Compocon

Kiddos:

On Monday, we'll be meeting with other 1302 classes and experts from around campus as part of the Compocon project. Here are the details:

 

Monday 2.3.14
8am-4pm BALLROOM
Best times to stop by: our class time and/or 1:30-2:30. That's when gender "experts" will be present.

Tuesday 2.4.14

8:00 am – 12:30 pm | HPE1 room 1.166

1:10 pm – 4:00 pm |
HPE1 room 1.166

Please come during our class time with your research question and something to take notes with. You'll have an opportunity to discuss your projects with other students and get feedback from a variety of different people.

Your assignment will be as follows:

Write a one page reflection on your experience with our first Compocon meeting. Who did you talk with? How are you going to use this information to help you with your research?

This needs to be typed, double spaced. It is due on Wed after Compocon. 


Reminder:
Response due on WEDNESDAY and QUIZ

Snow Day! And Part II

Mustache not required to participate

I know how heartbroken you all must be that we're not meeting in class on Wednesday :'(

Never fear! We can still have our discussions here on the blog!

If you haven't already, take a look at the Part II assignment instructions. It's time to start thinking about a research question! Your research question will be guiding your inquiry project throughout the rest of the semester, and is very important. It should be related, in some way, to the greater conversations we've been having about gender, sexuality, and feminism.

Your "snow day" assignment:

Post your research question draft up on the blog. Then, respond to at least 2 other people's research questions with some advice or suggestions. Your research question should be posted before 5pm on Wednesday, and your responses need to be up by the time we meet again in class Friday. 


 If you already have a "sorta question" -- great! If not, no worries, here are a few steps you might take to get your gears grinding.

1. Pick a broad topic that we've been talking/thinking about, like children & gender, LGBTQ/sexuality, feminism, masculinity/machismo, communication, or the media.
2. Think about a potential audience. For example, college freshmen, elementary school teachers, parents, LGBTQ teens, college professors, girls 2-12
3. Think about something you're passionate about. This, of course, can be anything!

Consider how your three topics intersect. So, for me, I'm going to think about children and gender as my broad topic, parents as an audience, and I'm passionate about video games.

So, some possible research questions for me:
How does playing video games affect girls' self-esteem?
What challenges to "gamer-girls" face in the Rio Grande Valley?
Does playing video games affect team-work skills in boys and girls differently?
Do boys who grow up playing video games view women differently? 

 These are really rough, right? I'd need to work on them, but at least they give me a starting point.

Still stuck? Try thinking about your Part I essay. Perhaps some interesting questions may arise from that. For example, remember mine? Well, after discussing my essay with Stephanie, I started wondering:

How does growing up in a single-parent home affect children's perceptions of gender?
Are girls who grow up "tomboys" more successful as adults?
What challenges do single dads face here in the RGV?

Or maybe the Cinderella reading struck a chord:

How does growing up in "princess culture" affect Mexican American girls in the RGV and their perceptions of beauty?
Are girls who loved princesses growing up less likely to choose STEM majors?
How does princess culture affect self-esteem in young girls?
 
Here are a few others I thought about:

What issues do LGBTQ students at UTPA face academically?
Who talks more in the FYC classroom, guys or girls?
What conceptions of feminism exist at UTPA?
How do self-proclaimed machistas do in college?
Are feminists happier than non-feminists?

ADDED IN: Feel free to snatch and modify one of the research questions I posted. Imitation is the finest form of flattery after all, isn't it? :D

Reminders:

Revised drafts of Part I will be due when we return to class on Friday.
Also, please bring a draft of your research question to discuss!

What's Wrong with Cinderella?

 On Monday, we'll be discussing Orenstein's article, "What's Wrong with Cinderella?". It's an except from the book, "Cinderella Ate My Daughter."

Here's an interview with the author

These are the questions that will be driving our group discussions:

1. Orenstein suggests that "princesses" cannot be held solely responsible for constructing girls' beliefs about femininity. What other kinds of characters appear on television and film that might support or contradict Orenstein's claims about media impact on young girls?

2. How do you think Lorber would respond to Orenstein's views about the dangers of princess culture?

3. What about boys? Think of some examples of boys' toys and representations in the media and discuss whether or not you think they teach dangerous constructions of gender. 

A few reminders:

Revised drafts of Part I are due on Wednesday! You'll need one hard copy.
Begin looking at Part II under the assignments tab and start brainstorming a research question, also for WEDNESDAY.

Peer Review?

We'll be discussing peer review in class on Wednesday and conducting our actual session on Friday. What are your experiences with peer review? What do you think we, as a class, can do to ensure our peer review sessions are successful? Feel free to use the comments section to discuss this, and as always, there's some extra credit in it for you if you're particularly insightful.

For homework:

Write a critique for each of your partners' papers. Your critiques should be 1/2 page each, and you'll need to bring 2 copies of each one. As a guideline, try using the PQP format, and be sure that your critiques are as specific and helpful as possible. Critiques are due on FRIDAY.

Thoughts on Part I

It's time to give our ideas about gender a slap in the face!

As you're working on your Part I essay assignment drafts, you'll want to consider the following things (hint hint, these are also the four things I'll be looking for when I grade your essays down the road)

Details -- How does the essay address/define "gender?" It should include narrative, details, and/or explanations so as a reader, you can easily visualize and understand the concept.
Inquiry -- How does the essay use inquiry to challenge their definition of gender? How do they support their claims (with quotes, examples from personal experience, maybe some informal research?).
Discourse -- How does the essay connect their experiences to the greater conversation about gender? Perhaps these experiences support/refute Lorber's theories about gender.
Significance  -- The big "so what." What does this discussion mean in terms our understandings about gender, feminism, or sexuality? This can either be stated or implied.


Rough drafts are due on Wednesday when we return from MLK day. Please bring 3 copies of your draft to class, as we will be conducting a peer review session next week. Also, keep in mind that this is only a draft; you will have ample opportunity to revise this piece of writing before I'll be evaluating it. Be sure to bring something to class on Wednesday, and we'll go from there. 

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the essay, you're welcome to pose them here. You're also welcome to perhaps post a piece of your essay for some feedback, or even just run your ideas by us. I'll be popping in throughout the weekend, but if you provide assistance, answer a question, or maybe even just say something insightful about your experiences writing this, there may be some extra credit in it for you! Happy writing. 

Introductions

Before we get into the full swing of things, you've got a few things to do:

1. Check out the course syllabus and calendar! It'll give you a good idea as to what to expect in the coming months

2. Print out the readings. You'll need to have these all printed out by Friday, so you might as well do it now and stop procrastinating >:0

3. Introduce yourself! I'd like us to think of this blog as a space for us to exchange ideas, give advice, ask questions, and it's a good opportunity for us to get to know each other a bit better. Please post in the comments section your name, the time your class with me meets, and something about yourself as a writer/thinker/gendered person in this world. I'll go first to break the ice:

My name's Katie, but you can call me Professor Hoerth (which is, by the way, pronounced like earth but with an H. Don't worry, you can totally mispronounce my name all you want. I'm used to it).

I'm really passionate about feminism. I love to write about feminism, read about it, explore it, reconsider it. I think "feminism" is a really huge, complex and loaded term, and so my conception of what it means to be a feminist might be really different than yours, and I think that's totally cool. Here are a few fun facts about me: I love poetry, baking, blogging, and teaching. Oh, and if you were planning on bringing me food, I have the world's biggest sweet tooth. My favorite food is cheese cake. Just sayin' ;-)


Your turn!