class. Final Exam is a take-
home exam. I will hand out the questions in advance.

Review Papers #1 and #2 – 3-page papers summarizing and reviewing some university or
community presentation, lecture, exhibit or function related to gender. I will provide a list of
suggested events. I will also enthusiastically pre-approve others. Paper #1 is due Thurs. 28 Oct.
Paper #2 is due on Thurs. 2 Dec. I will provide more detailed instructions on a handout.

Grading Policy --Your grade will be based on:

Review Paper #1 15%

Review Paper #2 15%
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 25%
Reading Questions 20%

You must complete all course requirements in order to pass the class (e.g. if you do not
hand in a paper, you will fail the class, even if the other grades average out to a passing
grade). Attendance and participation will be reflected in your grade (i.e. it doesn‟t matter
how well you do on the other things, if you regularly don‟t show for class or don‟t
participate). If you miss more than 8 classes (for whatever reason), you will fail the
course. Habitual lateness, absences, or failure to hand in a paper on time will be
reflected in your grade. Please consult me in the event of illness, emergency, or other
extenuating circumstances.

A NOTE ON CELL PHONES AND PAGERS—TURN THEM OFF!!! They are

rude, disruptive, and disrespectful to me and to your classmates.

Policy on Scholastic Dishonesty: I have a zero tolerance policy on cheating and

plagiarism. Students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to
disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal
from the University.

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Policies and Procedures for Students

The University of Texas at Dallas provides a number of policies and procedures designed to provide
students with a safe and supportive learning environment. Brief summaries of the policies and procedures
are provided for you at http://go.utdallas.edu/syllabus-policies and include information about technical
support, field trip policies, off-campus activities, student conduct and discipline, academic integrity,
copyright infringement, email use, withdrawal from class, student grievance procedures, incomplete grades,
access to Disability Services, and religious holy days. You may also seek further information at these
websites:
http://www.utdallas.edu/BusinessAffairs/Travel_Risk_Activities.htm
http://www.utdallas.edu/judicialaffairs/UTDJudicialAffairs-HOPV.html
http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/copypol2.htm
http://www.utdallas.edu/disability/documentation/index.html

These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the Professor.

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