Description:

Since the Cairo Conference on Population and Development in 1994 state policies concerning women’s health around the world have taken a turn away from population control to reproductive health. Within this context, activists and scholars alike have turned their attention to reproductive justice that envisions the complete physical and mental well-being of women and girls, which can potentially be achieved when they have the economic, social, and political power and resources to make healthy decisions about their bodies, sexuality, and reproduction. In this class we ask: how do various social movements define reproductive justice? How is access to reproductive rights stratified by race and class? Through drawing students’ attention to specific case studies, this course illuminates on the specific challenges faced by women of color in the U.S., as well as women in developing countries across the world. Topics we will cover are forcible sterilization, access (or lack of access) to birth control, population control policies, prenatal and postnatal care, maternal and infant health outcomes in various parts of the world, sex selective abortions, new reproductive technologies, and stratified reproduction. As part of the final part of the course the students will think through the reproductive health issues facing women of color on campus, through conducting a survey. 

Description:

In this course we review classic works in sociological theory. Focusing on the work of nineteenth-century and early-twentieth-century theorists, we take a critical look at the historical and theoretical context of sociology’s founding ideas.  Sociological theory and the modern era are, for better or worse, wedded.  Sociology is a historical product.  It emerged as part of the massive transformations of the nineteenth century.  It sought to explain that which shaped it.  This course explores the promises and problems of this relationship. The first part of this course is apportioned to an overview of the theories of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber.  Over these 10 weeks, we will discuss theories of capitalism, modernization, rationalization, and institutional and value-sphere differentiation.  We will debate the centrality of these social processes to sociological thinking and to the modern world.  Have Marx, Durkheim and Weber accurately seized upon the life-character of the modern world?  Have they identified the central structures and developments? Do their accounts of these structures and processes pass the test of time?  Is modernity a salient and defensible periodization?  Does it hang together as a historical epoch?  Is it a sound sociological construct? The last part of the course introduces perspectives that depart and dissent from the concerns of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber.  In the works of Georg Simmel, Sigmund Freud, and George Herbert Mead we open lines of critical inquiry that can be followed into the present: lines of theory that complement but also undermine classical theories with relational, psychological, and interactionist perspectives. 

Required Books:

The Marx-Engels Reader, ed. Robert Tucker, (Norton)

Emile Durkheim, The Division of Labor in Society

Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life

Emile Durkheim, Moral Education

Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

From Max Weber, eds. Gerth and Mills (Oxford).Georg Simmel, On Individuality and Social Forms(Chicago)

Sigmund Freud, Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontent

George Herbert Mead, On Social Psychology, ed. Anselm Strauss (Chicago)

The books have been ordered through Monkey Wrench Books: 110 E. North Loop, Austin, TX 78751; http://www.monkeywrenchbooks.org/

Grading and Requirements:

Written Requirements: 

Over the 14 weeks of the semester, students must write five papers.  Each paper must tackle a key theoretical argument present in a given week of reading.  In four to five pages, the paper should present a concise but thorough development and critical review of the selected argument. The first three papers must be written by week 10.  One must be on Marx, one on Durkheim, and one on Weber.  For the remaining two memos, students may choose any two of the remaining weeks of reading. Papers must be handed in at the beginning of the class dealing with the particular reading reviewed. 

Class Participation: 

Each student will be responsible for leading the discussion of one class meeting.  For the first half of the meeting or so, the assigned student will introduce a number of issues of interest, difficult or important concepts, and critical questions to guide class discussion. These discussions only work if the leader divides some of the tasks among his or her classmates. An email assigning each member of the class a particular task—e.g., “explain this particular concept and/or argument”—will ensure that all are involved in the discussion. This requires the leader to have surveyed all the major points in the reading and to delegate authority early enough so that everyone can do a little preparation. An email sent out by Tuesday should be fine.After this student-led discussion, we will then take a short break. For the remainder of the meeting, I will provide an overview of major themes in the week’s readings not covered in our discussion and field questions.

