Appendix B
Program Information
Name of Program: / Women’s Studies Department / College: / CHABSSPrepared By:
(Department Chair/Program Coordinator) / Sheryl Lutjens / Date: / 9/29/2011
Email Address: / / Extension: / X8021
PART A: Annual Assessment Report AY 10-11 Due by May 27, 2011
Please note: Should you need additional time to analyze data gathered in Spring 2011, please send an email requesting an extension to Jennifer Jeffries ().
Jennfier Jeffiresto
1) Please describe:A. the program student learning outcomes you focused on for assessment this year.
B. the assessment activities you used to measure student learning in these areas.
C. the results of your assessment(s).
D. the significance of your results.
Please see attached report.
2) As a result of your assessment findings, what changes at either the course- or program-level are being made and/or proposed in order to improve student learning? Please articulate how your assessment findings suggest the need for any proposed changes.
Please see attached report.
PART B: Planning for Assessment in 2011-2012 Required by October 3, 2011
1) Describe the proposed PSLO activities for AY 2011-12. (Note that assessing PSLOs can take many forms. Programs may find the attached list of sample assessment activities helpful. Please check the Assessment website for additional resources at www.csusm.edu/assessment/resources/).The Women’s Studies department currently has seven expected student learning outcomes. In the 2011-12 academic year, we plan to focus on five of them in our annual assessment project.
These include:
2. comprehend and be able to analyze critically the construction of gender in culture and society,historicallyand in the present day;
3. demonstrate the ability to integrate the analysis of race and ethnicity, class, sexual identities, culture, religion, dis/abilities, and geography into explanations ofpower relations in the contemporary world;
4. use effective oral and written communication skills to communicate information and arguments about women and gender relations;
5. develop the research skills needed to find, analyze, and apply multiplesources of informationabout womenand genderacross an array of research topics and academic disciplines;
6. demonstrate knowledge of multiple approaches to the study of women and gender construction and have the skills needed to distinguish among basic assumptions and arguments, particularly those derived from feminist theoretical perspectives.
2) What specific assessment activities will you conduct this year in order to measure student achievement of these outcomes?
The Women’s Studies Department will focus our assessment activities in two ways this year (2011-12).
1) Believing that it will be very valuable to be able to compare student achievements across time—and use the previous two annual assessments (2008-09 and 2010-11), we will evaluate
Paper/research papers written for WMST 490, the senior capstone seminar, using a rubric developed for that purpose. This direct measure of student learning will provide evidence of research and writing skills (SLOs # 4 and #5), of understanding of feminist theories and analysis (SLOs #2 and 6), and of mastery of key concepts in the study of women and gender in context (SLOs #2, 3, 6). We will review and adjust (as necessary) the rubric used in the past.
2) Development activities for 2011-12 will also include a January 2012 meeting with WMST juniors and seniors, dedicated to a discussion of student learning objectives, assessment, past reports, and students’ responses to methods and results.
3) Please describe how the assessment support of $750 will be used.
The Women’s Studies Department will dedicate $125.00 to the meeting with students (including lunch), $225 as a stipend for the chair of the assessment committee who will organize the committee’s work, and $200 for two additional committee members (including research on oral presentation rubrics).
