2
Fall 2015-2016
GEND 3306
IDEAS OF POWER
Tuesdays 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, Room A144
Instructor: Dr. Rosemary Nagy
Contact: or (705) 474-3450 ext. 4156
Office hours: Tuesday 12 -2 or by appointment
Office: Room A335 (above small cafeteria)
www.nipissingu.ca/faculty/rnagy
Course Description: Power is everywhere. It is in the relationships we have, the clothes we buy and the pets we keep, not just the party we vote for. It is in the colour of our skin, the performance of our gender, and the work we do. Ideas of power-the really powerful ones-are often invisible. Students will focus on making visible what the powers-that-be would prefer to keep hidden. Students will examine ideas of power around sex and gender, colonization in the past and present, wealth and poverty, law and justice, to name only a few.
Learning Objectives: Upon successful completion of the core requirements of this course, students should expect to have:
Ø an ability to explain and compare Marxist and Foucauldian conceptions of power
Ø an ability to conduct theoretically informed intersectional analysis as relates to both margin and center
Ø a clear understanding of the key terms and concepts highlighted in the textbook and/or class discussions
Ø an increased capacity to identify and critically reflect upon invisible forms of power embedded in our everyday practices in Canadian society as well as globally
Ø continued development of reading, writing, communication and research skills
Required Reading:
Deborah Brock, Rebecca Raby, and Mark P. Thomas, Power and Everyday Practices (Toronto: Nelson, 2012). ISBN: 978-0-17-650203-4. [“PEP” in the list of readings]
We will also use some journal articles available through the Library Catalogue and online readings.
Evaluation:
Participation 10% Weekly attendance and informed discussion
Lead discussant 5% (pass/fail)
Critical reflections 30% (3x10%) Due in class for that week’s readings
Research essay 25% Due December 1 in class
Final Exam 30% Regular exam period
Critical reflections are due in class and will not be accepted after class (unless you prepared it but could not attend class due to illness. In this case, email it to me before noon).
Late penalties apply for the term essay: If your term essay is submitted after the deadline, you will be penalized 10% for the first day, 1% for every following day, up until December 7th. You may not submit your essay after this date. In most cases, after December 7, you will need to apply for a incomplete grade at the Dean’s office. Extensions from me will be considered only in advance of the deadline and under truly exceptional circumstances. If you are experiencing challenges in meeting the deadline please talk to me.
Punctual and regular attendance is essential for the successful completion of a course. When absenteeism exceeds 20%, the student may be excluded from writing the final examination.
Accommodation
Students with a range of learning styles and needs are welcome in this course. In particular, if you have a disability / health consideration that may require accommodations, please contact the Student Accessibility Services Office as soon as possible. The Student Accessibility Services staff (located in B210 or ext 4362) are available by appointment to assess specific needs, provide referrals and arrange appropriate accommodations. The sooner you let us know your needs the quicker we can assist you in achieving your learning goals in this course. See http://www.nipissingu.ca/departments/student-development-and-services/accessibility-services/Pages/default.aspx
Laptops and cellphones
Students are permitted to use laptop computers only for taking notes from the lectures. Playing games, surfing the internet, checking e-mail, instant messaging, watching videos or listening to music are not permitted during class time. If you are disrupting other students or me with this kind of activity, you will be asked to turn off your laptop/cellphone or to leave. Studies show that students who are disconnected during lectures—and students who take notes by hand—learn and perform better (see http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/the-case-for-banning-laptops-in-the-classroom).
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism and academic dishonesty are serious offences. It is your responsibility to be familiar with Nipissing’s policies on academic dishonesty. Please make yourself familiar, here: http://www.nipissingu.ca/calendar/studentpolicies_academicdishonesty.asp
Any instances of students plagiarizing or cheating will be dealt with according to this policy.
Blackboard
We will be using blackboard in the class to post links and articles of interest, as well as any announcements. Please check Blackboard each week in advance of class. You will also be able to view your grades on blackboard.
Part One: What is Power?1. Sept. 8 / PEP, ch. 1. Brock, Raby, and Thomas, “Unpacking the Centre”
2. Sept. 15 / PEP ch. 2. Brock, “Thinking about Power: Exploring Theories of Domination and Governance” (11-32).
Iris Marion Young, “The Five Faces of Oppression,” ch. 2 in Justice and the Politics of Difference (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), pages 39-65. Available at http://www.consumerstar.org/resources/pdf/young.pdf. Skip the section, “The Concept of a Social Group” (pages 43-48). Focus on “The Faces of Oppression” section, pages 48-63.
Critical reflection
· Exercise #2 page 32 [analyze your daily activities]
· How and why does Young go beyond Marxist analyses of oppression? Are there any ways in which you would update her 1990 understanding of oppression and why or why not?
