[ Syllabus
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Instructor: Cora Agatucci
Winter 1998
Office: Deschutes 14; Office Hours: see Winter 1998 schedule
& by appointment
Office Phone & Voicemail: (541) 383-7522
Mailbox - Deschutes 12, Humanities Dept. Office
Electronic mail addresses cagatucci@cocc.edu
or internally addressed to Cora Agatucci via COCC First
Class
Visit Cora’s WS Links and WS Timelines
(hyperlinked!) 
Required Text: 
WS
101 Packet (available for purchase in the COCC
Bookstore)
Also Required (see WS
101 Course Plan for dates):
1. Engaged attendance,
note-taking, and participation at at least 80% of the scheduled
formal presentations by Cora and
WS 101 guest COCC presenters. Much of the "content" of
this class derives from these presentations, and these in-class
learning opportunities cannot be replicated or "made
up" later.
2. Additional readings
(handouts or library reserve), as assigned by guest presenters,
to be announced at least one week in advance of scheduled
presentation.
3. Resources to duplicate/zerox
selected preliminary and final drafts of WS 101 writing
assignments.
Prerequisites: None. Students with college entry-level reading, thinking, listening, and writing skills should be prepared to succeed in this course. This is an introductory course in women's or gender studies: no previous coursework is required, although such background is, of course, valuable.
Course
Description and Learning Objectives
1. What is Women’s and Gender Studies? This
is a question you should be able to answer by the end of WS 101, and
it’s not easy to answer in a single sentence (or three). Understandably,
given that "women" means at least half of humankind,
and given that "gender" identities, roles and relations
take in all of us (every culture has such gender systems), the
"field" of women’s and gender studies cannot be
confined to a single definition, academic discipline or method of
inquiry (or a single culture). One defining feature of Women's
and Gender Studies is its interdisciplinary
nature: to create knowledge and understanding of women and
gender, scholars and students work in, draw upon and cross many
academic fields of study for topics, methods, values,
perspectives, and tools of inquiry and analysis. To introduce WS
101 students to the wide scope and diverse methods of the field,
to understand what each has to contribute to our overall
understanding and knowledge of women and gender, and to inquire
more closely into how work in this relatively new field is
reshaping knowledge in various academic disciplines, COCC faculty
and scholars representing many academic fields and professional
and personal perspectives—and we’re only tasting a
small sampling!--will make guest presentations in their areas of
expertise and experience in WS 101 this term. (Not all of these
speakers, by the way, would identify themselves as
"feminists.").
Students will be encouraged to think and write about these questions as they participate in, analyze, and reflect on successive WS 101 presentations. After a sequence of presentations, "Review" sessions are scheduled in the WS 101 course plan. These sessions will give us a chance to engage in learning activities that analyze, compare and contrast, and evaluate what these different presentations and perspectives contribute to women’s and gender studies, and then try to synthesize how they work together (or against each other) to complete and/or complicate our growing understanding and knowledge of the field. Informal and formal writing assignments will give students further opportunities to consider these questions.
(Note: Most courses you take are not organized as interdisciplinary explorations of a subject. Ws 101 offers a unique educational experience. Thus, in addition to introducing you to women’s and gender studies, WS 101 may help you make better sense of the bigger educational picture--the ways that the other courses you take, the disciplines and professions they represent, the knowledge they create and the methods they use, each contribute valuable pieces to that that "bigger picture," and help us know ourselves and our world more completely.)
2. What is a feminist and feminism?
This is another question WS 101 students should be able to answer
after finishing this course. WS 101 students do not have to
be "feminists" do profit from or do well in this
course. However, first things first… we’ll need to
clear the learning arena of stereotypes and misconceptions and
inquire into this question seriously. Before asking, am I a
feminist, let’s define what your notion of
"feminist" is and compare it to others’
definitions. More accurately, while we can identify a few core
ideas and goals probably common to all who call themselves
"feminists," there are many varieties of
feminism, and sometimes sharp disagreement among
these feminisms.
WS 101 will introduce some varieties of U.S./Western feminism, and some of their key theories, concepts, perspectives, and goals. To "contextualize" feminisms, we will trace their historical development in political-social activism known today as the "Woman’s Movement," some of the women (and men) who created the "movement[s]," and investigate feminisms’ roles in establishing Women’s Studies programs and courses (like this one) within the U.S. and other world educational establishments. If we have a stronger understanding and appreciation today of the status, accomplishments, lives, and perspectives of the world’s women today and in the past, it is largely due to these "feminists," courses and programs, and feminist scholarship in many academic fields, as well as other professional and private arenas.
In connection with our study of the interdisciplinary nature of women’s and gender studies, WS 101 will also consider this key question:
We will investigate this question, as well as selected public private, and academic issues raised by the Women’s Movement and feminist theories and critiques.
3. What are the multicultural and global
dimensions of feminism and of women's and gender studies?
