GenderandCommunication

SPCM 300
instructor Kalie McMonagle
e-mail kaliem@rams.colostate.edu
office BSB A208

AbouttheCourse
This course will dive into how men, women, and others perform gender, with a specific emphasis on how
they communicate their gender. Towards this pursuit, the course will cover the construction of gender, key
historical moments which contribute to our current understanding, and current application of
communication within gender.

CourseObjectives
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
Recall key moments in the history of gender movements in the United States
Understand and apply key gender communication theories
Utilize a new vocabulary of gender-inclusive language
Understand the relationship between gender performance and society
Engage gender performance with ethical considerations of other positions

RequiredTexts
Wood, Julia. Gendered Lives. Boston: Wadsworth, 2013.
DeFrancisco, Victoria and Catherine H. Palczewski. Communicating Gender Diversity: A Critical Approach.
London: Sage Publications, 2007.
Various RamCT readings

Assignments
Quizzes (60 points)
During the course the semester there will be 4 reading quizzes. You have advance notice of quizzes 2 class
periods previous. However, quizzes may cover any readings from that unit. Students are not able to make
up in-class quizzes without an excused absence. Excused absences are given for illness, family
emergencies, or sanctioned university activity with a written note excusing your absence.
Explorations (80 points)
During the course of the semester you will have 4 opportunities for exploration assignments. You will need
to complete 3 out the 4 and give a 5-7 presentation of one to the class. Explorations require you to reflect,
connect, and apply the previous units readings and class discussions. An exploration can be a 3-4 page
paper, but could also be:

 studying and participating in different gendered, trending hashtags on Twitter

creating a painting, embroidery piece, writing a series of poems
designing a human relations training that covers the key topics
your choice
Any alternative explorations (outside of a paper) must be discussed with me at least two class periods prior
to the due date.
Manifesta (100 points)
Your final for the class will be a 7-8 page paper that analyzes an artifact for its strategies and messages
about gender.
Participation (60 points)
Each day in class, you are required to participate in discussions and activities. Theres no formal
attendance policy, but participation points can not be awarded to students who are simply absent, mentally
and physically. Arrive on time, prepared to discuss the readings, and to contribute mindfully to the class
environment. Points will be assigned based on contributions to discussion and participation in activities.
Each contribution will be given 5 points towards your total grade.
Late Assignment Policy
No points will be given for late assignments.
Attendance Policy
This class has no formal attendance policy. Students are responsible for their own attendance in the class
and coming to class prepared having read the readings for that day.

FinalCourseGrades
270-300 A
240-269 B
210-239 C
180-209 D
179 and Below F

OtherCourseInformation
Student Conduct Policy
As second-wave feminists were apt to say, the personal is political. With this in mind, its important to
remember that this class seeks active, engaged, and authentic discussions. This means that throughout
discussions, students are expected to enter ready to hear other perspectives, recognize that everyone in
the class has value, and everyone has the right to make decisions in their own life. Students will co-create
a set of class expectations for conduct and will be held accountable to that throughout the semester in
order to make a safe space.
Academic Honesty
Please see the Universitys Policy on Academic Integrity as described in the Universitys General Catalog
(http://www.catalog.colostate.edu/ ). You are responsible for producing your own work. This policy can be
violated through cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized possession of academic material, falsification, and

facilitating others violation of this policy. Failure to comply with university policy will result a variety of
academic penalties, which could include a failure of an assignment, class, or further consequences within
the institution. Please see your instructor with any questions.
Disability, Access, or Learning Accommodation
I am happy to accommodate any disability accommodations in line with university policy. Please speak
with me before/after class or during office hours within the first week of the course. Youll need to contact
the office of Resources for Disabled Students (RDS) [970-491-6385 V/TDD; 100 General Services Building;
http://rds.colostate.edu/]. Then deliver the provided written documentation specifying needed
accommodations to me. Accommodations can only be granted to a student through proper documentation
from RDS.

TentativeCourseSchedule
Gender Foundations
(Wood) Chapter 1-2
(DeFrancisco) Chapter 1-2
Gender Movements in the United States
(Wood) Chapter 3-4
(RamCt) Minh-ha, Trinh T. Woman, Native, Other: Writing Postcoloniality, and Feminism. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 2007.
Quiz & Exploration 1
Gender and Communication
(Wood) Chapter 5-6
(DeFrancisco) Chapter 3-4
(RamCt) Foss, Sonja K. and Cindy Griffin. Beyond Persuasion: A Proposal for Invitational Rhetoric.
Communication Monographs, 62 (1995): 2-18.
Intersectionality
(RamCt) Moraga, Cherrie and Gloria Anzaldua. This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of
Color. Watertown: Persephone Press, 1981. PDF.
(RamCt) Crenshaw, Kimberle. Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique
of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics. Feminist Legal Theory. Ed. Kelly D.
Weisberg. Philidelphia: Temple University Press, 1993. 383-395.
(RamCt) Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Feminist Thought. New York: Routledge, 2000. Print.
Quiz & Exploration 2
Institutionalized Gender
(Wood) Chapter 7
(DeFrancisco) Chapter 5
Education
(Wood) Chapter 8
(DeFrancisco) Chapter 8

Quiz & Exploration 3

Family
(Wood) Chapter 9
(DeFrancisco) Chapter 7
Work
(Wood) Chapter 10
(DeFrancisco) Chapter 9
Quiz & Exploration 4
Media
(Wood) Chapter 11
(DeFrancisco) Chapter 11
Manifesta