· Compare and contrast Foucault and Marx’s understandings of power.
3. Sept. 22 / PEP, ch. 6. Thomas, “Class, State and Power: Unpacking Social Relations in Contemporary Capitalism” (110-132).
PEP, ch. 11. Raddon, “Financial Fitness: The Political and Cultural Economy of Finance” (223-245)
Critical reflection
· Exercise 2 p.128 [analyze your last major purchase to explain commodity fetishism]
· Exercise 3 p. 128 [university run as a business—impact on you]
· Exercise 1 p.241 (balancepro.net is probably best) [financial literacy]
· Exercise 2 p. 241 (see especially http://cfs-fcee.ca/take-action/education-is-a-right/student-debt/) [student debt]
Part Two: Knowledge and Representation
4. Sept. 29 / PEP, ch. 3. Noack, “Assembling our Tool Kit: Interrogating Representation and Discourses” (33-55).
PEP, ch. 8. Martin, “Science as Culture” (161-181).
Critical reflection
· Compare and contrast how “facts” are produced in scientific processes and common sense knowledge.
· Exercise #2 p. 54 but you can use any type of article [discourse analysis]
5. Oct. 6 / PEP, ch. 12. Francis, “The Imaginary Indian: Unpacking the Romance of Domination” (252-276).
Jiwani, Yasmin, and Mary Lynn Young. "Missing and Murdered Women: Reproducing Marginality in News Discourse." Canadian Journal of Communication 31, no. 4 (2006): 895-917. [library e-journals]
Critical reflection
· Pick two recent articles from a mainstream newspaper(s) that cover the Missing and Murdered Indigenous women. Do you think coverage has improved from 2006? Why or why not? (use evidence from the newspaper articles as well as the readings to explain)
· Unpack and critically reflect on the representations of Indigeneity in the film Avatar (or another relevant film approved by me)
6. Oct. 13 / READING WEEK
Part Three: Intersections
7. Oct. 20 / Levine-Rasky, Cynthia (2011) 'Intersectionality theory applied to whiteness and middle-classness', Social Identities, 17: 2, 239-253. Available at http://www.sfu.ca/iirp/documents/Levine-Rasky%202011.pdf.
Jarune Uwarjaren and Jamie Utt, “Why our feminism must be intersectional (and 3 ways to practice it), Everyday Feminism, 11 January 2015 at http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/01/why-our-feminism-must-be-intersectional/ .
Critical reflection
· Critically reflect on the three intersectional practices as they pertain to you.
· Explain how you got to where you are today (university) using intersectional analysis. Was this the result of hard work? Good fortune? Systemic privilege? Some combination thereof?
8. Oct. 27 / PEP, ch. 4. Newman, “Bodies, Genders, Sexualities: Counting Past Two” (61-85).
Elinor Burkett, “What Makes a Woman?”, New York Times Sunday Review, June 6, 2015 at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/opinion/sunday/what-makes-a-woman.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=1
Natacha Kennedy, UnCommon Sense blogspot, June 12, 2015 at http://uncommon-scents.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/my-deconstruction-of-burketts-dishonesty.html. [please read at least half to get the general idea]
Anne Fausto-Sterling, “Responding to Responses to Caitlyn Jenner’s Vanity Affair event,” Huffington Post, July 14, 2015 at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-anne-fausto-sterling/responding-to-responses-t_b_7788220.html
Please refer to at least 2 articles for this week’s critical reflection:
· Do you think the Vanity Fair cover of Caitlyn Jenner is undermining feminism or presenting a trans hero? Why?
· What representations and discourses are at work in Caitlyn Jenner’s coming out? How do class and other intersectional factors impact these representations and discourses?
· Consider the debate over Caitlyn’s female brain. What can you tell us about this debate in terms of the “objectivity” of scientific (i.e. Ch. 8) and “commonsense” discourses about sex and gender?
9. Nov. 3
*essay topic approval deadline / PEP, ch. 5. Levine-Rasky, “Whiteness: Normalization and the Everyday Practice of Power” (86-109).
Allison Samuels, “Rachel Dolezal’s True Lies,” Vanity Fair 19 July 2015 at http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/07/rachel-dolezal-new-interview-pictures-exclusive.
John Robson, “Caitlyn Jenner, Rachel Dolezal and the identity doublestandard, “ National Post, 22 June 2015 at http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/john-robson-caitlyn-jenner-rachel-dolezal-and-the-identity-double-standard.
Anna Leventhal, “Rachel Doleza and the trouble with ‘transracialism,” Toronto Start, 17 June 2015 at http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/06/17/rachel-dolezal-and-the-trouble-with-transracialism.html.
In-class video: Dolezal on “Today” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG9Q2_Hv83k
Please refer to at least 2 articles for this week’s critical reflection:
· Do you think Dolezal is successfully “challenging whiteness” as Levine-Rasky explains it? Why or why not?
· If Caitlyn Jenner can do it, why can’t Rachel Dolezal? (or can Rachel do it too?)
10. Nov. 10 / PEP, ch. 9. Rimke and Brock, “The Culture of Therapy: Psychocentrism in Everyday Life” (182-202).
Million, Dian. "Trauma, Power and the Therapeutic: Speaking Psychotherapeutic Narratives in an Era of Indigenous Human Rights." In Reconciling Canada: Critical Perspectives on the Culture of Redress, edited by Jennifer Henderson and Pauline Wakeham. 159-77. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013.
Critical reflection
· Watch an episode of Dr. Phil (or similar) or skim a self-help book. Do you see evidence of neoliberal governance in the episode or book? What sorts of representations and discourses are evident in the episode or book?
· Why is the shift from “anomic Indian” to “trauma victim” both a “good thing” and a “bad thing”? Explain with reference to therapeutic culture and neoliberalism.
Part Four: Commodities and Consumption
11. Nov. 17 / PEP, ch. 10. Soron, “Going Shopping: The Politics of Everyday Consumption” (203-222).
PEP, ch. 13. Fridell, “Coffee and Commodity Fetishism” (277-298).
Critical reflection
· Compare “consumer sovereignty” with the kind of sovereignty Million talked about last week. How does neoliberalism fit with both conceptions of sovereignty?
· Exercise #1 p. 221 [take a consumer “fast” for a few days]
· Exercise #3 p. 221 [Imagine a post-consumerist social order]
· Study Question #1, p. 295 [explain commodity fetishism vis-à-vis coffee]
12. Nov. 24 / PEP, ch. 14 Brock and Philips, “Tourism: Globalization and the Commodification of Culture” (299-318).
Critical reflection
· Exercise #1, p. 318 [your tourism]
13. Dec. 1 / Conclusions and Review
Assignment Descriptions
Participation and attendance 10%
This class will operate largely in seminar format. Your mark will be based on your attendance and participation in discussions. Regular attendance is essential. If you are missing class for a legitimate reason (i.e. doctor's appointment) you must convey this to me; otherwise you will be marked "zero" for that day. Late entries as well as early exits are disruptive, and often result in the missing of important information. Participation includes, but is not limited to, contributing one’s own insights or ideas to class and engagement in group or individual exercises. It also entails respectful listening and, ideally, a commitment to involving others in the learning process. You are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the day’s readings. Verbal participation in class should be relevant and connected to the readings for the week.
Lead Discussant 5%
You (and a partner) are expected to present a set of readings for one week. Please prepare roughly 10 minutes of speaking (each) in order to open and facilitate class discussion on the reading. Each lead discussion is worth 5%, marked on a pass/fail basis (0/2.5/5 out of 5).
You are not to summarize the reading; assume your peers have read it. Rather, your presentation should cover things such as:
· Identification of the main issue or problem that the author is addressing
· What is the author’s central claim, argument or point?
· Identification and discussion of key concepts emerging from the article (including ones you did not fully understand)
· Personal reflection on the issues in the reading (optional)
· Pose questions for the class for further discussion
· If you did one of the critical reflection exercises for this week, you can talk about that.
Critical Reflections (3x10%=30%)
Due: Tuesday in class for the relevant week. Pick any three weeks. You are expected to make at least three textual references using author-date citation (including the page number for your direct or indirect reference) in your critical reflection. Topics for the critical reflections have been provided in italicized bullets in the syllabus for each week (just do one). Alternatively, you may devise your own question or exercise (subject to my approval). Responses should be 2-3 pages long double-spaced.
Your critical reflection will be evaluated based on the following:
· Depth of engagement with the text: understanding of key issues and concepts
· Argumentation: student refers to the text using direct quotes or paraphrasing at least three times to justify and/or explain the response or analysis. Author-date citation is used.
· Critical reflection: response piece demonstrates an analytical approach to the text (do not summarize the text) that synthesizes and evaluates information
· Writing style: response piece is clearly written with proper grammar and spelling.
Research Essay 25%
Due December 1 in class. 8-10 pages double-spaced plus Reference List. Please use the Chicago/Turabian Author-Date System. See http://www.lib.umd.edu/tl/guides/citing-chicago-ad.
Your essay must refer to at least six sources, including 3 peer-reviewed sources. I must approve your essay topic. Deadline to submit your topic for approval is November 3.
Final Exam 30%
To be held during the official examination period, the final exam will cover all the materials – readings, screenings, films, lectures and discussions for the entire course.
Important notes for written assignments: