Illinois School of Professional Psychology
at Argosy University, Chicago
COURSE SYLLABUS
PP8616
Psychology of Women
Spring 2012
Faculty Information
Faculty Name: Penelope Asay, Ph.D.
Campus: Chicago
Contact Information:
Office Phone Number: 312-777-7713
E-mail:
Office: 1339
Office Hours: (tent) M 1-3; Tu 3:30-4:30; W 3:30-4:30; by appointment
Short Faculty Bio: Penny Asay, Ph.D. received her doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Asay also earned an M.A. in College Student Personnel from the University of Maryland, College Park, and she has extensive experience working in university settings in a variety of capacities. Dr. Asay's interests include LGBT issues, multicultural issues, women’s issues, career issues, group psychotherapy, and college student mental health. She maintains a small private practice in downtown Chicago.
Course Catalogue Description:
Through the use of readings, lecture and group process, theories are examined dealing with female personality development and gender-related psychopathology such as depression and anorexia. Also included are an exploration of problems women may encounter, including rape, incest and abuse. Issues relevant to clinical practice, such as therapist gender, therapist pregnancy, transference problems and role conflicts are discussed.
Course Pre-requisites: None
Required Textbooks:
Brown, L (1994). Subversive Dialogues: Theory in Feminist Therapy. Portland: Basic Books.
Ehrenreich, B. (2002). Nickel and Dimed: Undercover in Low-Wage America. Holt.
Kristof, N. D. & WuDunn, S. (2009). Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for
Women Worldwide. New York: Knopf.
Unger, R. K. (Ed.) (2004). Handbook of the Psychology of Women and Gender. New York:
Wiley
Technology: Pentium III CPU/ Windows 98; 128MB RAM printer; Microsoft Office: Acrobat (full version); Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 (PC), 5.0 (MAC), or Netscape Navigator 4.08; Norton Antivirus.
Course length: 15 Weeks
Contact Hours: 45 Hours
Credit Value: 3
Course objectives
Course Objective / Program Goal / Method of AssessmentUnderstand and appreciate the historical context of the social and psychological understanding of needs and experiences of women / Goal 3-Diversity
Goal4-Scientific foundations
Goal 5-Scholarship / Weekly journals; class participation; Research paper and presentation
Understand, synthesize and apply feminist theoretical principles to clinical work / Goal 2 – Intervention / Midterm case conceptualization; class discussions; weekly journal; Gender Focused Interview
Experience directly the lives of women / Goal 2---Intervention
Goal 3-Diversity
Goal 5 – Scholarship / Advocacy Activity, Gender Focused Interview
Achieve a respect for feminist perspectives and recognize and evaluate students’ own personal points of view / Goal 3—Diversity
Goal 5--Scholarship / Weekly journals ; Midterm case conceptalization; Advocacy Activity
Investigate and critically evaluate current topics in the psychological development and well-being of women / Goal 3--Diversity
Goal 5--Scholarship / Research paper and presentation; class participation
Instructional Contact Hours/Credit
Students can expect 15 hours of instructional engagement for every 1 semester credit hour of a course. Instructional engagement activities include lectures, presentations, discussions, group-work, and other activities that would normally occur during class time. Instructional engagement activities may occur in a face-to-face meeting, or in the eclassroom.
In addition to instructional engagement, students can expect to complete 30 hours of outside work for every 1 semester credit hour of a course. Outside work includes preparing for and completing readings and assignments. Such outside work includes, but is not limited to, all research associated with completing assignments, work with others to complete a group project, participation in tutorials, labs, simulations and other electronic activities that are not a part of the instructional engagement, as well as any activities related to preparation for instructional engagement.
At least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph above shall be applied for other academic activities as established by the institution, including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.
Course Format:
It is hoped that the instructor and class members will engage in this class with the feminist principles of cooperation, collaboration, and engagement in mind. In this endeavor, all participants’ voices are valuable and essential to a successful class. The material in the course will be covered through a combination of lectures, videos, guest speakers, and class discussion. Lectures will provide a general overview of theories and research findings within each topic area, as well as issues not covered in the readings. Meaningful participation in classroom discussions is encouraged and expected. Students are expected to ask questions, express their thoughts regarding the material presented, and demonstrate respect and sensitivity to individual differences and opinions.Students are expected to fully be prepared to discuss readings each week. Students are also encouraged to bring in relevant scholarly and popular news items that seem relevant to the course.
