An interdisciplinary study of women in American society including such topics as women's social conditions, values, communication, power and symbols. This course seeks to put the concerns and contributions of the contemporary women's movement into a perspective that has value and meaning for today's student of women's studies.

Course Content:

1) An exploration of the contemporary women's movement in America, the leaders, resources and organizations for social change

2) Women as heroes, mentors and creative agents

3) Women, ecofeminism and the environment

4) Women in spirituality and religion

5) Women and the Peace Movement

6) Sex-role socialization

7) Stereotypes and images of women

8) Sexism in education, health care, religion and media

9) Women opposed to violence including harassment, rape, sexual abuse and domestic violence

10) Changing definitions of power; women's moral development

Required Reading: Instructor-generated reading packet and textbook "Women - A Feminist Perspective" (5th edition), by Jo Freeman, Editor

Please read and be prepared to discuss all assigned handouts.

Participation (22 point possible): There will be opportunities for you to engage in informed discussions, in pairs, small groups and within the large group. Students who are engaged in course activities will earn active and informed participation points during class sessions.

Written Requirements (78 points possible):

• 1 Report (14 points)
• 1 Essay required (20 points)
• 1 Significant Learnings Journal (14 points, written in class)
• 1 Final Exam (20 points)

Paper # 1 Report:

Choose a contemporary woman whom you admire - an artist, politician, musician, healer, spiritual leader etc. and write a one-page paper about her life and share this information with our class. (Please do not choose one of your women relatives.) You choose the date when you bring this information to class.

Paper # 2 Midterm Paper Essay due October 17 or earlier.

1. Based on the lectures, discussions and assigned readings, analyze the contemporary political movement for ending violence against women. Your analysis should focus on sociological, legal and psychological concerns and address the issues of public education, providing support for victims/survivors and any legislative initiatives (e.g. the 1994 Violence Against Women Act) and how they may help. Five to seven pages, typed and double-spaced. Please include a bibliography of your resources.

OR

2. Based on assigned readings, lectures and class discussions, describe and analyze some of the beauty stereotypes and body image issues in the contemporary women's culture. Include mention of the beauty ideal, the beauty business, body politics, eating disorders and any issues of racism, classism or sexism that are relevant to your analysis. Five to seven pages, typed and double-spaced. Include a bibliography of your resources.

OR

3. A topic of your choice

Final Exam: Essay due December 19th or earlier.

A. Based on the class reading and lectures, choose two of the minority women's groups in the U.S. and analyze their priorities and goals for change and the future.

OR

B. What is ecofeminism? Give an account of its main tenants and goals. Analyze how the vision and goals of ecofeminism may or may not contribute to safe guarding the environment.

OR

C. A topic of your choice

OR

D. Social Activism Project: You may choose to do a social activism project of 12-15 hours of work on a theme that affects women's lives. Choose a social theme that you feel strongly about. We'll spend time in the first two classes discussing ideas. You may choose to work in a group or individually. The time you spend needs to be documented. A 7 minute presentation will be given to the class covering why you choose your project, how you organized it and the outcomes. A two page written summary will be turned in.

Due December 19

A few possible projects might include:

• Working as a women's shelter volunteer
• Creating a Power Point show on a topic and presenting it to the community
• Volunteering on a Rape Crisis Line or at a Women's Health Center
• Interviewing rural women about their needs
• Starting a Women's Book Club or Women's Theatre Group
• Creating a recycling program in your neighborhood

Support Hour Requirement:

The support hour is your opportunity to have professional assistance and supplemental instruction to help improve your success in this course. Supervised support is offered for reading, writing, computer competency and other skills. During the semester, you will complete a variety of tasks related to this course that will necessitate the services available through the support hour. These tasks include discussion of writing assignments with the lab staff, use of MS Word, learning the basics of citing sources, paraphrasing and avoiding plagiarism, use of SkillsBank software to review basic reading and writing skills.

