Intro to Women's Studies: Suggested Readings

The following discussions of fiction, texts and other readings for an
Introduction to Women's Studies course took place on WMST-L in January 2000 and
February 2008.  The 2000 discussion also briefly considers copyright issues. 
For additional WMST-L files on the Web, see the WMST-L File Collection.

PART 1 OF 2 (see next page for part 2)

Hi.

I am teaching WST 101 for the first time and at a conservative small
college.  I am looking for suggestions from list members for novels or other
engaging/intriguing/non-std reading material to use alongside a
multicultural anthology I've chosen.

I appreciate any ideas you might share -- either privately or with the
listserv.

Denise Baird,  Asst. Prof.
Dept of Sociology
Franklin College
Franklin,  IN  46131
bairdd  @  franklincoll.edu

Id suggest Egailia's Daughters by ??? Gert Bradenburg maybe.
pat

pat murphy
associate professor of sociology
SUNY Geneseo
Murphy  @  geneseo.edu

I strongly recommend A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell.  I'm not sure
where it is anthologized-- I believe in an athology called Women and
Fiction-- I'm sure another listmember might know.
The story is early twentieth century-- about rural homemakers and one who
kills her husband-- powerfully foregrounds key feminist themes, very
provocative for discussion.

I'm used Joanna Russ, When it Changed-- Very wry, nonromantic yet
hopeful/utopian sci fi story about women's planet.  A short story.
Again, I'm not sure where it's collected but I think it's widely
anthologized.

Sorry to be vague about citations,
Kathy Miriam
kmiriam  @  cats.ucsc.edu

Denise - of all the books I've used, the one that consistently generates
the most positive comments, enthusiasm, and class discussion is Sassafrass,
Cypress, and Indigo by Ntozake Shange.  Even considering that my enthusiasm
for the book influences the student response, I highly recommend it.
*********************************************************

Sharon Snow
Assistant Director/Sexual Assault Educator
Women's Center
Virginia Tech
Price House, Stanger Street (0270)
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
540-231-7806  FAX:  540-231-6767
Email: ssnow  @  vt.edu
http://fbox.vt.edu:10021/women/WomensCenter.html

In an intro to WMST class I took as an undergrad at Mills College, we read
WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME, by Marge Piercy and THE HANDMAID'S TALE by
Margaret Atwood.  I still even have the exam questions on these novels, if
you are interested.

Victoria D. Heckler
vdheckler  @  aol.com

You might want to check out Teaching Introduction to Women's Studies:
Expectations and strategies, Ed. Barbara Scott Winkler and Carolyn
DiPalma, Greenwood Publishing, l999.

Karen Bojar
Community College of Philadelphia
kbojar  @  ccp.cc.pa.

I also use fiction -- you can check out "books" on my Women's ST website
at

http://reach.ucf.edu/~wst3010

I've used, for instance, *Liar's Club* by Mary Karr; *The Romance Reader*
(forgot author) about being raised in a Hassidic home; *The Book of Ruth*
(forgot author) about a young white woman from a poor family.

Carole Adams
Uni of Central Florida

I don't know if these would be considered "standard" (kind of doubt
it), but I've always liked the Native Tongue Trilogy by Suzette Haden
Elgin (Native Tongue, The Judas Rose, Earthsong).  She has a neat web
page at http://www.sfwa.org/members/elgin/ , too, by the way.   The
basic gist of the novels, as i recall them, is a world in which
women's right to vote has been taken away and in which women are
officially declared dependent upon men (returning women to our
earlier status of appendages to men).  The women create a language
which allows them to speak of their experiences more accurately (i
wish i could express this better myself) and which supports them in
their attempt(s) to reclaim their rights.  Native Tongue is now out
of print but will be reissued in the Fall of 2000 by the Feminist
Press.