Appendix C
September 2008
Rev. March 2009
Rev. May 2009
Rubric for Assessing Research Writing/Papers
Women’s Studies Program
For A-C, E, F
(3) Well done
(2) Satisfactory
(1) Weak and needs improvement
For D
(4) Well done
(3) Satisfactory
(2) Weak and needs improvement
(1) Unsatisfactory
A. Organization of Paper
3 focused around a central thesis, with a specific introduction, clear and logical progression of ideas and supporting information, and a strong analytical conclusion
2 logical progression of ideas and supporting information, introduction and conclusion provided but some problems of presentation or coherence
1 some discernible effort to provide ideas and information in a logical manner, but missing cues, clarity, and/or order
B. Style, Grammar, and Presentation
3 Vocabulary and syntax are mature, paper is free of grammatical and spelling errors, sources are cited ethically, accurately, and systematically
2 Writing suffers from some grammatical and/or spelling errors, syntax or vocabulary is sometimes awkward or incorrect, most sources are cited accurately and citation style is somewhat consistent
1 Substantial weakness in basic writing style and skills, many grammatical and/or spelling errors, failure to cite sources adequately in substantive and stylistic terms
C. Theoretical Foundations and Argumentation
3 demonstrates strong and accurate understanding of key concepts relevant to topic, introduces clearly the theoretical framework(s) used and/or analyzed in the paper, presents research/writing question explicitly at the outset, develops an argument and supports it with evidence and analysis
2 demonstrates some understanding of key concepts relevant to topic, makes some references to theories related to topic, provides a topic/question statement, and attempts to analyze in relation to a position
1 uses concepts without explanation and/or inconsistently, unclear statement of the research/writing question or none at all, little analysis, little or no effort to argue and defend a position
D. Acknowledgement of Alternative Points of View
4 Acknowledges many or most of the alternative points of view found in course readings or presented in class. These points of view are summarized with substantial accuracy. The paper responds adequately to theoretical alternatives
3 Acknowledges at least one alterative point of view/theoretical position found in the readings or presented in class. Treatment of the alternative is substantially accurate.
2 Acknowledges at least one alterative point of view/theoretical position found in the readings or presented in class. Treatment of the alternative is substantially inaccurate.
1 Acknowledges no alternative theoretical positions or points of view.
E. Original Thought
3 Paper shows evidence of original thought (it is not a summary of others’ opinions or analysis of secondary sources)
2 Three is some evidence of original thought but the paper is primarily a summary of the opinions or analysis of others
1 No evidence of original thought.
F. Intersectionality/Diversity
3 recognizes and can analyze the multiplicity of human experience, feminist perspectives, and hierarchies of oppression (race, class, gender, ethnicity, sexualities, abilities, etc.), theoretically and/or empirically
2 recognizes the multiplicity of human experience, feminist perspectives, and hierarchies of oppression (race, class, gender, ethnicity, sexualities, abilities, etc.), theoretically and/or empirically, but cannot use differences in an analytical manner
1 does not acknowledge diversity/intersectionality
Appendix D
College of Humanities, Arts,
Behavioral and Social
Sciences
Women’s Studies Department
WMST 490
Feminist Perspectives: Theories and Research
Spring 2012
SBSB 2107
Wed 5:30-8:15
Sheryl L. Lutjens
Office: SBSB 4241
“Seeking the New Feminists: Thoughts on Body Image,” Voca Femina, 760-750-8021
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://vfnonfiction.files.wordpress.com/2009 Office Hours: M 3:00-4:00,
Tu 1:00-2:30, and by appointment
“Within revolutionary feminist movements, within revolutionary black liberation struggles, we must continually claim theory as necessary practice within a holistic framework of liberatory activism. We must do more than call attention to ways theory is misused. We must do more than critique the conservative and at times reactionary uses some academic women make of feminist theory. We must actively work to call attention to the importance of creating a theory that can advance renewed feminist movements, particularly highlighting that theory which seeks to further feminist opposition to sexism and sexist oppression. Doing this, we necessarily celebrate and value theory that can be and is shared in oral as well as written narrative” (bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress, 1994).
Catalog Description:
Examines major schools of feminist theory and feminist approaches to research on women and gender across an array of academic disciplines. The application of feminist perspectives and reassessments of social theory in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences may be included. Student research projects may include bibliographies, archival research, ethnographic, survey, literary analysis or other formats.
Course Objectives:
WMST 490 is the capstone course for the Women’s Studies major. Its purpose is to facilitate engagement with foundational debates and ongoing conversations within and about feminist theory, and to explore the ways that feminist theorizing frames research--questions and methods--within and across disciplinary traditions, informs agencies and actions, and as bell hooks explains, becomes “a location for healing” (bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress, in Wendy K. Kolmar and Frances Bartkowksi, eds. Feminist Theory: A Reader, 3rd ed. New York: McGraw Hill 2010, p. 27).
