1. ABOUT THIS COURSE
This course provides students with an introduction to
the field of gender studies as practiced across a range
of disciplines and in relation to various kinds of texts,
issues, and contexts. Students will explore issues in
gender studies related to concepts of femininity,
masculinity, heterosexuality, homosexuality,
sexuality, identity, and more. Students will consider
the ways in which gender identities and roles are
produced and performed, and the ways that ideology
and representation shape our understanding of gender.
The course will show how research on gender is done
across disciplines, highlighting differences in
methodology and research questions; it thus provides
students with the opportunity to learn about the
unique character and approach of different disciplines
by taking up debates and discourses around gender
from sociology, anthropology, film and visual culture,
history, literature, philosophy, political science,
psychology, theology, and other fields which engage
gender as a salient research topic. Theories,
criticism, films, literature, art, and everyday life will
be analyzed through a perspective informed by
gender. Gender will be analyzed in contexts that bring
out debates and differences related to race, national
identity, globalization, and historical and ideological
shifts. Thus, rather than assume that masculinity or
femininity or queer or straight or transgender are
stable or static concepts, we will attempt to unpack
and explore their changing meanings.
INTRODUCTION TO GENDER STUDIES
SPRING 2016 – TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS 12:30 PM -1:45 PM – 201 O’SHAUGHNESSY
HALL
GSC 10001/20001 – PROFESSORS ANGEL D. MATOS AND SUZI F. GARCÍA
Professor Angel D. Matos
Email: amatos@nd.edu
Office: O’Shaughnessy 325
Office Hours: Thursday 10:00 AM – 12:00 N
Professor Suzi F. García
Email: SuziFGarcia@gmail.com
Office: O’Shaughnessy 325
Office Hours: Tuesday 10:00 AM – 12:00 N
(office hours also available via appointment)

2. We will explore the ways that “gender” is employed as a theoretical framework or as a tool of inquiry
through which to view and analyze data and understand social-cultural constructs and texts.
This course teaches “gendered thinking.” Accordingly, we will “uncover” what working gender
scholars do – we cannot possibly “cover” a static body of material, for two important reasons: one,
there is simply too much that falls under the rubric of “gender studies” to cover it all; and two, the
field’s dynamism and exciting evolution would make that a frustrating Sisyphean task!
AFTER COMPLETING THIS COURSE, YOU WILL:
Understand that gender scholars are engaged in an ongoing conversation about gender, sex, sexuality,
and the body. Consequently, they must rely on a variety of sources, research tools, and disciplinary
perspectives in order to understand the ways that our being embodied people in society is shaped by
us and by the structures around us.
Understand how to deal with texts through a gendered lens. Gender scholars deal with several kinds of
texts:
 Primary theoretical texts
 Secondary texts that apply these theoretical texts to specific disciplinary debates
 Cultural artifacts (which include novels, media, movies, historical documents, observations
about human behavior, etc.)
Doing gender studies means being able to work with these varied kinds of discourse and assess them
on their own terms. In the case of theory, this means understanding the argument being advanced. In
the case of the secondary texts, this means learning how to: understand the use of theory in analytical
arguments, evaluate interpretations, and assess a writer’s use of evidence. In the case of cultural
artifacts, it means being able to observe closely and formulate your informed (by the theory) analysis
of the piece, including “sourcing” and “contextualizing” it, connecting it with others to form new
questions, narratives and arguments.
Apply principles of gender studies to your academic inquiries; this involves identifying and describing
ways that gender is used as a theoretical framework AND applying these tools to your analyses.
Learn how to conduct “gendered” research with ND resources.
 Understand the range of different types of research methodologies that might be employed in
gender studies (e.g., autoethnography, surveys, content analysis, etc);
 Assess the kinds of questions that can be addressed by a particular methodology, as well as
those that cannot, in order to develop an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the
methodologies presented;
 Employ the appropriate research methodology) for your final project.
Synthesize your knowledge through analyses of course readings and argumentative essays
COURSE METHODOLOGY AND OBJECTIVES