Description:

While the words “race, Third World, or transnational” do not appear anywhere in this title, this introductory feminist theory undergraduate seminar is deeply comparative, tackling gender from a racialized, transnational perspective. The readings are organized into “theme” modules. For example, we will start the semester through reading about testimony. The issues surrounding testimony are vast, but our focus is on what testimony means, under what conditions testimony is possible, and how does testimony tie to the possibilities for full citizenship for women? Over the course of the semester we will examine SIX themes to introduce fundamental feminist concepts such as the body, choice, motherhood, sexual violence, citizenship, rights and work. As you will see, these are particular theoretical/ political perspectives on the issues, and not the only way to approach them. These readings are not meant to give you a comprehensive knowledge of feminism; instead, ours is only a partial investigation on gender with the aim of pushing you into thinking through the importance of feminist theory in research and social change on very specific issues; my hope is that you will extend these sorts of analyses into other realms of intellectual production, and everyday life.

Description:

Since the Cairo Conference on Population and Development in 1994 state policies concerning women’s health around the world have taken a turn away from population control to reproductive health. Within this context, activists and scholars alike have turned their attention to reproductive justice that envisions the complete physical and mental well-being of women and girls, which can potentially be achieved when they have the economic, social, and political power and resources to make healthy decisions about their bodies, sexuality, and reproduction. In this class we ask: how do various social movements define reproductive justice? How is access to reproductive rights stratified by race and class? Through drawing students’ attention to specific case studies, this course illuminates on the specific challenges faced by women of color in the U.S., as well as women in developing countries across the world. Topics we will cover are forcible sterilization, access (or lack of access) to birth control, population control policies, prenatal and postnatal care, maternal and infant health outcomes in various parts of the world, sex selective abortions, new reproductive technologies, and stratified reproduction. As part of the final part of the course the students will think through the reproductive health issues facing women of color on campus, through conducting a survey. 

While the words “race, Third World, or transnational” do not appear anywhere in this title, this introductory feminist theory undergraduate seminar is deeply comparative, tackling gender from a racialized, transnational perspective. The readings are organized into “theme” modules. For example, we will start the semester through reading about testimony. The issues surrounding testimony are vast, but our focus is on what testimony means, under what conditions testimony is possible, and how does testimony tie to the possibilities for full citizenship for women? Over the course of the semester we will examine SIX themes to introduce fundamental feminist concepts such as the body, choice, motherhood, sexual violence, citizenship, rights and work. As you will see, these are particular theoretical/ political perspectives on the issues, and not the only way to approach them. These readings are not meant to give you a comprehensive knowledge of feminism; instead, ours is only a partial investigation on gender with the aim of pushing you into thinking through the importance of feminist theory in research and social change on very specific issues; my hope is that you will extend these sorts of analyses into other realms of intellectual production, and everyday life.

Description:

Since the Cairo Conference on Population and Development in 1994 state policies concerning women’s health around the world have taken a turn away from population control to reproductive health. Within this context, activists and scholars alike have turned their attention to reproductive justice that envisions the complete physical and mental well-being of women and girls, which can potentially be achieved when they have the economic, social, and political power and resources to make healthy decisions about their bodies, sexuality, and reproduction. In this class we ask: how do various social movements define reproductive justice? How is access to reproductive rights stratified by race and class? Through drawing students’ attention to specific case studies, this course illuminates on the specific challenges faced by women of color in the U.S., as well as women in developing countries across the world. Topics we will cover are forcible sterilization, access (or lack of access) to birth control, population control policies, prenatal and postnatal care, maternal and infant health outcomes in various parts of the world, sex selective abortions, new reproductive technologies, and stratified reproduction. As part of the final part of the course the students will think through the reproductive health issues facing women of color on campus, through conducting a survey. 

Description:

This course will provide an introduction to major theoretical texts and issues on gender and bodily labors for graduate students in sociology and other related fields. My hope is that we approach the readings with an Asian American/ ethnic studies perspective by interweaving theoretical texts and case studies from various parts of the world. Some of the key sociological concepts that we will examine are the gift, commodity, labor (including intimate labor and clinical labor), surplus value, traffic in women, and reproductive markets (this is not a comprehensive list). And key authors are Gayle Rubin, Marilyn Strathern, Melissa Wright, Aihwa Ong, Catherine Waldby, Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Rhacel Parennas, and Viviana Zelizer.

This course will provide an introduction to major theoretical texts and issues in feminist literary and cultural theory for graduate students in Comparative Literature and other fields who are familiar with more than one literary and/or cultural tradition. 

