Dr. Carolyn M. Shrewsbury
MH221D
Mankato State University
Mankato, MN 56002-8400
507-389-6939 ; FAX 507-389-6377
cbury @mankato.msus.edu
Home page: krypton.mankato.msus.edu/~cbury/web/Welcome.html
Women's Studies' historic challenge to the academy has been to both substance and process, to theory and practice. Our focus in this course is on teaching and learning. We may take two somewhat different directions: 1) reflect on the theory and practice of feminist pedagogy, explore its history, critique its concepts and practices, reflect on its challenges, contribute to its development. 2) develop our specific skills like writing a syllabus, selecting a text, organizing a workshop, evaluating or providing feedback to student work, leading a discussion, making a presentation to a community group and so on.
We will spend the first half of the quarter grounding ourselves in feminist
pedagogy. In the second half, we will expand that knowledge and practice
our skills and collectively work on our web project on feminist pedagogy.
Objectives: This is a preliminary list. We will include some of your
individual and all of our collective objectives into this list. We could
drop some of those listed below also.
1. The incorporation of your objectives into the course.
2. Critical analysis of the theories and practices of feminist pedagogies.
3. An understanding of the ways in which systems of oppression intersect
in academia.
4. Identification of ways in which pedagogical practice can celebrate and/or
incorporate ethnic, racial, class, sexual orientation, gender, age and disability
differences.
5. Enhancement of specific pedagogical skills compatible with or able to
shape the 21st Century.
6. Development of our reading, writing, speaking, observing, experiencing,
reflecting skills.
7. The maintenance of full and responsible participation of all class members
throughout the course.
Projected tangible class accomplishments: We'll add to this list
as we develop the syllabus.
1. You will have your own list of projected personal accomplishments. I
would expect that everyone would have a project beyond the collective and
aggregate class projects. You might, for example, wish to construct a syllabus,
develop a workshop, develop a set of learning opportunities for a women's
or girls' group, put together a resource on building community in introductory
courses, or some other idea you have.
2. Completion of a web site for feminist pedagogy including a section on
electronic education and women's studies. This web site will contain original
material from the class as well as links to other resources. Among the original
material would be:
an annotated or otherwise organized bibliography of materials since 1993,
plus a section on classics from before that date.
a discussion about women's studies on the web -feminist teaching and learning
in an electronic age.
3. Your thought paper on theories or practice of feminist pedagogy or some
aspect of feminist pedagogy.
4. Everyone will have an opportunity to be responsible for one (or more)
class sessions.
Texts:
Most of our reading will be from articles available for reading in the Women's
Studies Department Office, from the library, or from the internet.
We'll all also work from bell hooks Teaching to Transgress Education as
the Practice of Freedom.
You will also be asked to read at least one other book.
Evaluation:
We'll determine this together.
Other Notes: I would appreciate it if any student needing special accommodations would visit with me early in the quarter.
Tentative Schedule: I have limited the assigned reading. I hope that you will read beyond that assigned for many of our sessions. I'll provide a list of other articles I think are particularly good for our topics. I hope you'll add to that list.
We will together build the second half of our syllabus.
Week 1: Getting Started
Week 2: Foundations: Defining and Creating Feminist Pedagogy
Week 3-4: Relationships to other liberatory pedagogies
Week 4-5: Group Dynamics in the Classroom
Week 5-6: Diversity Issues
Week 6-7: Techniques
Week 7
Week 8
(from Krista) The article focuses on how I used this model in the support group that I facilitated with adolescent females who were survivors of sexual assault - both incest and acquaintance rape. I am interested in focusing on how education, empowerment and healing exist in relation to one another within the lives of women and girls, as well as the role feminist pedagogy plays in this whole process. Please note that all of this focuses on how these topics relate to women. Statistics do show that 1 in 6 boys will be sexually assaulted before the age of 18 but we all know that socialization based on gender/sex is radically different for boys and girls and that an attempt to address that issue (abuse against boys) would require a distinctly different workshop. (oops, am I essentializing? :) -essentialism certainly has its uses.....Regardless, my focus is women. Here are some questions to think about (if you like) in writing your journal for Nov. 5: Why is it important for us as feminists to talk about expanding feminist pedagogical practices to include spaces outside of the academy? How does this relate to social change, education, empowerment, healing, etc? What does feminist pedagogy offer us that traditional (male) paradigms do not (with respect to healing and empowerment) Why is feminist pedagogy, education, empowerment and healing an important concept for us discuss (or atleast why would I think its important)? Why the focus on women? Where are some places in need of feminist pedagogical practices? Why? These are only suggestions to give you a starting point. Please feel free to write whatever you like. I would welcome you reading them in class but it isn't mandatory.
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11 Bringing it all together
Go to: Carolyn
Shrewsbury Home Page
last revised: Sept. 30, 1997