Fall 2001

Prof. Nancy Maveety

302 Norman Mayer

Office Hours: 11-12:30 TTh

POLA 426 RACE, SEX AND POWER (X-lists w/WMST)

(TTh 2-3:15 Hébert 201)

Course Description: This course will explore the relationship between legal rights and political power in the civil rights and women’s rights movements. Using readings, films, and discussion, the course will examine how conditions of race and sex discrimination were addressed by activists’ and reformers’ legal and political strategies; these strategies, their success, and their limitations, will also be assessed.

Course Requirements: There will be two exams, essay format: a midterm, occurring on Thursday, October 18^th, and a final, occurring during the scheduled final exam period (1-5 p.m.) on Sunday, December 16^th. Each exam is worth 25% of the student’s final grade. There will also be FIVE short (5-7 pages), thematic papers, each worth 10% of the student’s final grade. Paper topics will address and discuss themes raised in class videos/films and related readings; students are free to choose which five of the various videos screened in class and films/lectures occurring outside of class will be the focal points for their five papers. (There are nine in all; attendance is required only for in-class video screenings.) Papers are due one week after the video/film is screened, and no late papers will be accepted; if you miss the deadline, you must plan to choose a subsequent video/film for a paper topic.

Course Texts: Required readings include both texts for purchase and items on reserve at Howard Tilton and Newcomb College Center for Research on Women Libraries. They are listed in the order we will be using them.

Tobias, FACES OF FEMINISM

Langley & Fox, WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN THE U.S.

D’Angelo, THE AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Grofman, LEGACIES OF THE 1964 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT

On reserve:

TULANE: THE EMERGENCE OF A MODERN UNIVERSITY (excerpt on desegregation)

Related readings are those which coordinate with an in-class video or film screened/lecture occurring outside of class. Most related readings are on reserve at Howard Tilton or NCCRW (a few are additional segments from required texts); reference to them must comprise part of the paper addressing themes raised by the video/film/lecture. Related readings are mandatory only for those preparing a paper on the respective video/film/lecture.

On reserve:

“EYES ON THE PRIZE” READER, chs. 1, 2, 7, & 13

“Trope Analysis of Subjectivity and Agency in the Narratives of Female Secretaries in Latvia”

COMMUNITY ACTIVISM AND FEMINIST POLITICS, chs. 1, 2, 5 & 11

In-class videos will be shown in the second floor lounge of Caroline Richardson Hall, at the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women. Video titles, screening dates, and related reading assignments are listed below.

V-1. “Not For Ourselves Alone” (part 1), Tuesday Sept. 11^th [Langley & Fox, # 30,31,34,40,50,54]

V-2. “Eyes on the Prize,” episode 1, “Awakenings,” Tuesday Sept. 25^th [EYES, ch. 1 (reserve)]

V-3. “Eyes on the Prize,” episode 2, “Fighting Back,” Tuesday Oct. 2^nd [EYES, ch. 2 (reserve)]

V-4. “Eyes on the Prize,” volume 4, part 1, “The Time Has Come,” Tuesday Oct. 23^rd [EYES, ch.7 (reserve)]

V-5. “Eyes on the Prize,” volume 7, part 1, “Keys to the Kingdom,” Tuesday Nov. 13^th [EYES, ch.13 (reserve)]

Outside-of-class films and lectures are part of the NCCROW Fall Schedule of Events and occur at various locations on campus. Film/lecture titles, dates and locations, and related reading assignments are listed below. Students are strongly encouraged to attend as many of these events as possible—even if the student is not preparing a paper on the topic!

NC-1. Lecture: “Why the Pearls Matter: Public Women’s Theaters of Self-Presentation,” Thursday Sept. 20^th, 4 p.m., 2^nd floor lounge, NCCRW [Langley & Fox, # 66; “Trope Analysis…” (reserve)]

NC-2. Film: “Made in Thailand” and “Women Organize!” Monday Sept. 24, 7 p.m., Freeman Auditorium [Langley & Fox, # 94; COMMUNITY ACTIVISM…, chs. 5, 11 (reserve)]

NC-3. Lecture: “Young Women, Feminism, and the Future,” Thursday Nov. 1^st, 7:30 p.m., Dixon Auditorium [COMMUNITY ACTIVISM…, ch. 2 (reserve)]

NC-4. Film: “La Boda” and “Performing the Border,” Monday Nov. 19^th, 7 p.m., Freeman Auditorium [COMMUNITY ACTIVISM…, ch. 1 (reserve)]

Topics, Readings, and Assignments Schedule:

The first class meeting will occur on Tuesday, Sept. 4^th.

I: Subordination according to Sex and Race

Sept. 6 (Th)—Tobias, chs. 1, 2; Langley & Fox, # 13

Sept. 11(T)—V-1 presentation in lounge, Caroline Richardson

Sept. 11-13—Tobias, ch. 3; Langley & Fox, # 85, 86

Sept. 18-20—D’Angelo, ch. 1, selections 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 2.1 (pp. 134-44)

Sept. 20 (Th, 4:00)—NC-1

II: The Nexus Between Power, Politics, and Law

Sept. 24 (M, 7:00)—NC-2

Sept. 25 (T)—V-2 presentation in lounge, Caroline Richardson

Sept. 27 (Th)—HOLIDAY; NO CLASS

Oct. 2 (T)—V-3 presentation in lounge, Caroline Richardson

Oct. 2-4—D’Angelo, selections 2.5, 3.1

Oct. 9-11—D’Angelo, ch. 4, selections 4.4, 4.6, 4.7; Grofman, ch. 1