MnTC #07-148

CCO

October 5, 2007

Normandale Community College

Common Course Outline

June, 2007

WOMEN ACROSS CULTURES:   

Anthropology 1121/Sociology 1121/Women’s Studies 1121

3 Semester Credits, Spring

Recommended Entry Skills:

Good reading and critical thinking skills; prior course work in either Sociology or Anthropology

Catalog Description: 3 CR  International course focusing on the major institutions of family, religion, education, and economic and political systems as they define, provide for and frequently limit women. MNTC: Goals 5 & 8. Same as SOC 1121 and WMST 1121. FALL, SPRING

Course Description:

An international course in the area of Women’s Studies focusing on the major institutions of family, religion, education, and economic and political systems as they define, provide for and frequently limit women. The course will examine and compare women’s issues in China, India, Japan, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, South and Central America, Native North America, and the Middle East.

Minnesota Transfer Curriculum:  This course meets categories:

 #2: Critical Thinking,

 #5: History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences and 

 #8: Global Perspectives

Texts:  At the discretion of the instructor/s, typically a general text and several case studies, memoirs, or novels by and about women in other cultures.

Major Course Content Areas:

1.       History and focus of Anthropological/Sociological research on women (2cd, 5ac)

2.       Concepts of gender, patriarchy, marriage customs and family, relation of environment to culture. (8a)

3.       Discussion of institutions of family and economics (polygyny, bride price, dowry, arranged marriages, women and work.) (2ab, 5bcd, 8b)

4.         Discussion of political structure (capitalism, socialism, communism, colonialism,    neocolonialism) as they affect women across cultures (2ab. 5bcd. 8cd)

5.          The role of religion as it defines women across cultures (2b, 5b, 8c)

6.       Specific focus (approximately one week each) on women in a number of culture areas, including Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, China, Japan, India, the Caribbean, Latin America. (2abcd, 5ab, 8ad)

7.       Activism and the world’s women—such as a discussion of the 4th World Conference on Women or a panel of women from around the world (2d, 8de)

Objectives and Learning Outcomes:  The student should be able to:

1.       Examine the social institutions across a range of cultures.

          Goals 2ab, 5ab, 8ab

2.       Use and critique alternative systems or theories from Anthropology and Sociology as applied to social institutions and how women are involved or affected.

          Goals 2b, 5bc, 8a

3.       Develop ideas for and communicate alternative explanations or solutions for contemporary social issues affecting women across the range of cultures studied.

          Goals 2abc, 5acd, 8c

4.       Demonstrate a knowledge of cultural and social and political differences as they affect women across a range of cultures.

          Goals 2ab, 5abc, 8abd

5.       Understand the roles of women from a global perspective, and evaluate the part each of us plays as citizens sharing a common global future.   

          Goals 2abc, 5bd, 8cd

Evaluation:

At the discretion of the instructor, students may be asked to keep an academic journal and typically will be asked to review two or three books (the above-mentioned case studies, memoirs, or novels) of their own choosing.  At the discretion of the instructor several quizzes and/or exams may be given and students may be asked to complete one or more brief outside of class assignments, such as interviewing a woman from another country.