UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

Women 490: Feminist Understandings of Victims

http://faculty.washington.edu/ginorio

Spring 2005; M & W 1:30-3:20 p.m. / Mechanical Engineering 234

Dr. Angela B. Ginorio Office hours: Mon 3:30-5 p.m. & by appointment

Women Studies Padelford B-110P 685-2238 e-mail: ginorio@

Librarian consultant: Susan Kane OUGL 206/616-3794

http://calendar.yahoo.com/suekane8 suekane@u.washington.edu

Course Description and Goals

In this course students and instructor will explore the various meanings of the term “victim” within popular, religious, psycho-social, and feminist

discourses and the implications these have for the victims, the people and institutions that provide services for victims, and the scholars who

are concerned with these questions. The tensions between activist and academic understandings will be explored as well as the impact of

“backlash” on the work that activists and feminists do.

The goals for this class are to actively, through all class work:

· learn information about conceptualizations of victims as understood in the U.S. context

· critically examine how different conceptions about victims reflect particular positions within society (both theoretical and personal)

· become familiar with the power and limits of the feminists’ work as academics and as activists

· gain in-depth knowledge about an academic field’s approach to victims (annotated bibliographies & facilitation of class)

Course Requirements

It is assumed that you come to this class with introductory knowledge about feminism and gender as well as victimization. Readings for this course

build upon knowledge you may have gained about gender and victimization in Women Studies 200, or acquired through other means. This is a

reading, writing, and discussion course. There are four major requirements:

1. participating in class discussion (25% of final grade, partly by self evaluation),

2. writing four brief response papers focusing on topics pursued in self-directed search (40% of final grade),

3. preparing two annotated bibliographies (10% each, 20% total), and

4. facilitating a class discussion (25% of final grade).

This is a discussion, reading, and writing course. This course requires active participation in all aspects of the class, from class discussion to self-

and peer-evaluation.

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If you would like to request academic accommodations due to a disability,

please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz Hall by calling 543-8924 (V/TDD).

If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services, indicating that you have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please present the

letter to me so we can discuss this and other accommodations that you might need for class.

Readings

Brison, Susan J. (2002). Aftermath: Violence and the remaking of the self. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP.

Lamb, Sharon (Ed.) (1999). New versions of victims: Feminists struggle with the concept. New York, NY: New York UP

Additional readings for this class will be available through the electronic reserves of the UW libraries:

URL for library reserves

Written products

At the end of the course, students will have the following written products:

1. class participation:

a. goals you want to set for yourself for participation in this class [due by e- Th 31 March]

b. response (~200 words) to readings assigned by students [due in class day of discussion]

c. self-evaluation of your class participation [due by e-Wed 1 June]

2. brief (3 pages, ~900 words) responses to readings (discussion) [due by e- Friday of weeks 3, 4, 5]

+ 1 page report on popular understandings of media [due in class on Wed 13]

3. preparing two annotated bibliographies: field/topic

a. references with summary/abstract [due Mon 18 March]

b. annotations on above references [due with 2 page summary of discussion (4c)]

4. facilitating a class discussion

a. list of readings to address the topic [due by e- one/two weeks before the discussion]

b. list of questions to guide the discussion [due by e- one/two weeks before the discussion]

c. 2 page summary of the discussion [due one week after the discussion]

Timeliness and presentation of materials are important. Some materials (goals you want to set for yourself for participation in this class, self-evaluation of class participation, the annotated bibliography) can be submitted through e-mail, the rest must be submitted in hard-copy.

NOTE: Only those materials listed above “due by e-“ may be submitted by e-mail. When submitting through e-mail, submit BOTH as an

attachment AND in the body of the e-mail.

If people work in teams for the class discussion facilitation, agreement about grading must be reached at the time that the presentation is made.

Schedule

The tentative schedule attached presents the dates of our classes and the topics that will be covered. If in examining these topics in the first day of class

there is an area of interest to you that is not covered, we can discuss how to incorporate it in the syllabus. The topics should be discussed approximately

in the order listed.

SCHEDULE

Introduction, Working definitions

March, Week 1

M 28 Survey, Introduction, Review of syllabus, Agreement on distribution of materials

[Make preliminary choice of topic for annotated bibliography.]

W 30 Finalize syllabus, Concepts of victim [Confirm topic for annotated bibliography.]

[Goals you want to set for yourself for participation in this class due]

READ: Brison, ix-xiii, 2-21

Lamb, Ch 5 in Lamb: 108-138

Handout, Walker et al, 25-64

DUE: goals you want to set for yourself for participation in this class [due by e- Th 31 March]

April, Week 2

M 4 Self-directed search: media and friends [Instructor will not be in class]

READ: Brison, 119-123

W 6 Self-directed search: activist &/or service organizations [Instructor will not be in class]

Week 3

M 11 Self-directed search: Women Studies/other academic fields[Instructor will not be in class]

W 13 Report on popular understandings of victims

Victims & feminists: “victim” “survivor”

READ: Brison, 94-99

Renzetti, Ch 2 in Lamb, 42-53

Handout, Kelly et al, 77-101, Naples 163-185

Lib Reserve, Link & Phelan, 363-385.

DUE: 1 page report on popular understandings of media [due in class on Wed 13]

DUE: brief (3 pages, ~900 words) responses to readings (discussion) [due by e- Fri 15]

Victims and feminists

Week 4

M 18 Victims & Feminists: History of women’s movement involvement with naming victimization and providing support for victims

READ: Lib Reserve, Pence, Ch 17 in Renzetti et al: 329-34

Lib Reserve, Ch 10 in Pleck, 182-20

DUE: at least 8 references with summary/abstract [due Mon 18 March]

W 20 Victim & feminists: Remaking the victim

READ: Brison, 37-66

Lib Reserve, Alcoff & Gray, 260-290

Lib Reserve, Dunn, Ch. 3, 108-116

DUE: brief (3 pages, ~900 words) responses to readings (discussion) [due by e- Fri 22]

Week 5

M 25 Victims & feminists: Traumatic memory

READ: Brison, 68-83

Marecek, Ch. 7 in Lamb, 158-182

W 27 Victims & feminists: Denials & trauma talk

Brison 85-93

Gavey, Ch. 3 in Lamb, 57-81

DUE: brief (3 pages, ~900 words) responses to readings (discussion) [due by e- Fri 29]

May, Week 6’

M 2 Victims & feminists: Healing and other strengths

READ: Brison, 102-117

Ronai, Ch. 6 in Lam, 139-157

Backlash against individual victims, movements, and feminists

W 4 Backlash: Introduction

READ: Atmore, Ch. 8 in Lamb, 183-211

Lib Reserve, Faludi, Ch. 1 & 2

Lib Reserve, Wolf, Ch 9 & 12