3. TWO IMPORTANT NOTES REGARDING THE READING ASSIGNMENTS:
1. The standard rule of thumb in academia is that you should spend approximately 2 hours of prep
time for each hour of class time. If you find that you are spending significantly more time than
this on a routine basis, please see us if you would like to brainstorm some
reading/writing/studying strategies.
2. We cannot cover every aspect of each reading in class. These readings have been selected with
two objectives in mind: they are intended to introduce you to gender-related concepts, and they
are meant to initiate discussion. Reading them in advance of our discussions will facilitate both
our conversation and your individual learning.
Assignment Quantity Pages % of Grade
Quizzes1
8 n/a 15%
Authoethnographies 2 2-3 pages (each) 5%
Literature Review2
1 5-7 pages 15%
In-Class Textual Analysis 1 Variable 10%
Response Papers for Case Studies 5 1 (each) 5%
Final Project3
1 Variable 30%
Final Exam 1 n/a 20%
1
Quizzes are based on the readings assigned for class. Each quiz must be completed by noon (via Sakai) on the day the
reading is due. The lowest two quiz grades will be dropped.
2
Instructions will be provided at least one week before the due date.
3
This group project will be presented at the end of the semester. All components of this assignment are due in stages
(marked on the syllabus).
COURSE TEXTS AND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
ASSIGNMENTS AND EVALUATION POLICIES
You are expected to purchase the following text book and bring it to class
when readings are assigned:
Lisa Wade and Myra Marx Ferree, Gender: Ideas,
Interactions, Institutions (Norton, 2014) ISBN: 978-0-
393-93107-5
All other readings will be provided via e-reserves or links to online
postings of them. You are required to bring copies (hard or electronic) of
the readings to class.

4. A A- B+ B B-
100 - 95% 94.9 - 90% 89.9 - 87% 86.9 - 83% 82.9 – 80%
C+ C C- D F
79.9 - 77% 76.9 - 73% 72.9 - 70% 69.9 - 65% 64.9 - 0%
Disclaimer: Students should keep in mind that an A (100 – 95%) is a grade that is only assigned for
insightful, original, and thought-provoking work. It is also a grade given to work that meets the highest
expectations of the assignment.
Absences: Attendance to class is compulsory. It is expected that you come to class daily and on time. If
you have one to two absences during the semester, you will receive no penalties towards your final
grade. However, for each additional absence over the second, you will receive a half grade deduction
from your final grade (for example, if your final grade is an A and you have 3 absences, your final
grade will be an A-. If you have 4 absences, your final grade will be a B+). If you have 7 or more
absences, you will automatically fail the course. In the case of a prolonged illness or personal issue,
please contact us as soon as possible via email. Only official university excuses will be accepted for
this class.
Academic (Dis)Honesty: Plagiarism, or the intentional use of another person’s work without giving
appropriate credit, is a serious academic offense that won’t be taken lightly in this course. In addition,
keep in mind that there are other forms of academic dishonesty that will not be tolerated in this course,
such as: a) Cheating on a paper, exam, or project; b) Downloading an essay from the internet; c)
Paying/soliciting another person to write your paper; d) Turning in an assignment that was used for
credit in another course; and e) Other similar cases that breach Notre Dame’s honor code. If it is
determined that you committed any of the academic offenses mentioned above, you will receive a
grade of zero (0) on that particular work. If the act of academic dishonesty is serious, or if multiple acts
are done consecutively, you will be reported to the appropriate academic authorities. For more
information on academic honesty, please click here.
Assignments: All assignments must be turned in personally by the established due date and in the
requested format (hard copy, electronic, etc.). In terms of late essays and assignments, twenty (-20)
points will be deducted for every day of lateness that passes, including weekends. You will receive no
credit for late quizzes. Most of the work for the course will be word-processed or edited on a computer.
Arrangements must be made with both professors prior to the due date for late assignments to be
accepted.
Communication: We will use ND email to communicate with you; please be sure to check it regularly.
All emails that you send must be sent to both professors. We expect that class will not be interrupted by
cell phones or text messages.
GRADING SYSTEM
CLASS ETIQUETTE AND POLICIES

5. Respect and Open-mindedness: Controversial and charged topics will be discussed during the course
of the semester. It is expected that you approach every topic discussed in class and in the course
assignments with the amplified level of maturity, sensibility, rationality, and open-mindedness that is
expected from a college-level student. The Gender Studies Program is dedicated to fostering a learning
community that represents and builds on a rich diversity of human experiences, backgrounds, cultures,
histories, ideas, and ways of living. We also commit to the task of negotiating the dual priorities of
authentic free speech and active regard for all others in a safe, supportive, and anti-oppressive
classroom environment. An anti-oppressive environment means that we work against language,
actions, interactions and ideologies that hurt people. Hate speech of any kind will not be permitted.
This includes use of racial, sexual, gender, or abled slurs and personal attacks on others’ ideas.
Statement on Students with Disabilities: If you require any accommodations for this course, please
make sure to meet with your coordinator to request services. Click here for more information.
Title IX: Title IX makes it clear that violence and harassment based on sex and gender are Civil Rights
offenses subject to the same kinds of accountability and the same kinds of support applied to offenses
against other protected categories such as race, national origin, etc. If you or someone you know has
been harassed or assaulted, you can find the appropriate resources here:
Confidential
University Counseling Center: 574.631.7336
University Health Services: 574.631.7497
SOS of the Family Justice Center Rape Crisis Help Line: 574.289.HELP (4357)
Non-Confidential
Deputy Title IX Coordinator: 574.631.7728
NDSP: 574.631.5555
Please note that all professors are considered mandatory reporters of harassment and discrimination by
Title IX law. Mandatory reporters are responsible for reporting all Title IX violations of sex-based
discrimination and sexual harassment, including sexual violence, stalking/dating violence, and child
sexual abuse. This means that if students disclose cases that meet this definition in written or verbal
communication, I am obligated to report that to our Title IX office so they can help provide support
and track such incidents. I welcome your deepest sharing but also want you to understand that all
professors are bound to this law.

