This
course will explore constructions of gender in the context of socio-political
conflict. We will study (1) the ways in
which gender roles are reconfigured and women are drawn into the various
overlapping contexts of anti-colonial and ethnic nationalisms, war,
international politics, race and class struggles; and (2) the responses of
women and women’s groups to these constructions of gender, and the processes by
which feminist ideologies have emerged in response to such conflicts. We will pay particular attention to the
relationship between women and gender to the Nation-State, and the ways in
which violent conflicts between communities – smaller cultural groups or larger
nations – are often enacted on the bodies of women. A parallel focus of this course will be an exploration of women’s
participation in situations of conflict, either as ‘soldiers’ or communal
representatives themselves, or as peace-builders and activists against war.
Objectives:
The
objectives of this course are four-fold: from a cross-cultural perspective, (1)
to explore the relationship between women and gender to the institutions of the
Nation-State; (2) to explore how gender is produced in the context of socio-political
conflict; (3) to study the different modes of feminist activism and feminist
ideologies that emerge also from these contexts; (4) to enable a broad
understanding of gender and women’s issues as central to our social
architecture, both locally and internationally.
Required Texts:
·
Cynthia
Enloe, Bananas, Beaches, and Bases:
Making Feminist Sense of International Politics (University of California
Press, 2000 [1990])
·
Malek
Alloula, The Colonial Harem
(University of Minnesota Press, 1986).
Identification
Papers (to be handed in bi-weekly) 45%
Class
Presentation(s) 15%
Final
Paper 25%
Attendance
& Participation 15%
Identification
Papers:
Students are required to write short (1 page, single spaced) papers on
questions related to each week’s readings. Paper topics, due dates, and further
details of the assignment will be indicated on the Assignment Sheet, to be
handed out separately.
Class
Presentations:
Students will take turns presenting selected readings (marked with the symbol § in the schedule below) to the rest of
the class.
·
Presentations
must be no longer than 15 minutes in length, must summarize the reading/s
cogently, and must contain questions for class discussion.
·
Students are
encouraged to submit handouts and/or other reading guides, although this is not
a must.
·
You may work in
pairs, but must present together on two articles if you choose to do so.
·
Please note
that all presentations will be evaluated collectively and anonymously, by your
fellow class-mates and myself.
·
If you happen
to miss the date of your presentation, you will be given one opportunity
to make it up in a future class.
Final
Paper:
Throughout the semester, students will keep a file of (10-15) newspaper
articles dealing with a contemporary conflict (remember that ‘conflict’
may or may not involve outright war; you might even consider the ‘War on
poverty’ or the ‘War on Drugs’ for your projects). Your final paper should
reflect on the information presented in these articles, and what they say about
the role of women and gender in the context of this conflict. Your paper should
ideally address the following questions:
· What are the different roles
of men and women in this conflict?
· How do these roles variously
determine the relationship of men and women to the nations/states within which
the conflicts are taking place?
· Are the relations between
warring nations or communities described in gendered terms?
· Does gender become the site
on/from which the conflict is played out? If so, how? And with what
implications (to the lives of men and women involved, international relations,
etc.)?
Secondary
sources (aside from the newspaper articles) are not required, although you are
encouraged to draw from class readings in your final analysis. The paper must
be around 6-8 typed, double-spaced pages in length. Further details of the assignment will be discussed in class.
Your initial collection of newspaper articles is due in class on March 26 (not for a grade but for
feedback); final essays are due on May 7,
and will be marked down 5% for each day they are late.
Class
Participation:
Since participation accounts for a substantial part of the final grade,
attendance is mandatory, and all students are expected to do the assigned readings
before each class in order to participate fully in class
discussion. Optional readings are
listed for students who want to further explore a given topic.
v
Changes
in Syllabus: The instructor reserves the right to make appropriate changes in the
syllabus. It is the student’s
responsibility to keep updated on course information if he or she is absent.
Attendance
Policy: The structure and nature of
this course demands that students be present in class and participate in class
discussions. Much of the material
presented will be in lectures, discussions and films. Films must be seen in class and cannot be loaned out. You should make every effort to attend
classes. If you are having difficulties
that interfere with the class, I urge you to contact me. If a student misses a class, it is the
responsibility of the student to find out what was missed and make up the work.
Academic
Honesty Policy: Students are required
to do their own work on exams and papers.
All UHCL students are responsible for knowing the standards of academic
honesty. Plagiarism, using research without citations or using a created
production without crediting the source, is forbidden and will result in a
grade of zero for the assignment. Repeated instances of plagiarism will be
documented and the matter referred to the Dean of Students. See the 2001-2 UHCL
catalog, pp. 72-75.
Disabilities: If you have a disability and need a special
accommodation, consult first with the Coordinator of Health Disabilities
Services, Bayou 1402, Telephone 281/283-2627, and then discuss the
accommodation with me. You must do
this prior to the mid-term exam, or as soon as possible after the disability is
diagnosed during the semester.
