Course Syllabus

WMNST 106: Women and Gender in Literature, Art, and Popular Cultures

Course Overview

CATEGORY	INFORMATION
Credits	3
Prerequisites	None
Delivery	Web (Canvas, https://psu.instructure.com)
Dates	See the Calendar.
Instructor	See the Orientation module under the Modules tab.

Description

Welcome to Representing Women and Gender in Literature, Art and Popular Cultures! This course is an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, with an emphasis on the experiences, achievements, and status of women in the arts and humanities. While providing a broad overview of scholarly research and theory pertaining to women and gender, you will also see many examples of contemporary women’s creative practice through the visual arts, media, and popular culture. You will learn about the challenges women artists have faced in making their way in a male-dominated arts and media industry; you will learn how these artists sought and continue to seek new languages and forms, whether in paint, words, film, music, crafts, to reassess and re-imagine notions of sex and sexuality, gender, race and ethnicity that underlie many forms of social injustice.

Objectives

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

1. Name and define foundational concepts in the field of Women's and Gender Studies.
2. Define terms in visual and literary analysis that are essential to basic feminist analysis of works of art.
3. Define the term feminism and state its major principles, as well as articulate your own current position with regard to feminist ideas and practices.
4. Describe how social categories (i.e. sex, gender, race, class, ethnicity, age, ability, etc.) intersect and interact to create relative privilege and power differences expressed through social institutions, systems, and cultural practices, including art work.
5. Explain how sexism, racism, and other prejudices and implicit biases enter into both the production and the consumption of the arts generally, and of women's art in particular.
6. Identify major obstacles to visibility and success women artists have faced, both historically and in contemporary societies.
7. Compare and contrast examples of art work in terms of their feminist content by employing basic gender studies and visual studies terms or concepts.
8. Demonstrate how a particular artist might transform traditional forms of art to find a feminist language for describing women's experience.
9. Employ feminist principles and analytics in the construction of your own compilations of women's popular music.
10. Critique contemporary media and works of art in terms of their unspoken biases against the socially nonprivileged or unempowered.
11. Summarize several ways in which contemporary artists reassess and reimagine—even disrupt—notions of sex, sexuality, and gender in order to provoke critique, reassessment, and even activism toward greater equality and gender justice.

Organization

This course is comprised of 15 lessons divided into 6 units.

• Unit 1, Introduction to Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies (2 lessons): introduces essential terms and concepts of Women's Studies as a field, and a basic definition of feminism. Features our first look at how women, gender, and sexuality are represented in the media and the advertising industry.
• Unit 2, Representing Difference I (2 lessons): looks at the ways sex, gender, and sexuality are written on the body -- and the way writing and narrative (whether verbal or visual) explore discursive expressions of women's bodies and experiences. Focuses on a literary text, from a major feminist author who explores the persistence of history and myth in the women's narratives.
• Unit 3, Representing Difference II (3 lessons): introduces basic concepts of visual theory that organize the field of feminist art and media studies, in order to explore the tradition of "the Nude" in art and how the figure of the nude can both affirm and challenge contemporary notions of the ideal body.
• Unit 4, The Body As A Political Site (2 lessons): introduces the wide field of activist art that exposes the many barriers to the well-being and empowerment of women and other social minorities. Focuses on a selection of contemporary feminist artists, including Judy Chicago, Coco Fusco, the Pussy Riot Girls.
• Unit 5, Women’s Bodies, and Other Inconvenient Truths (2 lessons): highlights ongoing devaluation of women's bodies, not only through objectification in media and the arts (see previous units) and through legal control of sexual health and reproduction, but also through the medicalization and pathologizing of women's bodies. 
• Unit 6, Women Who Rock, Then and Now, and Beyond (4 lessons): features the rich history of women in popular music, from jazz and folk, to rock, country, alternative, and hip-hop. Focus on contemporary women who have made themselves heard in a still, male-dominated industry.

For each lesson, you will complete the following:

• Explore online course content.
• Read assigned textbook and other readings.
• Watch assigned videos (where applicable).
• Participate in discussion forums with your randomly assigned team, a sub-group of classmates with whom you will engage throughout the semester.