In an article about the language in the novels, S.H.E. wrote, "When I
put L=E1adan together, it was to serve two purposes. First, much of the
plot for Native Tongue  revolved around a group of women, all
linguists, engaged in constructing a language specifically designed
to express the perceptions of human women; because I'm a linguist and
linguistics is the science in my novels, I felt obligated actually to
construct the language before I wrote about it. Second, I wrote the
novel as a thought experiment with the express goal of testing four
interrelated hypotheses: (1) that the weak form of the linguistic
relativity hypothesis is true [that is, that human languages
structure human perceptions in significant ways]; (2) that Goedel's
Theorem applies to language, so that there are changes you could not
introduce into a language without destroying it and languages you
could not introduce into a culture without destroying it; (3) that
change in language brings about social change, rather than the
contrary; and (4) that if women were offered a women's language one
of two things would happen -- they would welcome and nurture it, or
it would at minimum motivate them to replace it with a better women's
language of their own construction. I set a ten-year time limit on
the experiment -- since the novel came out in 1984, that meant an end
date of 1994 -- and I turned it loose. I didn't know in 1984 that the
experiment would escape from the novel that was its lab, but in the
long run I was glad that it did; it make the final results more
interesting. "

S.H.E. herself must be a fascinating person; she's written on such a
variety of topics (linguistics, scifi, psychology).

regards,
juliette cutler page
editor  @  feminista.com
http://www.feminista.com


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.feminista.com

I use a series of short stories, what I call "Sotry of the Week."  They 
include the following:

Elethia, Walker
Recuerdo, Fallis
The Pocketbook Game, Childress
Mama, Allison
Only a Phase, Newman
X: A Fabulous Child's Story, Gould
The Hidden Dragon, Delaplace
The Unnatural Mother, Gilman
Sweat, Hurston
Three Women in Manhattan, Conde
Seventeen Syllables, Yamamoto

More complete references for these can be found in the course schedule on the
website for my WMS101 course at

http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/john.kellermeier/wms101

John Kellermeier
Plattsburgh State College

To add to the post below, "The Romance Reader" is by Pearl Abrahm.

Katherine Side
Katherine.Side  @  MSVU.ca


> I've used, for instance, *Liar's Club* by Mary Karr; *The Romance Reader*
> (forgot author) about being raised in a Hassidic home; *The Book of Ruth*
> (forgot author) about a young white woman from a poor family.
>
> Carole Adams
> Uni of Central Florida

You might want to have a look at _Token Woman: The One That Got Away_... It's
a short (150 pages) memoir of the introduction of high-tech decision making
into big businesses in the 70s... there's a website at
http://members.aol.com/dectire which has pages to browse as well as a
description of it's purpose and use as literature-based curriculum support in
the page labelled Publisher's Plans
(http://members.aol.com/dectire/DP-C2ndx.htm)

Best wishes,
JHR, PhD
Dectire Publishing

<< I strongly recommend A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell.  I'm not sure
 where it is anthologized-- I believe in an athology called Women and
 Fiction-- I'm sure another listmember might know.
 The story is early twentieth century-- about rural homemakers and one who
 kills her husband-- powerfully foregrounds key feminist themes, very
 provocative for discussion.
  >>

"A Jury of Her Peers" is included in my anthology --"Women in the Trees" U.S.
Women's Short Stories about Battering and Resistance, 1839-1996--(Boston:Beacon 
Press, 1996).  You can read more about this book at www.cornillon.com/jasmine/  
(or for those of you who can use a hyperlink  
<A HREF="Women">http://www.cornillon.com/nathan/witt.html">Women In The Trees - Susan
Koppelman</A> ).

I believe that one of the single most important permanent gifts for their
lives that students can take away from introductory women's studies courses
is an understanding of the dynamics of domestic violence, the conviction that
no woman EVER deserves to be abused or brings it on herself or asks for it,
and freedom from the myth that there is any particular type of woman who
becomes a victim.

Susan Koppelman <<huddis  @  aol.com>>

John, I've just spent some time at your URL reading your syllabus and
assignments.  I think your course looks terrific, but I have a question for
you --and for others who create packets on handouts for their students.  DO
YOU PAY FEES TO THE AUTHORS/PUBLISHERS for using copyrighted material in
these packets?

For instance, "Recuerdo" and "Seventeen Syllables" are both included in my
collection --Between Mothers and Daughters: Stories Across a Generation--
(Feminist Press, 1985) and also in Dexter Fisher's --The Third Woman--.  (I
understand, however, that Fisher used "Recuerdo" without ever contacting
Guadalupe Valdes and either requesting permission or paying a fee).  Did you
get permission to copy and distribute these stories from anyone?

