Kareen Malone
Melson 205
Office Hours:
Phone: 770-836-4577
Email: kmalone@westga.edu
 

Course Description
 Gender-related perspectives on human psychology. Emphasis on helping men and women re-examine their self-images in light of contemporary gender based movements.
 

Objectives of this course

General
· Self-understanding & the understanding of others
· Analyze & synthesize issues in a psychological context

Specific
· To understand how Psychology typically avoids the question of our being a gendered body (a sexed body with social and psychological meaning)
· To critically explore gender differences and reflect on how we think about gender
· To understand how feminist thought has influenced current thinking about gender
· To expand our understanding of difference to include multiple differences as are encountered  questions of race and gender or class & gender or sexual orientation and gender
· To explore how we might take gender into account in certain areas of psychological interest, e.g. religion, interpersonal relationships, psychotherapy, health
· To understand the differences between essentialist and constructionist views on gender

This course involves guest speakers, videos, class presentations, reflections, 2 exams, lectures and discussions and a formal final paper. Sometimes the readings will be heavy, up to 80 pages per week. At other times, the readings will be light. Class attendance & participation is extremely important to the working of a class. A class is much like a relationship; one can not have a good class by oneself.
 

Assessment of Learning Objectives:
· You will tested on psychology’s treatment of the question of gender and gender differences in the mid-terms.
· Your final paper must cover a topic on gender as it is covered in psychology and your critical reflections on the findings.
· You will do exercises and informal research on your own experience of gender through gender dysphoria experiment and interview two different age groups about the meaning of gender.
· Your final exam will cover the essentialist constructionist debate and look at multiple identities.
 

Evaluation & Expectations
A is outstanding to excellent. To get an A is not just to do all the work but to do the work impressively.
B is very good to good
C is average or satisfactory. You understand the material but have not moved beyond this initial understanding. It is little superficial compared to the higher grades.
D is unsatisfactory

Exams 50 %
Final Paper 25%
Participation, Reflections & Class Presentations 25%

Class presentations
Three of you will be assigned some readings to present in class. It is your responsibility to present the material in a lively, provocative, and accurate fashion. As well, you are to engage the class in follow-up discussion. You must generate a handout of the material. Use the email to work together.

Overall participation
Be in class, think, listen, and participate, control the urge to say what you already know, engage rather than dominate. Quizzes may be given to be sure that you come to class HAVING DONE THE READING..

Final paper
Research paper is eight pages long, involving research from at least ten scholarly articles.  For those going on to graduate school, preliminary research may be a good idea. However, the paper must show knowledge of the course. It must be relevant to the course. You must turn in a rough draft to receive full credit. You should expect to submit and perhaps present the paper at SPARC (Students in Psychology Annual Research Conference) in April.

Exams
In-class essay & short answer based on class and readings

Participation:
An assessment of your attentiveness, understanding, attendance, reflections, presentations, and your scores on quizzes based on the readings. I will take roll and I will notice if you are here in body only.

Attendance
If you miss more than three classes and missing part of a class will count ½ against you, your grade will be dropped by one letter.

Required Books:
Gergen & Davis (Eds.) (1997)  Toward a new psychology of Gender. New York: Routledge.
Tong, Rosmarie.  Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction.  Boulder, CO: Westview. Second
    Edition. 1998.
Tripp, Anna (Ed.)  Gender. New York: Palgrave, 2000.

There will be readings that are placed on reserve. These readings are noted in the Class Schedule.
 

Plagiarism is grounds for failing the class. This includes mosaic plagiarism and unauthorized paraphrasing from un-cited materials. Please check the student handbook and talk to me if you have questions about plagiarism. Be prepared to bring in copies of your references if required.