Course Syllabus - Leslie Simon

IDST 54: The Politics of Sexual Violence

Course Description:

• to identify the political, social, and psychological causes of sexual violence*
  rape, child sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and battery
• to analyze the connections between racist, anti-Semitic, sexist, and homophobic violence
• to engage the feminist debate around pornography, with an emphasis on anti-censorship
• to experience the value of creative expression--in particular, writing--as a healing tool
• to explore strategies for transforming a violent culture through prevention education

Course Requirements:

In addition to attending class, reading required texts, completing weekly in-class freewrites and a four-day at-home write, attending at least one conference with the instructor, completing two papers, a mid-term and a final exam, students will participate in a field project (3-4 hours prep and participation time) from the following alternatives:

• work with Women's Resource Center on a Domestic Violence Awareness Month (Oct.) event
• plan & implement an installation and event--"The Clothesline Project" in the cafeteria during October
• plan and present a seminar on awareness and prevention in a local high school in early December
• work w/ Project SAFE on a combined event around AIDS/sexual violence awareness in early December

Reading Texts:

• Transforming a Rape Culture (TRC) (edited by Emilie Buchwald, Pamela R. Fletcher, and Martha Roth)
• Critical Condition: women on the edge of violence (CC) (edited by Amy Scholder)
• Reader

It's important that you do all the assigned readings; however, we will focus on certain selections more than on others. I will let you know in advance which ones they will be. Please bring to class any specific questions or concerns you have about any of the readings.

Please be aware: The subject matter we will be dealing with may trigger painful responses, especially if you are a survivor of sexual abuse. Lori Wong, a licensed clinical psychotherapist in the CCSF Student Health Center, can help you cope with whatever issues might come up for you. Although my intention is that the classroom will be as safe a place as possible, since this is an academic course, we will be limited in how much time we can spend on personal stories.

Class Schedule

Introduction/Ground Rules/Freewrite Guidelines

Discovering Voice as a Healing Tool

In-class Freewrite
FOUR DAY WRITE Guidelines
TRC: "Are We Really Living in a Rape Culture?"
CC: "Forum III: Self-Revelation: The Art of Rewriting Personal
History"
TRC: "The Veils"; "comin to terms"; "The Not Yet Spoken"
TRC : "Whose Body Is It, Anyway? Transforming Ourselves..."
Reader: "Naming Myself"

Violence Against Women in the Context of a Violent Society

In-class Freewrite
"Power Talk" from Starhawk's writings (mini-lecture)
CC: "Forum II: Media and Racism: The Politics of Women in ...";
CC: Sapphire's Poems (136-41; 148-58)
Wanda Coleman's Poems (85-87)
Reader: "Talking about the Talk of Violence";
"Asian Women Resisting the Violence"

Taking Care of Ourselves

In-class Freewrite
FOUR DAY WRITE guideline review
Sign-up for conference with instructor
Strategies for coping with "indirect trauma"
Sign-up for Field Project/Planning for the Field Project

Institutional Violence

In-class Freewrite

• Religion and Military
  TRC: "I just raped...The Church and Sexual Violence"; "Religion & Violence: The Persistence of Ambivalence"; "In the Wake of Tailhook: A New Order for the Navy"
  Reader: "Dispatch from Bosnia"; "Bosnian Women Witness"; "The Trail to Tailhook"
  
  
• Medical Profession
  In-class Freewrite
  Video: "Dialogues with Madwomen"
  Reader: "When They Call You Crazy"; "Tales Out of Medical School"

Paper I Due

• Media
  In-class Freewrite
  TRC: "The Language of Rape"; "Commodification of Women: Morning, Noon, and Night"
  CC: "Introduction"; "On Curating Feminism, Activism & Art"
  
  
• Education/Social Constructions
  TRC: "I Want a 24-Hour Truce..."; "Clarence, William...Senator
  Packwood...";
  "How Rape Is Encouraged in American Boys"
  CC: Wanda Coleman's Poems (pp. 88-95)

Planning for Field Projects

In-class Freewrite
Guidelines for Paper II available in class
FOUR DAY WRITE Evaluation DUE
Planning for Field Projects
Receive Take-Home Mid-term today, due 10/16

Sexual Harassment

In-class Freewrite
Take Home Mid-Term Exam DUE today

• Workplace and Academia

TRC: "No Laughing Matter: Sexual Harassment in K-12 Schools" Reader: "But Very Few Episodes Reported"; "What to do"; "Sex Is the Least of It"; "The Nature of the Beast"; "Race, Sexual Harassment, and the Limitations of the Feminist Paradigm"

Child Sexual Abuse

In-class Freewrite
Videos: "The Healing Years"; "Trackers"
CC: "MWI--Many Women Involved";
Sapphire's Poems (142-147; 161-163)
Reader: "False Memory Debated"; "The Abuses of Memory"; "The Last Taboo"

Domestic Violence Event: "The Clothesline Project"

At-home Freewrite

Project SURVIVE presentation

Rape

In-class Freewrite
Guest Speaker: San Francisco Rape Treatment Center
TRC: "Fraternities & the Rape Culture";
"Twenty Years Later: The Unfinished Revolution"; "Conversations of Consent: Sexual Intimacy w/o Sexual Assault"
CC: Wanda Coleman's Poem (97-100)
Reader: "Rape Free or Rape Prone"; "Rape, Racism, and the Myth of the Black Rapist"; "Rape Trauma Syndrome"; "Kennedy Accuser"; "'95 Data"
TRC: "The Date Rape Play: A Collaborative Process"

Domestic Violence (battery)

In-class Freewrite
TRC: "Training for Safehouse"; "The Lie of Entitlement"
CC: "Women's Work Program, Liz Claiborne" (23-32)
Reader: "Power and Control Wheel"; "Equality Wheel"; "The Victim--Why Does She Stay?"; "The Cycle of Violence"; "Abused Women May Be Hostages";
"Myths Surrounding Lesbian Battery"; "Reported Partner Abuse Among Gays Increasing"; "Study Says 20% of Girls Reported Abuse by a Date"
Video: "Call It What It Is" Panel Assignments

Women and Guns Controversy

In-class Freewrite

Paper II DUE

CC: "Forum I: Women Who Kill"; "If You Were Like the Heroine in a Country & Western Song"
TRC: "A Woman with a Sword: Some Thoughts on Women, Feminism, and Violence"
Reader: "The NRA..."

The Pornography Debate

In-class Freewrite
Sample Freewrite Entry DUE
TRC: "Erotica vs. Pornography"; "Civil Rights Anti-pornography Legislation"
Reader: "Same Old Censorship"; "Introduction to Pornography and Feminism"

Transforming Anger: Resolution and Resistance/Panels

Taking Care of Ourselves and Taking Action/Final Exam Review

Reader: "Working towards a World Free from Violence against Women"

Grading System:

• *Paper I=1-2 pages: Write a short essay in which you relate a personal experience to one of the topics
• FOUR DAY WRITE (see hand-out)--fill out evaluation; lose 5 points if not in by Oct. 10
• **Paper II=4-5 pages: Write a paper from following options [see guidelines for suggested topics]
• response to a novel or other literary selection (assigned by instructor)
• analysis of a critical text; include (125-150 word) blurb for updated bibliography
• ***Attend one 15-20 minute conference with the instructor regarding progress in course
• ****Revise and extend a sample freewrite (1-2 pages)