Syllabus: "International Perspectives on Women: The Ethics of Development and Labor (In)equality

WOST W301-02: International Perspectives on Women

International Development and Labor (In)equality

Professor: Jenna Basiliere Tuesday/Thursday 12:00-1:15pm

Email: [email protected] NF 141

Office Location: Liberal Arts (LA) 33 Office Hours: Tuesday 1:30-3:00pm

Office Phone: (260) 481-6711 Thurs 10:30am-12:00pm, or by appt

Women’s Studies (WOST) Mission Statement

Women’s Studies are based on the premise that the study of women’s experiences, concerns,

social roles, and creativity is essential to our knowledge of humankind and society. Feminist

scholarship and theory provide the knowledge and analytical tools necessary for a gender-

balanced perspective on our world, both past and present. The Women’s Studies Program

affords you the opportunity to pursue feminist scholarship on women and gender through a

variety of interdisciplinary courses.

Catalog Description:

Feminist analysis of women’s legal, social, and economic status in two or more cultures other

than those of the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. Interdisciplinary

approach. May be repeated once with a different topic. Approved by Arts and Sciences for the

Cultural Studies (Non-Western Culture) requirement. Prerequisite: Sophmore, junior, or senior

standing or consent of instructor.

Course Description:

Are human rights universal? Do women everywhere have the same needs? Who gets to answer

these questions? In this course, we will tackle some of the ethical implications behind

International Development policies, and consider the rhetoric of human rights as it relates to

feminism. Once we have a firm grounding in development discourse, we will dive in to some

case study examples of how development policies have been applied—focusing specifically on

the effects these policies have on women’s bodies and labor practices.

By the end of the semester, students will be able to answer the following questions: What is the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and how has it been applied internationally? What is

the feminist position in support of a universal rights model, and what is the feminist critique?

How do development policies affect women’s labor and women’s bodies? Is the framework of

human rights the most effective way to combat labor inequality?

mailto:[email protected]

Basiliere WOST W301-03 Syllabus 2

This course meets the following WOST program goals:

To analyze academic disciplines from a feminist and anti-racist perspective

To encourage original scholarship and research about women that takes into

consideration, gender, race, class, age and sexual orientation

To integrate self-exploration with academic skills

To provide a non-authoritative learning environment which values students' ideas and

encourages an open exchange of information and opinion

To promote an individual and critical approach to learning

To promote knowledge of the diversity of women's experiences

This course meets the following IPFW General Education requirements:

8.1. Produce an original work involving the creation or application of knowledge, performance

or service.

8.2. Report the results of original work through a discipline-appropriate product.

8.3. Demonstrate a high level of personal integrity and professional ethics by understanding the

ethical responsibilities related to the profession associated with the subject of the capstone

project.

8.4. Demonstrate critical-thinking abilities and familiarity with quantitative and/or qualitative

reasoning.

Course Information

Required Texts and Materials: You will need access to the following texts and materials to

successfully complete this course. Readings must be completed by the date they are listed in the

syllabus, and you must have all assigned readings with you in class.

Visvanathan, Duggan, Wiegersma, and Nisonoff [eds.] (2011). “The Women,

Gender, and Development Reader.” 2nd

edition ISBN: 978-1848135871

Momsen, Janet (2010). “Gender and Development.” 2nd

edition ISBN: 978-0415775632

Additional readings and resources will be provided via Blackboard.

Recommended Texts:

Nussbaum, Martha (2001). “Women and Human Development: The Capabilities

Approach.” ISBN: 978-0521003858

Additional Resources:

Access to your IPFW email account and Blackboard Learn


Course Requirements

Assignment Due Date

Participation—300pts

Forum Participation—150pts

In-Class Participation and In-Class

Writing Assignments—150pts

Ongoing

Semester Research Project—600pts

Topic Proposal—50pts

Annotated Bibliography—100pts

Paper Outline—100pts

Final Research Paper—300pts

Final Presentation—50pts

Thursday, March 5th

Tuesday, April 7th

Thursday, April 23rd

Tuesday, May 5th

Tuesday, May 5th

Group Policy Project—100pts Tues, March 24th

; or Thurs, March 26th

Attendance and Class Participation: Attendance in class is required. You are granted two

excused absences; further absences without valid excuses will result in your final grade being

lowered 2% for each additional absence. If you find yourself in a situation where you are unable

to attend class, please contact me so we can make other arrangements. Since much of the

learning in this course will happen through the conversations you have with your classmates,

your active participation is also required. While I recognize that not everybody engages with

material in the same manner, I do expect you to make a concerted effort to participate in our

class discussions. These efforts will be considered along with your in-class writing to evaluate

your class participation grade.

