Government 166: Women
and Politics in Contemporary
Fall 2009
Professor:
Dr. Kimberly Nalder
e-mail: klnalder@csus.edu
Office: 3121 Tahoe Hall
Phone: 916-278-6693
Office
Hours: Wednesdays 3-5, or by
appointment
Website: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/n/nalderk
Course Overview
Govt 166 is an upper-division government course which is cross-listed with
Women’s Studies. The course examines the
role of women in political life in the
Texts
Klosko, George and Margaret G. The Struggle for
Women’s Rights, Prentice Hall, 1999. ISBN 0-13-676552-1
Han, Lori Cox. Women
and American Politics: The Challenges of Political Leadership. McGraw-Hill. 2006. ISBN: 0072930772
Many of the readings will be current or posted
online on the website or WebCT.
I also strongly recommend subscribing to a daily
newspaper and/or reading some daily online.
The course will include a strong current events component, so keeping
informed will be essential. I can get
you a bargain classroom rate for the New York Times (the national newspaper of
record), and will post links to other suggested sources on the website.
Class
Policies
Attendance: Mandatory. Should you miss an in-class activity or be
absent more than twice, your grade will suffer.
Being in class is vital to your learning.
No Make-Up Quizzes: There will be no make-up quizzes offered
unless you bring documentation of severe illness or a death in the family. The same is true of assignments. No early exams. You know the schedule from the first day of
the semester. Plan accordingly.
Turn off Beeping Things. Please remember to turn off your cell phones,
laptop sounds, etc. Do not text/ e-mail/
web surf during class – it’s disrespectful.
I reserve the right to ban laptops in class if this becomes a problem.
Courtesy. Please be respectful of other’s opinions during
discussions. Rest assured that everyone
will get a chance to express themselves.
Please sit near the door if you have to leave early for any reason. In short, please show respect and courtesy
for everyone in the classroom. Your
participation score can be negatively affected if there are any problems in
this area.
Class
Disruptions: It is important that the learning environment
be free of distractions and disruptions. Any student who creates a disturbance
or otherwise prohibits the class from proceeding smoothly will be ejected from
the class. Further penalties will be
imposed if the behavior recurs. The University policy can be viewed here:
http://www.csus.edu/admbus/umanual/UMD03250.htm
Cheating and/or
plagiarism: At the risk of being
clichéd, you only cheat yourself when you cheat in class. Just do the
work. The penalties will adhere to University Policy, but at the minimum
will result in an F for the exam or assignment in question. The relevant university policy can be accessed
at: http://www.csus.edu/admbus/umanual/UMA00150.htm
No Incompletes: Just finish the coursework on time.
I will not give incompletes for any reason other than a death in the
family or a grave illness. Do not even
ask.
Course Requirements
This course relies a great deal on discussion and
in-class skill development. As such,
attendance is mandatory. I will take
roll every day. After two recorded
absences, your participation grade will begin to suffer. Plus, we’ll miss you if you’re gone. If you have 8 or more absences, you will fail
the class, no matter what you turn in.
The weekly assigned reading should be completed
before class each Thursday. I suggest
spreading it out over the week. The
discussion format makes this essential – if you arrive informed, you will get
much more out of the class experience.
(And after all, learning as much as possible is the whole point, right?)
Assignments
Projects: Instead of the usual exam-and-research-paper requirements, in this
course we will be working on a couple of projects, spaced throughout the
semester. The first project involves
looking at changes over time in the role of women in politics. It will be due on September 29. The second project will require you to
interview a woman involved in politics and do a report on the insight she provides. It will be due on November 19. The details of
the projects will be thoroughly discussed in class and posted on my website.
Quizzes: There will be quizzes every other week (posted on WebCT
on Thursdays, due by the following Monday at midnight) on the readings, and the
lecture/discussion content for the prior 2 weeks. These will encourage you to read carefully
and keep up (no cramming.) Trust me, you’ll thank me for pushing you to keep current. Our class discussions will also be
enhanced. I do not give make-up quizzes,
especially since you have several days within which to complete them. The quizzes are worth 35% of your total
grade, so do take them quite seriously.
Exam: There will be one final covering
the readings, lecture, discussion, and any other course content, such as
videos, speakers, etc. The final exam will be OPEN NOTE, which means that you
should be keeping careful notes throughout the semester. This does not mean that you can bring texts
or articles, so you should take notes on those as well.
In-class participation/
attendance: A portion of your grade will be assigned according
to the extent of your class participation and attendance. We will often do in-class exercises, which
will contribute to your grade.
Participation/ attendance 10% Every class
period
In-class work 5% Varied
Projects 30% 15% each, for a total of 30% (due Sept. 29 and Nov. 17)
Quizzes 35% Every other Thursday
Final 20% Dec. 12,
***You must complete ALL assignments and the exam to
receive a passing grade.***
State of CA Furloughs
This year, the State of
California is experiencing an unprecedented budget crisis. One of the ways (in addition to raising your tuition) that the
Governor, Legislature, and CSU administration have chosen to address the
problem is through furloughs of state employees, including all faculty, staff,
and administrators at the CSU. A
furlough means mandatory un-paid days off for employees; there are 18 of these
this year for faculty. You will notice
that this syllabus schedule reflects some of those furlough days. Your educational experience will be
negatively impacted by these massive budget cuts, but the days have been
scheduled to minimize disruption to our class.
Tentative
Sept.
1,3 Course
Introduction – Philosophical Background
Klosko,
Introduction
Klosko, Rousseau 19-31
Sept. 8, 10 Women
in political philosophy
Klosko, Wollstonecraft
32-51
Klosko, Mill 57-74
Klosko, Taylor 75-83
*Quiz
Thurs*
Sept.
15, 17 Women’s
Suffrage
Klosko, Seneca Falls 99-103
Klosko, Truth, 107-111
Klosko, Adams 147-155
Klosko, Cleveland, 213-222
Suffrage Timeline http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/naw/nawstime.html
Sept.
22, 24 Frameworks: Feminism,
Activism and Women’s Political Roles
Han, Chapter 1
Online (LOCUS)
*Quiz Thurs*
Sept. 29/Oct .1 Feminism
Today: 3rd wave, post-feminist, what?
Han,
Chapter 2
***Her(his)tory Project Due Thurs.***
Oct.
6 Political
Socialization and Attitudes
Posted on LOCUS
*Quiz posted Thurs.*
Thursday, October 8 is a Furlough Day, but you will watch a video without me.
Oct. 13, 15 Voting
Behavior and Participation
Han, Chapter 3
TBA
online
Oct.
20, 22 Women and American
Political Parties
TBA online
*Quiz
Thurs*
Oct.
27, 29 Women as Candidates
Han, Chapter 4
Articles online
Nov. 3, 5 Media
and Campaigns
Articles online
Political
Campaign Ads online
*Quiz Thurs*
Nov.
10, 12 Media, Stereotypes and
Culture
Articles online
Nov.
17, 19 Governing: Women in
Legislatures
Han, Chapter 5
Articles online
*Quiz Thurs*
**Interview
project due on Tuesday**
Nov.
24 Women
in Executive Branch Positions – Why no Woman President Yet?
Han, Chapter 6
Furlough on Nov. 24, Thanksgiving on
Nov. 26 – work on projects this week.
Dec.
1, 3 Women’s issues: U.S.
and International
Current issue reading TBA online
*Quiz Thurs*
Dec. 8 Looking Forward: What does the
future hold?
Han, Chapter 8
Furlough on Thursday, Dec. 10 – use the day
for finals study groups.
Final
Tuesday, December 15, 5:15- 7:15