**It is imperative that students attend all class sessions. More than two absences will lead to a failing grade. This policy is NOT meant to encourage absences (i.e., students do not get two freebies!).
Assignments
Note: All assignments, with the exception of the weekly journals, are expected to be in APA format, typo-free, and grammatically correct. Your grade
1. Journals
Most weeks, students will be required to hand in a journal entry. The goal of this assignment is to provide students an opportunity to articulate reactions (both intellectual and emotional) to the readings and class material. Journals must be typed and a minimum of one page, but length of entry is less important than thoughtfulness. Students are also encouraged to find connections between course material and their professional (e.g. clients, practice settings) and personal (e.g. history, upbringing, relationships) worlds.
2. Case Conceptualization Midterm
The midterm exam will be a take-home case conceptualization. Students will be provided with a case and asked to conceptualize the client from a feminist therapy theory perspective. Students will be further asked to think critically and complexly about the areas of convergence and divergence of feminist therapy theory with their primary theoretical orientation. The goal of this assignment is to provide students an opportunity to demonstrate ability to mastery of theory and its application.
3. Group Research Paper and Presentation
The goal of this assignment is to allow students to deepen their knowledge of an area of the psychology of women that is of interest to them and to demonstrate that knowledge to their colleagues and instructor in the class. Students are expected to base their presentations on current empirical and theoretical literature.
Possible topics include but are in no way limited to the following:
Eating disorders
Body image
Aging
Motherhood
Research findings on women’s mental health
Groups will work collaboratively on the project. Each individual in the group will be asked to write a 2-3 page reflection on his/her role in the group and overall summary/evaluation/critique of the group’s process. Groups will have 45 minutes to present. During this time, they will be fully responsible for imparting knowledge and leading the class in experience and discussion of the topic. Creativity in this endeavor is encouraged, as is having fun!
Groups will also be responsible for a 15-20 page paper (including references) due during finals week.
4. Gender-Focused Interview
This assignment is designed to provide an opportunity for students to explore the issues and topics significant to the development and well-being of women with a woman willing to speak to her experience. For this interview, you are expected to draw on the readings and class content to develop a clear focus on a particular topic (e.g. career, sexuality, health, identity, etc). Thus, this interview may be considered as endeavoring to understand the depth of a specific domain of a woman’s lived experience rather than breadth of her lived experience. This focus must be developed ahead of time and with the input of your class colleagues: time in class will be provided to brainstorm, and it is expected that you will have a focal question (or couple questions) that you will answer as a result of this interview. You also must be sure to include questions/exploration of cultural characteristics besides gender (e.g. race/ability status/sexual orientation/religion, etc). This interview should be at least 45 minutes and should be taped so that you can present a portion in class. For this assignment, you are welcome to work someone you know, but preferably not a colleague in the program. An accompanying paper (5-10 pages) should summarize some of the more interesting learnings from the interview, your reactions to it, and then link these with the course readings.
5. Advocacy Activity
The goal of this assignment is to provide an opportunity to engage in an activity directed at policy or advocacy for women individually or as a group. A one-page summary of this activity is due Week 14. The summary should include a description of the issue or problem being addressed and a rationale for the particular action taken (i.e. what was the intended effect or change?) Also included should be a personal reaction to the activity and an appraisal of the “success” of the activity. Examples might include writing a letter to the editor, lobbying a congressional representative in some direct manner, participating in a march or some other peaceful protest/awareness-raising activity, talking to someone in a professional organization about a needed change, volunteering in a community organization, organizing and presenting a talk or workshop. You will be asked to present this experience and your reaction to it no later than during the final class. You are encouraged but not required to present your activity as you complete it, so that your experience is fresh in your awareness (e.g. If you attend a Take Back the Night rally in January, for example, waiting until April to talk about it may not be as powerful or informative for you or the class). You may thus ask the class permission to present at any time during the course, but you must ask at least a week in advance. It may be wise to turn
Assignment Table:
Week
/Topic
/Reading
/Assignment/Guests
1Jan 12 /
Introduction
/ APA Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Girls and Women(available full text online at apa.org. Go to “Practice Directorate”, then search)
**Please note you are expected to come to the first class having read this document
2
Jan 19 / History and Context; Terms / U-Ch 1 Women as Subjects, Actors, and Agents in the History of Psychology
U-Ch 2 Theoretical Perspectives on Women and Gender
U-Ch 3 Choices and Consequences: Methodological Issues in the Study of Gender / Journal
Guest: Dr. Marge Witty
3
Jan 26 / Feminist Therapy I: / B-Introduction
B-Ch 1-Toward a Subversive Dialogue with the Reader
B-Ch 2 Feminism in Feminist Therapy Theory
B-Ch 3 Theorizing from Diversity
B-Ch 4 The Relationship in Feminist Therapy
Brown, L. (2006). Still subversive after all these years: The relevance of feminist therapy in the age of evidence-based practice. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 15-24.