We will interweave close attention to theoretical texts with a consideration of literary texts from various critical perspectives, beginning with three twentieth-century narratives by women writers:  Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, Nella Larsen’s Quicksand, and Assia Djebar’s Fantasia:  An Algerian Cavalcade.  We will then turn to texts selected by members of the class.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Description

Asian American scholar Lisa Lowe notes that contrary to liberal and Marxian notions, labor is never abstract. Instead, individuals’ racial and gender characteristics deeply shape how labor markets emerge, the ways by which workers get slotted into the world of work, and how skills are evaluated. This perspective shapes the backbone of this undergraduate seminar, which is a critical examination of work over the 20th and 21st centuries through a gendered, racial lens. Jobs are gender segregated; men and women’s work is evaluated differently; and, women’s work—often as important as that of men—is remunerated at lower levels. And in all of this, race matters.

Note: The purpose of this course is to sociologically examine concepts such as labor markets, globalization, care work, sex work, and gender/ racial segregation of the work place. This course is cross-listed with Asian American Studies and Women’s Studies.

Tentative list of books to be used:

Rene Almeling, 2011. Sex Cells: The Medical Market for Eggs and Sperm.

Evelyn Nakanon Glenn, 2010. Forced to Care: Coercion and Caregiving in America.

Pamela Stone, 2008. Opting Out? Why Women Really Quit and Head Home.

Excerpts from books (tentative):

Judith Shklar, American Citizenship: The Quest for Inclusion

David Roediger, Wages of Whiteness.

Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation.

Marx on alienated labor.

Lisa Lowe, Immigrant Acts. Mae Ngai, Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America.

Documentary films to be watched in class (preliminary list; more to be included):

Arthur Dong, 1982. Sewing Woman.

Zippy Frank, 2009. Google Baby.

Sonali Gulati, Nalini by Day Nancy by Night

 Case studies examined in class (through articles/ book excerpts/ documentary films/ popular articles):

The Garment Industry

Care Work

Assignments:

Take home exams (two) 50%

Group presentations 30%

Student groups work on case studies (one industry or job type—teaching, lawyers, gynecology, construction, etc.), conduct library research, and present their racialized/ gendered analyses of the industry to the rest of the class. There is no paper requirement.

Class discussion 10%

Description:

This seminar, titled Feminist Theory, addresses feminist writings that we’d perhaps want as structuring influences on our academic work. The issues that we will raise in the seminar are not exhaustive, but instead, I want our readings to foster significant reconceptualizations of social theory and social research. The hope is this reconfiguration of doing research, or thinking through knowledge production will lead us into generating more thoughtful, politically relevant work on various fronts.

There are two purposes to this seminar—

a) rethinking social categories, such as performance, the state, citizenship, etc. from a feminist perspective; and

b) rethinking research from a feminist standpoint.

 Participants in this seminar will note that not all the readings listed below are by women; moreover, the readings are not organized along racial lines, or national lines. We will bring in Third World feminists in dialogue with white women academics.

Texts:

TBA

Course Requirements:

Class discussion- 25%

To facilitate discussion:

Write out a page of notes on the readings.

Think about questions that might foster discussion.

Have readings dialogue with each other (either in the same week, or from different weeks).

Paper outline with annotated bibliography- 10%

For your paper please think about pulling something together based on your own research, along with the readings that you do for this seminar (for those of you who don’t have a solid idea on dissertation research, use this paper to think through ideas).

 25 page research paper- 65%

Course description

While the words “race, Third World, or transnational” do not appear anywhere in this title, this introductory feminist theory undergraduate seminar is deeply comparative, tackling gender from a racialized, transnational perspective.

The readings are organized into “theme” modules. For example, we will start the semester through reading about testimony. The issues surrounding testimony are vast, but our focus is on what testimony means, under what conditions testimony is possible, and how does testimony tie to the possibilities for full citizenship for women? Over the course of the semester we will examine SIX themes to introduce fundamental feminist concepts such as the body, choice, motherhood, sexual violence, citizenship, rights and work. As you will see, these are particular theoretical/ political perspectives on the issues, and not the only way to approach them.

These readings are not meant to give you a comprehensive knowledge of feminism; instead, ours is only a partial investigation on gender with the aim of pushing you into thinking through the importance of feminist theory in research and social change on very specific issues; my hope is that you will extend these sorts of analyses into other realms of intellectual production, and everyday life.

Readings

1. Books:

Saba Mahmood, 2005. Politics of Piety: Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject. Princeton University Press.

2. The reading package on Blackboard. Please bring print-outs to class for discussion purposes. This is a class REQUIREMENT.