Forum Participation: Each week, I will post a prompt in the discussion forum of our Blackboard

Learn site. To earn full forum participation points in a given week, you must create a post in

response to the prompt, and provide substantive comments to two of your classmates’ posts by

5:00pm on Wednesday. Each of these assignments will be worth 15 points. A detailed rubric is

posted on Blackboard to help you understand grading criteria.

Research Project: Over the course of this semester, you will conduct a research project on an

issue relevant to our course topic. You can find more information about this project on our

Blackboard Learn site.

Group Policy Project: This group project will involve identifying a development need,

researching possible solutions, crafting a policy response, and presenting your findings to your

peers. Further details about this project will be discussed in class well in advance of the due

date.


Grade Breakdown: At the end of the semester, your grade will be determined using the

following criteria.

A+ (97-100%) A (94-97%) A- (90-94%)

B+ (87-90%) B (84-87%) B- (80-84%)

C+ (77-80%) C (74-77%) C- (70-74%)

D+ (67-70%) D (64-67%) D- (60-64%)

F (0-60%)

Course and University Policies

Tolerance and Respect: Any speech or behavior that shows disrespect or intolerance towards

others in class is unacceptable. As college students, you will be expected to participate in class

discussions in ways that demonstrate maturity, civility, and openmindedness with respect to our

diversity (including differences in educational and economic backgrounds, age, race, sexuality,

ability, politics, religious, etc.).1

This doesn’t mean that you can’t disagree with me or your classmates, in fact I encourage that!

But all disagreements must come with the spirit of tolerance and mutual respect that a WOST

classroom requires.

Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty: Plagiarism happens when you pass someone else’s

work, ideas or words off as your own. It may seem tempting, especially as your approach

academic crunch times, but I promise you it is NOT WORTH IT. Plagiarism can result in a

failing grade for an assignment, an entire class, or even being kicked out of the University!

Please have enough respect for your own education to avoid putting yourself in such unnecessary

jeopardy. We will spend some time discussing what plagiarism is and how to avoid it in greater

detail as it becomes relevant to the work you’re doing. A good rule of thumb: if you’re not sure

whether or not something is plagiarism, you should cite it just to be safe.

If you would like further information in the mean time, check out this great site that outlines the

principles of plagiarism: http://www.education.indiana.edu/~frick/plagiarism. And of course, if

you are unsure at any point whether or not something counts as plagiarism, please don’t hesitate

to ask me!

Disability Accomodations: If you have a disability and need assistance, special arrangements

can be made to accommodate most needs. Contact the Director of Services for Students with

Disabilities, Walb Union 113, 481-6658, as soon as possible to work out the details. Once the

1 Tolerance statement has been adapted from E. Mannir’s WOST W301 syllabus.

http://www.education.indiana.edu/~frick/plagiarism


Director has provided you with a letter attesting to your needs for modification, bring the letter to

me. For more information, please go to http://new.ipfw.edu/disabilities/.

Religious Observances: If you need to miss class to observe a religious or spiritual holiday,

please contact me at least two weeks in advance of the date so we can make proper arrangements

to accommodate your needs.

Edited Standard Written English (ESWE): Since this is a college course, my assumption is

that you can compose an essay using Edited Standard Written English (ESWE). Thus, while it is

acceptable to have sentence-level errors, misspellings, and punctuation problems in your

informal writings and drafts, it is not acceptable to have excessive errors in the final copies of

your formal essays. For each of your formal assignments, you can have no more than an average

of six ESWE errors per page in the following categories:

Spelling and typographical errors

Sentence punctuation errors, including run-on sentences, fragments, comma splices, etc.

Verb form, tense, and agreement with subject

Pronoun form and agreement with antecedent

Possessives and plurals

Syntax/sentence structure

Should you exceed this limit, you will receive your essay back without a grade and you will be

required to seek assistance at the English Department Writing Center (see below), after which

you can resubmit the essay for a grade. If you fail to seek out this assistance, you will

automatically receive a failing grade for the essay.2

Other Policies:

This course deals with aspects of gender, sex, and sexuality in a straight-forward and explicit

manner. If you are uncomfortable with such materials or discussions, you might wish to

consider not taking this course.

Make-up opportunities are solely at the professor’s discretion and will be more difficult than

the original assignment. Late assignments will be penalized one grade per day including

week-ends. When you miss class, you are responsible for material covered and any

announcements: first contact a classmate for notes and only then contact me for clarification.

Blackboard Learn will be a key place to locate announcements for any changes to the

syllabus and you are responsible for checking regularly

Texting or any cell phone use is not permitted in the class. Students caught texting will be

asked to leave, and marked as absent for the day.

Matters related to grading will not be discussed over email—period. If you have questions or

concerns regarding a grade please arrange to come in and speak with me in person.