Our work this semester will create an overview of the evolution of (modern) feminist thought, inspecting how feminist theorizing is located with regard to other intellectual and political histories, examining ongoing debates and cutting edge claims and contentions within feminist, gender, and Women’s Studies, and considering research strategies and techniques in their practical, political, and ethical dimensions. We will begin with a survey of current perspectives of the issues in feminist thought, turn to the examination of theorists central to the diverse intellectual traditions that have claimed women as a category of analysis and action, and move to the terrain of contemporary theory, emphasizing, U.S. women of color, international, and gay, lesbian, trans, and queer theorists to explore: definitions of theory; the epistemological questions in feminist theory; theories of sexual identity, essentialism and difference, and intersectionality; critical race feminist theorizing; postcolonial and transnational feminist theories; and Third Wave feminism, among other tendencies and locations.
In pursuing these general objectives of WMST 490, the course aims to develop critical thinking skills needed to analyze, compare, and assess critically different types of feminist theory and their characteristic concepts, arguments, and conclusions. Critical reading and thinking skills will be practiced in discussions in the seminar setting of the course, in writing assignments and oral presentations, and in the required work on a feminist research proposal.
WMST 490 will be structured as a seminar and we will approach our work as a community of feminist scholars! Because this is a culminating senior seminar, we will aim to integrate past and present learning in an exciting, reflective, and creative fashion. We will include the expectations for student learning in the Women’s Studies Program in establishing individual and collective goals for the semester.
The basic expectations for student learning this semester include:
Students will know and comprehend the varieties of feminist theories that have developed
over time;
Students will be able to compare feminist theoretical perspectives in terms of concepts, assumptions, and the arguments and conclusions they produce;
Students will be able to explain the relationship between theories and the practices they produce/support/inspire;
Students will have the ability to integrate the analysis of race and ethnicity, class, sexual identities, culture, religion, dis/abilities, and geography into explanations of power relations in the contemporary world;
Students will use effective written and oral communication skills to present information and arguments about women and gender relations;
Students will have and use the research skills needed to find, analyze, and apply multiple sources of information about women and gender across an array of topics, disciplines, and theoretical approaches.
Course Materials: The following books are required and may be purchased at the University Bookstore.
Chris Bobel, New Blood: Third-Wave Feminism and the Politics of Menstruation. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2010.
Melissa V. Harris-Perry, Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America. Yale University Press, 2011.
Saba Mahmood, The Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject. Princeton Univeristy Press, 2005.
Susan Archer Mann, Doing Feminist Theory: Paradigm Shifts from Modernity to Postmodernity. New York ad Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Catherine M. Orr, Ann Braithwaite, and Diane Lichtenstein, eds. Rethinking Women’s and Gender Studies. New York: Routledge, 2012.
The other required readings listed in the course calendar will be available within the course Moodle shell, organized by weekly assignments. Materials may be distributed in class and a list of supplementary texts will be available in the Moodle shell as well.
Please note: Any recommended readings listed in the syllabus are not required; they are included to alert you to classic writings or new trends in an area of scholarship.
Course Organization
WMST 490 will be organized as a seminar. Class sessions will center in student participation and collective discussion of the materials read, with occasional lectures (and more as needed), in-class activities, media, and student presentations/facilitation of seminar conversation. Students must come to class prepared and having read the assigned material. Please bring your primary texts and supplementary readings to class each week. Since careful consideration of authors, ideas, and arguments will require access to the course materials, bringing your texts is crucial for the quality of your participation. We will also be working with other “texts” to practice critical thinking (visual or other texts).
Course Requirements and Evaluation
WST 491c is structured as a seminar, and it therefore places a premium on careful and critical reading and preparation for each class session. Required weekly readings are listed in the Course Calendar; reading should be completed prior to the seminar meeting. Adjustments may be made as needed: different readings distributed among class members; new readings added; or the schedule readjusted for events, lectures, etc. Writing and other assignments that allow you to demonstrate your learning are described below.
Reading: Because this is a seminar that focuses on theories and methods, extensive reading is a critical beginning for our work. The readings are listed in the weekly calendar; they are due on the scheduled date. The readings are divided into “Reading Theory” and “Doing Research.” Any reading that is recommended is identified as such and all others should be considered required. Please come to class prepared. We will discuss how we might ensure that readings are done on a timely fashion and come to a group decision (in other words, should we establish weekly writings on the readings that must be submitted? etc.)