Feminist Research Methodologies Syllabus for Spring 2001
WS 5320	Section 001	3 credit hours (3:3:0)
Some activities and sections are on-line at http://webct2.tltc.ttu.edu/webct/public/home.pl Log on course with username & password sent to you via email after you email me.	Thurdays	6:30 p. m. - 9:20 p. m. CT
	Dr. Karen Keifer-Boyd	Topical linked Bibliography
Office: 1003-F AH	Ph: 742-3010 ext. 256	email: K.Keifer-Boyd@ttu.edu
Office hours:  Tues. (12:00-2:00 p.m.)  or by appt.

Catalogue Description: An interdisciplinary study of methods, analyses and critiques used by feminist scholars to study feminist issues within and across a range of traditional disciplines. Prerequisite: WS 5310 or consent of instructor.

Purpose: This interdisciplinary course focuses on the visions and methods that feminist scholars use to study feminist issues within and across a range of traditional disciplines-history, arts, humanities, sciences, education, health, economics, law, etc. Course participants will read and discuss how feminist scholars rethink analytic paradigms and create new theoretical models to guide their work.

Prerequisite: WS5310, Feminist Thought and Theories, or equivalent course, or pass entrance essay exam. The entrance essay exam tests your understanding of the commonalties and different strands of feminism, and of concepts found in feminist writings such as: discourse, difference, praxis, power/empowerment, ideology, intertextuality, displacement/deconstruction, and neomarxism. This foundation is needed to participate in the Feminist Research Methodologies course. The test will also illuminate your understanding of and familiarity with critically oriented work that problematizes, seeks social transformation, and practices critical self-reflexivity. Click here for more info on the entrance essay exam. Please talk to me (Karen Keifer-Boyd) before enrolling to see if this course suits your needs. Refer to the following readings for help in passing the entrance essay exam:

Tong, Rosemarie Putnam (1998). Feminist thought: A more comprehensive introduction (2nd ed.) Boulder, CO: Westview.

Humm, Maggie (1990). The dictionary of feminist theory. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.

To register contact Esther Lichti at (phone: 742-2404 ext. 278; email: elichti@hs.ttu.edu)

Course Objectives: This course is designed to assist students to:

1. Examine how knowledge is constructed and deployed.

2. Examine how interdisciplinary feminist perspectives inform research methods.

3. Examine how feminist analysis redefines traditional categories and disciplinary concepts through its attention to gender and other social categories social as race, class, culture, sexual orientation, and age.

4. Explore practical guidelines for feminist interventions for social change and policy revision.

5. Find, formulate, limit, and state a research problem from a feminist perspective; conduct critical literature reviews; and select/combine appropriate research methodologies informed by the course readings and discussion and with an understanding of research design parameters for procedures to collect, analyze, interpret, and present information.

Course Issues and Topics

The following questions will be addressed in the course and will guide discussions of reading assignments:

1. Are there feminist methods?

2. What counts as evidence? What sources do feminist scholars look to for information?

3. What do we do to the objects of our research?

4. What questions guide feminist research?

5. What is the relationship between the object of research and the researcher?

Course Requirements & Evaluation: (Guidelines for each will be provided.)

20%	Preparation for class with reading assignments completed
20%	Conduct a search on a specific research problem - prepare an outline of a lit review chapter based on a problem statement & code your documentation from the search
20%	Critique 3 journal articles each with a different research design to make explicit how they are or are not examples of the use of feminist methodologies
20%	Essay: Interview(s) on a feminist issue and reflections on "What makes it feminist methodology?"
20%	Final: Write & present a preliminary research proposal including the proposed research design

Use Email Communication in this Course To:

(Use ATLC terminals or your own computer & modem (or hardwired dorms).

1. Connect with others: professors, students, listservs (both informal and scholarly exchanges)

2. Send resources to others and receive them too.

3. Ask questions, get feedback, or give comments & feedback

4. Network with a global community

Readings:

Required Text:

Reinharz, S. (1992). Feminist methods in social research. New York: Oxford University Press.

Additionally visit the topical linked bibliography

Reading Packet: Students are required to purchase a reading packet consisting of selections from the following sources--it will be ready on 1/19/2001 at Copy Outlet, 2402 Broadway (744-7772) (open 8-8 on M-F and 8-5 on Sat.) The first reading from the packet will be for 1/25/2001.