For each unit (comprised of 2-4 lessons), you will:

• Complete a Unit poll.
• Complete a Unit quiz.

In addition, throughout the course, you will complete three writing assignments, a midterm exam, and a final project. For the final project, you will be assigned to a group who will be your "classmates within a i-crowd/cloud." Each group may on occasion participate in peer review writing or projects; each group will also work together on a final project, Women Who Rock.

Online Learning and Attendance

This course has been developed to promote asynchronous learning. The instructor and students do NOT meet on a designated day and time each week. For each lesson, there is a timeframe to complete all activities and assignments, and you may work at your own pace within that timeframe. However, you must adhere to the due dates outlined on the Calendar. (Due dates can also be viewed under the Syllabus tab.) You should log into the course daily to check for updates, review lessons, and participate in activities.

Guidelines for a Feminist Classroom

This course often deals with sensitive and/or controversial issues. Regardless of your political commitments your instructors expect every member of the class to respect the commitments and politics of every other individual in the class. Please review the Discussion Policies in the course orientation.

Materials

Texts

The following texts are required:

• Atwood, M. (2006). The Penelopiad (1st ed.). Canongate United States. [ISBN: 978-1841957982]
• Cisneros, S. (1991). The House on Mango Street (1st ed.). Vintage. [ISBN: 978-0679734772]
• Cohen, D. (2012). The Curse: Stories, poems, musings and snatches of conversation about getting your period.*

*Purchase The Curse as an eBook through an online bookstore such as Amazon or Barnes and Noble.  A privately printed book, it is available in paperback format.

Library Services

Penn State Libraries provides a wide variety of services and resources. To learn how to take advantage, refer to the Online Student Library Guide (Links to an external site.) at http://guides.libraries.psu.edu/onlinestudentlibraryguide. This guide serves as your starting point for access to all that Penn State Libraries can offer you as an online student. Use this guide if you have questions on library services offered to you, how the library can help you, how to use the library, or what resources you can access via the library! The guide will connect you to important pages and resources within Penn State Libraries and save time from you searching for the information you need.

Course Reserves

There are electronic resources on reserve for this course that can be accessed through the Penn State Libraries. To access your Course Reserves, please use the Library Resources link in the course navigation menu.

For any questions you may have about searching, viewing, or printing your Course Reserves, refer to the Viewing/Printing Electronic Reserves page at https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/reserves/usingreserves.html.

ARTstor

You must have an active Penn State Access Account to take full advantage of the ARTstor's resources and services. Many of the images you will see within the course space have been retrieved using ARTstor. The Artstor Digital Library features an unparalleled range of images from some of the world’s leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists in one easily-navigated repository. ARTstor is solely available for teaching, education and scholarship, with all images supported with comprehensive metadata and cleared for educational use. For additional information, see the Artstor Digital Library. To access ARTstor, see the following instructions.

How do I access images on ARTstor?

1. Click on the ARTstor link (http://library.artstor.org/#/login).
2. Click on Log in located in the upper-right corner.
3. Under Log in though your Institution, type in "Pennsylvania State University", and select the corresponding link, which will lead you through Penn State Access login if you have not signed in yet.
4. Once you have accessed the site, you can now search and/or access images.
   1. In order to save or bookmark images within ARTstor, you will need to sign up for an account with them.

Have fun exploring this site!

 

Grading

Final letter grades will be assigned based on the scale below.

Scale

LETTER GRADE	MINIMUM PERCENT	MINIMUM POINTS
A	93	930
A-	90	900
B+	87	870
B	83	830
B-	80	800
C+	77	770
C	70	700
D	60	600
F	0	0

Due Dates

All assignments are due by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the date indicated on the Calendar. (Due dates can be also be viewed under the Syllabus tab.). Please be aware that Canvas follows the Eastern Time (ET) time zone. Assignment due dates adhere to this time zone, and it is your responsibility to submit assignments accordingly. If you are outside of the ET time zone, you can set your Canvas account to sync to it. Refer to the Set a Time Zone article in the Canvas Guide at https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2891.

As a general rule, you will NOT be able to go back and make up missed assignments. It is your responsibility to keep up with your assignments. Students with an excused absence (e.g. hospitalization, jury duty, family emergency, or military service) may be asked to produce proper documentation in order to make up graded work. All make-up work is at the discretion of the instructor.

