Women's Perspectives and Values
WSP-101 Fall 2002 Course Description:
The objective of this course will be to understand how our awareness
of ourselves and our world is developed and shaped by gender and the status
of women, which in turn are shaped by the meanings that we make about them,
and how we constantly struggle to change both our world and ourselves.
To do this we will examine and analyze the varying relationships of women
in the United States to each other and the contexts in which we all live
our lives. The focus of this analysis will be the social constructedness
of gender, what it means to be a woman in contemporary society, constantly
understanding that those meanings change over time and context and differ
across race, class, sexuality and other identity marker constructions.
The specific meanings that will be examined will be those that feminists
have made as they change the grounds of discussion by responding to and
shaping contemporary society.
Course Goals:
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To learn about women in different contexts with different backgrounds.
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To learn about how our own attitudes and beliefs about gender, race, class,
etc. are directly and indirectly shaped by the society and cultures in
which we live.
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To improve written communication skills by completing Writing Exercises.
This is a writing intensive course.
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To improve oral communication skills by participating in class discussion,
reading a poem outloud and analyzing it for the class.
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To improve your technology skills by using the website for the course,
participating in BlackBoard discussion groups. This is a web enhanced
course.
©2002 Northeastern Illinois University Women's Studies
Program
Last updated 8/25/2002
Created by Laurie
Fuller, Assistant Professor and Women's
Studies Coordinator