Contains a Writing Flag

Descripton

One of the first things I think young people, especially nowadays, should learn is how to see for yourself and listen for yourself and think for yourself... this generation, especially of our people, has a burden, more so than any other time in history. The most important thing that we can learn to do today is think for ourselves (Malcolm X, cited by Patricia Hill Collins in Malcolm X: In Our Own Image. Edited by Joe Wood. 1992: 59; my emphasis).

Introduction

I begin this syllabus with a quote from Malcolm X.  Malcolm X spoke these words during a time when African Americans were changing the very definitions of what it meant to be Black. In this quote he urges Black youth to re-define themselves, re-infuse blackness with new meanings, and re-constitute themselves. His words are an exemplar of agency, propelling people into re-making themselves and their history.

But how does one go about re-making oneself?  Or speaking sociologically, what are the sources of individual agency? How do the structures of everyday life shape our experiences, our choices, and ultimately, our sense of self?

At a fundamental level Malcolm X is grappling with an issue that animates social theory— and that is, the constitution of the individual. How is human subjectivity formed? Does society fully structure us, or do we somehow autonomously generate our subjectivities? How do we conceive of ourselves— to paraphrase Malcolm X, “how to see for yourself and listen for yourself and think for yourself”— given that we making meaning of the world around us based on inherited categories, and the concomitant meanings imposed on us?

The constitution of the individual in society, and the constitution of society are central concerns for sociology.  In this class we will take on the individual, who is at once autonomous and socially determined, as our primary subject of inquiry. We will begin with Descartes, and then move onto the classical social theorists, Durkheim, Marx, and Weber. Central to their theories is the conceptualization of the individual as social, as constituted only within society. Yet, there are fundamental differences in their conception of society, history, and individuality. Over the course of the semester we will examine the basic sociological questions of structure, agency, the basis for knowledge, human action, social change, and individual emancipation through looking at classical theorists mentioned above, as well as recent scholars such as Erving Goffman, Michel Foucault, Susan Bordo, and Judith Butler.

This course is designed to give you a broad overview, rather than an in-depth examination of any one theorist. We will read translations, or the original texts by the various theorists. In addition, we will watch videos and films to help grasp the concepts we come across in our readings.

Texts 

The SIX required books that I recommend you buy on Amazon, or Half Price Books. 

1. Marshall Berman, All That is Solid Melts Into Air. Used copies from $ 6.33/- on Amazon.com
2. W.E.B. Du Bois, Souls Of Black Folk. (Norton Critical Editions, edited by Henry Louis Gates). Available from $3.84/- onwards on Amazon.com.
3. Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of a Prison. Used books around $8/- and new ones around $10/- on Amazon.com
4. Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. The cheapest version at Amazon ishttp://www.amazon.com/Presentation-Self-Everyday-Life/dp/0385094027/ref=pd_sim_b_7, published by DoubleDay).
5. Arlie Hochschild, Managed Heart: The Commercialization of Feeling. (The original was published in 1983, but I don’t think many prints are available. The book was re-issued in 2003. I’d prefer you buy the older version, but the newer version works for our purposes).
6. Max Weber (translated by Talcott Parsons) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.Used copies available for $3/- on Amazon.com

Reading package:  The reading package is available on Blackboard.

Grading and Requirements

Class attendance

Attendance to class is mandatory.  You may miss up to two classes, without affecting your grade.  Subsequently, for every class you miss your grade will fall by 1/2 a grade.  For example, if you miss four classes, you grade will change from an A to a B.

Participation: 10%

Participation in class makes huge a difference. I encourage you to ask questions, express doubts, answer your classmates’ questions, and engage intellectually. I urge you to complete all readings so that we can have active participation. Our collective success this semester hinges on your individual participation; participation is crucial for not just your own learning experience, but also your classmates’ learning in the classroom.

“Surprise” quizzes: 10%

Over the course of the semester, you will receive in class “surprise” quizzes over the readings. The quiz is open book, to be answered in class. As a result, it is absolutely necessary for you to bring your books to class.

Goffman exercise and presentation: 20%

This is a group assignment due towards the end of the semester; you will work in groups, and submit a 10 page double spaced group report. We will discuss this further at the time of the assignment. The entire group will receive a group grade, which is 20% of your overall grade. If you do not put in 100% effort, then your entire group’s grade will be negatively affected.  We will have class presentations based on this particular project.

