Office: 712 Pray Harrold, x 0012 Hours: Tues 3:00 – 4:00, Th 6:00 – 7:00
& by appointment. Please feel free to approach me & ask a question when
I am in the Mudd House coffee shop, or drop me an e-mail
DESCRIPTION
This class is an in-depth study of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. It
recognizes that a disproportionate number of the victims are women, but that a
strict feminist analysis needs to be modified to recognize abuse in same sex
relationships and a growing literature on female offenders. A single semester
devoted to this topic cannot be ‘comprehensive’ because the amount and forms
of abuse are myriad. The goal is to (1) provide an overview into many facets of
the problem, theories, and appropriate responses; (2) take an in depth look at
the perpetrators; and (3) examine some of the larger cultural contexts within
which the varieties of abuse occur.
Students have a wide range of academic and personal motivations for enrolling
in this class, so it is designed to give flexibility in pursuing individual
topics. The required readings are meant to create some foundation of common
knowledge and the regular papers are to help ensure that discussions maximize
the limited time available to study the topic. Seminar participants are
encouraged to share their experiences and additional knowledge. Everyone has a
role as co-teacher and it is expected that much of the learning will be from
your peers.
REQUIRED READING
Laura O’Toole and Jessica Schiffman (eds). Gender Violence:
Interdisciplinary Perspectives. New York University Press 1997.
0-8147-8041-5.
Diana Scully. Understanding Sexual Violence: A Study of Convicted Rapists.
Routledge, Chapman & Hall 1990. 0-04-445846-0.
Healey, Smith & Sullivan. "Batterer Intervention: Program Approaches
and Criminal Justice Strategies" National Institute of Justice
http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/168638.txt
Barrie Levy (ed). Dating Violence. Seattle: Seal Press 1998.
1-508005-001-8.
Additional required readings will be from the Internet. Even though you do
not have to buy them, they are still required.
REQUIREMENTS
45% Attendance & Participation (including weekly papers and internet
based papers)
35% for a 15 page term paper on the topic of your choice using research from
an interview, the internet and one paper source not mentioned on this syllabus.
(These requirements are the minimum ones, so you are free to integrate
information from class reading, library research and the internet as well.)
20% final paper of 5-7 pages based on ‘Violence in the Garden’ by Polly
Peachum
Regular weekly papers should be 1 –2 typewritten pages that contains
two or three of the quotes from the reading you found most provocative along
with several sentences of commentary about why that quote that interested you.
The narrative with the quote can also include any questions you had as you were
reading. The idea of this paper is to ensure students have done the reading and
some level of reflection on it as preparation for class. Thus, it is important
to have them ready at the start of class and turn them in ON TIME. I will not
accept papers as email attachments; if you cannot be present, please put
them into my mailbox or FAX them to the department (487-7010). As the quality of
this seminar rests on participation and everyone is expected to be a co-teacher,
attendance is crucial. In addition, the syllabus mentions short papers based on
internet sites or searches. These are in addition to, not instead of, the
papers based on the reading.
The term paper is a research paper based on a topic you want to know
more about. The research for this paper will come from an interview, published
sources (journals and books) and the internet. Interviews can be over the phone
or in person. Please write down a list of questions in advance and be prepared.
Do not ask questions that could be easily answered by reading the organization’s
pamphlet. The paper should list the people you talked to, their title, the
organization they are affiliated with, and their contact information.
(Interviewing victims is also acceptable & I realize there may be
confidentiality issues.) For those students who work in the area of domestic
violence, please do not interview co-workers or people you routinely talk to
anyway. If you are feeling cynical or frustrated about all the violence, then
use the paper to examine interventions and solutions.
In the body of the paper, cite the interview as the person’s last name and
the year (Leighton 2000), then in the reference section include full
information: Leighton, Paul. 2000. Personal communication, 15 August.
More information on citing internet sources and avoiding plagiarism is from
the link on the opening page of http://www.stopviolence.com.
The final paper is based on a reading from the internet and is by a
woman writing to defend her position as a full-time contractual slave and sexual
submissive.