Veterans and currently serving military personnel and/or spouses with unique circumstances (e.g. upcoming deployments, drill/duty requirements, disabilities, VA appointments, etc.) are welcome and encouraged to communicate these, in advance if possible, to the instructor in the case that special arrangements need to be made.

Notes

• To Do List: Some assignments may not appear in the To Do list under the Home tab. Use the Calendar or Syllabus to ensure that you are fully aware of assignment due dates.
• Late Assignments: Late assignments will lose the point equivalent of TEN percent per calendar day, and they will not be accepted later than TWO calendar days after the due date.

Assignments

Basic information about each assignment group is provided below. For detailed directions about an individual assignment, see the assignment information under the Modules tab.

You can expect meaningful feedback on all written assignments within FOUR days of their due date.

ASSIGNMENT GROUP	POINTS
Written Assignments	300
Quizzes	100
Discussions	300
Polls	25
Midterm Exam	100
Final Project	175
Total	1000

Written Assignments

Value: 3 x 100 PTS, 300 PTS total
Weeks: 4, 9, 11

There will be three short written assignments of approximately 600-800 words each (that's anywhere from 3-4 double-spaced pages, depending on the font that is used) throughout the semester.

Quizzes

Value: 6 x 20 PTS, 100 PTS total (There will be a total of 6 quizzes, one quiz per unit. The lowest quiz score will be dropped. The final quiz grade will be based on the 5 highest quiz scores.)
Weeks: 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 16

Quizzes will test your recall and comprehension of the assigned reading and viewing. Anything that is designated as required reading or viewing may be included on the quiz. Quizzes will include true/false, matching, multiple choice questions, and an occasional short answer question is possible.

Quizzes will be timed (30 minutes), and when that time period expires your answers will be submitted automatically. To be clear: Once you begin the quiz you may not stop and come back at a later time. You will receive a warning when 5 minutes remain. Be sure to check that you have answered all the questions before time has expired. You will be able to view answers to the questions one day after the due date (that is, after everyone has completed the exam). The answers will be available for viewing for two days.

Mobile Devices: We do NOT recommend taking quizzes using the Canvas mobile app; use the web version of Canvas.

Discussions

Value: 10 x 30 PTS, 300 PTS total (There will be a total of 12 discussions, in most instances, at least one discussion per lesson. The lowest discussion score will be dropped. The final discussion grade will be based on the 10 highest discussion scores.) Note: The Introductions Discussion is not graded but is a chance for you to get to know your peers. The Lesson 1 Discussion is an example of how discussions will take place throughout the course and is not graded.)
Weeks: All weeks except 7, 9, 11

For every lesson, you are required to interact in at least one discussion forum with your peers. Your primary posting is due by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday. The second posting, which should be a response to at least two classmates, is due by Sunday, at 11:59 p.m., unless otherwise noted. Check the course calendar for due dates. There will be prompts for each discussion forum.

**As a reminder, initial discussion posts are due by 11:59 PM (ET) on THURSDAY of the assigned week, and comments on classmates’ posts are due by 11:59 PM (ET) on SUNDAY, unless noted otherwise. Check the course calendar for due dates.**

Polls

Value: 6 x 5 PTS, 25 PTS total (There will be a total of 6 polls, one poll per unit. The lowest poll score will be dropped. The final poll grade will be based on the 5 highest poll scores.) (Note: Must answer at least 5 polls during the semester to receive total participation points.)
Weeks: 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12

At the beginning of each unit, there is a one-question poll to complete. Although the polls have no “right” answer, you are credited points for participation. The purpose of the polls is to get a quick “snapshot” of your impressions as you begin each unit. Check the Course Calendar for due dates. These can be accessed through the Unit folders.

Midterm Exam

Value: 100 PTS total
Weeks: 7

The midterm exam is due at the end of Lesson 7. It is worth 100 points total, 65 points for Part 1; 35 points for Part 2. Both parts of the exam will be available to take during a 48-hour window (see the course calendar for dates).