Take home exams: 60%  (Mid-term: 30%,  Final: 30%)

I encourage you to work in groups to discuss your answers and prepare outlines; however, each one of you will write your exam individually. I will consider it as academic mis-conduct if two or more students turn in the exact same exam, or an exam with similarly structured sentences. Such exams will not be graded.

Missed exams/ late submissions: You have your syllabus with you, and you know when assignments are due. Late exams or assignments will NOT be accepted.

 Description

This course is an exploration of how social characteristics of individuals—race, class, gender, sexuality, (dis)abilities —affect their capacities to enter specific labor markets. Over the course of the semester we will sociologically unpack what work means, the creation of labor markets, and finally, how race and employment are interrelated. Jobs are gender segregated; and in all of this, race matters. We will critically examine work over the 20th and 21st centuries through a gendered, racial lens to get at how race and gender work in the labor market. The purpose of this course is to sociologically examine concepts such as labor markets, globalization, care work, sex work, and gender/ racial segregation of the work place. This course is cross-listed with Asian American Studies and Women’s Studies.

The readings are organized around key questions/ issues, which form course modules. These course modules are the following:

1)    What is labor?

2)    What are labor markets?

3)    How are race, labor and citizenship tied?

4)    Gender and work

5)    Case study: Garment work

6)    Case study: Caring work

7)    Case study: Surrogacy

Readings

Course package

Grading and Requirement

Class attendance

Attendance to class is mandatory.  You may miss up to two classes, without affecting your grade.  Subsequently, for every class you miss your grade will fall by 1/2 a grade.  For example, if you miss four classes, you grade will change from an A to a B.

Participation: 20%

Four Short Papers: 80%

Contains a Writing Flag

Descripton

One of the first things I think young people, especially nowadays, should learn is how to see for yourself and listen for yourself and think for yourself... this generation, especially of our people, has a burden, more so than any other time in history. The most important thing that we can learn to do today is think for ourselves (Malcolm X, cited by Patricia Hill Collins in Malcolm X: In Our Own Image. Edited by Joe Wood. 1992: 59; my emphasis).

Introduction

I begin this syllabus with a quote from Malcolm X.  Malcolm X spoke these words during a time when African Americans were changing the very definitions of what it meant to be Black. In this quote he urges Black youth to re-define themselves, re-infuse blackness with new meanings, and re-constitute themselves. His words are an exemplar of agency, propelling people into re-making themselves and their history.

But how does one go about re-making oneself?  Or speaking sociologically, what are the sources of individual agency? How do the structures of everyday life shape our experiences, our choices, and ultimately, our sense of self?

At a fundamental level Malcolm X is grappling with an issue that animates social theory— and that is, the constitution of the individual. How is human subjectivity formed? Does society fully structure us, or do we somehow autonomously generate our subjectivities? How do we conceive of ourselves— to paraphrase Malcolm X, “how to see for yourself and listen for yourself and think for yourself”— given that we making meaning of the world around us based on inherited categories, and the concomitant meanings imposed on us?

The constitution of the individual in society, and the constitution of society are central concerns for sociology.  In this class we will take on the individual, who is at once autonomous and socially determined, as our primary subject of inquiry. We will begin with Descartes, and then move onto the classical social theorists, Durkheim, Marx, and Weber. Central to their theories is the conceptualization of the individual as social, as constituted only within society. Yet, there are fundamental differences in their conception of society, history, and individuality. Over the course of the semester we will examine the basic sociological questions of structure, agency, the basis for knowledge, human action, social change, and individual emancipation through looking at classical theorists mentioned above, as well as recent scholars such as Erving Goffman, Michel Foucault, Susan Bordo, and Judith Butler.

This course is designed to give you a broad overview, rather than an in-depth examination of any one theorist. We will read translations, or the original texts by the various theorists. In addition, we will watch videos and films to help grasp the concepts we come across in our readings.

Texts 

The SIX required books that I recommend you buy on Amazon, or Half Price Books. 

1. Marshall Berman, All That is Solid Melts Into Air. Used copies from $ 6.33/- on Amazon.com
2. W.E.B. Du Bois, Souls Of Black Folk. (Norton Critical Editions, edited by Henry Louis Gates). Available from $3.84/- onwards on Amazon.com.
3. Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of a Prison. Used books around $8/- and new ones around $10/- on Amazon.com
4. Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. The cheapest version at Amazon ishttp://www.amazon.com/Presentation-Self-Everyday-Life/dp/0385094027/ref=pd_sim_b_7, published by DoubleDay).
5. Arlie Hochschild, Managed Heart: The Commercialization of Feeling. (The original was published in 1983, but I don’t think many prints are available. The book was re-issued in 2003. I’d prefer you buy the older version, but the newer version works for our purposes).
6. Max Weber (translated by Talcott Parsons) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.Used copies available for $3/- on Amazon.com

Reading package:  The reading package is available on Blackboard.