2 ESWE guidelines are adapted from the chair of the WOST department, Dr. J. Badia.

http://new.ipfw.edu/disabilities/


Resources

Me: Don’t hesitate to come directly to me with questions or concerns. I became a college

professor because I love teaching and learning, and I am always available to answer questions,

offer feedback on ideas, or chat about your academic concerns more generally. I have open

office hours each week (listed above) and am available by appointment as well.

The Writing Center: As an IPFW student, you have access to individualized, one-on-one

assistance from a tutor at IPFW’s Writing Center. Tutors there can help you with any step in the

writing process, from invention to revision. The service is free, and you can make an

appointment by calling 481-5740, emailing [email protected] or online at

http://www.ipfw.edu/casa/tutoring/tutortrac.shtml.

Center for Women and Returning Adults: CWRA provides academic, financial and personal

assistance to IPFW women and returning students and can connect you with the network of

services available at IPFW and in Fort Wayne. You can visit their office in Walb 120 directly for

assistance or reach them at 481-6029.


Course Schedule

NB: This schedule is subject to change to reflect scheduling conflicts and/or student needs. Any

changes to the schedule will be announced via Blackboard in advance of when they take effect.

Key: (Momsen): Gender and Development, (WGD): The Women, Gender, and Development

Reader, (BB): Reading is available on Blackboard

Date Agenda

TU 13 Jan Introductions, Icebreakers, Course Objectives, Syllabus

TH 15 Jan Why Gender? Why Development?

Read: (Momsen) Chapter 1 (pgs 1-19)

(BB) Millennium Development Goals

TU 20 Jan Histories of International Development

Read: (WGD) Part 1 Intro, Chs 1 & 2 (pgs 3-27)

TH 22 Jan Sex Ratios and Development


TU 27 Jan Theories and Practices of International Development

Read: (WGD) Chapters 3,4,11 (pgs 28-40; 83-88)

TH 29 Jan The Capabilities Approach

Read: (BB) Nussbaum, Women and Human Development [excerpts]

TU 03 Feb Reproduction and Development


TH 05 Feb Global Care & Population Control

Read: (WGD) Chapters 5, 31 (pgs 41-42; 327-333)

TU 10 Feb Gender, Health, and Violence



TH 12 Feb Gender, Health, and Violence Cont’d

Read: (WGD) Chapters 9, 32 (pgs 64-73; 334-343)

TU 17 Feb Households, Families, Work

Read: (WGD) Part Two Introduction, Chs 16 & 17 (pgs 107-136)

TH 19 Feb Households, Families, Work Cont’d

Read: (WGD) Chapters 18 & 19 (pgs 137-161)

TU 24 Feb Households, Families, Work Cont’d

Read: (WGD) Chapters 20 & 21 (pgs 162-196)

TH 26 Feb Gender and Environment


TU 03 Mar Environment & Sustainability

Read: (WGD) Chapters 6, 35 (pgs 43-46, 360-371)

TH 05 Mar Gender in Rural Areas


**Topic Proposal due**

TU 10 Mar CLASS CANCELLED Spring Break- no class today!

TH 12 Mar CLASS CANCELLED

Spring Break- no class today!

TU 17 Mar Gender and Urbanization

Read: (Momsen) Chapter 7 (176-195)

TH 19 Mar Women and Industrialization

Read: (WGD) Part 3 Introduction, Chapters 22 & 23 (197-236)


TU 24 Mar Presentation of Group Policy Projects

No additional reading

**Group Policy Projects due**

TH 26 Mar Presentation of Group Policy Projects, Cont’d


**Group Policy Projects due**

TU 31 Mar Group Project Wrap-Up, Review of Research Skills


TH 02 Apr Globalization and Development


TU 07Apr Globalization and Development, Cont'd No additional reading due today

**Annotated Bibliography due**

TH 09 Apr Gender and Microfinance

Read: (WGD) Chapters 7, 8, & 14 (pgs 47-63, 99-101)

TU 14 Apr Women in the Informal Sector

Read: (WGD) Chapters 24-26 (pgs 237-270)

TH 16 Apr CLASS CANCELLED

No class today.

TU 21 Apr Discourses and Languages of Development

Read: (WGD) Chapters 10, 12, 13 (pgs 74-82, 89-94, 95-98)

TH 23 Apr Solidarity and Development

Read: (WGD) Part 5 Introduction, Chapters 37-39 (pgs 383-408)

**Final Paper Outline due**


TU 28 Apr How Far Have We Come?


TH 30 Apr Course Wrap Up

No additional readings

TU 05 May Final “Exam”

Presentation of Student Final Projects

1:00-3:00pm

**Final Research Paper due, Final Presentation due**

Syllabus: "International Perspectives on Women: The Ethics of Development and Labor (In)equality

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