My home page: http://edtech.wku.edu/~rpoe/

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Prerequisites: Junior standing, six hours of psychology, including Psy. 100

"An intensive study of the nature and development of sex differences, with particular emphasis on understanding feminine personality, socialization, and sexuality. Mental health issues concerning women will also be discussed."

This course is an approved elective in the Women's Studies minor. For more information about the minor in Women's Studies, please see the WS website: http://www.wku.edu/Dept/Academic/Graduate/WStudy/

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Psychology is typically defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes; this course will focus on the scientific study of the behavior of girls and women. Among the goals of the course are the following:
 

1. To increase students' awareness of hidden and obvious gender biases in the study of human behavior

2. To clarify the nature and development of gender differences and gender roles

3. To identify significant issues in the psychological development of girls and women

4. To inform students about various aspects of female sexuality

5. To provide a context for evaluating social issues such as rape and sexual harassment

6. To develop a critical perspective for evaluating well-known psychological theories and principles of behavior

7. To apply psychological theory and research in an effort to meet mental health needs of girls and women

8. To develop awareness of the ways in which ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, and nationality affect women's experiences
 

SPECIAL COURSE EMPHASES

Instruction in this course will be directed toward helping you to think critically about information concerning girls and women presented in other courses and in your general reading. As part of this, I hope you will develop an appreciation for the impact of ethnicity and socioeconomic class on one's experiences of gender.

Second, there will be a focus on assignments and activities designed to improve your skills in written expression of ideas.

Finally, I intend for all of us to further develop our technological skills. This will be a "web-enhanced" course, which means that each student will be required to have and use an e-mail account and to access some course materials via the Internet. Students will be registered for CourseInfo, where they will have access to course materials and may participate in virtual discussions with the instructor and with other students, check their grades, etc. To log on CourseInfo, go to the following site:

***Important: When you log in the first time, PLEASE immediately change your password! Do this by going to the opening page for Psy. 430, and from the menu on the left, click on "Student Tools," then on "Change your information." This is where you must also indicate the e-mail address you prefer to use (and that you will want the instructor and other students to use to contact you).
 

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS
 

Rider, E. A. (2000). Our voices: Psychology of women. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
 

Caplan, P. J., & Caplan, J. B. (1999). Thinking critically about research on sex and gender (2^nd ed.). New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
 

Online support for the Rider text (study guide, etc.): http://psychology.wadsworth.com/book/ridervoices1e/
 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS (undergraduate students) 
 

1. EXAMS - 65% of final course grade, distributed as follows:

- three unit exams, each worth 15%(total of 45% for the three unit exams)

- comprehensive FINAL EXAM, worth 20%
 

2. ROMANCE NOVEL ANALYSIS* - 20% of final course grade

For this assignment you will select and read a romance novel published by Harlequin or Silhouette. The book should have been published within the last five years (1997 or since), and it must be acontemporary novel (that is, historical romances are not eligible, nor are novels involving supernatural events, such as time travel).

Having completed your reading, write a paper in which you provide a short summary of the book's plot, briefly describe the main characters, and then analyze the book's plot and characters regarding the book's messages about femininity, masculinity, and relationships. Connect your analysis to research and theory discussed in your textbooks and in class lectures.

Drawing on course material, your discussion should address questions such as the following: What are the skills, occupations, interests, and abilities of the main characters, and how do these reflect the stereotypes versus the reality of male-female differences and similarities? What are the personality characteristics of the heroine and hero? What roles do the male and female characters play? How is love experienced differently by the heroine and hero? What are their expectations about love and relationships? What does the book tell readers about what women and men should be and do? How are the heroine and hero changed, if at all, by love? Etc. Please note that your analysis should communicate your understanding of and ability to apply some of the material covered in this course.

Your paper should conclude with a discussion of your informed opinion about the popularity of romance novels among women readers. What value, if any, do you see in them? Are there ways that you think romance novels should be changed? If you were to write a romance novel, what message(s) would you want to convey? Etc.
 