Midterm Exam Part 1 (65 PTS):

Part 1 of the exam will include true/false, matching, and multiple choice questions. You have only one (1) attempt to complete Midterm Exam Part 1, so once you open it you will not be able to close it and resume at a later time. Part 1 of the Midterm Exam is timed (55 minutes), and when that time period expires your answers will be submitted automatically. To be clear: Once you begin the exam you may not stop and come back at a later time. You will receive a warning when 10 minutes remain. Be sure to check that you have answered all the questions before time has expired. You will be able to view answers to the questions one day after the due date (that is, after everyone has completed the exam). The answers will be available for viewing for two days.

Midterm Exam Part 2 (35 PTS):

Midterm Exam Part 2 is an essay question that will become available to view and answer within a 48-hour window but will NOT be timed. A thorough response to this question should only take about 90 minutes of writing time (i.e., not including preparation time!) to complete and should be between 600 and 750 words in length. Write your response as a separate Word document, title it using the following naming convention (LastName_FirstName, Midterm), and upload it to the designated drop box.

Final Project

Value:1 x 20 PTS (Checkpoint #1), 1 x 30 PTS (Checkpoint #2), 1 x 100 PTS (Final Project), 1 x 25 PTS (Final Project Peer Evaluation), 175 PTS total
Weeks: Week 9 (Checkpoint #1), Week 13 (Checkpoint #2); Week 16 (Final Project); Week 16 (Final Project Peer Evaluation)

Final Project Overview:

The final project and the final project peer evaluation are due at the end of Lesson 15. The final project will be completed in small groups and the final deliverable will be submitted via a PowerPoint presentation. Teams will be formed shortly after the add/drop period and the instructor will communicate this to all students. Even though this is a team project, there are sections that students will complete on an individual basis. Please see the brief schedule and overview of each section below:

• Group formation (after add/drop period): The instructor will create randomly assigned teams for this final project, and you will be able to see the group you are on by accessing the People tab. The instructor will also send out an email to each group informing them to when the teams have been set up.
• Final Project Checkpoint #1, 20 PTS (Week 9); group-based: Your group will need to identify the chosen theme and include three to five sentences explaining why the group chose that theme. One group member will upload the group’s work to the instructor.
• Final Project Checkpoint #2, 30 PTS (Week 13); individual-based: Each group member uploads his/her individual work for the Final Project Checkpoint #2, including:
  
  • a song title and artist name, and
  • the artist's biography.
• Final Project, 100 PTS (Week 16); group-based: One group member uploads the group’s final project. The final project should include:
  
  • the cover, featuring the playlist title;
  • the producers' note;
  • the playlist;
  • each “section” created by individual team members should follow in the playlist in the order the team has determined;
  • the anthem title, artist, lyrics, and link;
  • the back cover.
• Final Project Peer Evaluation, 25 PTS (Week 16); individual-based: After your team has completed the Final Project, you will need to complete a peer evaluation of every team member, including an evaluation of yourself.

Detailed information about the Final Project: Women Who Rock, can be found within the Final Project module in Canvas.

University Policies

Academic Integrity

According to Penn State policy G-9: Academic Integrity, an academic integrity violation is “an intentional, unintentional, or attempted violation of course or assessment policies to gain an academic advantage or to advantage or disadvantage another student academically.” Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, you must complete all course work entirely on your own, using only sources that have been permitted by your instructor, and you may not assist other students with papers, quizzes, exams, or other assessments. If your instructor allows you to use ideas, images, or word phrases created by another person (e.g., from Course Hero or Chegg) or by generative technology, such as ChatGPT, you must identify their source. You may not submit false or fabricated information, use the same academic work for credit in multiple courses, or share instructional content. Students with questions about academic integrity should ask their instructor before submitting work.   

Students facing allegations of academic misconduct may not drop/withdraw from the affected course unless they are cleared of wrongdoing (see G-9: Academic Integrity). Attempted drops will be prevented or reversed, and students will be expected to complete course work and meet course deadlines. Students who are found responsible for academic integrity violations face academic sanctions, which can be severe, and put themselves at jeopardy for other outcomes (see G-9: Academic Integrity).

