HUM 201IH: “Introduction to Feminist Theory and Methodology”
Instructor: Walter Metz
Fall 2004
The course meets twice per week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:35 – 4:50pm in Leon H. Johnson (JONH) Hall, Room 346. On Tuesdays, Walter will lecture and show clips from films and television shows to illuminate various feminist theories. On Thursdays, students will deliver presentations about specific feminist practitioners whose work exemplifies these theories.
Information About the Instructor
Dr. Walter C. Metz, Associate Professor
Office Location: VCB 224
Office Phone: (406) 994‑6403 [with voice mail]
E‑mail Address: metz@montana.edu
Home Page: http://www.montana.edu/metz
Office Hours: Mondays from 1-2pm; Thursdays from 10:30am until Noon; and Fridays from Noon until 1:00pm; and by appointment.
Course Goals
This course will introduce you to the various kinds of feminism prominent in the contemporary humanities. Since the instructor is a media studies scholar, he will apply these feminist theories to film and television texts as a way of fostering student discussion and understanding.
This course fulfills the “Inquiry” requirement in MSU’s CORE 2.0 curriculum. As such, it will teach you to understand “the methods used to discover and create the factual and theoretical knowledge of the discipline” of Women’s Studies. The course will examine the history of feminism in the United States to demonstrate how “truths and assumptions” about women have changed over time. The course is devoted to exploring ways in which the discipline of Women’s Studies “creates knowledge” about women and women’s oppression within patriarchal society. The course will teach you to understand the disciplinary methods of Women’s Studies, including such items as anti-essentialism, social construction, and various theories of gender and difference.
Reading Material
There is one required book for this course: Rosemarie Putnam Tong, Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction (2nd Ed., Boulder, CO: Westview P, 1998. ISBN 0-8133-3295-8). The book is available for purchase at the MSU bookstore. If you do not wish to purchase the book, I have placed one copy on reserve at the Renne Library. In addition, there are a number of readings on both physical and electronic reserves at the library.
Note Taking
To do well, you must take notes in this class, on lecture material and the readings. In lecture, I'll be throwing a lot of complicated information at you, so you'll need to write it down, reflect on it, and work to understand its relevance to the "Big Picture." This is not the sort of class where if you just come and pay attention, you are guaranteed a good grade. There is a great deal of reading material, and in order to learn what is contained therein, you need to take notes on it and study it.
Grading Policy
This is not an easy class. The readings are heavy and the information I'll be presenting and we'll be discussing is often theoretical, and thus difficult and challenging. Don't be afraid if you're confused early on. Use our discussions and office hours to work through this new material. That confusion is invigorating and is the fuel that will drive your education. I will use the + and ‑ system when assigning grades.
Graded Course Activities
Oral Presentation 25%
Midterm Exam Thursday, October 7 20%
Process Writing 35%
Final Exam Thursday, December 16 20%
Attendance See below
Description of Oral Presentation
During the Tuesday lectures in the middle of the semester, after you have read chapters by Tong devoted to various feminist theoretical approaches, Walter will apply these theories to film and television. During the Thursday classes of these weeks, students will give 10 minute presentations on particular theorists who exemplify that position. There are eight such class periods assigned for this activity, and the course has a cap of 40 students. This means that on any given presentation day, we will only have 5 minutes for questions and answers after each presentation. Thus, you will be held strictly to your 10 minute time limit, and the class will move quickly from one presentation to the next. At the next class period, Walter will give written feedback to each presenter, evaluating the thesis argument of the presentation, its content, its organization, and the mechanics of your presentation style.
Description of Exams
My exams are rather challenging. However, I grade on a curve, and most students who study hard throughout the semester will do well on them. The exams will consist of short format yet open‑ended questions (identifications, identify and analyze a quotation, short essay) about the material presented in class and in the readings, and its applicability to the clips we’ve watched and the plays we’ve read for the course. The material for these questions will be culled from the in-class material (including clips shown in class) and the reading material. Please write down immediately the date of the exams. If you do not take both exams, you will receive a grade of F for the course. Cases of extreme personal emergency must be discussed with the instructor prior to the exam.
Description of Process Writing (Term Paper)
You will produce a ten-page term paper that employs the methodologies presented in the class and/or investigates the content of some portion of the class material. You will be afforded the opportunity for feedback on your work as the semester proceeds according to the following “process writing” schedule. You will first hand in a typed, paragraph-length sample thesis paragraph for your paper. Your topic may mutate or completely change as the course proceeds, but I want you to begin working through this process as early as possible. This thesis paragraph is due on Thursday, September 23. Next, you will hand in a typed, three-page analysis of one topic (a text, a theorist’s work, a cultural site) that will serve as a significant case study within your final paper. This three-page analysis paper is due on Thursday, October 28. A draft of your full ten-page paper is due Thursday, December 2. You will receive written feedback and a grade on this draft. You may accept the grade given or re-write the draft for a new grade. If you choose to re-write, the last chance for handing in revisions is at the final exam, Thursday, December 16. My grades are due to the Registrar’s office on Friday, December 17, so NO work will be accepted after the final exam ends at 1:50pm on Thursday, December 16. Late work at any of the stages will reduce your final grade on your process writing by 1/3 of a letter grade per day late.
