PL212/WS200�Feminist Philosophy
Dr. Coleen Zoller
E-mail: zoller@susqu.edu

Office Telephone: 570.372.4163

Office: Bogar 24

 

�Feminist struggle takes place anytime anywhere any female or male resists sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.� Feminist movement happens when groups of people come together with an organized strategy to take action to eliminate patriarchy.� --bell hooks, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center

 

Course Description:

In our society feminism can be a dirty word; we can be biased against feminism without even knowing what it really is.� bell hooks once said that feminists are made, not born, and that one will become a feminist if one comes close enough to it to see what it really is and what it is NOT.� Feminism is not women hating men, just as sexism is not men hating women.� The primary emphasis of this course is distinguishing different kinds of feminist thought (i.e., liberal, radical, Marxist/socialist, psychoanalytic, gender, existentialist, post-modern, multicultural, global, ecofeminism).� We will compare and contrast them in order to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each.� Also, we will read the autobiographies of prominent female philosophers in order to see how sexism appears even within philosophy.�

 

Course Objectives:

The general aim of a philosophy course is, as Kant wrote, to �have the courage to use your own mind!�� More specifically, in this course students should:

 

Required Texts:

Linda Mart�n Alcoff, ed., Signing in the Fire (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003)

bell hooks, Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics (Southend Press, 2000)

Rosemarie Putnam Tong, ed., Feminist Thought (2nd ed) (Westview Press, 1998)

Maggie Humm, ed., Modern Feminisms (Columbia University Press, 1992)

 

Office hours:

Please take advantage of my office hours to discuss any problems you have with the reading assignments, writing assignments, discussions in class, meaning of life, etc.� Do not feel that you must have a carefully formulated set of questions to pose before you come to see me.� The articulation of the problem is often the main stumbling block; so if something is an issue for you, don�t hesitate to talk with me about it.

 

Grading:

Participation and Reflection Papers = 25% ������������

Term Paper = 25%�������������

Quizzes = 25%�������������

Final Exam = 25%

 

Course Requirements:

A. Active Reading and Critical Thinking in Preparation for Class:� One might mistakenly think if s/he has read the assigned pages that s/he is prepared for class.� The way to get the most out of your reading and out of class is to spend time before class thinking about each reading so that you will be prepared to answer fact-type questions as well as evaluation-type questions.� To assist in your preparation each student must write a brief reflection paper for each reading.� In these papers you must:

1.      State the main point of the reading (what is the main thing that the author is trying to say?).

2.      Ask a question about the reading (make sure it is in the form of a question).� This question should be an �unanswered question� by which I mean that it should be an interesting and difficult question (i.e., one to which there is no easy or obvious answer).� If, after stating the question, you can provide a simple, snappy answer to it, then the question is not a good one.

3.      After asking the question, explain why it is interesting, difficult, and/or important to YOU (not to me, not to your classmates, not people in general, not Virginia Held...just YOU!).� DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION IN PLACE OF SUCH AN EXPLANATION.� Some questions are interesting but they may not be interesting/important to you.� You should not choose one of these.� Instead, find something that is causing you to lose sleep (at least metaphorically...) so that you can explain why it is interesting to you.

These papers are due at the beginning of every class.� No late papers will be accepted.� To do these papers well, it is important that you follow the directions strictly. These papers must be typed or word-processed. The structure of these papers should look like the sample below:

 

1. The main point of today�s reading is that�.

2. Question?

3. This question is important to me personally because�.

 

B. Attendance: All students are expected to attend all classes. If you must be absent, you must (1) either call or e-mail me before class to explain and (2) provide proper documentation of illness (note from health center), personal or family emergency (note from Dean of Students), or a required university event (note from coach/instructor).� As detailed in the student handbook, missing four or more classes shall result in failure of the course.

 

C. Class Participation:

1. Assumptions: �No one knows everything.� Every one of us knows and can contribute something to our class discussions.� Questions are just as important as comments. �I know that some of you are shy about speaking publicly, some don�t believe you can learn from your peers, some who take more time to ruminate resent students who appear to �shoot their mouths off�, some prefer to be fed information directly by the professor.� I know that many of you wonder why this and other courses ask students to participate, wonder what exactly a professor expects when s/he asks you to participate and how this will be graded.