 
 

Requirements for the paper:

1. Must be typed, double-spaced, with 1" margins and 12-point font, written using APA reference and citation style. Also, please attach a cover page/title page that provides your name, the date, and title and author of the book you are discussing.

2. Must be stapled in the upper left-hand corner. Please do not use a paper clip, and please do not put your paper in a folder or binder.

3. Should be about 10 pages long.

4. Must identify completely the book being analyzed and discussed (i.e., in APA style give complete bibliographic information about the book).

5. Should be as free from mechanical errors as you can make it. Regardless of the quality of your ideas, you cannot earn an "A" on a paper with errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, or composition. Also, always proofread your paper for typographical errors, even if you have run a spell-check.

6. Must be written in your own words. Be especially careful to indicate both direct quotes (when you cite an author's exact words, putting them in quotation marks) and indirect quotes (cited material that you have paraphrased; ideas that you got from someone else). Plagiarized work will receive a failing grade.

7. Must be turned in by the beginning of class on 04/11/02. Papers turned in up to 24 hours late will be penalized one letter grade. Papers turned in more than 24 hours late will not be accepted except under extraordinary circumstances.

*The idea for the romance novel assignment is based on a similar project discussed in the following:
 

Crawford, M. (1994). Rethinking the romance: Teaching the content and function of gender stereotypes in the Psychology of Women course. Teaching of Psychology, 21, 151-153.
 

Evaluation Criteria
 

• Completeness of your paper (Have you included responses/answers to all of the questions listed for the assignment?)
• Quality of your discussion of the questions/issues (Be sure to develop your points; remember that one of your goals should be to show me how much you know)
• Correct and appropriate use of the material presented in the course
• Demonstrated understanding of the concepts, principles, and findings presented in the course
• Evidence of your critical thinking skills and ability to synthesize and apply course material
• Correct use of APA style for citations and references
• Adequacy of your writing; both composition and mechanics are important. 

3. QUIZZES - 10 % of final course grade

There will be a syllabus quiz as well as quizzes over the reading assignments. The purpose of the reading quizzes is to help you to motivate yourself to keep up with the reading for the course. The syllabus quiz will be given at the beginning of class on 01/22/02, while the other quizzes may or may not be announced ahead of time in class. The reading quizzes will be short and will be administered at the beginning of class. You must come to class on time in order to take the quiz, and no make-ups for the reading quizzes will be available. Each student will be allowed to drop one reading quiz grade (but not the syllabus quiz grade).
 

4. PARTICIPATION - 5% of final course grade

Participation activities may include in-class writing assignments, in-class group activities, e-mail assignments, other homework assignments, etc. In-class participation points (writing assignments, group activities) may not be made up if you are absent, but students with excuses acceptable to the instructor may be allowed to make up e-mail assignments and other homework assignments.

In addition, credit may be given for appropriate, meaningful, thoughtful contributions to class discussion. These contributions may take the form of asking good questions of the instructor or others, answering questions posed by the instructor or others, or offering insightful comments about course material.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS (graduate students)
 

1. EXAMS - 45% of final course credit, distributed as follows:

- three unit exams, each worth 10%(total of 30% for the three unit exams)

- comprehensive FINAL EXAM, worth 15%
 

Please note that the academic work of students enrolled for graduate credit will be evaluated separately from, and with higher standards than, work of undergraduate students.
 

2. ROMANCE NOVEL ANALYSIS - 20 % of final course grade

See above for details.Please note that the academic work of students enrolled for graduate credit will be evaluated separately from, and with higher standards than, work of undergraduate students.
 

3. LIBRARY RESEARCH PAPER - 20% of final course grade

Students enrolled for graduate credit will be required to write a scholarly literature review paper on a psychology of women topic approved by the instructor. Additional written information about this assignment will be provided to graduate students. 

4. QUIZZES - 10 % of final course grade

See above for details.
 

5. PARTICIPATION - 5% of final course grade

See above for details.
 