Incompletes: A grade of “I” is only given in cases of documented
emergency or special circumstances late in the semester, provided that you have
been making satisfactory progress. A
grade contract must be completed.
Please contact Ann Hinojosa for Incomplete contracts.
Withdrawals:
The drop date for Spring 2003 is March
24 which is the last date to withdraw or drop out without grade penalty.
This schedule is subject to change depending on the
needs of the class. Please note that not all films listed below will be
screened in class; you may be required to watch the longer ones in the library,
on your own time.
Introduction
All
students are required to attend the Annual
Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture to be given by Lani Guinier at the Rice Memorial
Center Grand Hall, Rice University, 8:00pm. (Admission is free; you would
be well-advised to arrive as early as possible). If you are unable to attend
this event, please see me for another assignment.
Cynthia
Enloe, Bananas Beaches and Bases: Making
Feminist Sense of International Politics
Cynthia
Enloe, “How do they militarize a can of soup?” in Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women’s Lives
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000)
Available
as an ebook through Neumann Library
¶ bell hooks, “Feminism and
Militarism: A Comment” in Women’s Studies
Quarterly 23/3&4 (1995) pp.
§ Turpin & Lorentzen, The Women and War Reader, Chapter 2
Week 4 & 5/ February 5
& 12
The Gendered Nature of
Conflict
§ Turpin & Lorentzen, The Women and War Reader, Chapters 6
& 9
Lynda
E. Boose, “Techno-Muscularity and the ‘Boy Eternal’: From the Quagmire to the
Gulf” in Gendering War Talk, Miriam
Cooke and Angela Woollacott, eds. (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1993) 67 – 105.
¶ Judith Large,
“Disintegration Conflicts and the Restructuring of Masculinity” in Gender & Development 5/2 (1997) pp.
23-30.
Available
online through Academic Search Premier Database, Neumann Library
¶ Sherene Razack, “From the
“Clean Snows of Petawawa”: The Violence of Canadian Peacekeepers in
Somalia” in Cultural Anthropology
15/1 (2000) 127-
Available
online through Social Sciences Full Text (OmniFile Full Text Mega)
Database, Neumann Library
We
will meet in B1133, joining Dr. Hales’ “Film as Literature” class for the
evening.
Film:
Double Indemnity
Reading: To be assigned
§ Turpin & Lorentzen, The Women and War Reader, Chapters 12-16
¶ Melissa Dabakis,
"Gendered Labor: Norman Rockwell's Rosie the Riveter and the discourses of
wartime womanhood," in Barbara Melosh, ed., Gender and American History Since 1890 (London: Routledge, 1993).
Library
of Congress site on “Rosie pictures”: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/126_rosi.html
Film:
The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter
Week 11/ March 26
War and Motherhood
§ Turpin & Lorentzen, The Women and War Reader, Chapters 23-28
¶ Julie M. Taylor,
“Desdemona’s Lament” in The Drama Review
45/4 (T172; 2001) pp. 106-124.
Available
through Project Muse Electronic Journals (http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/tdr/),
Neumann Library
Film:
Some Mother’s Son
Week 12/ April 2
Guest Lecture by Anna
Agathangelou
Anna M.
Agathangelou, “Nationalist Narratives and (Dis)Appearing Women:
State-Sanctioned Sexual Violence” in Canadian
Woman Studies/les cahiers de la femme 29 (2000) 12-21.
Week 13/ April 9
Rape and Violence as
Instruments of Conflict
§ Turpin & Lorentzen, The Women and War Reader, Chapter 3
Lynda
E. Boose, “Crossing the River Drina: Bosnian Rape Camps, Turkish impalement,
and Serb Cultural Memory” in Signs
28/1 (2002) 71-96.
Optional
Catherine N. Niarchos, “Women, War, and Rape:
Challenges Facing The International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia” in Human Rights Quarterly 17.4 (1995)
649-690
Available through Project
Muse Electronic Journals (http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/hrq/),
Neumann Library
Film:
Calling the Ghosts
Film:
Silence Broken: Korean Comfort Women
Week 14/ April 16
Gender and Colonialism
Malek
Alloula, The Colonial Harem
Film:
The Battle of Algiers
Week 15/ April 23
Nationalisms and Feminisms
¶ Cynthia Cockburn, “The
anti-essentialist choice: nationalism and feminism in the interaction between
two women’s projects” in Nations and
Nationalism 6/4 (2000) 611-29.
¶ Dorinne Kondo, “Fabricating
Masculinity: Gender, Race and Nation in a Transnational Frame” in Between Woman and Nation, Kaplan et al.,
eds. (Durham: Duke University Press, 1999) 296-319.
Mrinalini
Sinha, “Refashioning Mother India: Feminism and Nationalism in Late Colonial
India” in Feminist Studies 26/3 (Fall
2000) 623-44.
Articles
from Signs “Roundtable: Gender and
September 11” 28/1 (2002) 431-79.
Week 17/ May 7