Course Syllabus

WMNS 101 Syllabus

It is imperative for students to read the entire Canvas Course Syllabus, including any attached documents, as this will provide the blueprint and guidelines for your class.

Course Syllabus: WMNS 101_Syllabus

What does gender equality mean to you? 

Whether we like it or not, gender affects all of us - not just women! But, as you can see from this video, gender - and more importantly, gender equality - means differently things to different people. How you grew up, where you come from, who you are, all affect how you understand "gender equality." Diversity and inclusivity are major parts of this class, and we will explore each other's differences as we learn what the concepts and topics we explore mean to us. What has shaped your understanding of gender and gender equality?

Instructor:  Kirsten Boles

I am a PhD student at Claremont Graduate University where I am pursuing my PhD in Women's Studies in Religion. My primary areas of focus are in transnational feminist and queer theory, particularly in the context of Islam and discourse about Islam in the U.S. I live in Long Beach with my fiance, Doug, and my crazy pitbull-boxer, Maya. This is my second semester at SAC, and I am so excited to meet more new SAC faces! I will be a faculty advisor for the SAC Women's Empowerment Club, so join the club and take part in all of the excellent work they do for the SAC community!

Course Description: Using the inter-discipline of Gender Studies as our springboard, we will examine both our society and ourselves through lenses including race, class, gender, sexuality, age, and ability. Through class conversations and interactive lectures, we will draw upon our existing knowledge to learn about the experiences of both men and women. But this course will require each one of us to reconsider the things we already know about gender and sexuality and how it works in the world. This class will have you asking questions about the things you’ve taken for granted. And it will encourage you to critically examine how you came to understand gender and sexuality from a particular point of view. More than anything, the goal of this class is to help you develop tools for thinking about, analyzing, and engaging with gender and sexuality in new ways.

Textbook Information: Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives, 6th Edition, by Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey, McGraw Hill (2013). ISBN: 978-0-07-351234-1

Additional Course Information:  Other readings will be posted to the Canvas course website. If you have difficult accessing the course website or downloading any of the files, please let me know as early as possible.

Course Learning Objectives:

This course will provide a “blended learning” experience. This means that we will use a variety of teaching materials, including lectures, discussion, video, and practical exercises. We will make use of intergroup dialogue and experiential learning. Films, songs, podcasts, comedy, and images will play a key role in facilitating our discussions. All of this is designed to create opportunities for you to practice analyzing and critiquing gender. Lectures will be interactive and attendance is mandatory. You should be prepared to answer questions that ask you to apply what you have read and to engage with other students.

Student Learning Objectives:

In concurrence with college policy and standards for core competency, you may expect to achieve the following Student Learning Outcomes in this course:

1. Communication Skills: Clear oral and written explanations and evaluations of the difference between sex and gender. Identify, evaluate and construct well-supported arguments concerning the most important issues affecting women within the modern era.
2. Thinking and Reasoning: Critically analyze through group dialogue and response papers, how the social construction of gender affects the following: language, the family academic education, the media, employment, politics, law, history, religion and health.
3. Diversity: Explain and critically analyze how race, class, gender and sexual identity affect women’s life experiences. Explain, analyze and integrate through written and oral assignments, the various strains of feminist thought (e.g., liberal, socialist, radical, multiracial.)