Anderson, V. N. (2009). What’s in a label? Judgments of feminist men and feminist women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33, 206-215. / Journal
4
Feb 2 /
Feminist Therapy II
/ B-5 Naming the Pain: Diagnosis and DistressB-6 To Speak the Mother Tongue: Models of Case Conceptualization
B-7 The Master’s Tools: The Dilemma of Dealing with the Patriarchy
B-8 Feminism and Ethics
B-9 Emerging from the Wilderness
Anderson, K. J., Kanner, M. & Elsayegh, N. (2009). Are feminists man haters? Feminists’ and nonfeminists’ attitudes toward men. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33, 212-224 / Journal
5
Feb 9 /
Feminist Therapy III
/ TBA / Journal6
Feb 16 /
Sexuality
/ U-Ch 18: Sexualities / Guest: Dr. Kathy Goggin7
Feb 23 /
Sexuality II
/ TBA / Mid-term Case Conceptualization Due8
Mar 2 /
Violence
/ U-Ch 23: A Developmental Examination of Violence Against Girls and Women / JournalGuest (Tent): Dr. Rahul Sharma
9
Mar 9 /
Career
/ U-10: Current Perspectives on Women’s Adult Roles: Work, Family, and LifeBarnett, R. C. & Hyde, J. S. (2001). Women, men, work, and family: An expansionist theory. American Psychologist, 36, 781-796.
Dyke, L. S. & Murphy, S. A. (2006). How we define success: A qualitative study of what matters most to women and men. Sex Roles, 55, 357-371.
Moffit, L.B. & Syzmanski, D (2011). Experiencing sexually objectifying environments: A qualitative study. The Counseling Psychologist, 39, 67-106. / Journal
10
Mar 16 /
Career II
/ Nickel and Dimed (entire book) / Journal11
Mar 23 /
Group Presentations
/ Group Presentations12
Mar 30 /
Health
/ U-Ch 19: Gendered Bodies and Physical Health13
Ap 6 /
International Issues
/ Half the Sky (entire book) / JournalGuest: Dr. Neal Rubin
14
Ap 13 / Gender-Focused Interview and Advocacy Activity reports and Wrap-up /
Gender-Focused Interview
Advocacy Activity
15Ap 20 /
Finals Week-No Class
/Group Papers Due
Note: U=Unger; B= Brown
Recommended Textbook:
Landrine, H. & Russo, N. F. (Eds) (2010). Handbook of Diversity in Feminist Psychology. New York: Springer
Note: This book is new and quite pricey but there are used copies available online and it has been ordered for our library
Grading Criteria:
Your performance in this course will be based upon the assignments described above and class participation. Final grades will be determined as follows. Late assignments will be graded at the discretion of the instructor. Partial or no credit may be given.
Grading requirments: Grading Scale:
A / 100 – 93A- / 92 – 90
B+ / 89 – 88
B / 87 – 83
B- / 82 – 80
C+ / 79 – 78
C / 77 - 73
C- / 72 – 70
F / 69 and below
Weekly journals / 15%
Case Conceptualization Midterm / 20%
Research Paper & Presentation / 30%
Gender-Focused Interview / 25%
Advocacy Activity / 10%
100%
Library
All resources in Argosy University’s online collection are available through the Internet. The campus librarian will provide students with links, user IDs, and passwords.
Library Resources: Argosy University’s core online collection features nearly 21,000 full-text journals and 23,000 electronic books and other content covering all academic subject areas including Business & Economics, Career & General Education, Computers, Engineering & Applied Science, Humanities, Science, Medicine & Allied Health, and Social & Behavior Sciences. Many titles are directly accessible through the Online Public Access Catalog at http://library.argosy.edu. Detailed descriptions of online resources are located at http://library.argosy.edu/misc/onlinedblist.html.