Student use of the support hour will be assessed and counts toward your class participation points. 10 points

Course Objectives:

1) To introduce students to material and ideas about women's lives, history, culture, art, literature, religion, work and economic, political issues - from a women's perspective and women's experiences.

2) To better understand and evaluate the cultural and sociological institutions that influence and affect women's lives.

3) To appreciate the cultural, ethnic and social diversity and variety in women's lives and experiences.

4) To examine the patterns of violence in today's family and society and discover pathways of healing.

5) To learn resources and choices available for improving women's psychological, environmental, social, economic, physical, spiritual, and political status.

6) To understand and evaluate the influences of internalized and institutionalized sexism, racism, classism, homophobia and other prejudices.

7) To become aware of your own history, build your strengths and make informed personal choices to create a better life.

Grading Policy:

• 100 - 90 score is an A
• 90 - 80 score is a B
• 80 - 70 score is a C
• 70 - 60 score is a D
• below 60 is a failing grade

78% of your score is essay, final exam, book report and journal. Students are required to complete each of these. The Writing Lab on campus is an excellent resource and is available to help you with your papers. An instructor from the lab will be visiting the class early in the semester and giving students instruction on how to do a research paper.

22% of your grade is active and informed participation, based on how well prepared you are to discuss the assigned reading and participate in the small and large group discussions.

Plagiarism Policy: Plagiarism is inappropriate behavior in a college course. All source materials whether paraphrased or quoted directly must be given credit and appropriately footnoted in your papers. A plagiarized paper will receive a failing grade.

Makeup Policy: All midterm papers, reports, journals and finals are due on their scheduled dates. A late paper or project will receive a lower grade than an on-time paper. Please, no late papers or projects.

CONTEMPORARY QUOTES

The feminist revolution will not be an overthrow, but a transformation.
Gerda Lerner, Why History Matters

From its beginning some three thousand years ago, Western civilization has seen no such total transformation as that taking place just now in the opening years of the third millennium. This reshaping of Western civilization is largely caused by and is now being guided by women in their new understanding of themselves and their role in the larger human project. Thomas Berry, author of Dream of the Earth

No two of us think alike about it, and yet it is clear to me, that question underlies the whole movement, and our little skirmishing for better laws, and the right to vote, will yet be swallowed up in the real question, viz: Has a woman a right to herself? It is very little to me to the have the right to vote, to own property, etc., if I may not keep my body, and its uses, in my absolute right. Not one wife in a thousand can do that now. Lucy Stone, in a letter to Antoinette Brown, July 11, 1855

Because I, a mestiza
continually walk out of one culture
and into another,
because I am in all cultures at the same time,
my soul between two, three, four worlds,
my head spins with contradiction.
I am guideless for the many voices
that speak to me
simultaneously.
Gloria Anzaldua, 1987

Today we take it for granted that there are anchorwomen on the news, female reporters, female representatives, and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who represents the United States to the world, enjoying equal status with prime ministers and kings. I remember a time when we had to write letters to TV stations pleading them not to call women's events at the Olympic Games "girls events."
Z Budapest, author of Summoning the Fates

For more information contact:

COS Weed Campus at (530) 938-5206 or toll-free (888) 397-4339.

Beth Beurkens at (530) 938-4777, or by email beth@shamanicuniverse.com

Registration: www.siskiyous.edu/online

Instructor: Beth Beurkens has a Master of Arts degree in Philosophy from the University of California, Santa Barbara, has taught Women's Studies courses for the past 26 years at College of the Siskiyous, Cabrillo College, Monterey Peninsula College, Hartnell College, University of San Francisco, and the School of Women and Earth, in Switzerland, Italy, and Germany. She is a published poet, author and travel writer, and is currently teaching the Women's Writing Program in Mt. Shasta along with sharing her skills as a Writing Coach. She is a faculty at the Foundation for Shamanic Studies as well.