Education involves not just getting a degree but a search for truth, which
requires honesty and personal integrity. Thus, students at all times will behave
in accordance with EMU’s policy on Academic Integrity forbidding such
activities as plagiarism, fraud, cheating and knowingly assisting another
student who is engaged in one of these acts. Penalties can affect both your
grade in this class and your continued presence at the university. More
information on citing internet sources and avoiding plagiarism is from the link
on the opening page of http://www.stopviolence.com.
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
Circumstances sometimes require flexibility and students are responsible for
any departures that are announced in class.
Internet assignments are part of the required reading unless
otherwise noted.
Internet assignments listed here are for quick reference only. The
complete and ‘official’ versions of the assignment, with working
links and additional recommended resources, can be found through http://www.paulsjusticepage.com
- look for the EMU info section.
Jan 11 Introduction and Greeting.
Jan 18 O’Toole & Schiffman:
Part I, Introduction to sections 1 & 2 (including opening poems); ch 6
Scheffield; ch 11 Donat & D’emelio; ch 24 Jaffee, et al; ch 32 Kurz.
Levy: Part I, two stories
Internet exercise on global issues
Jan 25 O’Toole & Schiffman: ch
2 Kaufman; ch 5 Messerchmidt; ch 13 Pelka; ch 20 Whittaker
Internet exercise about men’s groups that are working against battering,
rape and men’s violence against women
Feb 1 O’Toole & Schiffman:
Part II, Introduction to Section 2; ch 12 Adise; Scully, ch 1 – 2; Levy, from
Part III read Gallers & Lawrence
Internet exploration about the topic for your term paper.
Feb 8 Scully, ch 3-5
Internet exercise about date rape drugs
Feb 15 Scully, ch 6 - 7 &
Afterword
Levy, Part II: Greene & Chadwick
Internet exercise how to help a rape victim
Feb 22 O’Toole & Schiffman:
Part II, Introduction to Section 3.
Levy: Part I, two stories; Part II, Gamache + Graham & Rawlings
NIJ: ch 1 & 2
Internet reading about the laws in Michigan
Internet exercise about he next topic that should be added to the
stopviolence website
March 1 O’Toole & Schiffman:
ch 17 Dobash; ch 18 hooks; ch 19 Renzeti
NIJ: ch 3
Internet reading on Why Some Battered Women Sometimes Stay + the "Guide
to Domestic Violence and Risk Assessment"
Spring Break March 5-9
March 15
NIJ: ch 4 – 5;
Levy, Part II: Sugerman & Hotaling; White
Internet reading about Safety Plan
Internet exercise on batterer intervention programs
March 22 O’Toole & Schiffman:
ch 9 Gutek & Koss; ch 10 Quina.
Internet reading on sexual harassment
Internet exercise on sexual harassment
Take EMU’s online sexual harassment training and include the ‘certificate’
stating that
March 29 O’Toole & Schiffman:
29 Segal; ch 33 Brod; ch 28 Mackinnon
Due: regular paper
Internet exercise on pornography, prostitution & sex work
April 5 TERM PAPERS DUE
April 12 O’Toole &
Schiffman:ch 30 Miedzian
Levy, Part III: three chapters, your choice
Internet reading from the US Dept of Justice, Violence Against Women Office
Internet exercise to fulfill ideas for adding to the stopviolence website.
April 19 final paper due
When writer Rebecca Walker was browsing the Internet’s alt.sex.bondage
discussion group, she was impressed by the writing of Polly Peachum and asked
her for a chapter to be included in Walker’s book To Be Real: Telling the
Truth & Changing the Face of Feminism. Peachum’s chapter was on the
pleasure of being sexually submissive in a contractually subordinate
relationship that only her Master can end, and it was deleted from the book when
Walker (who liked the chapter) bowed to pressure from her editors. The writing,
however, is available on the Internet and will be the basis for the final paper,
whose general goal is to reflect on whether and in what ways such writings can
inform the study of domestic violence and sexual abuse.
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