Women's Studies Classroom Research Articles

The dynamics of the women's studies classroom: A review essay of the teaching practice of women's studies in higher education

Despite the fact that Women's Studies (WS) calls itself ‘an educational movement for change’, until recently, there has been a remarkable dearth of reflective writings on the theories and practices of the WS classroom dynamics. In this brief overview I first provide some suggestions as to why this gap exists in the literature on WS and then introduce some ‘themes’ that surface frequently in the existing articles on WS ‘gynagogy’, e.g. consciousness raising; interactive learning and teaching; being ‘other’ in the classroom; power and the hidden curriculum. Next I summarise a unique article on feminist values as guidelines for the WS teaching practice and two models on the dynamics of the WS classroom. I end this overview with the idea of ‘passionate teaching’ and suggest that in order to remain true to its origins in the Women's Liberation Movement, which is to empower women intellectually, personally and politically, WS needs to develop a body of both practical and theorectical knowledge on the dynamics of the learning climate in WS classrooms.

From Oral to Visual: A First-Timer's Introduction to Media Production

In the past ten years a number of impressive media products have helped to popularize women's oral history. Slide shows, video productions, and films based wholly or in part on oral interviews have helped bring women's history to a larger public audience and have been used in women's studies classrooms. Pathbreaking historical documentary films like Union Maids and The Emerging Woman were followed by Great Grand Mother, With Babies and Banners, The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter, and Talkin' Union.2 Some video productions have been sponsored by public television, such as Plainswomen, Men and Children.3 Hardest to market and least well known, slide-tape programs like Good Work, Sister! have reached local audiences and occasionally regional or national markets. They have the virtue of costing less to produce than film or video.4 Merging as they do technical and historical skills, most of these projects have involved collaboration between academics and media professionals. In many instances, historians or persons active in the women's movement simply decided there was a story that should reach a larger audience, and they learned media production techniques in order to achieve that goal. Julia Reichert and James Klein, who produced Growing Up Female and Union Maids, set out not to become filmmakers but rather to provide accurate images of women to combat popular media stereotypes. Just as women's historians began using and refining oral history techniques to gather data that was not available in written records, so we have also begun to explore visual media in order to reach a larger audience. Motivated by a desire to educate the public about women's historical contributions, and thus to empower more women, the temptation is strong to move from tape recorder and print to a media product. The technical problems of translation from one medium to another, however, and of moving from an academic to a popular mode, can be as overwhelming as they are seductive. We speak from experience. This does not mean we speak from expertise. In 1978-79 we co-produced a slide-tape presentation about working-class families from the Cripple Creek, Colorado gold mining district, entitled We Were Never Supposed To Be Rich. It was an unfortunately prophetic title. Like most women's oral history media products, this one involved the sharing of skills and expertise. We both have academic backgrounds, Jameson in American studies and history, Lenfest in English. Lenfest is experienced with still photography and film and had produced experimental films and a documentary, but he had not previously used historical material in media. Jameson was the historian for the project, which was based on interviews she had begun in 1975 with elderly residents of Cripple Creek. In 1977 we began trying to raise funds to make a film based on the experiences recorded in those interviews. We were unable to raise enough money, but we did receive funding to produce a slide-tape oral and visual history. At the time we saw the project as preproduction for the film we wanted to make. Slide-tape was not our preferred medium for a number

Self-disclosure and the commitment to social change

In the Women's Studies classroom, where there is a commitment to bringing about social change by means of new course form and content, feminists have developed new strategies for teaching. Among the strategies of this feminist pedagogy is ‘self-disclosure’, a way of teaching that bridges the personal with the academic, humanizing the teacher and personalizing the teaching process. This paper explores the theory behind ‘self-disclosure’, provides examples of how and where it has been most effective, and analyzes the limitations of its effectiveness.

For and about Women: The Theory and Practice of Women's Studies in the United States

In 1977, a decade after the first women's studies courses appeared across the United States, the National Women's Studies Association was founded to promote and sustain "the educational strategy of a breakthrough in consciousness and knowledge" that would "transform" individuals, institutions, relationships, and, ultimately, the whole of society.' Insisting that the academic is political and the cognitive is affective, the NWSA's constitution clearly reflected the influence of the women's liberation movement on women's studies. Research and teaching at all educational levels and in all academic and community settings would be not

A Socialist View of Women's Studies: A Reply to the Editorial, Volume 1, Number 1

Previous articleNext article No AccessLetters and CommentsA Socialist View of Women's Studies: A Reply to the Editorial, Volume 1, Number 1Linda GordonLinda Gordon Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Signs Volume 1, Number 2Winter, 1975 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/493242 Views: 5Total views on this site Citations: 11Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1975 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Natalie Jester Representation within higher education curricula: contextualising and advocating for feminist digital activism, Teaching in Higher Education 23, no.55 (May 2018): 606–618.https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2018.1465036Bih-Er Chou Gendering of Academic in Taiwan: From Women’s Studies to Gender Studies, 1985–2015, (Oct 2017): 115–147.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63219-3_8Jane Elliott The challenge of lifelong learning as a means of extending citizenship for women, Studies in the Education of Adults 32, no.11 (Jan 2016): 6–21.https://doi.org/10.1080/02660830.2000.11661417Kate Pritchard Hughes Feminist pedagogy and feminist epistemology: an overview, International Journal of Lifelong Education 14, no.33 (May 1995): 214–230.https://doi.org/10.1080/0260137950140303Moira Maconachie Formal women's studies in pursuit of feminism, South African Journal of Sociology 20, no.44 (Nov 1989): 235–240.https://doi.org/10.1080/02580144.1989.10430706Renate D. Klein The dynamics of the women's studies classroom: A review essay of the teaching practice of women's studies in higher education, Women's Studies International Forum 10, no.22 (Jan 1987): 187–206.https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-5395(87)90028-8Valerie Hey The woman in the moon: Women's studies and the academy, Women's Studies International Forum 6, no.33 (Jan 1983): 299–303.https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-5395(83)90055-9Marie France Why women's studies?, Women's Studies International Forum 6, no.33 (Jan 1983): 305–308.https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-5395(83)90056-0Berenice M. Fisher Professing Feminism: Feminist Academics and the Women's Movement, Psychology of Women Quarterly 7, no.11 (Jun 2016): 55–69.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1982.tb00609.xMARLENE MACKIE ON CONGENIAL TRUTHS: A PERSPECTIVE ON WOMEN'S STUDIES*, Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie 14, no.11 (Jul 2008): 117–128.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-618X.1977.tb00335.x Annette Kolodny The Feminist as Literary Critic, Critical Inquiry 2, no.44 (Oct 2015): 821–832.https://doi.org/10.1086/447867