Sociology 215—Women in American Society

 

Carmella T. M. Marrone  home page                                                               cmarrone@jjay.cuny.edu

Office hours: Tues/Thurs 5:00-6:00pm, 520.11T                                              Office phone: 212.237.8687

 

This course examines the situating of women within American society from the historical perspective to the present time. It is a look through a gendered lens into the all-important and powerful social institutions, as well as into the relations and interactions of everyday life in our social world.

 

Required Books: Andersen, Margaret. 2003. Thinking About Women: Sociological Perspectives on

                           Sex and Gender. 6th edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

                           Jackson, Stevi and Sue Scott, eds. 2002. Gender: A Sociological Reader. New York:

                           Routledge.

 

Classroom courtesies:

1.      Students are expected to arrive timely for all classes and to participate fully in class discussion.

2.      Please do not wear headsets or headphones in class.

3.      Please silence any phones or pagers during class time.

 

Grading:

Exam #1—25%, Exam #2—25%, Oral presentation—15%, Response Paper—25%,

Attendance and Participation—10%

·         Exam questions are drawn from class lectures and discussions, films, and assigned readings.

·         Exams are not cumulative; their format will be discussed in class. Make-up exams will not be given.

 

Response paper:

A book selection list will be given to you on 01 October. You will submit your book selection and paper topic no later then 08 October. The paper is to be a sociological response to the issues presented in the book. In your paper, be sure to make the necessary connections to both text materials and class discussion where it is appropriate. You are encouraged to visit with me during my office hours to discuss your paper and any ideas that you may have before you begin writing. The response paper is to be written in a scholarly fashion and should be between 6-8 pages in length. Papers must be typewritten and double-spaced with 1” margins all around. Your paper grade is based on the sociological content of the paper, its structural organization, grammar and punctuation.

 

Papers submitted after the due date will receive a grade deduction unless some prior arrangement has been agreed upon. Papers will not be accepted if they are more than one week past the due date.

 

Oral Presentation:

Each student will select one of the assigned chapters from the book Gender: A Sociological Reader and make a brief (10-15 minute) summation and analysis. Presentations will be in accordance with the dates shown on the syllabus.

 

John Jay College Policy on Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s ideas, words, or artistic, scientific, or technical work as one’s own creation. Using the ideas or work of another is permissible only when the original author is identified. Paraphrasing and summarizing, as well as direct quotations, require citations to the original source.

 

Allegations of cheating may be referred to the Vice President for Student Development to be handled under the Student Disciplinary Procedures in Article 15 of the Bylaws of the CUNY Board of Trustees, copies of which are available in the Library and on line at www.cuny.edu. Plagiarism may be either an academic infraction or a disciplinary infraction depending on the nature of the allegation. The key factor in determining whether an allegation of plagiarism should be treated as an academic or disciplinary matter is whether resolution of the issue involves primarily a question of fact or primarily a question of professional academic judgment.

 

The primary issue in a plagiarism case frequently is whether the ideas and/or language expressed by a student were original or were the ideas of another. In such cases, the matter is more properly characterized as academic, for which the faculty member should award a grade appropriate to the circumstances.

 

Sometimes, whether a question of fact or an academic judgment is at issue is not clear. When a faculty member is not certain whether a particular case of plagiarism ought to be treated as a disciplinary infraction or an academic infraction, the faculty member should consult with the Vice President for Student Development. If the Vice President determines that the matter is disciplinary, the matter will be handled as a disciplinary violation under Article 15 of the Bylaws of the Board of Trustees. If it is determined that the matter is academic, the Vice President will refer the matter back to the faculty member, and the College’s established procedures in terms of grading and appeals will be followed.

 

In some instances of plagiarism, a faculty member may wish to impose a grade reduction penalty to a student as well as seek the imposition of one of the penalties that may be authorized only by a disciplinary committee convened pursuant to Article 15 of the Bylaws, such as disciplinary probation, long term suspension, or expulsion. Where the faculty member refers a case to the Vice President for Student Development for referral to a Judicial Committee, the faculty member must hold the grade in abeyance until the Judicial Committee has determined whether the student is guilty or innocent of the charges. After the Judicial Committee has rendered its decision, a grade that is consistent with the findings of the committee may be awarded by the faculty member.

 

Readings:

Tu, o3 Sep.

 

TAW—Chapter 1, Studying Women: Feminist Perspectives

 

Thurs, 05 Sep.

 

TAW—Chapter 2, The Social Construction of Gender

 

Tu, 10 Sep.

 

TAW—Chapter 3, Gender and Culture: The Social Construction of Knowledge

 

Thurs, 12 Sep

 

Gender: Introduction pp. 1-22

TAW—Chapter 4

 

Tu, 17 Sep.

 

No Class

 

Thurs, 19 Sep

 

Gender: Part 1, pp27-29 and chapters 2, 4, 6, and 7

 

Tu, 24 Sep.

 

Film and Discussion

 

Thurs, 26 Sep.

 

TAW—Chapter 5, Gender, Work, and the Economy

 

Tu, 01 Oct.

 

Gender: Part 2, pp. 85-87 and chapters 9 and 10

TAW—Chapter 5, Gender, Work, and the Economy

 

Thurs, 03 Oct.

 

Submit Book Title and Paper Topic

Gender: Part 2, Chapters 11, 13, and 15

 

Tu, 15 Oct.

 

Exam #1 (Includes all materials covered to date)

 

Thurs, 17 Oct.

 

Gender: Part 3, pp. 151-153 and chapters 22, 23, and 24

 

Tu, 22 Oct.

 

TAW—Chapter 7, Gender, Health, and Reproduction

 

Thurs, 24 Oct.

 

Film and Discussion

 

 

Tu, 29 Oct.

 

Gender: Part 4, Marriage and Intimate Relationships pp. 203-205 and

            Chapters 25, 26, and 28

 

Thurs, 31 Oct.

 

Gender: Part 4, Chapters 31 and 32

 

Tu, 05 Nov.

 

TAW--Chapter 8, Women and Religion

 

Thurs, 07 Nov.

 

TAW--Chapter 9, Women, Crime, and Deviance

 

Tu, 12 Nov.

 

TAW—Chapter 9, Women, Crime and Deviance

 

Thurs, 14 Nov.

 

Film and Discussion

 

Tu, 19 Nov.

 

TAW—Chapter 10, Women, Power, and Politics

 

Thurs, 21 Nov.

 

TAW—Chapter 11, Gender, Education, and Science

 

Tu, 26 Nov.

 

Response Paper Due

Gender: Part 5, Becoming Gendered pp. 269-271 and Chapter 36

 

Tu, 03 Dec.

 

Gender: Part 6, Gendered Embodiment pp. 369-370 and

            Chapters 42, 45, and 47

 

Thurs, 05 Dec.

 

TAW—Chapter 12, Women and Social Reform: Liberal Feminism

 

Tu, 10 Dec.

 

TAW—Chapter 13, Contemporary Frameworks in Feminist Theory

 

Thurs, 12 Dec

 

Summing Up: Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Exam #2, Date TBA (Covers all materials from 17 Oct to date)


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