Grading and Requirements

Class attendance

Attendance to class is mandatory.  You may miss up to two classes, without affecting your grade.  Subsequently, for every class you miss your grade will fall by 1/2 a grade.  For example, if you miss four classes, you grade will change from an A to a B.

Participation: 10%

Participation in class makes huge a difference. I encourage you to ask questions, express doubts, answer your classmates’ questions, and engage intellectually. I urge you to complete all readings so that we can have active participation. Our collective success this semester hinges on your individual participation; participation is crucial for not just your own learning experience, but also your classmates’ learning in the classroom.

“Surprise” quizzes: 10%

Over the course of the semester, you will receive in class “surprise” quizzes over the readings. The quiz is open book, to be answered in class. As a result, it is absolutely necessary for you to bring your books to class.

Goffman exercise and presentation: 20%

This is a group assignment due towards the end of the semester; you will work in groups, and submit a 10 page double spaced group report. We will discuss this further at the time of the assignment. The entire group will receive a group grade, which is 20% of your overall grade. If you do not put in 100% effort, then your entire group’s grade will be negatively affected.  We will have class presentations based on this particular project.

Take home exams: 60%  (Mid-term: 30%,  Final: 30%)

I encourage you to work in groups to discuss your answers and prepare outlines; however, each one of you will write your exam individually. I will consider it as academic mis-conduct if two or more students turn in the exact same exam, or an exam with similarly structured sentences. Such exams will not be graded.

Missed exams/ late submissions: You have your syllabus with you, and you know when assignments are due. Late exams or assignments will NOT be accepted.

Course description

This undergraduate seminar in feminist theory is an introduction to the ways in which the body—that material reality of our lives— is conceptualized in the social sciences. We will read broadly, right from the deep suspicion of the body in Cartesian thought, which inaugurated the modern scientific method, to the re-birth of the body in social thought with Foucault. This course is not meant to be a comprehensive examination of the topic; instead, it is only a partial investigation with the aim of pushing you into thinking through the importance of feminist theory—so deeply engaged with the materiality of the body—to social theory. The bias in this course is that I am a sociologist, which informs my theoretical orientations.

 Tentative reading list :

1. Elizabeth Bernstein, Temporarily Yours

2. Patricia Hill Collins, Fighting Words

3. Arlie Hochschild, The Managed Heart: The Commercialization of Feeling

4. Michel Foucault, Discpline and Punish: Birth of the Modern Prison

5. Munoz, Cruising Utopia

6. Melissa Wright, Disposable Women and Other Myths of Global Capitalism

Course Expectations And Grading

Class attendance: Attendance to class is mandatory.  You may miss up to two classes, without affecting your grade.  Subsequently, for every class you miss your grade will fall by 1/2 a grade.  For example, if you miss four classes, you grade will change from an A to a B.

Participation: 30%

Participation in class makes huge a difference. I encourage you to ask questions, express doubts, answer your classmates’ questions, and engage intellectually. I urge you to complete all readings so that we can have active participation. Our collective success this semester hinges on your individual participation; participation is crucial for not just your own learning experience, but also your classmates’ learning in the classroom.

Book reports (three): 30%

Final Paper: 40% (10% for paper outline) Your final paper, due at the end of the semester, is based on a topic that interests you. The expectation is not that you do extensive readings outside of the course; instead, the hope is that you will use the readings from class, and supplement that with at least two other books, and a few articles from peer-reviewed journals. Web sources may be used, but only for empirical purposes. Internet resources are generally not accepted for citation purposes (though there are exceptions).

Description

Asian American scholar Lisa Lowe notes that contrary to liberal and Marxian notions, labor is never abstract. Instead, individuals’ racial and gender characteristics deeply shape how labor markets emerge, the ways by which workers get slotted into the world of work, and how skills are evaluated. This perspective shapes the backbone of this undergraduate seminar, which is a critical examination of work over the 20th and 21st centuries through a gendered, racial lens. Jobs are gender segregated; men and women’s work is evaluated differently; and, women’s work—often as important as that of men—is remunerated at lower levels. And in all of this, race matters.

