General Education Course Planning Matrix

General Education Course Component Matrix

Department: History and Politcal Science Course Prefix/Number: POSC 245

Course Title: Gender and Politics

What General Education Goal is this course intended to address? ________Goal 9________________

Required Outcomes for this Goal

(list below)

Relevant Course/Institutional Components (refer specifically to course syllabus)

Specific Assessment Method for Outcome

1. Understand the culture, society, and history of groups outside of Western European tradition.

Material from lectures, tests, group work, and class discussion. This is specifically addressed in weeks 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10.

One substantive paper and powerpoint presentation addressing global constructions of masculinity and femininity (comparing western and non-western societies), essay and short-answer tests which ask students to define and give examples to illustrate different non-western gender constructs, and discussions about non-western cultures. Tracking/Reporting: The mean score on that question or those questions will be tracked.

2. Employ an appropriate vocabulary and rational argument to discuss issues involving race, nationality, gender, ethnicity, class, or sexual orientation.

Lectures highlight models of explanatory analyses, various disciplinary theories, and gender ideologies that discuss nationalism, racial constructions, body politics (sexuality), and the correlation between class and political action. This is specifically addressed in lectures on Gender and World Politics (Week 2), Gender and the State (Week 3), Gender and Democracy (Week 4), and Global Economy and Gender (Week 8).

During the semester, at least one test question will ask students to outline and explain major theories of gender and politics, using examples they have read from texts and learned in lectures which deal with race/ethnicity, nationality, gender, ethnicity, class, and sexual orientation.

Tracking/Reporting: The mean score on that question or those questions will be tracked.

Required Outcomes for this Goal (list below)	Relevant Course/Institutional Components (refer specifically to course syllabus)	Specific Assessment Method for Outcome
3. Understand the concepts of ethnocentrism	Required Readings and Discussion, specifically in weeks 4,11,12	At least one test question will ask students to apply their knowledge of gender and politics to a global context, comparing first-world, post-communist, and developing countries’ conceptions of gendered ethnocentrism. We will focus on both non-western and western concepts of ethnocentrism, which vary widely throughout the world. The mean score on that question will be tracked.
4. Differentiate between personal discomfort and intellectual disagreement in situations where cultures may conflict.	Lectures, reading assigments, and writing assignments. This will be a theme throughout the course of the semester, and we will address it in each class.	Tests, paper, and discussions will enable the students to prepare thoughts about how to differentiate between personal views/disagreements and scholarly debate/disagreement over cultural conflicts, especially in the realm of cultural imperialism. Tracking/Reporting: The mean score on those questions will be tracked.
5. Distinguish between facts and cultural assumptions relating to issues of diversity.	Lectures, reading assignments, and group work will help to explore comparatively, particularly in weeks 5, 6, 7, and 11.	At least one test question over the course of the semester will ask students to give specific examples comparing and contrasting how gender issues manifest themselves in diverse nations around the world, particularly focusing on how facts about different gender norms can be used to challenge basic cultural assumptions about gender norms and diversity that are constructed by different societies around the world. Tracking/Reporting: The mean score of that question will be tracked.

General Education Criteria	Relevant Course Components (refer specifically to course syllabus)
1. Teach a disciplinary mode of inquiry and provide students with practice in applying inquiry, critical thinking, problem solving	This course examines various intellectual approaches to the study of politics. This intellectual environment provides the context within which to discuss gendered theories of politics. Various theories of masculinism and feminism are then introduced and analyzed. Within this discussion, students are provided the opportunity to think critically about the extent to which the theories address the challenges of gendered divisions of political, social, and economic power.
2. Provide examples of how disciplinary knowledge changes through creative applications of the chosen mode of inquiry	As a means of providing context to the conceptual discourse, the course offers historical and contemporary examples from a wide range of political systems. The study of gender and politics moves beyond theory and considers the practice of gendered politics in various regions of the world (ie, Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East). The movements to remedy the gender gap in politics become a central piece of this study. Creative elements are introduced in the following terms: a) By combining historical and contemporary analyses to explain gendered politics in various political systems; b) By providing a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding gender and politics; c) By distributing essay questions which must be answered in the form of essay papers and must be based on the student’s own ideas of and solutions to gendered conflicts/problems; d) By requiring the research project to be based on diverse data from library and internet collections.
3. Consider questions of ethical values	The search for sustainable democracy and development, though defined variously, is a universal quest for most of the world’s political systems. This course engages students in an ethical discourse on the extent to which political freedom, political equality, and popular sovereignty are gender neutral. Furthermore, the course examines the extent to which economic democracy and social justice are gendered issues.

General Education Criteria	Relevant Course Components (refer specifically to course syllabus)
4. Explore past, current, and future implications of disciplinary knowledge	The above-stated foci underline the cross-cutting scope of the course. The course merges interdisciplinary knowledge in the disclosure of social, political, economic, and psychological consequences of the historical and contemporary conditioning processes of gendered politics.
5. Encourage consideration of course content from diverse perspectives	Not only does the course offer interdisciplinary study (e.g., social, political, and economic factors) of gender and politics, but it also provides students with an understanding of the various schools of thought within the masculinist and feminist political ideologies.
6. Provide opportunities for students to increase information literacy through contemporary techniques of gathering, manipulating, and analyzing information and data	Through the various course assignments, students are required to make use of computer technology. For example, students are expected to read internet news sources and make links between current events and class readings. In addition, they are required to make powerpoint presentations on their papers.

General Education Criteria	Relevant Course Components (refer specifically to course syllabus)
7. Require at least one substantive written paper, oral report, or course journal and also require students to articulate information or ideas in their own words on tests and exams	Students are required to make oral presentations and to write a substantive written paper. Students are not tested on their skills to memorize or regurgitate information but, rather, on their ability to think critically and to write cogently.
8. Foster awareness of the common elements among disciplines and the interconnectedness of disciplines	Please see numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
9. Provide a rationale as to why knowledge of this discipline is important to the development of an educated citizen	An important course for all undergraduate students entering BA and BS programs and for those seeking jobs with domestic and/or international focus/foci. The course offers students a broader understanding of the way in which human beings interact and the political challenges that are presented by interaction, particularly as it relates to powersharing (or lack thereof) and gender and society. This course should develop a kind of awareness among students among students that will allow them to be better global citizens.