Fall Semester 1999: Mondays, 2:30 pm to 4:55 pm
Dr. Lisa D. Brush
Office: 2J28 FQUAD
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesday 11:00 am to 12:00 noon and by appointment
Office phone: 412-648-7595
Email address/electronic office hours: Talk Back To Dr. Brush
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Through engaging with a set of both recent and more classical texts in feminist social research and thought, students will trace some of the intellectual and empirical lineage of debates on gender, race, and class.
The shared readings will include:
Discussions and written work will address the theories, methods, and substantive examples addressed in the readings.
Graduate study means learning to learn from every possible source -- from your readings, your peers, your life experience, your professor, your research. Participating in seminar discussions is one of the best ways to learn. You are expected to contribute your questions and insights to the class. The culture of the seminar will, I hope, be a congenial one for self-expression. I will work to maintain such a culture by swiftly countering displays of contempt and by practicing principles of pedagogical equity to the extent possible. I cannot help you learn if you don't participate in discussion, however. Doing excellent written work is not enough to demonstrate adequate performance in graduate school. So show a little backbone, organize yourselves in whatever way you need in order to ensure broad participation in the discussion, and whatever you do, don't suffer in silence. Say anything you can defend against reasoned argument. Treat your colleagues' contributions with respect (which means taking them seriously and challenging them as well as extending basic courtesy).
This should go without saying, but attendance at each seminar meeting is required. More than one absence that is not due to extraordinary circumstances will result in a lowered grade.
In addition to participating in seminar discussions, everyone enrolled in this seminar is expected to complete the following assignments:
Before 9:00 am on Mondays (that is, the day of the seminar meeting), submit to the seminar distribution list an analytical abstract of not more than 250 words. Summarize the purpose, framework, sources, findings, and significance of the reading. Comment succinctly on what you found most interesting, important, puzzling, infuriating, fundamental, etc. about the readings. Distributed over email in a timely manner, these abstracts will not only help you organize your response to the readings but will also serve as a guide for discussions. Altogether, these short written assignments contribute ten percent to your final grade. Submit four abstracts over the course of the term.
For four sessions, each student must write a publication-length (800 words) formal review of the text for that week. Most disciplinary journals include examples (I suggest you look over the most recent issue of Contemporary Sociology, the journal of reviews for sociology, American Journal of Sociology, or Gender & Society, the journal of Sociologists for Women in Society). Your review should respond to the text in an evaluative way by placing the work in scholarly context, assessing the methods and findings of the research, and identifying controversies. Your written work will be graded individually.
For three of the sessions, each student must work with a small group of seminar participants responsible for presenting context, key concepts, and controversies from the readings. The presentations will formally occupy the first hour of the appropriate session, should stimulate discussion, and may of course run longer than 60 minutes. Groups will receive a collective grade provided through evaluation by all seminar participants. The criteria for evaluation are effectiveness of the presentation in conveying important points from the reading and apparent equity in preparation among the group members. Presentations may be in any format (although long media presentations, unless produced by the group, are generally discouraged, as are "talking head" recitations of prepared written materials) and should cultivate and reflect creative collective preparation and oral presentation skills. At the minimum, presenters should identify particularly problematic passages in the text and help the group engage with them, either by providing and then eliciting alternate readings of the text, contextualizing the debates implicit or explicit in the text, or preparing specific questions for discussion.
During the final session (or perhaps two) of the semester, you will present a literature review to the seminar group. We will devote some class time over the course of the seminar to developing ideas for this project. Basically, you are expected to produce an essay that explores and develops central themes of interest to you from among the course materials, plus adds insights from your independent reading.
The final written version of this review is due at the last class session (December 13). Depending on enrollment, you will present to the seminar (and possibly a wider audience) either on that occasion or earlier in the term. You must submit a draft of your project text to another seminar participant for comments (see below). This is your opportunity to present your own work in a supportive-yet-critical setting. The presentation and written project together count for 25 percent of your grade.
Each participant will be responsible for reading, and providing written and oral comments on, the draft literature review of one fellow participant. This will be your opportunity to provide supportive-yet-critical feedback to your colleagues at a crucial stage in the development of their projects. You will receive drafts by December 3 and must return comments by the beginning of class on December 6 to allow time for revisions. You may also serve as commentator on final presentations. Hand in your colleague's comments with the final version of the paper. These comments count toward five percent of your grade.
I am more than happy to work with you to develop your final essay or discuss your critical reviews and other written assignments.
Grades will be assigned on the following scale:
A: Truly exceptional and outstanding work
B: Solid, acceptable graduate-level work
B- or below: Below acceptable level for graduate work
All texts should be available at the Book Center. Most are also available on reserve in Hillman library.
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