6. Disclaimer: All of the content on this syllabus is subject to change and may be amended during the
course of the semester in order to correct unintended errors, comply with the established course
objectives, and/or respond to contingencies. You are responsible for reading all of the assigned material
and completing all of the tasks listed below. If we determine that you are not doing all of the assigned
reading on time, we will be tempted to give in-class quizzes.
Key: (S) – Class led by Prof. Garcia.
(A)– Class led by Prof. Matos.
(GS) – Class led by a guest speaker.
Magenta – This color will be used to signal a date in which an assignment is due.
Cyan – This color will be used to signal a date in which a quiz is due.
Green – This color will be used to signal a date in which a reading response is due.
T, 1/12 Introduction (A&S)
Th, 1/14 The Binary and the Body (A&S)
 Wade and Ferree, chapters 2 and 3
 Additional (optional) reading: Deborah James, “Derogatory terms for women and men: A New
Look.” Gender and Belief Systems: Proceedings of the Fourth Berkeley Women and Language
Conference. Natasha Warner, et al. eds. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Women and Language
Group. 1996. 343-354. [linguistics] and Anne Fausto-Sterling, “Five Sexes” (Sciences 33.2.
March/April 1993. 20-25)
 Due: autoethnography, part I: When did you first realize you were a gendered person?
T, 1/19 Performances (A)
 Wade and Ferree, chapter 4
 Gould, Lois. “X: A Fabulous Child’s Story.” 1978. (Available on Sakai)
 Quiz 1 – to be taken on Sakai (cut-off: noon before class)
Th, 1/21 Case Study: Throwing Like a Girl (S)
 Young, Iris Marion. “Throwing Like a Girl: A Phenomenology of Feminine Body
Comportment, Motility, and Spatiality.” On Female Body Experience: “Throwing Like a Girl”
and Other Essays. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. 27-45. [philosophy] – e-reserves
 Reading response due.
T, 1/26 Intersectionality (A)
 Wade and Ferree, chapter 5
 Quiz 2 – to be taken on Sakai (cut-off: noon before class)
Th, 1/28 Intersectionality (Part II): Race and Gender (S)
TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE

7.  Patricia Hill Collins, “Mammies, Matriarchs, and Other Controlling Images.” Black Feminist
Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge,
2000. 69-96. [sociology]
 Anzaldúa, Gloria. “La conciencia de la mestiza: Towards a New Consciousness.” Borderlands:
La Frontera. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books, 2012. Print. 99-113. [cultural studies]
T, 2/2 Masculinities (S)
 Wade and Ferree, chapter 6
 Díaz, Junot. “How to Date a Brown Girl (Black Girl, White Girl, or Halfie).” Drown. New
York: Riverhead Books, 1996. Print.
 Quiz 3 – to be taken on Sakai (cut-off: noon before class)
Th, 2/4 Masculinities (Part II) (A)
 Kimmel, Michael. Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era. New York:
Nation Books, 2013. 31-67. (“Manufacturing Rage: The Cultural Construction of Aggrieved
Entitlement.”) [sociology] – e-reserves
 C.J. Pascoe, “Compulsive Heterosexuality: Masculinity and Dominance” (Dude, You’re a Fag:
Masculinity and Sexuality in High School. Berkeley: U of California P, 2007. 84-114.)
 Watch episode of Mad Men (to be streamed online via Sakai).
T, 2/9 Femininities (A)
 Wade and Ferree, chapter 7
 Quiz 4 – to be taken on Sakai (cut-off: noon before class)
Th, 2/11 Femininities (Part II) (S)
 Bordo, Susan. “The Body and the Reproduction of Femininity.” The Gendered Society Reader.
Ed. Michael Kimmel and Amy Aronson. 3rd
ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2008. 431-48.
[philosophy] – e-reserves
T, 2/16 Case Study : Fat Studies (S)
 Feuer, Jane. “Averting the Male Gaze: Visual Pleasure and Images of Fat Women.” Television,
History, and American Culture. Ed. Mary Beth Haralovich and Lauren Rabinovitz. Durham,
NC: Duke UP, 1999. 181-200. [television] – e-reserves
Th, 2/18 Queerness (A)
 Kemp, Jonathan. “Queer Past, Queer Present, Queer Future.” Graduate Journal of Social
Science 6.1 (2009): 3-23. [social science and theory]
T, 2/23 Case Study: Queer Studies in Literature (A)
 Solis, Santiago. “Reading in the Dark - Queer crip readings of Snow White and the Seven
Dwarves.” Hypatia 22.1 (Winter 2007): 114-32. [literary theory] – e-reserves
 Donoghue, Emma. “The Tale of the Apple.” Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins. New
York: Joanna Cotler Books, 1997. 43-58. [literature] – e-reserves