 

2. Why participate? There are two main reasons to participate in your classes.� First, pedagogical research has demonstrated that students learn more when they actively participate in class discussions.� Second, all students have a civic responsibility to offer their questions and thoughts so that the entire class can collaboratively learn the course material.� You are citizens (not consumers) at this university.� Furthermore, participating in class will help you to have thoughtful conversations outside of class.�

 

3. Class format: The format of this class will vary from day to day, including all of the following: recitation �lectures�, conversations, debates, seminar. What I mean by recitation �lectures� is that when presenting new material, my presentation will include calling on students to elicit information about the readings.� When class takes the form of a conversation I will ask students to discuss their responses to the texts and the issues they raise. Frequently there will be smaller group discussions�sometimes these will involve debating the strengths and weaknesses of theories and ideas, other times these will involve seminar-style in-depth analysis of the day�s topic.��

 

4. Assistance: As soon as possible anyone who feels ill at ease should discuss with the instructor ways of easing oneself into participation.�

 

5. Rubric: A participation grade will be assigned to each student based on which of the following regularly applied to her/him:

F = not physically present, or severely detracting from classroom discussion (e.g., sleeping and/or behaving in a manner that is disrespectful)

D = present physically but not mentally and/or not being prepared, or detracting from classroom discussion (e.g., being unprepared, not having text and classroom supplies with you, having side conversations, daydreaming, making totally irrelevant comments, etc.)

C = present, alert, and prepared for class (e.g., having read required texts in at least a cursory way, bringing text and classroom supplies with you to class, reflecting in advance on the day�s texts, having written a reflection paper, etc.), and adding to the discussion but in only minimal ways

B = present, alert, prepared for class (e.g., having read required texts with significant attention, bringing text and classroom supplies with you to class, reflecting in advance on the day�s texts, having written a reflection paper, etc.), and contributing to class discussion (e.g., communicating some understanding of the text, asking related questions, sharing ideas, maintaining an appropriate balance of talking and listening, etc.)

A = present, alert, prepared (e.g., having read required texts thoroughly, bringing notes, text--with significant passages marked--and classroom supplies with you to class, reflecting in advance on the day�s texts, having written a reflection paper as well as some additional questions to ask to further the conversation, etc.), and making thoughtful contributions to classroom discussion based on engagement with the texts (e.g., communicating one�s understanding of the text and the overall course, posing related questions to both the instructor and fellow students, sharing ideas and responding to the ideas of others, maintaining an appropriate balance of talking and listening, applying course material to personal experience; actively engaging in one�s own learning, etc.)

 

6. Self-assessment: I ask students to submit a self-assessment of participation every week.� The grade that you assign yourself should be based on the above rubric, and the self-assessment should give a brief narrative that explains why you believe that you�ve earned the grade you have assigned to yourself (make sure to cite specific examples of behavior referred to in the rubric).� I will take into consideration these self-assessments when calculating participation grades.�

 

D. Quizzes and Exams: There shall be six quizzes throughout the semester. These will test your understanding of the reading material and what is covered in class. All quizzes will be cumulative. A missed quiz earns a zero. The lowest quiz grade will be dropped. There will also be a cumulative final exam proctored during the final exam period scheduled by the registrar.

 

E. Writing: All students will be required to complete a term paper.� Details will be announced two weeks well in advance of the due date. Papers must be submitted BOTH in hardcopy to me as well as in e-copy to turninin.com.

 

Policy on Cheating, Plagiarism, and other forms of Academic Dishonesty:

All forms of plagiarism and cheating are prohibited. I follow the guidelines and University policy regarding the penalty for those identified as cheating or plagiarizing on exams and/or other assignments in this class (see page 118 of student handbook for maximum penalties and the definition of plagiarism).� Students found to be cheating on assignments will receive an F for the course. I reserve the right to have all student written assignments submitted in an electronic format for the expressed purpose of checking assignments for plagiarism against Internet sources (including pay-sites for papers) using turnitin.com. If you are in doubt as to whether or not any of your assignments for this class constitute cheating or plagiarism as defined by the University Student Handbook, please discuss this with me BEFORE turning in an assignment.

 

Students with Disabilities:

If you are seeking an academic accommodation, it is essential that you have appropriate documentation on file with the University and present that documentation to me as early as possible in the semester. If you believe that you have a disability but have no documentation on file at Susquehanna and wish to discuss what steps can be taken to determine whether an accommodation is warranted, please contact the Counseling Center for further information and assistance.� Some additional information is available at http://www.susqu.edu/counseling/disabilities/.

 


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