SEMS 444 Gender, Class, Race-Ethnicity, and Social Change - Semester at Sea Website
Subject: Anthropology
Professor Gloria Rudolf - (Syllabus)
This course explores the global issue of inequality based on gender, class and/or race-ethnicity, and the associated problems of discrimination against women, the poor, and peoples of color or particular ethnic groups. The spotlight will be on gender inequality. We'll explore how class and race-ethnicity intersect with gender to shape various types of systematic exploitations and responses. Some of our major questions will include: How have gender relations been defined for women and men in different historical times and places? What are some current ideas about the relative influence of culture versus biology in the formation of a society's race and gender categories? How is the development of inequality in gender relations related to class and race-ethnicity? How have people historically responded to or resisted these inequalities? What can policy makers, practitioners and activists of social change projects learn from such questions? To help students relate course materials to their daily lives, each person will keep a personal journal. Class attendance, preparation and general participation (30%); Group class facilitation in class of one course reading (5%); Class presentation (with port partners) of one field project (10%); Class presentation of an analysis based on your personal journal (5%); Take-home exam (20%); Portfolio of field projects (20%); Synthesis paper describing and analyzing a theme in your journal (10%). Prerequisites: at least six social science (e.g. political science, history, sociology, anthropology, economics, women's studies, and/or environmental studies) courses, or permission of the instructor.