PSYCHOLOGY OF WOMEN Saint Louis University PSY- A426-01, Summer, 1992 Meeting Time and Place: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday 8:00 am - 9:45 pm MW 133 Instructor: Judith Gibbons Office: Shannon Hall 225 Telephone: 658-2295 Office hours: T 9:45 -10:30 or by appointment Graduate Assistant: Maria Lynn Telephone: 726-5976 Textbook: Unger, R. & Crawford, M. (1992). Women and gender: A feminist psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill Recommended: -Belenky, M. F., Clinchy, B. M., Goldberger, N. R., & Tarule, J. M. Women's ways of knowing: The development of self, voice, and mind. -Fausto-Sterling, A. Myths of gender: Biological theories about women and men. -Gilligan, C. In a different voice: Psychological theory and women's development -Gilligan, C. , Lyons, N. P., & Hanmer, T. J. (Eds.) Making connections: The relational worlds of adolescent girls at Emma Willard School. -Jordan, J. V., Kaplan, A. G., Miller, J. B.,Stiver, I P., Surrey, J. L. Women's growth in connection: Writings from the Stone Center. -Miller, J. B. Toward a new psychology of women. Course requirements and evaluation: 1. Class attendance and participation. 5% of your grade 2. Participation in the computer network. On at least three different days of each week, you will be expected to contribute your comments to a discussion group regarding the readings and classes. 20% of your grade 2. Midterm examination. The midterm will be comprised of short answer, multiple choice, and short essay questions, and your score will contribute 25% to your course grade. 3. A paper of approximately 5-7 pages is required for the course. You will have two options in terms of the kind of paper- a book report, or an interview with your mother. The paper will contribute a total of 25% towards your final grade. 4. Final examination. The final examination will be comprised of essay questions. This will be worth 25% of your grade. Course Goals: 1. Increase knowledge about the psychology of women. 2. Increase awareness of one's own assumptions about gender and gender roles. 3. Improve critical thinking and analysis. 4. Enhance writing and speaking skills. 5. Recognize the importance of research. 6. Understand the contributions of feminist thought to the field of psychology. 7. Formulate and express thoughts and opinions on the readings. Schedule of Classes This may need to be changed if we fall behind. However, the dates of the exams and the paper due dates will not change. Date Class topic Assignment Tuesday, June 16th Introduction, sources of research bias Unger & Crawford, chapter 1 (lecturer - Ms. Lynn) Weds, June 17th Movie- Still Killing Us Softly article on reserve in library (lecturer - Ms. Lynn) Thursday, June 18th Theoretical approaches: psychoanalytic & social learning 9:00 presentation on how to use the computer network (Ritter Hall 225) Unger & Crawford, chapter 2 lecturer- Ms. Lynn academic computing lecture by Mr. Baricevic Monday, June 22nd Cognitive developmental theory, Gilligan, and androgyny Review Unger & Crawford, chapter 2 first entry in computer network due, 8 am lecturer - Dr. Gibbons Tuesday, June 23rd Meanings of difference: Cognitive abilities Unger & Crawford, chapter 3 lecturer - Dr. Gibbons Weds, June 24th Images of women Unger & Crawford, chapter 4 lecturer - Dr. Gibbons Thursday, June 25th Power & Gender Power exercise Unger & Crawford, chapter 5 lecturer - Dr. Gibbons Monday, June 29th Biology of gender Unger & Crawford, chapter 6 Tuesday, June 30th Becoming gendered: Childhood Unger & Crawford, chapter 7 Weds, July 1 Adolescence Unger & Crawford, chapter 8 Thursday, July 2 Midterm examination Second half of class - continuation of adolescence for girls Monday, July 6 Sex, love, and marriage Unger & Crawford, chapter 9 Tuesday, July 7 Commitments Unger & Crawford, chapter 10 Wednesday, July 8 Mothering Unger & Crawford, chapter 11 Thursday, July 9 Work & achievement Unger & Crawford, chapter 12 paper due Monday, July 13th Midlife and beyond Unger & Crawford, chapter 13 Tuesday, July 14 Violence against women: Rape & Battering Unger & Crawford, chapter 14 Wednesday, July 15 Violence against women: Child sexual abuse and sexual harassment Unger & Crawford, review chapter 14 Thursday, July 16 Women and psychological disorders Unger & Crawford, chapter 15 Monday, July 20th International perspective on women's issues No readings, study for final examination rewrite of paper due (optional) Tuesday, July 21st Summing up Unger & Crawford, chapter 16 Weds, July 22nd 8:00 AM Final examination Term Paper Assignment PSY-A426-01 Psychology of Women For this course you will need to write one paper which is due on July 9th. You have two different options for the paper: a critical book review or a report on an interview with your mother. Early on, you should select one of these options, and then stick to it, since the purpose and format of each is different. The entire writing assignment is worth 25% of your final grade. Your paper will be returned to you with comments and a grade about July 16th. If you wish to rewrite the paper according to the comments, you can do so, but the revision must be turned in by July 20th. Your final grade will be higher if the revision is responsive to the comments. A few general guidelines apply to both papers. The reference style should be according to APA (see Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association Third Edition). In this style the references in the text are in the form of "...