GENDERED TECHNO-CULTURE
WGST 270-02
Fall 2002
Wednesdays
Instructor: Dr. Ann Marie Nicolosi
Office Hours: Tuesday
Office: Bliss 123
Telephone: (609) 771-2276
E-mail: nicolosi@tcnj.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
In this course we will explore the relationship between gender and technology. We will focus on specific areas, such as the Internet, reproductive technologies, and the ways in which technology is gendered, and how gender influences technology. This is a "hands-on" course that requires a basic knowledge of computers and the Internet. Together we will try to analyze and understand how gender and technology interact.
COURSE TEXTS:
The following books are required and are available at the bookstore:
Hopkins, Patrick D., ed. Sex/Machine:
Flanagan, Mary and Austin Booth, eds. Reload: Rethinking Women and Cyberculture
(
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale (New York: Anchor Books, 1998).
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Regular attendance, informed participation and quizzes, 20%
It is imperative that you come to class prepared to discuss the readings and to participate. There will be "pop" quizzes periodically. If you are absent or late, you will not be permitted to make-up the quiz. If you have a doctor's note, the zero will not be included in the average.
Creating your own website, 20%
Throughout the semester you will be
responsible for creating and maintaining your own website. Your site should be
a reflective journal of the themes of the course and your growing understanding
of the relationship between technology and gender. It is a semester-long
project. (websites put up at the end of the semester
usually reflect the short attention and time given to the project and will be
reflected in the grade). This project will count as your final exam. ANY WEBSITE ADDRESS HANDED IN LATER THAN
THE LAST DAY OF CLASS WILL NOT COUNT.
Oral Presentation and Critical Review, 20%
The first paper is a critical analysis of the course reading you of your oral presentation. If you need assistance, there are some general guidelines to writing a critique at the following websites:
The Book Review or Article Critique: General Guidelines http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/bkrev.html
How To Critique An Article http://www.uwgb.edu/esms/sss/critique.htm
Website Review Paper, 20%
The second paper is a discussion of 5 websites that you disliked and 5 websites you liked. USING YOUR CLASS READINGS, critique the websites and explain why you disliked and liked them.
ANY PAPER HANDED IN
LATE WILL LOSE A GRADE PER DAY.
Group Project, 20%
COURSE READINGS
(* Denotes a reading from SOCS)
([*G] Denotes a reading from GenderWatch)
([*E] Denotes a reading from EBSCO)
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August 28 |
Intro to the course Begin Reading Privilege,
Power and Difference |
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September 4 |
Web page instruction Continue reading Privilege, Power and Difference |
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September 11 |
Privilege, Power and Difference |
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September 18 |
Video equipment instruction |
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September 25 |
PRODUCTION Martin, Michelle. "The Culture of the
Telephone," In Cowan, Ruth Schwartz. "The Industrial Revolution in
the Home, in Oblepias-Ramos, Lilia. "Doe
Technology Work for Women, Too," in |
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October 2 |
Group Projects--In class explanation, Q&A, choosing of groups *Everts, Saskia, "Empowering Women" (Gender and Technology) This reading is crucial to your group projects Begin reading The
Handmaid's Tale |
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October 9 |
PRODUCTION AND REPRODUCTION Callahan, Daniel. "Bioethics and Fatherhood," in
Munson, Ronald. "Artificial Insemination: Who's
Responsible?" in Teresi, Dick and Kathleen McAuliffe. "Male Pregnancy" in Murphy, Julien S. "Is
Pregnancy Necessary? Feminist Concerns about Ectogenesis"
in Holmes, Helen Bequaert.
"Sex Preselection: Eugenics for
Everyone?," in Warren, Mary Anne. "The Ethics of Sex Preselection," in |
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October 16 |
Morgan, Kathryn Pauly.
"Women and the Knife: Cosmetic Surgery and the Colonization of Women's
Bodies" in Davis, Kathy. "Facing the Dilemma" in [*E ] Loe, Meika. "Fixing Broken Masculinity: Viagra as a Technology for the Production of Gender and Sexuality" Murphy, Timothy. "Reproductive Control and Sexual
Destiny," in |
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October 23 |
No Class-Work On Group Projects |
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October 30 |
The HandMaid's Tale |
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November 6 |
Presentation of Group Projects |
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November 13 |
*Cassell, Justine, and Henry Jenkins. "Chess for Girls? Feminism and Computer Games" *Barbie Liberation Organization. "Home Surgery Instructions" [*G] "MOBS" on the Net: Critiquing the Gaze of the "Cyber" Bride Industry Turkle, Sherry.
"Computational Reticence: Why Women Fear the Intimate Machine," in Dorsey, Currier, Dianne. “Assembling Bodies in Cyberspace:
Technologies, Bodies and Sexual Difference,’ in Reload |
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November 20 |
SECOND PAPER DUE In class video Stepford Wives Lee M. Silver's commentary for watching The Stepford Wives http://www.princeton.edu/~wws320/Films/Stepford%20Wives/Stepford.htm |
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November 27 |
No Class-Thanksgiving Break |
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December 4 |
TRANSGENDERED TECHNOLOGY Stone, Sandy. "The Empire Strikes Back: A Posttranssexual Manifesto" in Raymond, Janice G. "Sappho
by Surgery: The Transsexually Constructed
Lesbian-Feminist" in Kessler, Suzanne J. "The Medical Construction of
Gender: Case Management of Intersexed
Infants," in [*G] Hauseman, Bernice. "Do Boys Have to Be Boy? Gender, Narrativity, and the John/Joan Case." Mixon, Laura. “Proxies (Excerpt),” in Reload Lewitt, Shariann. “A Real Girl,” in Reload |