WGST 399  Feminism in the Workplace                           Fall 2008

Name _______________________________________________________________________

Mid-semester reflections on the course so far (and your part in it)

Please write your thoughts about each of the following questions and bring your answers to class on October 8.  We’ll use them as the basis for class discussion.

1. So far, we've had three student-led facilitations (including the Facilitation on Facilitation) . Please comment on highlights from the readings.  Which have been most memorable, most relevant to your internship or your envisioning of your life?  Which have extended your WGS education in special ways?

2. WGS 399 aims to address the following areas of learning, all of which are part of the WGS program's learning goals:

• how gender norms shape social institutions and institutions, in turn, reproduce gender
• the impacts of intersecting systems of privilege and power (such as gender, sexuality, race, class, and nation) on what counts as knowledge in specialized fields of knowledge and practice
• historical and contemporary feminist strategies for resisting or transforming those systems

So far, what have we done that addresses these goals? What could we do during the latter part of the semester (through either the selection of readings or special activities) that will advance our work toward these goals, particularly taking us beyond the levels available to us in other WGS/gender courses?

3.  Comment on your experience looking for appropriate readings for the SOCS library or for a facilitation (if you've done one already).  What did you think of the readings made available on the reserve list, and the selections on SOCS?   What topics are not adequately covered? 

4.  The facilitation assignment asked you to devise a class session with four components—(1) a warm-up or check-in, (2) a “non-quiz,” (3) an open circle discussion, and (4) a closing.  Please review the assignment page and comment on your experience of these components, either as a facilitator or as a part of the group being facilitated.  Have facilitators followed through effectively on the four components?  Do they work?  What have been some highlights?  What doesn't work?  What needs to be changed about the format or emphasized more fully in the guidelines? 

6.  Early in the semester, we had a facilitation on facilitation, and our facilitators guided us in brainstorming guidelines for both facilitators and class members generally. How effectively do you think the group has been able to follow up on that discussion?  What do you think of the overall dynamics of the group? What have we done well as a group, and in what areas is there room for improvement?  What, if anything, would you add to our initial list (shown below)?

1. One person speaks at a time
2. Be respectful
3. Use "I" statements
4. Keep an open mind
5. What's said in the room stays in the room
6. Be honest, but sensitive
7. Maintain open lines of communication
8. Be proactive
9. Be accountable to one another

 

7. We have four unscheduled class sessions at the end of the semester that need to be planned during our midsemester reflections session. What should we do with those time slots? Here are some ways those extra sessions have been used in the past:

• A party/panel session with alumnae
• A mentors' panel (with members of the panel selected by class members)
• A film festival (showing one or more films relevant to the course)
• "Telling our stories"--class members relate their experiences on their internships
• Individual meetings with instructor instead of a class meeting
• A reflection session reviewing the semester
• A special event co-sponsored with a campus organization

What are some other ideas that you'd be willing to work on?

8. Anything I forgot to ask about for which you have a response....? Thanks!