(Smith, 1986)" or "Smith (1986) found...". Only references cited in the text are listed in the reference section at the end of the paper. When writing your paper be extremely careful to acknowledge information or ideas which came from others. These should be acknowledged according to APA style described above. If you quote a phrase or paragraph from another source, put the phrase or paragraph in quotation marks, and use the correct APA format for attributing it to the author. With your final draft you should submit a copy of your first draft with the instructor's comments. Type 1- Critical Book Review Purpose: The purpose is to read and critically evaluate a book related to the psychology of women. In your review you may need to describe the content of the book, but you should emphasize the analysis rather than description. What is the point of the book? What does the author do well? What might be done better? How do the concepts and themes of the book relate to concepts or theories discussed in class? Should students in the psychology of women course be required to read this book? Why or why not? Audience: The audience for your review is another member of your class. Give the student enough information to decide whether or not to read the book. You may assume that the reader has read the textbook from the course (Unger & Crawford) and you may wish to refer to it. Book Selection: The approved books are those listed on the syllabus. These include: -Belenky, M. F., Clinchy, B. M., Goldberger, N. R., & Tarule, J. M. Women's ways of knowing: The development of self, voice, and mind. -Fausto-Sterling, A. Myths of gender: Biological theories about women and men. -Gilligan, C. In a different voice: Psychological theory and women's development. -Gilligan, C. , Lyons, N. P., & Hanmer, T. J. (Eds.) Making connections: The relational worlds of adolescent girls at Emma Willard School. -Jordan, J. V., Kaplan, A. G., Miller, J. B.,Stiver, I P., Surrey, J. L. Women's growth in connection: Writings from the Stone Center. -Miller, J. B. Toward a new psychology of women. If you wish to report on a book not on this list, you must have my approval ahead of time. Any book you choose must have content related to the psychology of women. Popular books are not appropriate. Most of these books are available in the Busch Center Bookstore (Barnes & Noble). You could also try Left Bank Books in the Central West End. Helpful Hints: Analyze the book in terms of some concepts or theories from the course. Does the book address gender roles, the development of women, or some other concept discussed in class? Consult the journal Contemporary Psychology to get a feel for this type of writing. Type 2- Mother Interview Second option for paper: Interview of your mother This exercise is designed to help you understand your own mother, and to see her as a person, rather than an idealized or stereotyped image. It is based on an article by Karen Howe, Telling our mother's story: Changing daughters' perceptions of their mothers in a women's studies course, in R. K. Unger (Ed.) Representations: Social Constructions of gender, Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing Company. First, ask your mother if she is willing to do this interview. If your mother is no longer alive, you can possibly do the exercise anyway by interviewing relatives or others who knew her well. Find a time (at least 2 hours) when the two of you can have quiet and privacy. Then ask her these questions; be sure to let her respond completely. 1. When and where were you born? 2. What were your parents like (such as ethnic, religious, economic background). 3. What were the important influences on you as a child? 4. Did any major political or social conditions affect your family as you were growing up (e.g. war, depression, etc.) 5. What was your relationship like with your mother? your father? 6. What is/was your relationship like with my father? 7. Did you work outside the home? 8. What are your main interests? 9. Are there some things that you have always wanted to do but never had the opportunity? 10. Student: Add two questions here of your own. Student: Then you should answer the following questions yourself. 1. What are your earliest memories of your mother? 2. What is your relationship like with her- in the past and now? 3. What messages or advice did she give you about being a woman/man? 4. In what ways are you like or unlike your mother? 5. What have you learned from doing this biography assignment? Are there areas of your mother's life experience that you have learned about for the first time? Do you have any new understandings about your mother now? 6. How do you feel about your mother now? 7. What was your mother's reaction to being interviewed? 8. Other comments. Note: In this type of paper you may use few or no references. However, if you do use references, they should be in APA style as described above. Psychology of Women, PSY-A426-01, Summer, 1992 Assignment: Participation in the computer network On June 18th Mr. Mark Baricevic of Academic Computing will demonstrate how to use the VAX editing system, and the computer network for this course. He will explain how to read messages, and how to send them to other class members. There are two ways to send messages, (1) to the whole class at one time, or (2) privately to a single individual. Your assignment is to send at least three messages per week (on three different days, not all on one day) to the entire class. Your message should be related to course content. It could be one of the following types of messages: a. A comment on the readings for that week (At least one message per week should be of this type). b. A message about other readings related to the psychology of women (e.g. a book you are reading for your book report). c. A comment on the class discussion. E.g. "After reflecting further on our class discussion today, I think that..." d. A note about current events related to the psychology of women. E.g. "I read a newspaper article today that described research about the consequences of reporting sexual harassment." e. A response to another class member's message. E.g. "As Susan pointed out, the article on development of feminist beliefs does not address cultural diversity. I think that..." The goals of this assignment are: 1. To facilitate class discussion by providing a forum for exchange of information and opinions outside of class. 2. To encourage students to do the readings ahead of time by requiring comments on them. 3. To facilitate communication between the instructor and individual students (i.e. I can send feedback via private E-mail). 4. To use the computer network to distribute messages to the class. 5. To provide additional opportunities for students to voice their opinions without having to speak out in class. This is the first time this teaching strategy has been used in the psychology of women course. Please experiment with it. Try it out. Send messages to the whole class, and privately to the teacher and other students. Find out how useful this is. We will do a formal evaluation at the end of the course.