Callaway, H. (1981). Women's perspectives: Research as re-vision. In P. Reason & J. Rowan (Eds.), Human inquiry: A sourcebook of new paradigm research (pp. 457-471). New York: Wiley & Sons.

Collin, G. and Sandell, R. (1997). Feminist research: Themes, issues, and applications in art education. In S. D. La Pierre and E. Zimmerman (Eds.). Research methods and methodologies for art education. Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.

Elam, D. (1994). Feminism and deconstruction: Ms. en Abyme. New York: Routledge.

Fonow, M. M. & Cook, J. A. (Ed.) (1991). Beyond methodology: Feminist scholarship as lived research. Blomington, IN: Indiana U.

Hesse-Biber, S., Gilmartin, C., & Lydenberg, R. (Eds.), (1999). Feminist approaches to theory and methodology: An interdisciplinary reader. New York: Oxford university Press.

Koloski-Ostrow, A. O. & Lyons, C. L. (Eds.). (1997). Naked truths: Women, sexuality, and gender in classical art and archaeology. New York: Routledge.

Lather, P. (1991). Getting smart: Feminist research and pedagogy within the postmodern. Westport, CT: Bergin & Gavey.

Nielson, Joyce McCarl (1990). Feminist research methods: Exemplary readings in the social sciences. Boulder, CO: Westview.

Ribbens, J. & Edwards, R. (Eds.) (1997). Feminist dilemmas in qualitative research: Public knowledge and private lives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Tomm, W. (1989). The effects of feminist approaches on research methodologies, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

Wolf, D. L. (Ed.) 1996. Feminist dilemmas in fieldwork. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. (TTU CALL NUMBER: HQ1180 .F45 1996

May & Diket (1997). Part I: "Teachers-as-researchers" & Part II: Action-Oriented Study as Research (pp. 223-245). In S. D. La Pierre & E. Zimmerman (1997). Research methods and methodologies for art education. Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.

McNiff, J. (1988). Action research: Principles and practice. New York: Routledge.

Oja, S. N., & Smulyan, L. (1989). Collaborative action research: A developing approach. London: The Falmer Press.

Sagor, R. (1992). How to conduct collaborative action research. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Stringer, E. T. (1996). Action research: A handbook for practitioners. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Tripp, D. (1990). Socially critical action research. Theory into Practice, 29(3), 158-166.

van Manen, M. (1990). Beyond assumptions: Shifting the limits of action research. Theory into Practice, 29(3), 152-157.

van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action research pedagogy. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Required Equipment:

Students must have access to a standard tape recorder and should purchase at least two 60-minute tapes.

Attendance Policy:

Attendance is very important and required. We only meet once a week! Much of the content of the course happens in class. In-class experiences can not be made up. Students will be expected to arrive on time and be present for all class sessions. Two absences or reoccurring lateness will mean that a letter grade will be deducted from the final grade for each additional absence. If you need to be excused from class for religious reasons or due to TTU sponsored activities, TTU policy asks that you provide a written note prior to the absence and make up the work.

Attendance at professional conferences in your field is encouraged; therefore your absence in class for such attendance is excused with prior arrangements.

Academic Integrity:

Americans with Disabilities:

Health and Safety Policy:

Every effort will be made to comply with the intent of state laws or acts and the University Health and Safety Program in an effort to maintain a safe academic and working environment. Information and awareness of safety factors will be included in the course content when applicable. Know before an emergency happens if your insurance requires you to use a specific hospital's emergency room. The campus emergency number is 9911. Emergency call boxes are in the Art Building basement by the restrooms, and in the subbasement near the woodshop and the photo area. Another is located on the fifth floor of the Architecture Building. Flashing lights and an alarm inside a building mean fire. Exit quickly. An outside alarm is a tornado warning. Go to the sub-basement, not outside. For safety reasons, children, pets, and bikes are not allowed in labs. Rollerblades and skateboards are not allowed in buildings. When assisting a person who is bleeding, use disposable gloves which are in the first aid kits in the labs. All accidents must be reported to Safety Coordinator, Robert Terrell. Solvents go in the cans in the art building painting lab room 103 never in 201 sinks or the ground. There is a big yellow flammable cabinet in 103 for disposal of solvents. Clean clay boards and tools while clay is wet. When working with dry powders (e.g., plaster, clay, paint) avoid breathing dust by wearing a gauze mask.