 
 

ACADEMIC POLICIES 
 

Attendance

• Regular, prompt attendance is expected, and attendance will be taken at each class period.
• It is important that you arrive on time to class so that you do not disrupt the learning experience for other class members. During the first five minutes of class the classroom door will be left open for those who are unavoidably late; after that time, the door will be closed, and you should not enter.
• It is especially important that you be present on exam days. An acceptable excuse (e.g., illness) must be provided in order for you to be allowed to make-up an exam.
• There will be no make-ups for the syllabus quiz, reading quizzes, in-class writing assignments, or in-class group activities. 

Make-up Exams

A student with an acceptable excuse for missing an exam will be able to replace the missing exam score by taking a make-up exam. Make-up exams will be all essay and will be given during the last week of classes at a time announced by the instructor.

Note that it is to your advantage to contact the instructor as soon as possible regarding your absence on an exam day. If you know in advance that you will be absent (and have an acceptable excuse, such as illness or university-sanctioned travel), it may be possible for you to take the regular exam early. It may also be possible for you to take the regular exam late if you can do so before the scored exams are returned in class. Generally speaking, exams will be returned at the next scheduled class period. Therefore, you should contact the instructor as soon as possible to discuss make-up exam arrangements.
 

Academic Honesty

The following guidelines and expectations are quoted from the 2001-2002 WKU Student Handbook, page 5:

"The maintenance of academic integrity is of fundamental importance to the university. Thus it should be clearly understood that acts of plagiarism or any other form of cheating will not be tolerated and that anyone committing such acts risks punishment of a serious nature."

" Plagiarism - to represent written work taken from another source as one's own is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious offense. The academic work of a student must be his/her own. One must give any author credit for source material borrowed from him/her. To lift content directly from a source without giving credit is a flagrant act. To present a borrowed passage without reference to the source after having changed a few words is also plagiarism."

"Cheating - No student shall give or receive assistance not authorized by the instructor in taking an examination or in the preparation of an essay, laboratory report, problem assignment, or other project which is submitted for purposes of grade determination."
 

DATE TOPIC AND ASSIGNMENT

01/15 Course Introduction; Orientation to Psychology of Women and Gender

Rider, Ch. 1; C & C, Ch. 1
 

01/17 
 

01/22 Syllabus Quiz; Research Methods and Issues

Rider, Ch. 2; C & C, Ch.'s 2 and 3
 

01/24 
 

01/29 Theoretical Views of Gender Identity

Rider, Ch. 3; C & C, Ch. 6
 

01/31 
 

02/05 Biological Effects on Gender

Rider, Ch. 4
 

02/07 FIRST EXAM - Covers all assigned readings, plus lectures and handouts
 

02/12 Gender Development

Rider, Ch. 5
 

02/14 
 

02/19 Gender Issues in Communication

Rider, Ch. 6
 

02/21 
 

02/26 Abilities and Achievement

Rider, Ch. 7; C & C, Ch.'s 4, 5, 10
 

02/28 
 

03/05 Work and Career Issues

Rider, Ch. 8
 

03/07 
 

03/12 SECOND EXAM - Covers all assigned readings, plus lectures and handouts
 

03/14 Personality and Gender

Rider, Ch. 9; C & C, Ch.'s 7 and 11
 

03/26 
 

03/28 Relationships

Rider, Ch. 10; C & C, Ch. 8
 

04/02 
 

04/04 Health and Reproduction

Rider, Ch. 11; C & C, Ch. 9 
 

04/09 
 

04/11 Sexuality

Rider, Ch. 12; Romance novel analyses due
 

04/16 
 

04/18 THIRD EXAM - Covers all assigned readings, plus lectures and handouts
 

04/23 Violence and Sexual Abuse

Rider, Ch. 13

04/25 
 

04/30 Mental Health/Social Issues

Rider, Ch. 14
 

05/02
 

05/09 FINAL EXAM for 11:00 TR classes, 8:00 - 10:00 AM
 
 
 

***PLEASE NOTE:

The above schedule, requirements, and policies are subject to change due to extenuating circumstances.