There is lots of controversy surrounding permissions to use Hurston's short
stories.  Did you find someone able to give you permission?  I'm curious who
that person or institution was.

And who is collecting the fees for using "The Pocketbook Game" by Alice
Childress, from her collection Like One of the Family.  The original
publisher from the 1950s is out of business, but I believe that Beacon still
have the reprint available.  Since Alice Childress died a few years ago and
was soon followed by her dear husband Nathan Woodard, I don't know who gets
her royalties (probably her granddaughter Marilyn) but I imagine she is still
represented by the same agent who handled rights while she was alive.

While it is, of course, crucial to keep in mind students' limited means when
creating syllabi, it is also important to remember the legalities and the
morality of using intellectual property.  I am curious to know how you and
others are resolving this important issue.

Thanks, Susan Koppelman <<huddis  @  aol.com>>

The copying/ printing service that most Rutgers, New Brunswick faculty use to
assemble their course packets includes the handling of copyrighted material
in their fees (the service requests proper permission, etc.).  This saves a
lot of time for faculty and their teaching assistants.  I wonder if this is
standard practice for such businesses.  As well, some authors/ publishers
often allow "one-time use only" permission to reproduce materials used in
classrooms without charge.

Victoria D. Heckler
vdheckler  @  aol.com

Copyright law permits "one-time use only" for educational purposes.

UW-Eau Claire has a Copyright Officer--the Director of Information
Technology Resource Integration. Prior to his appointment copyright
oversight was through our Risk Management officer. Information that follows
is from a publication from the Copyright Officer:

"The basic law (pub.L.94-553 [1976], most recently amended in 1998)
provides that copyright material may be reproduced under certain conditions
that are defined as "fair use."  There are four factors to consider in
determining whether or not a use without permission is "fair."

* The purpose and character of use, including whether the use is of a
commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
* The nature of the copyrighted purposes
* The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the
copyrighted work as a whole.
* The effect of the use on the potential market for or value of the
copyrighted work.

See also U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 21.  Guidelines are also available
from our copyright office for fair use of computer programs, music,
multimedia, distance education, and off-air television recording.

Our university bookstore coordinates most of our "copyright permission"
needs. Requests are initially sent to the COPYRIGHT CLEARANCE CENTER, 222
ROSEWOOD DRIVE, DANVERS MA 0193 (Phone 978-750-8400; Fax 978-750-4470,
http://www.copyright.com)

On occasion our requests are returned directing us to contact the copyright
holder directly.  Copyright may be held by a publisher, a contributor, a
columnist or a staff reporter.   Permission fees and handling costs for our
bookstore are included in the course packet cost to the students.
Permission fees often determine for us whether or not the material is
included in the packet.

Cynthia H. Welch CPS
Women's Studies/Academic Skills Center
715-836-5717/715-836-4080
welchch  @  uwec.edu
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 54702


"In a time lacking in truth and certainty and filled with anguish and
despair, no woman should be shamefaced in attempting to give back to the
world, through her work, a portion of its lost heart."
                                --Louise Bogan

Huddis  @  AOL.COM wrote:
 
> John, I've just spent some time at your URL reading your syllabus and
> assignments.  I think your course looks terrific, but I have a question for
> you --and for others who create packets on handouts for their students.  DO
> YOU PAY FEES TO THE AUTHORS/PUBLISHERS for using copyrighted material in
> these packets?
 
I use the Pearson Custom Publishing Women's Studies database.  What they don't
have available I put on reserve.
 
John Kellermeier

> > John, I've just spent some time at your URL reading your syllabus and
> > assignments.  I think your course looks terrific, but I have a question for
> > you --and for others who create packets on handouts for their students.  DO
> > YOU PAY FEES TO THE AUTHORS/PUBLISHERS for using copyrighted material in
> > these packets?
>
>If you do not pay the modest fees for use, you are ripping off writers,
>who make damned little money as it is.  Copyright is the only protection
>we have to make anything from our writing, and we are always having to
>fight large corporations to retain copyright and to prevent free use of
>our work -- free to us, fine to them.
  
