Ethnic-255-001: Migration and Gender: Starbucks, Sex-Trafficking, and Nannies
Fall 2015
MW 3:30-4:45, Bolton B87
Instructor: Dr. Ann McBee
Office: Curtin Hall 292; hours MW 8am-noon andby appointment
Email:
Course Description and Learning Goals:
What are the dynamics behind the global sex trade? What do mega-corporations like Starbucks, Apple, WalMart and stores like Forever 21 have to do with the migration of women workers? Why are more and more third world women engaging in domestic labor for first world families, sometimes leaving their own children behind to care for the children of others? This class will attempt to answer these difficult questions by focusing on why women cross borders to find work, sometimes using smugglers to help them reach their destination, and the gains and losses they experience. Through this analysis of the globalized female worker, we will learn how classic female duties such as caring for the home and family have been commodified into paid work, and study how this shift is reflective of larger demographic changes in the country at large. Specifically, we will study why these jobs are increasingly the province of new female immigrants in the twenty-first century, as well as the economic, social, and psychological processes that underpin them. Furthermore, we’ll seek to understand how patterns of migration, immigration, and diaspora emerge from economic and social changes, including how such patterns get expressed in the labor markets and service sector.
Required Materials:
All students are required to have the following materials in their possession in order to participate in this class:
-- Course packet available at Clark Graphics 2915 N Oakland Ave. (414-962-4633)
--Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy, Eds. Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild ISBN: 0-8050-7509-7 (Available at Neebo Books on Downer) ~$10-17).
also:
--Access to a computer, internet, printer, and good dictionary
Course Requirements:
Assigned readings and written assignments completed by the beginning of class on the days indicated in the Course Schedule and Assignment Sequence part of this syllabus. The breakdown is as follows (assignments not done on time and lack of preparation/discussion or absence will result in minus points, as specified in the Course Policies section of this syllabus):
Ten Short (1-2 page) Papers and Reading Summaries 50%
Discussion Lead-in 10%
Midterm Paper (3-5 page essay) 10%
Debate on an Issue 10%
Take-home Essay Exam 20%