ENC 6938

Gender, Texts and Technology

Spring 2006

Professor: Melody A. Bowdon, Ph.D. Course URL: http://reach.ucf.edu/~enc6938c/

Email: mbowdon@mail.ucf.edu Office: Colbourn Hall 307G

Phone: (407) 823-6234 Office Hours: M 1:30-3:30 p.m.; W 6:00-7:00 p.m.

Description of Course

This graduate seminar will explore questions about relationships among texts, science, technology, and gender. Through research students will address questions about ways in which gendered bodies are created in and through scientific languages, ways in which gender affects and is affected by technology use among individuals and within institutions, ways in which dominant psychological and economic theories create and reflect gender, and ways in which 20^th and early 21^st century gender theorists have deployed essentialist, constructionist, and postmodern theories to accomplish their political and intellectual goals. We will place particular emphasis on gender construction in the digital age. Our explorations will move from three launching points: postmodern gender theory, historical relationships between technology and gender, and theoretical and practical implications of these ideas for T&T scholars and practitioners.

Our course readings are complex and multi-layered. I will regularly assign in-class writing tasks to launch discussion. The texts we read will require significant study and deliberation and they are likely to raise issues that will spark controversy. I expect all students to come to class ready to participate respectfully in intellectually challenging and lively discussions that invite high-level learning. I will occasionally substitute virtual class experiences for face-to-face meetings in order to allow students to experiment with some of the technologies we will discuss.

Course Materials—Required Texts

Balsamo, Anne. Technologies of the Gendered Body.

Haraway, Donna. The Haraway Reader.

Oldenziel, Ruth. Making Technology Masculine.

Schiebinger, Londa. Nature’s Body: Gender in the Making of Modern Science.

Stone, Allucquere. The War of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age.

Turkle, Sherry. Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet.

Additional materials provided electronically

Online Journal Responses

During most weeks of the semester you will write a 150-300 word response in the appropriate WebCT discussion area prior to coming to class. Responses may include brief summaries, but should primarily focus on interpretation and application of ideas in the readings. Each post should contain a clear argument supported by textual evidence, but you can experiment with a wide range of approaches. You may decide to link these commentaries together using a theme or a mapping system of some kind. You may decide to address ideas from class discussions or other students’ response papers in your texts. You may decide to enact a theory from one of the readings in your paper somehow. This is a good opportunity to explore writing style options that you may want to employ in your major project.

Online participation represents 25 percent of your course grade. This will include these formal responses as well as your engagement with other students’ discussion comments and response papers. Some of these assignments include articles by more than one author. In these situations you may write your response to the essays as a group or you may focus on one or more of the essays in detail. If you choose to look at only one essay, please situate it within the group of texts. Proofread before posting. Each student gets one free “pass” week.

Class Presentation

Each student in the course will be responsible for presenting a 20-30 minute report on a book beyond the required readings. This presentation should include a brief description of the book, including details such as the organization scheme, the disciplinary placement, and an overview of its critical arguments. Reports should include explanations of ways in which the books intersect with, contradict, or augment our class readings and some ideas about how the book might be useful to students in the class as they work on their research projects. Reports should also include some explanation of the significance of the text, briefly highlighting critical reception and citation when appropriate. It’s smart to provide some kind of handout to supplement the oral portion of your presentation, and you’re welcome to use PowerPoint and other tools if you choose to. Several books are suggested in the class schedule below, but you may select others with my approval.

Gendered Technology Artifact

Each student in the course will design, produce, create, modify, or otherwise bring into being an artifact that makes a point about relationships between gender and technology. This could be a video or audio presentation, a visual text, a story, a toy, a movie, a webpage…The object must make involve new media tools; connect in some way to class readings and discussions; demonstrate relationships among gender, texts, and technology; and be thought-provoking. We’ll share these artifacts as they are produced over the semester and during the final class session.

Major Project

Each student will write one major essay over the course of the semester. The paper should be 15-20 pages long and must make a significant argument that addresses a question arising from the materials discussed in the course. Other kinds of projects involving technological innovations may be substituted for a traditional paper, but please discuss these alternatives with me far ahead of time to insure their viability in terms of research significance.

Grade Distribution

Assignment Percentage of Final Grade

Class attendance and participation in discussion 10

Online journals and reading responses 25

Class Presentation 10

Gendered Technology Artifact 15

Major Paper or Project 25

Final Exam 15

Grading Standards for Papers and Online Responses

• An A text is exceptional. It presents sophisticated and significant critique and is guided by a meaningful argument. It contains the required elements of the assignment, is written in an engaging style, is arranged in a logical manner, is memorable, and is visually appealing. It is free of mechanical errors.
• A B text is strong. It contains all required elements of the assignment. It is generally above average in terms of the criteria mentioned above, but falls short of excellence in one or more category. It is free of mechanical errors.
• A C text is competent. It contains all required elements of the assignment. It is generally average in terms of the major criteria listed above. It has few mechanical errors.
• Low C work is weak. It does not include the required elements of the assignment and it falls below average in terms of one or more of the major criteria.
• F work fails in terms of one or more of these criteria.

Other Policies

• I am always willing to meet with you about the course, your course projects, or any other issue of concern. If my office hours are not convenient for you we can schedule alternatives, including meeting in one of WebCT’s online chatrooms. Please let me know if you’d like to do this.
• Attendance is a critical part of this course. If you miss more than two class sessions your grade will be in jeopardy.
• I do not accept late papers except in cases of documented medical emergencies.

Course Schedule

*Online Journal Due

Date	Topic	Readings for Discussion
Jan. 11	Course Introduction Mapping Gender and Technology
Jan. 18	Gender in a Virtual World: Problems and Possibilities	*Balsamo, Anne. Technologies of the Gendered Body.
Jan. 25	Virtual Class	Meet in selected cyberspaces
Feb. 1	Constructions of Gender and Bodies	*Readings: · Laquer, Thomas. Making Sex. Chapter Two: “Destiny is Anatomy.” pp. 25-62. · Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble. Chapter One: “Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire.” pp. 1-34. · Grosz, Elizabeth. Volatile Bodies. Chapter Eight: “Sexed Bodies.” pp. 187-210. Reports: Foucault, Michel. History of Sexuality. Colapinto, John. As Nature Made Him.
Feb. 8	Desire, Subjectivity, and the Machine.	*Stone, Allucquere R., The War of Desire and Technology at the End of the Mechanical Age. Reports: Gray, Chris Hables. Cyborg Citizen. Hayles, N. Katherine. How We Became Posthuman. Treichler, et al. The Visible Woman.
Feb. 15	Textual/Technological Constructions of Gender in History	*Schiebinger, Londa. Nature’s Body. Reports: Schiebinger, Londa. Has Feminism Changed Science?
Feb. 22	Science and Feminism	*Readings: · Howes, Elaine. Connecting Girls and Science. Chapter Three: “To Be a Good Scientist: Objectivity and Empathy.” · Pursell, Carroll. “Feminism and the Rethinking of the History of Technology. · Fox Keller, Evelyn. “Making a Difference: Feminist Movement and Feminist Critiques of Science.” · Harding, Sandra. “Rethinking Standpoint Epistemology: What is ‘Strong Objectivity’?” Reports: Harding, Sandra. The Science Question in Feminism. Harding, Sandra. Whose Science? Whose Feminism?
March 1	Women, Technology, and Cyborgs	*Haraway, “A Manifesto for Cyborgs” and “Modest_Witness@Second_ Millennium.Femaleman_Meets Oncomouse.” Informal reports on other chapters in The Haraway Reader.
March 8	Gender and the Machine	*Turkle, Sherry. Life on the Screen : Identity in the Age of the Internet. Reports: Plant, Sadie. Zeros and Ones: Digital Women and the New Technoculture. Adam, Alison. Artificial Knowing: Gender and the Thinking Machine.
March 15	No Class	Spring Break
March 22	Gender and the Machine	*Virtual Class: Experiment with gender constructions in chatrooms, games, etc. Wakeford, Nina. “Gender and the Landscapes of Computing in an Internet Café.”
March 29	Gender, Technology, and History	*Oldenziel, Ruth. Making Technology Masculine. Reports: · Horowitz, Roger. Boys and Their Toys: Masculinity, Class, and Technology in America. · Mohun, Arwen P., Steam Laundries.
April 5	Gender, Technology, and History	Readings · McGaw, Judith. “Why Feminine Technologies Matter.” · Lerman, Nina E. “Industrial Genders: Constructing Boundaries.” · Stanley, Autumn. “Women Hold Up Two-Thirds of the Sky: Notes for a Revised History of Technology.” Reports: Wosk, Julie. Women and the Machine: Representations from the Spinning Wheel to the Electronic Age. Lupton, Ellen. Mechanical Brides: Women and Machines from Home to Office.
April 12	Technology, Medicine, and Femaleness.	* Teresi and McAuliffe, “Male Pregnancy.” Also, choose a chapter from one of the following or another text on this topic to discuss. Reports: · Ehrenreich and English. For Her Own Good. · Maines, Rachel P. The Technology of Orgasm. · Patton, Cindy. Last Served? Gendering the HIV Pandemic. · Tone, Andrea. Devices and Desires: A History of Contraceptives in America. · Wells, Susan. Out of the Dead House.
April 19	Reports: Images of Sex and Gender in Science Fiction Cinema Papers Due Preparation for Final Exam	Reports: Penley, Constance. NASA/TREK. Speculative/Science Fiction. DeLauretis, Teresa. Technologies of Gender.
Final Exam