Writers do not receive salaries.  IF we don't have academic jobs, we live
off our writing and gigs.  If you are assigning work from a packet, you are
already not buying the books that support the entire culture industry, so
the least you can do is pay the modest fee charged for that use.  Anything
else is simple robbery.
 
Marge Piercy  hagolem  @  capecod.net

I am confused about some of this exchange. Having recently paid large sums
of money to several publishers for the right to publish articles on a
website, and after having paid large sums of money to publishers for the use
of previously published "tools" for a research study, I am confused about
who actually owns the copyright and who gets the money. It seems to be that
the publishers own the copyrights and the authors do not get the money.
Carolyn Wright
wrightc  @  mailbox.hscsyr.edu

At 09:06 AM 1/12/00 -0500, you wrote:
>I am confused about some of this exchange. Having recently paid large sums
>of money to several publishers for the right to publish articles on a
>website, and after having paid large sums of money to publishers for the use
>of previously published "tools" for a research study, I am confused about
>who actually owns the copyright and who gets the money. It seems to be that
>the publishers own the copyrights and the authors do not get the money.

It depends on the contract.  Publishers try to grab and keep electronic
rights.  If a writer has any clout and a good agent, then the contract will
not give up those rights or will split them, usually 50/50.
 
I understood the question was about copying material for classes --xeroxing
packets.  The fee on those permissions is what I was referring to as
modest. There is a standard clearing house rate.  The royalties when they
come in are usually in the $3 to $4 bracket.
 
Marge Piercy  hagolem  @  capecod.net
 
Try quoting a song if you want to pay through the nose.  That can cost you
thousands.

My response was about both. Website use of materials and the use of
copyrighted "tools," usually found within a journal article, and used as
survey instruments with and /or by teachers and students.
It seems that authors published in journals do not get monies for their
publications in any form...before or after the fact. When I teach, it is
journal articles that I want to copy most often. When I conduct research it
is journal articles and their tools that I need copyright permission for. I
just received a requst for $300 for permission to use a tool. That is not a
small sum of money.
Carolyn Wright
wrightc  @  mailbox.hscsyr.edu

I am interested in proposing a course on Gender and Racial Identity in
American Women's Writing as a Literature course.  I have never done a
course like this and apparently my university, of which I am a new member,
has never offered women's lit.  I was thinking of using THIS BRIDGE CALLED
MY BACK in conjunction with a variety of novels to investigate issues of
racial and gender identity, but now I discover that BRIDGE is out of print. =
=20
 
Can anyone suggest an alternative reader of essays for undergraduates to
replace BRIDGE?
 
Susan Roberson
Alabama State University

Undeniably, This Bridge... has made an invaluable contribution to women's
studies/ ethnic studies, but I have to say that it is overused in intro.
courses.  In addition, I really like what Norma Alarcon says about how it has
been misused in "traditional" (read: mostly white, mostly middle class)
womens studies courses.
 
Anyhow, stepping down from my soapbox here, I would recommend "Making Face,
Making Soul/ Haciendo Caras: Creative and Critical Perspectives by Women of
Color," edited by Gloria Anzaldua.  I think this book was sort of the "This
Bridge..." of the early '90s.
 
Victoria D. Heckler
vdheckler  @  aol.com

One good alternative would be _The Woman That I Am:  The Lit. and Culture 
of Contemp. Women of Color_, ed. D. Soyini Madison (St. Martin's Press, 
1994--perhaps there's a newer edition out?).  It mixes "creative" and 
"critical" work and includes a wide variety of genres.
Marilyn Edelstein, English
Santa Clara Univ., California
medelstein  @  scu.edu

Since you are teaching at a conservative small college, and are looking for
items/events/novels to supplement the anthology you've already chosen, let me
suggest some popular music like the Dixie Chicks new CD which addresses rural
girlfriends who take action against the spouse "Earl" of one of their friends.
  
--
Gill Wright Miller
Associate Professor of Women's Studies
Associate Professor of Dance
Denison University
Granville, OH  43023
millerg  @  denison.edu

Hi,
I also would recommend A Jury of Her Peers.... there's also an excellent video
of the story.  It was performed as a play called "Trifles" (I think that's the
title) on Broadway years ago starring Helen Hayes...

Joan Starker, Ph.D.
jstarker  @  teleport.com