COURSE POLICIES Women, Culture and Society Women's Studies 101 Spring 2006
print by Sonia Delaunay

This course is designed to introduce you to the field of women's studies and the major themes, concepts and methods used in the social and cultural study of the lives of women in the United States and in other parts of the world.

1. Women, Culture and Society: A Reader, ed. B. Balliet These readings are marked on syllabus as "WCS ." Ordered from the Bookstore on your campus, and available at all RU bookstores. You do not have to bring the book to class unless we are discussing an article from it that day. (it's heavy!)

2. The Street, a novel, by Ann Petry. If not already available at your campus' bookstore, it will be soon. Feel free to get the book from any source where you can get it--library, Amazon.com, etc. Please do not wait too long to acquire the book, because you might find yourself unable to get it. (The bookstore sends back unpurchased books to the publisher halfway through the semester.)

Some of the readings for the course might be in the form of supplementary handouts, which I will distribute early in the semester. 

The remainder of the course readings are accessible online. Students are responsible for printing out online readings well in advance of class, and bringing them to class when they are being discussed. If you show up to class without readings in hand, I will growl at you.
 
 

Attendance: Attendance is extremely important for this course. The course is based on student participation and group discussion. Your presence is vital to your grade, your learning experience, and to the class as a whole. Attendance will be taken every class. If you have a 100% attendance record, that will help your final grade. All absences detract from your attendance grade, except for a limited number of excused absences --illness, or any absence that you COULD NOT AVOID, such as car incidents, family issues, etc. In an effort to be as fair to all students as possible, I require you to furnish documentation for any UNAVOIDABLE absence or the absence will detract from your attendance grade. It may seem weird to bring in documentation about a family death or a dead battery, but this is the only way I see of making the system fair to all! You must bring documentation within 2 weeks of the absence. Please note: Four or more unexcused absences will lower your grade by one letter grade. Eight or more unexcused absences will result in a grade of "F". This policy WILL be enforced! In addition, arriving late to class is strongly discouraged. Three latenesses of more than 10 minutes will equal one absence. This policy WILL be enforced, because excessive lateness in such a large class becomes very disruptive to the learning environment. If you have a problem getting to class on time because of travel between campuses, come see me with your schedule and I will note your situation. Note: it is always better (in the long run) to come to class rather than to skip even if you are unprepared.

Note: Students are responsible for ALL information contained in the course web site. Be aware that there may be small changes made to info in the web site, especially in the first few weeks of the semester. It is also necessary to check your e-mail at least once a week (preferably more often) for updates and reminders from me. 

Policy on Academic Dishonesty: Any type of cheating , dishonesty or plagiarism that is apprehended by the instructor will be dealt with severely. Please refer to:

Instructional Techniques You'll Encounter in this Class: In a class with 50 students, it's not as easy to have in-depth discussions as it would be in a smaller class. There is simply less time for every individual student to speak in class -- that is, if your only idea of class discussion is one person speaking while the rest of the class listens. In this class, a variety of instructional techniques will be used in order to help all students learn and engage with the class material as actively and productively as possible. Lecturing by the instructor will be limited to short chunks of time. Various kinds of pair or small-group activities will be used occasionally, but not constantly. (I realize that some students just prefer to work solo.) Short in-class writing tasks will also be used, sometimes collected and sometimes not. Video will be used to vary the way material is presented.
 

I always welcome feedback from students about instructional techniques used in the class. All students learn in different ways, so it's important for me to hear from you about how the process is going for you.