Attendance Policy
If you don't come to lecture regularly, there's no way you'll pass the course. I'll be presenting complicated information in class, and might be showing clips that won't be available later on. Since so much of the learning will be going on during lecture, you won't be able to fully understand the lecture by looking at someone else's notes later on. I will keep track of attendance as a criterion for borderline students caught between grades. Since the course is difficult, I always give a break to students who have demonstrated their interest by coming to class diligently and participating (and also coming to office hours, etc.). However, students who miss a great deal of classes do not help their cause any.
How to do well in this class
Come to class prepared (having done the reading, having thought about the implications for feminist analysis, being prepared with questions, etc.). Take good notes on every facet of the class (on lectures, on critical essays, and on the clips I show in class). This will prove invaluable in preparing for the exams. Do the reading. Many students fall behind, and then complain that they're having trouble in the class. The reading is vital because it frames issues of the class in different words than mine in lecture. This gives you a second voice to help you understand difficult ideas. If you don't understand a particular reading or don't find it useful, come to talk with me about it; the discussion we have will benefit us both. Keep up with the reading. Set aside a few hours on Monday and/or Wednesday nights (before the class periods) to read, take notes, and ponder the significance of the readings for the class.
Weekly Syllabus
Note: Each reading should be completed by the date listed below.
Tuesday, August 31
Lecture Introduction to the Course: Key Terms and Concepts
Sex and Gender
Social Construction
Essentialism
Humanism and Post-structuralism
Thursday, September 2
Lecture What Business Does Walter Have Teaching Feminism?
Reading Tong, “Introduction” and “Conclusion”
Stephen Heath, “Male Feminism” {reserves}
M. Awkward, “A Black Male’s Place(s) in Feminist Criticism” {reserves}
Section One: An Historical Introduction to American Feminism
Tuesday, September 7
Reading Susan Glaspell, Trifles {reserves}
Thursday, September 9
Lecture “Second Wave Feminism”
Reading Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique [selections] {reserves}
“No More Miss America!” {reserves}
Anne Koedt, “The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm” {reserves}
Tuesday, September 14
Reading Combahee River Collective, “A Black Feminist Statement” {reserves}
Audre Lorde, “I Am Your Sister” {reserves}
bell hooks, “Whose Pussy Is This?” {reserves}
Thursday, September 16
Reading Sarah Projansky, Watching Rape [selections] {reserves}
Charlotte Brunsdon, “Post-Feminism and Shopping Films” {reserves}
Walter Metz, “Consuming The Graduate” {reserves}
Section Two: Academic Feminist Theories: An Overview
Tuesday, September 21
Lecture Liberal Feminism
Reading Tong, Chapter One
Thursday, September 23
Thesis Paragraph Due
Student Presentations
Tuesday, September 28
Lecture Radical Feminism
Reading Tong, Chapter Two
Thursday, September 30
Student Presentations
Tuesday, October 5
Lecture Feminism and 1970s American Film Culture
Reading Mary Daly, Gyn/Ecology [selections] {reserves}
Jane Caputi, “Jaws as Patriarchal Myth” {reserves}
Carol Clover, “Her Body/Himself” {reserves}
Thursday, October 7
Please click here to see a sample exam from my "Film and Feminism" course
Midterm Exam
Please click here to see the answers to the Fall 2004 Midterm Exam
Tuesday, October 12
Lecture Marxist and Socialist Feminism
Reading Tong, Chapter Three
Thursday, October 14
Student Presentations
Tuesday, October 19
Lecture Psychoanalytic and Gender Feminism
Reading Tong, Chapter Four
Thursday, October 21
Student Presentations
Tuesday, October 26
Lecture Existentialist Feminism
Reading Tong, Chapter Five
Thursday, October 28
Three-Page Paper Due
Student Presentations
Tuesday, November 2
No Class {Election Day Holiday}
Thursday, November 4
Lecture Walter’s Introduction to Post-structural Theory
Reading Weedon, Feminist Practice and Poststructuralism [selections] {reserves}
Tuesday, November 9 {Walter will not be here}
Lecture New French Feminisms
Reading Luce Irigaray, “This Sex Which Is Not One” {reserves}
Helene Cixous, “The Laugh of the Medusa” {reserves}
Julia Kristeva, “Women’s Time” {reserves}
Thursday, November 11
No Class {Veteran’s Day Holiday}
Tuesday, November 16
Lecture Postmodern Feminism
Reading Tong, Chapter Six
Thursday, November 18
Student Presentations
Tuesday, November 23
Lecture Feminism and Masculinity Studies
Reading Susan Faludi, “Man in a Can” {reserves}
Thursday, November 25
No Class {Thanksgiving Day Holiday}
Tuesday, November 30
Lecture Multicultural and Global Feminism
Reading Tong, Chapter Seven
Thursday, December 2
Draft of Term Paper Due
Student Presentations
Tuesday, December 7
Course Evaluations
Lecture Ecofeminism
Reading Tong, Chapter Eight
Thursday, December 9
Student Presentations
Thursday, December 16
Final Revisions to Term Paper Due
Final Exam: 12:00 - 1:50 pm in JONH 346
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This page was last updated on October 11, 2004
Questions or comments? Please phone me at (406) 994-6403 or send e-mail to: metz@montana.edu
Walter Metz, Department of Media and Theater Arts, Montana State University--Bozeman