Unless your instructor tells you otherwise:

• Always include an in-text citation that includes the author(s) last name(s) and the year the source was published at the end of any sentence or below any image that includes words, images, or ideas you found in a source, always included quoted text within quotation marks, and always include a reference for any source at the end of your paper (ask your instructor about the format you should use).
• All of your graded coursework must be created by you without help from anyone in the course or otherwise. If you have questions about this, you should ask your instructor before submitting work for evaluation.
• All course materials you receive or access are protected by copyright laws. You may use course materials and make copies for your own use, but unauthorized distribution and/or uploading of materials without the instructor’s express permission is strictly prohibited. Students who engage in the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials may be held in violation of the University’s Code of Conduct and/or liable under Federal and State laws.

Disability Access

Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. Every Penn State campus has an office for students with disabilities. The Student Disability Resources website provides contact information for every Penn State campus at http://equity.psu.edu/student-disability-resources/disability-coordinator. For further information, please visit the Student Disability Resources website at http://equity.psu.edu/student-disability-resources.

In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation described at http://equity.psu.edu/student-disability-resources/applying-for-services. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus’s disability services office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.

Counseling and Psychological Services

Penn State's Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) office offers residential and distance-based Penn State students non-emergency mental health services in the form of case management, community resource referrals, supportive listening, care giver support, and much more.

Students may request assistance from CAPS regarding a variety of common mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, and stress. CAPS services are designed to enhance students' ability to fully benefit from the University environment and academic experience. Call CAPS at 814-863-0395 (8 am-5 pm, Monday-Friday EST) or submit an inquiry online at https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/form/caps-contact-form to schedule an appointment with a mental health advocate, who can help you address mental health concerns that may interfere with your academic progress or social development. This appointment will include a one-on-one session that can be conducted via telephone, teleconference (Skype, FaceTime, etc.), or locally at Penn State University Park. For more information on services provided through CAPS, please visit the Penn State CAPS website at http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/counseling/. Students enrolled at the World Campus are also encouraged to visit its Mental Health Services page at http://student.worldcampus.psu.edu/student-services/mental-health-services.

Reminder: These services are for non-emergencies only. If you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis situation, please call your local crisis center or 911.

Nondiscrimination

Penn State is committed to equal access to programs, facilities, admission and employment for all persons. It is the policy of the University to maintain an environment free of harassment and free of discrimination against any person because of age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, creed, service in the uniformed services (as defined in state and federal law), veteran status, sex, sexual orientation, marital or family status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, physical or mental disability, gender, perceived gender, gender identity, genetic information or political ideas. Discriminatory conduct and harassment, as well as sexual misconduct and relationship violence, violates the dignity of individuals, impedes the realization of the University's educational mission, and will not be tolerated. For further information, please visit the Affirmative Action Office website at https://affirmativeaction.psu.edu/.

Reporting a Bias Incident

Penn State takes great pride to foster a diverse and inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff. Acts of intolerance, discrimination, or harassment due to age, ancestry, color, disability, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religious belief, sexual orientation, or veteran status are not tolerated and can be reported through Educational Equity via the Report Bias webpage at http://equity.psu.edu/reportbias/.

TEACH Act

The materials on the course website are only for the use of students enrolled in this course for purposes associated with this course and may not be retained or further disseminated.

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University Emergency Procedure

In the event of a University-wide emergency, the course may be subject to changes. Exigent circumstances may require alternative delivery methods, class materials, and interactions with the instructor and/or classmates. In addition, there may be revisions to grading policies and the Calendar, including assignments and their due dates.

In the event of a University-wide emergency, please refer to the Canvas website at https://psu.instructure.com for specific information related to the course. For more general information about the emergency situation, please refer to the Penn State website at https://www.psu.edu or Penn State News website at https://news.psu.edu.

To register with PSUAlert, a service designed to alert the Penn State community when situations arise that affect the ability of a campus to function normally, please go to the PSU Alert website at https://psualert.psu.edu/. Subscribers can receive alerts by text message to cell phones, and also can elect to have alerts sent to an email address.

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Syllabus Subject to Change

The class will likely adhere to the information outlined in this Syllabus and the Calendar, but adjustments may be made based on what actually transpires during the semester. Remaining in the course after reading this Syllabus will signal that you accept the possibility of changes and responsibility for being aware of them.