Note: The purpose of this course is to sociologically examine concepts such as labor markets, globalization, care work, sex work, and gender/ racial segregation of the work place. This course is cross-listed with Asian American Studies and Women’s Studies.

Tentative list of books to be used:

Rene Almeling, 2011. Sex Cells: The Medical Market for Eggs and Sperm.

Evelyn Nakanon Glenn, 2010. Forced to Care: Coercion and Caregiving in America.

Pamela Stone, 2008. Opting Out? Why Women Really Quit and Head Home.

Excerpts from books (tentative):

Judith Shklar, American Citizenship: The Quest for Inclusion

David Roediger, Wages of Whiteness.

Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation.

Marx on alienated labor.

Lisa Lowe, Immigrant Acts. Mae Ngai, Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America.

Documentary films to be watched in class (preliminary list; more to be included):

Arthur Dong, 1982. Sewing Woman.

Zippy Frank, 2009. Google Baby.

Sonali Gulati, Nalini by Day Nancy by Night

 Case studies examined in class (through articles/ book excerpts/ documentary films/ popular articles):

The Garment Industry

Care Work

Assignments:

Take home exams (two) 50%

Group presentations 30%

Student groups work on case studies (one industry or job type—teaching, lawyers, gynecology, construction, etc.), conduct library research, and present their racialized/ gendered analyses of the industry to the rest of the class. There is no paper requirement.

Class discussion 10%

This seminar, broadly titled Feminist Theory, addresses feminist writings that we’d perhaps want as structuring influences on our academic work. There are two purposes to this seminar (1) Conceptualizing social categories, such as the state, citizenship, nationalism, globalization and so forth from a feminist perspective; and (2) Rethinking research from a feminist standpoint.

Contains a Writing Flag

Dr. Sharmila Rudrappa                                                                   

Office Hours: Wed 10:00am - 12:00noon; Office: 574 Burdine                                                                 

Phone: 232-6310 (O); 452-4420 (H); Please do not email me.

Sociological Theory: Self And Society

SPRING 2011

One of the first things I think young people, especially nowadays, should learn is how to see for yourself and listen for yourself and think for yourself... this generation, especially of our people, has a burden, more so than any other time in history. The most important thing that we can learn to do today is think for ourselves (Malcolm X, cited by Patricia Hill Collins in Malcolm X: In Our Own Image. Edited by Joe Wood. 1992: 59; my emphasis).

Introduction

I begin this syllabus with a quote from Malcolm X.  Malcolm X spoke these words during a time when African Americans were changing the very definitions of what it meant to be Black. In this quote he urges Black youth to re-define themselves, re-infuse blackness with new meanings, and re-constitute themselves. His words are an exemplar of agency, propelling people into re-making themselves and their history.

But how does one go about re-making oneself?  Or speaking sociologically, what are the sources of individual agency? How do the structures of everyday life shape our experiences, our choices, and ultimately, our sense of self?

At a fundamental level Malcolm X is grappling with an issue that animates social theory— and that is, the constitution of the individual. How is human subjectivity formed? Does society fully structure us, or do we somehow autonomously generate our subjectivities? How do we conceive of ourselves— to paraphrase Malcolm X, “how to see for yourself and listen for yourself and think for yourself”— given that we making meaning of the world around us based on inherited categories, and the concomitant meanings imposed on us?

The constitution of the individual in society, and the constitution of society are central concerns for sociology.  In this class we will take on the individual, who is at once autonomous and socially determined, as our primary subject of inquiry. We will begin with Descartes, and then move onto the classical social theorists, Durkheim, Marx, and Weber. Central to their theories is the conceptualization of the individual as social, as constituted only within society. Yet, there are fundamental differences in their conception of society, history, and individuality. Over the course of the semester we will examine the basic sociological questions of structure, agency, the basis for knowledge, human action, social change, and individual emancipation through looking at classical theorists mentioned above, as well as recent scholars such as Erving Goffman, Michel Foucault, Susan Bordo, and Judith Butler.

This course is designed to give you a broad overview, rather than an in-depth examination of any one theorist. We will read translations, or the original texts by the various theorists. In addition, we will watch videos and films to help grasp the concepts we come across in our readings.

Required Books and Reading Package:

The SIX required books that I recommend you buy on Amazon, or Half Price Books.

