ENG 307 Issues for Women Writing
COLLEGE: CAS DEPT.: English and Journalism
DEPARTMENT CHAIRPERSON: Dr. David Boocker
APPROVAL SIGNATURES REQUIRED BELOW:
DEPT. CHAIR: ______Date: ______
COLLEGE DEAN: ______Date: ______
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DEPARTMENT, COURSE NUMBER, COURSE TITLE, AND CREDIT HOURS:
ENG 307, Issues for Women Writing, 3 s. h.
ABBREVIATED TITLE OF COURSE: Women Writing
CATALOG DESCRIPTION: Reading, discussion, and writing focused on particular social, cultural, or personal issues related to how and what women write. Repeatable to 6 hours with different topics.
PREREQUISITES: WS 190 or ENG 299, or consent of instructor.
CLASS HOURS PER WEEK: 3 LAB HOURS PER WEEK:
COURSE OBJECTIVES: Students completing this course will develop the following abilities:
· Understand inclusion, exclusion, and power dynamics in gender, literature, and culture.
· Understand cultural and aesthetic values and their impact on women writers.
· Think analytically and critically about women’s writing.
· Write critically and sensitively about gender.
JUSTIFICATION OF COURSE
a. STUDENT NEEDS TO BE SERVED: Increasing numbers of students in the English and Women's Studies programs need the opportunity to understand the situation of women in culture from a humanistic standpoint. Readings in poetry, narrative, and drama, as well as prose essays, will expand their knowledge of the conditions within which women live and write. This course is a junior-level, upper-division course in the study of literature and social justice, and it is part of a larger category of courses that all focus on the political contexts and effects of literary texts. It offers an important counterpoint to the more traditional modes of literary history and criticism broadly represented by the department’s offerings in more traditional approaches to literary history. ENG/WS 301 permits students to consider women's writing within the traditional periods of literary history, such as women's contributions to the nineteenth-century literary movements of romanticism and domestic fiction. The focus on an intellectual issue for ENG 307 will assist students in relating texts conceptually. This course also provides the opportunity to have a more focused topic while simultaneously inviting interdisciplinary approaches and marginalized texts. The role of literature as a progressive force for critical thought is a major aspect of English studies and its role in the liberal arts, and thus this elective course serves the needs of English majors, minors, and English Education majors to understand this crucial aspect of literature and its role in the world.
b. RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING COURSES WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT:
The companion course, ENG/WS 301, focuses on the literary traditions within which women have written, exploring the tensions between literary assumptions and women's experiences. This course similarly complements other courses in the Women’s Studies curriculum, without overlap.
The Department of Women's Studies has been consulted about this course and provides its full support for its development and offering through that program. A request to cross-list accompanies this proposal.
Given the intellectual issues that will organize such a course, students should be expected to have developed conceptual skills through 100 and 200 level courses in general. General Education courses in a variety of disciplines will help students develop knowledge for critical study of the issues germane to this course. For this reason, offering this course at the 300 level is appropriate.
This proposed change is part of a comprehensive revision of the English major. For more information, including sample syllabuses, visit http://faculty.wiu.edu/JD-Boocker/.
c. RELATIONSHIP TO COURSES IN OTHER DEPARTMENTS: Although other departments offer courses that consider women's issues from diverse disciplinary standpoints, this course will foreground the way that such issues are confronted through particular kinds and strategies of writing. This course will be cross-listed with Women’s Studies, WS 307. Numerous courses offered in the Women’s Studies curriculum address issues to be discussed in the course, but none are covered from a humanistic perspective. WS/SOC 410—Women and Poverty, WS/POL 335—Women and Politics, WS/HE 321—Women and Health or WS/SOC 430—Sociology of Women’s Health, for example, all cover issues that may be covered in the proposed course, but the use of literature, literary critique, juxtaposition of women’s writing within the context of these topic areas is beyond the scope of these courses.
FREQUENCY OF OFFERINGS: Once every four semesters
DATE OF FIRST OFFERING: Fall 2007.
REDISTRIBUTION OF TEACHING LOAD: None.
ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS: None.
WIU LIBRARIES OFFER AN ARRAY OF INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT FOR CLASSES. WHAT LIBRARY MATERIALS (INCLUDING MONOGRAPHS, BOOKS, DATABASES, ELECTRONIC RESOURCES, OR AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS) OR INSTRUCTION WILL BE HELPFUL TO SUPPORT THE TEACHING OF THIS COURSE?
The department of English has worked with the library over the years to keep its resources in literature and criticism current, and it continues to do so. Thus, library holdings in literature and criticism are adequate for this course. Additionally, online resources such as Project Muse, JSTOR, and other databases offer a wide range of materials to support this course.
LIST COURSES (IF ANY) TO BE DELETED IN CONJUNCTION WITH APPROVAL OF THIS REQUEST: None.
REQUIRED FOR THE MAJOR: YES: NO:
DESIRE FOR THE GEN. ED. CURRICULUM: YES: NO: