Initial
Instructions
Small groups
are intended to encourage peer discussion of the issues
raised by the class. They are based on the belief
that exploring both common and differing personal
responses to the ideas raised in class can broaden
our base of knowledge and break down resistance to
learning new ideas. Students will receive a handout
on how to run small groups (also available on the
course WEB page)
Groups of no
more than five students each (randomly assigned) will
meet weekly at least seven times during the quarter.
Each session should last approximately one and a half
hours (minimum one hour, maximum two hours). Since
we do not have lectures on Tuesdays and Fridays at
1:15, this is one suggested time for meeting; in the
past some groups have met after class, or in the evenings
or on weekends.
Group lists will
circulate at the third class meeting (10/3) and one
member will be responsible for emailing others to
set up an initial meeting time. Please coordinate
schedules carefully to find a permanent, regular meeting
time when ALL members can attend. From past experience,
it is important not to shift meeting times. The most
successful groups included members who were committed
to the time and to being ON TIME for each meeting.
It is extremely disrespectful to other students to
come late to small group meetings. You can meet in
a dorm room or reserved lounge area, an unused classroom,
or off campus. Past experience suggests that it is
not a good idea to meet in a public place like the
Coffee House or a restaurant, or a well-traveled lounge.
If there are
initial scheduling problems in a group, changes can
be made ONLY BEFORE OCTOBER 10. Please notify the
instructors about problems; we will try to accommodate
any shifts before the next class. Please do not ask
to change groups in order to be in a group with a
friend or house mate. Student feedback has suggested
that it is better not to know other group members
well already.
The first meeting
should take place by October 14 and the last scheduled
meeting by December 3. To receive credit for this
course you must participate in at least seven small
group meetings. Groups may want to meet an additional
time as well. In case of medical or family emergency,
please contact a group member and report your necessary
absence to your T.A. Please inform the teaching staff
if any group is having a problem about attendance
or scheduling.
Groups should
spend sometime during the week of October 22 assessing
their procedures and suggesting any changes. Each
member should bring a short, written assessment to
the group meeting and also submit it to Professor
Freedman in class on October 29. After discussing
the evaluations, all members of the group should sign
a statement of what is working and what needs to change
in the group and submit it to Professor Freedman on
October 29.
Guidelines for
the final small group evaluation papers (due December
5) will be provided in class. The paper will ask for
a summary of each meeting and an assessment of the
group's "action project," a voluntary or
creative project that groups will report on in a relevant
class or during the last week of classes.
Once your
group has formed, here are some guidelines for running
it
Process:
At the first
group meeting, the following format is strongly recommended
(based on prior student evaluations): each student
should have 5-10 minutes of uninterrupted time to
introduce her/himself, stating something about personal
background and motivations for taking the course,
responses to feminism, or concerns about the subject
matter. After each student has spoken, the group members
can ask questions or respond. At subsequent sessions,
the group can decide whether to follow the uninterrupted
time format or to open to general discussion. MANY
STUDENT EVALUATIONS HAVE STRESSED THE IMPORTANCE OF
CONTINUING TO USE THIS FORMAT ALMOST EVERY WEEK. It
is a good idea to appoint a different member as time-keeper
for each session, to keep others to the limit and/or
to keep track of how long the group runs.
It is the responsibility
of all group members to try to assure equal time for
each member to speak. Listening is as important as
speaking in the group. Practice attentive listening
at the first meeting. If some students are more vocal
and others more quiet, use the uninterrupted time
to start off each week to encourage participation.
The group might want to discuss the dynamics of participation
if anyone feels that conversation is too weighted
towards certain speakers, topics, or points of view.
Each group should devote part of one session (during
October 22-28) to an evaluation of group process.
Each member should bring to this meeting a one page
mid-term assessment of how the group is working and
your own role within it. All members should sign a
one-page summary assessment with suggestions for change.
BRING BOTH INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP ASSESSMENTS TO CLASS
ON OCTOBER 29.
Each group is
required to complete an action or service project.
Please start discussing the possibilities by the third
group meeting and submit your ideas so far with the
assessment.
Confidentiality
and Content:
Small groups
must be respectful of confidentiality. No one is required
to reveal personal thoughts or experiences--share
ONLY what you are comfortable sharing. At the first
session, each group should establish a rule of confidentiality:
any information that is shared remains within the
group unless the speaker gives permission to repeat
it outside the group.
Small groups
provide a space to talk with peers, away from faculty,
about the personal issues raised by this course. Although
groups are not intended to analyze readings per se--that
task will be covered in sections--students are welcome
to refer to readings, lectures, and films in their
discussions. In groups, your own experiences, whether
in families, schools, or work places, can be discussed
to the extent that you are comfortable doing so.
Your group can
generate its own topics for discussion, or you can
use questions raised in lecture or section. The instructors
will sometimes make suggestions for possible small
group topics; others are listed below. In the past,
some groups have used responses to newspaper articles
or events on campus to stimulate discussion. Others
have told parts of their life stories as they relate
to that week's topic in class. When in doubt, go around
the group, listening attentively, in response to the
question: How does this week's topic affect me personally?
Many students report that groups allowed them to see
the ways that their responses to the issues raised
in class were similar, or different, from those of
other students. Respect for different cultural backgrounds,
values, and life experiences is, of course, critical
to small group process. Listening and learning, rather
than agreeing, is the goal.
