TEXTS:

Ibsen                            A Doll House
Dubeck and Dunn, Workplace/Women’s Place (Third Edition) Oxford University Press, 2006
Ehrenreich, Barbara, Nickled and Dimed: on Not Getting by in America
pdf files on Blackboard
Other readings as assigned.  

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Our online course focuses on the relationship between gender, family, and work. Why are there disproportionately different gender representations in various jobs? How does the family influence these inequities? In what ways do race and class intersect with gender-related job issues? What do we see globally?  

To help us through the course, we will read literature, text books, government documents, and evaluate and assess our personal situations in relation to the broader issues. After all, awareness and change start here.

The major goal of the class is to assist you in learning to critically examine cultural assumptions about gender, race, class, and work, and to identify and critique these gender assumptions in theories and research of various disciplines, which inform our thinking.  

Specific goals are:         To provide a demanding intellectual experience for students.

To recognize the ways in which race, gender, sexuality, class, and other aspects of identity intersect in shaping work experience and theory-making.

To analyze one’s own experience as a gendered individual worker and recognize some contexts and processes which have framed one’s own development.

To effectively and critically use a variety of writing styles for critical thinking, analysis, and persuasive communication.

To learn about women’s contributions to labor and the economy.  

CLASSES REQUIREMENTS AND ASSIGNMENTS:  

Attendance includes participation. To  participate means not only being in attendance, but also providing thoughtful, and informed input as your part of the classroom discussion. 

You are expected to be logged on to the Mercer e-mail system and the Mercer Blackboard system for out of class communication, grading updates, calendar changes, and syllabus information.  

Since this is an on-line course, remember that what you are asked to complete will take about the same amount of time as one would expect from a course, which meets two or three times a week and includes outside classroom work.

 

1. There will be four chats, on Wednesday nights at 9:30.
2. Two essays, which are typed, double spaced, paginated, coherent and grammatically correct.
3. Four posts consisting of:
   1. an introduction of yourself
   2. an explanation of your or a member of your family’s work situation
   3. an interview with someone in a leadership position
   4. an analysis of your employer

    4.   Four on-line evaluations:
               a.       Family Maternity Leave Act
               b.      a video presented by NOW and located at:  http://www.hulu.com
               c.       an explanation and analysis of a document or documentary on sexual harassment
               d.      an explanation and analysis of the role of male and female work in a non-western country.

     5.   There will be discussion sessions available on Blackboard. For each of the five major topics we are discussing    (Family,  Inequities, Leadership, Global Concerns and Harassment,  each student will:  

                        Write two discussion posts for each topic, and write one response to
                        another student’s post for each topic. That translates to ten initial posts
                        and five responses.

     6.   For the final, each student will complete a digital story, to be posed on
            Blackboard. The intent of each story should be to highlight an awareness
            or learning regarding women, men and work.

PAPERS  

Topical Essay: There will be two topical essays due as noted on the calendar of events. These essays are to have a thesis ( a point that could be argued from the opposite perspective), which is to be fully developed with evidence from the text/s.  Engage in honest, self-reflective, critical analysis of the issues and actively use the texts and your experience.  I expect clarity, creativity, depth, and concrete connections to the reading materials, your service learning experiences and class discussions. The essay should be four to five pages typed and the theme of your work should be well supported with evidence. If you have been thoughtful with your “discussion posts,” this should not be difficult. The intermittent discussions and chats should help you synthesize, assimilate, and critique manageable units of information. If you receive an F on a paper, contact me immediately. Mercer has an online writing lab:

Computer/printer/software difficulties are not considered sufficient grounds for late work.  Students should allow ample time for their work to be completed to allow for unforeseen difficulties. That is why I have a detailed syllabus with due dates marked from the beginning of the semester. Assignments must adhere to the length, format and topic matter requested to avoid grade reductions. If you are dissatisfied with a grade, please discuss it with me immediately, not later in the semester. 

Final: Digital Story: Each student will complete a multi-media digital story focusing on her/his relationship to the issue of gender. Refer to the section on Digital Stories on Webct and Digital Stories for more information.   

*** Without divine intervention, no late papers will be accepted. If there is divine intervention, points will be deducted from your grade. If you fail to turn in a paper, you fail the course.