1. Marshall Berman, All That is Solid Melts Into Air. Used copies from $ 6.33/- on Amazon.com
2. W.E.B. Du Bois, Souls Of Black Folk. (Norton Critical Editions, edited by Henry Louis Gates). Available from $3.84/- onwards on Amazon.com.
3. Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of a Prison. Used books around $8/- and new ones around $10/- on Amazon.com
4. Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. The cheapest version at Amazon is http://www.amazon.com/Presentation-Self-Everyday-Life/dp/0385094027/ref=pd_sim_b_7, published by DoubleDay).
5. Arlie Hochschild, Managed Heart: The Commercialization of Feeling. (The original was published in 1983, but I don’t think many prints are available. The book was re-issued in 2003. I’d prefer you buy the older version, but the newer version works for our purposes).
6. Max Weber (translated by Talcott Parsons) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Used copies available for $3/- on Amazon.com

Reading package:  The reading package is available on Blackboard.

Course Expectations And Grading

Class attendance

Attendance to class is mandatory.  You may miss up to two classes, without affecting your grade.  Subsequently, for every class you miss your grade will fall by 1/2 a grade.  For example, if you miss four classes, you grade will change from an A to a B.

Participation: 10%

Participation in class makes huge a difference. I encourage you to ask questions, express doubts, answer your classmates’ questions, and engage intellectually. I urge you to complete all readings so that we can have active participation. Our collective success this semester hinges on your individual participation; participation is crucial for not just your own learning experience, but also your classmates’ learning in the classroom.

“Surprise” quizzes: 10%

Over the course of the semester, you will receive in class “surprise” quizzes over the readings. The quiz is open book, to be answered in class. As a result, it is absolutely necessary for you to bring your books to class.

Goffman exercise and presentation: 20%

This is a group assignment due towards the end of the semester; you will work in groups, and submit a 10 page double spaced group report. We will discuss this further at the time of the assignment. The entire group will receive a group grade, which is 20% of your overall grade. If you do not put in 100% effort, then your entire group’s grade will be negatively affected.  We will have class presentations based on this particular project.

Take home exams: 60%

I encourage you to work in groups to discuss your answers and prepare outlines; however, each one of you will write your exam individually. I will consider it as academic mis-conduct if two or more students turn in the exact same exam, or an exam with similarly structured sentences. Such exams will not be graded.

Mid-term: 30%

Final: 30%

Missed exams/ late submissions: You have your syllabus with you, and you know when assignments are due. Late exams or assignments will NOT be accepted.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

This seminar, broadly titled Feminist Theory, addresses feminist writings that we’d perhaps want as structuring influences on our academic work. There are two purposes to this seminar—
-    Conceptualizing social categories, such as the state, citizenship, nationalism, globalization and so forth from a feminist perspective; and
-    Rethinking research from a feminist standpoint.

See attached

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Interdisciplinary topics relating to Women's and Gender Studies.  Seats restricted to WGS MA and Portfolio students during early registration.  Check cross-listings for home departments and originating field of study.

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Study of various Asian studies-related topics that do not focus on any single geographic region.  Specific offerings are listed in the Course Schedule.  Prerequisite: Graduate standing; additional prerequisites vary with the topic and are given in the Course Schedule.

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Study of various aspects and periods of South Asian culture and society.  Specific offerings are listed in the Course Schedule.  Prerequisite: Graduate standing; additional prerequisites vary with the topic and are given in the Course Schedule.

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Supervised individual study of selected problems in Asian American studies.

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing and consent of the director of the Center for Asian American Studies.

May be counted toward the independent inquiry flag requirement.

Restricted enrollment; contact the department for permission to register for this class. May be repeated for credit.

Study of various Asian studies-related topics that do not focus on any single geographic region.  Specific offerings are listed in the Course Schedule.  Prerequisite: Graduate standing; additional prerequisites vary with the topic and are given in the Course Schedule.

Supervised individual reading for one semester, followed by a semester of research and writing to produce a substantial paper on a specific topic in Asian American studies.

Prerequisite: For 679HA, upper-division standing and admission to the Asian American Studies Honors Program; for 679HB, Asian American Studies 679HA.

Restricted enrollment; contact the department for permission to register for this class.

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Please check back for updates.

Supervised individual study of selected problems in Asian American studies.

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing and consent of the director of the Center for Asian American Studies.

May be counted toward the independent inquiry flag requirement.

Restricted enrollment; contact the department for permission to register for this class. May be repeated for credit.

Please check back for updates.

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Please check back for updates.