8.  Reading response due
Th, 2/25 Institutions (GS)
 Wade and Ferree, chapter 8
 Guest speakers Christopher Soto (a.k.a. Loma) and Nate Marshall
 Quiz 5 – to be taken on Sakai (cut-off: noon before class)
T, 3/1 Survey Methods: Conducting Original Research in the Social Sciences (GS)
 Seth Barry, Center for Social Research
 Due: Paper 1 – Delving into gender – literature review
Th, 3/3 Sexualities and the hook-up culture (S)
 Wade and Ferree, chapter 10
 Sanday, Peggy Reeves. “Rape-Prone vs. Rape-Free Campus Cultures.” The Gendered Society
Reader. Ed. Michael Kimmel and Amy Aronson. 3rd
ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2008. 596-606.
[anthropology] – e-reserves
 Quiz 6 – to be taken on Sakai (cut-off: noon before class)
 Due: Project topic/research question (1 copy per group)
SPRING BREAK: Saturday, March 5th
to Sunday, March 13th
T, 3/15 Change (A)
 Wade and Ferree, chapter 9
 Myers, Daniel J. “Ally Identity: The Politically Gay.” Identity Work in Social Movements. Eds.
Jo Reger, Daniel J. Myers, and Rachel L. Einwohner. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 2008.
167-87. [sociology] – e-reserves
 Quiz 7 – to be taken on Sakai (cut-off: noon before class)
Th, 3/17 Families (S)
 Wade and Ferree, chapter 11
 Quiz 8 – to be taken on Sakai (cut-off: noon before class)
 Due: Annotated bibliography for group project (1 copy per group)
T, 3/22 Work (S)
 Wade and Ferree, chapter 12
 Quiz 9 – to be taken on Sakai (cut-off: noon before class)
Th, 3/24 Case Study : Gender and the Working World (A)
 Harris, Deborah A. and Patti Giuffre. Taking the Heat: Women Chefs and Gender Inequality in
the Professional Kitchen. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2015. [check reading for pages].
(“Bitches, Girly Girls, and Moms: Women’s Perceptions of Gender Appropriate Leadership
Styles in Professional Kitchens.”) [sociology] – e-reserves
 Reading response due.

9.  Due: survey questions (1 copy per group)
T, 3/29 Politics (A)
 Wade and Ferree, chapter 13
 Quiz 10 – to be taken on Sakai (cut-off: noon before class)
Th, 3/31 Case Study: Gender and Theology (GS)
 Guest speaker: Dr. Abby Palko (Associate Director of the Gender Studies Program)
 Traina, Cristina L.H. “Papal Ideals, Marital Realities: One View from the Ground.” Sexual
Diversity and Catholicism. Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 2001. Print. 269-288.
T, 4/5 Contemporary Activism (Meghan Buell’s visit) (GS)
 Chess, Simone, Alison Kafer, Jessi Quizar, and Mattie Udora Richardson. 2008. “Calling All
Restroom Revolutionaries.” That’s Revolting: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation. Ed.
Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore. NY: Soft Skull Press, 216-233. [queer/disability
studies/activism] – e-reserves
 Reading response due.
Th, 4/7 Case Study: Historical Discussions of Gender Presentation (S)
 Anonymous. “Thomas or Thomasine? A Case of Transvestism in Virginia, 1629.” Major
Problems in the History of American Sexuality: Documents and Essays. Ed. Kathy Peiss. New
York: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. 78-80. [court transcript] – e-reserves
 Norton, Mary Beth. “‘Searchers Again Assembled’: Gender Distinctions in Seventeenth-
Century America.” Women's America: Refocusing the Past. Ed. Linda K. Kerber and Jane
Sherron De Hart. 5th ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2000. 63-72. [history] – e-reserves
 Reading response due.
T, 4/12 Waves of Feminism (A&S)
 Bring 2-minute presentation on your topic to class
Th, 4/14 In-class writing: Paper 2 – textual analysis (A&S)
T, 4/19 Group Presentations, I (A&S)
Th, 4/21 Group Presentations, II (A&S)
 ALL individual written components due at this time
T, 4/26 Case Study: Gender and Ecology (Last Day of Class) (A)
 Morton, Timothy. “Queer Ecology.” PMLA 125.2 (March 2010): 1-19. Web.
 Due: autoethnography, part II