As we investigate the diversity of ideas within feminism and
interdisciplinary studies of women and gender, we will also
address the diversity of identities among women in the world,
past and present, seek to understand and appreciate those
differences, and guide students in trying to locate themselves
within that diversity. Some WS 101 presentations will address
these topics directly, attempting to give students a better
understanding and appreciation of multicultural and international
women and gender systems—complicated by intersecting
oppressions of gender, race/ethnicity, class, and culture,
arising out of different cultural/historical contexts and social
realities. And these multicultural and global perspectives are
sometimes very different and sharply critical of those we
consider "mainstream" for the U.S., arising out of
different cultural and historical contexts.
4. Where are you coming from? Where are
others’ coming from? What can we learn from our differences,
as well as our similarities? How can we work together to deal
more constructively with gender (and other) differences?
Other important course goals are to create a learning
environment where multiple perspectives (of students, teacher,
speakers, and, in absentia, some of the rest of humankind) are
encouraged and valued, and to lay a solid groundwork for learning
to respect and deal (more) constructively with gender (and other)
differences. I rely in part on students’ agreement that
these are goals worth striving for, guided by critical and
"connected" thinking and writing exercises designed to
"contextualize" our own and others’ viewpoints,
with help from Lynn Cannon Weber’s "Ground Rules"
(see WS 101 packet) and the practices of other
"feminist," inter-cultural, and interdisciplinary
teaching and learning strategies. We are all "persons
of gender" as we are also persons of various individual
histories, classes, ages, races, ethnicities, religions, sexual
preferences, politics, regional and educational backgrounds, etc.
These differences are sometimes very significant and should not
be erased by overgeneralizing about all "women" or
"men" if we truly seek a more complete and accurate
understanding of others and ourselves. (For example, it is
crucial to realize that all "men" have not been
privileged, nor have all "women" always disadvantaged
by gender systems of power, and the roles, expectations, and
power relations that they create.) And to inquire openly and
fairly into the many—especially
"gendered"—differences, as well as common ground,
among us, among humankind, we must clear the ground of
misinformation and stereotypes if we hope to understand others,
especially groups different from ourselves. Such learning begins
at home. Our multiple and intersecting identities shape the ways
we know, learn, and teach WS 101 subjects, as well as other
academic studies.
Transfer
Credits and "W" Credit
B List Humanities Credit: WS 101 is fully transferrable and may be applied toward fulfillment of the a B-list Humanities requirement for an associate’s degree.
"W" Writing In Context (WIC) Course Credit: In addition to basic requirements in writing (e.g., Wr 121, 122, 123), many four-year colleges and universities are instituting lower division requirements for coursework requiring writing assignments in discipline-specific contexts. Therefore, COCC has instituted a Writing in Context (of another discipline)--or ""W" or "WIC"--designation for approved COCC courses across the curriculum with a significant writing component to help COCC transfer students meet such requirements in future. WS 101 is one of those approved courses. WS 101 and 102 use both formal and informal writing to help students learn the subject matter, to promote self-reflection and discovery, to develop students’ ability to think and write within and across the various disciplines which study women and gender, and to strengthen students’ college-level communication skills. (See "Course Grading and Assignments" below).
Course Grading and
Assignments
30% - Participation Credit & four (4) Dialogues: as noted earlier, students must earn credit for
attendance and active engagement at at least 80% of the scheduled
WS 101 presentations for a grade of "C" or higher in
this category; the 4 dialogues, informal writing of at least one
page each, will be evaluated on a Credit/No Credit basis.
30% - Three (3) graded Study Guides (@ 10%), 2-3 pages each ,on assigned Ws 101
presentations, produced individually and by small groups, with
duplicate copies as required (see WS 101 Course Plan); directions and evaluation criteria will be discussed
in more detail in class.
30% - Two (2) graded Discussion Papers (@
15%), 4-5 pages each, on course themes briefly
described in the WS 101 WS 101 Course Plan; with detailed directions, topic choices, and
evaluation criteria to be discussed in class.
10% - Final Reflection Paper, an end
of term Course Review and Self-Evaluation, will be due at,
or may be written during the scheduled WS 101 Final Exam meeting
(see WS
101 Course Plan).
Late-Make Up Policies
NEED HELP WITH WRITING
ASSIGNMENTS
Explore 
links to
useful websources
for
writers & researchers,
see Cora
during her office hours (see Winter
1998 Schedule),
or try the
Jefferson Writing Lab (tutoring hours posted & announced in
class)
Any student with a documented disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychological, vision, hearing) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the instructor (Cora) and Steve O’Brien (COCC counselor who handles disability services, located in the Boyle Education Center [BEC]) at the beginning of the term or as soon as possible.
If unforeseen problems emerge during the quarter that may seriously hurt your progress or performance in this course, please see me right away. Together we can perhaps reach a solution or compromise that will enable you to continue and complete course requirements successfully.
I look forward to working with and learning from you this term!
Cora
In answer to a
recent student question, please note: WS 101 is not just for
women!
Male as well as female students are invited to enroll. The
issues we address are relevant to everyone.
Learn
some hyperlinked "herstory" from WS Timelines,
or explore more internet resources... WS Links
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