First-Year Writing Seminar (101-8-21)

Topic

Gender, Society & Politics

Instructors

Ann Shola Orloff
847/491-3719
1808 Chicago Ave. Rm. 201
Ann Shola Orloff is Professor of Sociology and Political Science; Board of Lady Managers of the Colombian Exposition Chair. She holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University and an A.B. from Harvard University. Orloff’s research and publications focus on states, gendered social policies and feminist politics in the rich capitalist democracies; social theory; and historical, comparative and global social science. Orloff is the co-editor of Remaking Modernity: Politics, History and Sociology and is now working on a manuscript, Farewell to Maternalism, Toward a Gender-Open Future? Transformations in Gender, Employment and Social Policies in the US and Sweden. She has served as Director of Gender Studies Program and Chair of the Sociology Department. She is past President of the Social Science History Association and the International Sociological Association Research Committee 19 (Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Policy).

Meeting Info

Shepard Hall B25: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

"Gender, Society and Politics"

This class will investigate how gendered social relations shape politics and policy, and how these in turn shape gender, with a focus on the United States, in comparative and global context. Gender is conceptualized as a set of relations, identifications and cultural schema, complexly interacting with biology and always constituted with other dimensions of power, difference and inequality (e.g., race, class, sexuality, religion, citizenship status). We will analyze the gendered character of citizenship, political participation and representation, social rights and economic rights. We aim to understand gendered politics and policy from both "top down" and "bottom up" perspectives. What do states do, via institutions of political participation and representation, citizenship rights and policies, to shape gender relations? How do gender relations influence the nature of policy and citizenship? How has feminism emerged as a radical challenge to the androcentrism and restricted character of the democratic public sphere? And how have anti-feminism and "anti-gender theory" come to be significant dimensions of politics? We expand on conventional conceptions of political participation and citizenship rights to include the grassroots democratic activism that gave birth to modern women's movements. We explore how women's political efforts -- across different political affiliations -- have given rise to the creation of alternative visions of democracy, social provision and economic participation, as well as reshaping formal politics and policies. Finally, we'll take advantage of the fact that we are in the run up to a midterm congressional election to examine the gendered aspects of the political landscape in the contemporary United States. Students will work with peers in small groups to examine how different candidates, from a range of different political positions, engage with gender issues.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Explain how gender relations influence politics in the US historically and in the present and apply course concepts to current events and issues regarding gender and politics.
• Compare how gender interacts with other forms of difference and inequality in the US polity, and interrogate how multiple social statuses intersect with gender in shaping inequality and power in the U.S.
• Understand how the US polity and state are organized along gendered lines, and how different theoretical perspectives explain the relationships between gender and the US polity.
• Demonstrate how public policies and political processes shape gendered relations, and question the gendered character of citizenship, political participation and representation, social rights and economic rights.
• Develop original critiques regarding course materials addressing the relationships among gender, inequality, and politics.

As a first-year writing seminar, this course will help students to develop their critical thinking and communication skills. This means that students should be able to:
• summarize and evaluate arguments made by others;
• formulate persuasive arguments of their own, orally and in writing, based on the careful analysis of evidence;
• cite sources appropriately;
• write competently enough to satisfy the Weinberg College writing requirement.

Teaching Method

The class features a combination of lectures and class discussions about the readings, podcasts and films. Students help to shape the discussion agenda by contributing blog entries and replies on the readings, films and current events.

Evaluation Method

Attendance, blog entries, discussion, three short writing assignments

Class Materials (Required)

All materials for this course will be made available on Canvas - no purchase necessary.

Class Attributes

WCAS Writing Seminar

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Weinberg First Year Seminars are only available to first-year students.