What is the focus of your investigation? Catalog Course Description: Students will explore the history of political activism and recent trends of social and economic conditions for United States women through textbooks, current articles and films. Course work is designed to help students identify cultural, social and economic biases that either propel or hinder women in leadership roles. The psychology of gender bias will be investigated to identify techniques for use by women and men in overcoming barriers to women's success as leaders in government and non-governmental professions. Projects exploring women's successful leadership include opportunities for service learning. Course Objectives: 1. Developing a clearer understanding of, and commitment to, personal values as they pertain to gender issues in the social and economic climate of the U.S. 2. Learning to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view with respect to gender bias and women’s rights in the U.S.

Professor Marilyn Vito What resources / references have you found helpful? Contact Professor Vito via email.

What are the assignments? Project: Research, develop, and document the biography and the characteristics of leadership demonstrated by a contemporary (living) woman of prominence in politics. Subject may be either an elected or appointed political operative in state or federal government in the U.S. Suggestions include: Nancy Pelosi, Condoleeza Rice, Hillary Clinton, Diane Feinstein, Diane Allen and Christy Whitman. Reaction Papers: In addition to the paper required on the research project, each student will be required to complete and submit two review/reaction papers on assigned readings or videos about women in leadership by the due dates specified on the syllabus. At the beginning of each review/reaction paper, briefly summarize what you think the reading/video is about. This summation should be less than one full page and should focus on one or two main issues presented in the author's arguments, or in the case of video, as the characters’ key roles. Following the summation, present your position with respect to the author's issues. Do you agree or disagree with the arguments and conclusions presented by the author? State your reasons for taking your position and develop an argument to persuade the reader to agree with your viewpoint. You may (and should) use other sources of material to support your views, but be sure to footnote or properly document those sources. Service Learning: Students may elect to do a Service Learning project in lieu of the research project and reaction papers. All other assignments and course requirements remain the same. The Service Learning experience requires a commitment of 30 hours volunteer service at a not-for-profit or government agency where students will be assigned to work with/for a woman in a leadership role. In addition to contributing 30 service hours to the agency, students must maintain a WebCT (closed discussion topic) journal to record their dates and times of service and the tasks performed at each visit; write a reflection paper based on experiences encountered and how perspectives may have been changed by them, attend one group reflection session conducted by the Director of Service Learning with students from across the curriculum, and prepare a Power Point slide show to highlight their experiences for other students’ viewing. The reflection paper and Power Point slide show will have to be uploaded to the WebCT project board at semester end. Role Playing: Working in groups of 5, students will develop a dialogue involving assigned videos or readings as if they are part of the scene. Students are encouraged to use their creativity and imagination to place themselves in meaningful roles within the context of the assigned materials. It is recommended that students first outline the premise of their scenario, then assign an order of engagement that allows each student, in turn, to develop the scenario to the next stage through his/her dialogue. Students are particularly encouraged to introduce controversy and to argue opposing views in their role-playing. Group assignments are as follows: 1. Seneca Falls convention and the start of the women's suffrage movement. 2. Final passage of the 19th Amendment granting women's suffrage, celebrating success and planning for the next strategy. 3. Political happenings leading to the election of the first woman U.S. president in 2008 (or later?). 4. Supreme Court rulings on reproductive rights, past, present, and/or future. (Students in this group should view the Reynolds & Lowenstein lectures before beginning their script.) 5. Women in the military.

What results have emerged? The research papers may actually be done in areas other than politics, but those students who schoose a political figure learn as much about the context as they do about the individual, so the assignment helps the students to become more politically aware of the situations these women experienced. The reaction papers are more immediate assignments, but students can develop political skills by advocating a position, one way or another. The service-learning assignments are by far the most unpredictable in the course. For those students who choose to undertake a service-learning project, the impact can be powerful and lasting. Some students become full members of hte organizations they serve for their projects (women's shelters, crisis hotlines, etc.) while some become even more broadly engaged in the issues that their host organization faces. However, some students are disinclined to choose a service-learning project in the first place, so I have adopted the practice of offering this assignment as an option to the paper. This way, students have the option, so that those who opt for service are doing so because they truly prefer this type of engagement over the paper assignment.