Assignments:
Only one set
of readings is required for small groups (Allen "Free
Space," Peslikis, "Resistance to CR",
and Uttal, "Nods That Silence," in RDR and
listed on syllabus after 1/17). These short essays
are historical documents from second-wave U.S. feminism
intended to give you a feeling for the ways small
groups functioned then and some of the issues you
might also encounter. Complete these readings before
the first meeting.
In addition to
the mid-quarter assessment due October 29, each student
is required to submit a 5-6 page (ungraded) paper
reviewing each meeting of the small group and responding
to several questions about the overall experience.
I will hand out clear guidelines a week or two in
advance. The paper is due on the last day of class,
December 5. To prepare for writing this paper, I strongly
recommend that each student keep a journal or a set
of notes about each meeting, preferably written soon
after the session. A few paragraphs each week on what
you learned from the experience, from others, and
how this learning related to the lectures, readings,
and films, will provide the bulk of your evaluation
paper, along with overall reflections on the group
process. Keeping a journal will allow this paper to
write itself for the most part; students have reported
that it is critical to record your reflections each
week. Several students have recommended starting off
a group by reading from your journals from the previous
session.
If you have questions
about small group, bring them up with the instructors.
You may also raise questions about small group process
in the group, especially when you do your mid-quarter
assessment of the group.
Suggested Discussion Topics
[we will offer others during the quarter]
The following
list suggests some possible topics, geared to course
issues, that you might use at the first or subsequent
meetings. They are not required topics; the group
can generate ideas from course materials and events
in the world. Feel free to select questions from different
weeks if they come up for your group sooner. You can
start out by sharing thoughts on the reading (3 essays
in RDR). For Part I and Part II:
Week 1.
What kind of gender socialization did you experience
in your family (models, training, warnings, etc.)?
Any differences between male and female siblings?
What gender roles did you observe in your family and
community? How do you feel about terms like: feminist,
girls/women, radical, or others that came up in definitions
or class?
Week 2.
How do you think that your race, class, ethnicity,
or religious training influence your gender identity?
How does the combination affect your response to what
you are learning? What connections do you see between
race and gender in your lives?
Week 3.
Have you ever had an experience of "unlearning"
racism, homophobia, or other forms of discrimination,
that is, when your preconceptions about others, or
yourself, have been changed by new information or
experience? How does exposure to international feminisms
influence your approach to course materials?
What kind of an action project might your group take
on, something that is not time consuming but that
puts your learning into practice in some way. How
is your small group operating? One page signed evaluation
required, with ideas for project.
Week 4.
What kinds of work experiences have you had, in the
family and the paid labor sphere, and what have you
experienced in terms of gender expectations and opportunities?
How does your gender make a difference in your future
work and family goals?
Weeks 5 and
6. What kinds of personal choices do you feel
you have made about health, beauty, sexuality, and
reproduction? How do you balance cultural expectations
and personal desires (e.g., issues ranging from makeup
and fitness to sexual identity and childbearing goals)?
How does gender, race, ethnicity, religion, etc.,
influence your choices? Here are some questions raised
in the past (if any of these are too difficult to
discuss personally, do not feel compelled to do so,
but think about who you could discuss them with):
-Name one or more things you like about your body.
--What would you do if you [or your partner] were
pregnant right now? (Under what conditions would that
be possible, what options would you face, who could
you ask for help in your decision? What personal and
social support would could you draw on, what social
policies would you want in place? What if any impact
does your study of gender and feminism have on this
scenario?)
--How do you think your family would respond if you
told them you were gay, lesbian, bisexual, or queer-identified?
How would you respond to their response? Who could
you tell? How do you think your friends would respond?
How does your study of gender and feminism affect
your responses?
Week 7:
How do you respond to cultural images of sexuality
and violence? Bring copies of advertisements from
popular magazines for men or women (and/or compare
those from 20 years ago and from today).
How have you
or those you know encountered/resisted sexual violence?
What survival skills have you learned, not only about
avoiding violence but about recovering from it? If
this topic is not an easy on for you to discuss personally,
do not feel compelled to do so, but think about who
you could discuss it with.
Week 8.
Talk about your language usage and share any forms
of creative arts that you explore in your lives -
how does this course affect them? Evaluate your action
project. Evaluate the small group itself in preparation
for your papers (due Dec. 5 before class).
Examples of past
"Action Projects"
- Dorm survey
of body images
- Field trip
to Good Vibrations store, San Francisco
- Field trip
to feminist play and discussion
- Poem collectively
written by group with picture montages
- "Day
without Mirrors" project
- Flyers around
campus raising issues, using data from class
- Group day
of service at local shelter
- CD compilation
of feminist/related music
Advice from
previous years' students: (also
see margin notes)
- Don't meet
late Sunday nights!
- If you meet
in dorm rooms, rotate rooms
- Make 5 minute
listening/check in required
- Rotate facilitators
for each meeting so no one person feels responsible
all the time
- Don't change
time and day for meetings - stick to same place
so no one forgets where!
- Speak up in
evaluations, don't be afraid to say what you want
to change
- "I would
tell future small groups what I have left with:
be open to the fact that you may be pleasantly surprised
by what you least expected."
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Assignments