SYLLABUS PAGE

• Readings: Online syllabus
  
• Assignments: Prepare to take the course by navigating the web site (that is, read through the course policies and all the assignments so that you have a sense of how the course works and can ask questions if anything is confusing), signing on to the class email list, and buying course materials. Reading Response 1: Introduce yourself to the others in the group. What do you think of when you read the words "Working Women"? What brought you to this class? Why did it interest you? What do you hope to get out of it?        

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Week 2

• Readings: Choose 3 articles to read from Glenn, Chang, and Forcey, Mothering: Ideology, Experience and Agency.
• Assignments: Resource Report 1: Summarize, Analyze, and Evaluate ONE of the articles you chose to read. Synthesize its argument with the other two you chose. Send your completed assignment to the class list.
  

• Readings: Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed.
• Assignments: Reading Response 2.
  

• Readings: Ehrenreich and Hochschild, Global Woman.
• Assignments: Reading Response 3.
  

• Readings: Albreda and Folbre, The War on the Poor: A Defense Manual.
• Assignments: Reading Response 4.
  

• Readings:  Ruiz, Working for Wages: Mexican Women in the Southwest, 1930-1980.
• Assignments; Reading Response 5.
  

• Readings: Choose three articles to read from Amott and Matthaei, Race, Gender, and Work.
• Assignments: Resource Report 2: Summarize, Analyze, and Evaluate ONE of the articles you chose to read. Synthesize its argument with the other two you chose.

• Readings: None
  
• Gather the work history of 10 women (adult friends and/or family of any age). Resource Report 3: Think critically about one of the interviews you did, focusing especially on synthesizing that information with at least one of the readings we've done this semester.
  

• Readings: Read the Report on the Status of Women in Arizona, 2000.
• Assignments: Reading Response 6: How do the work histories you have gathered fit into the larger picture of women and work in Arizona? Do you see any significant differences?
  

• Readings: Virtual Learning Center Tutorial on Excel.
• Assignments: Make an Excel chart that organizes the information you've gathered on work histories. Include age, race, nationality, marital status, and number of children in your chart as well as job type and income. Then create 3 significant statistics about the work history and experience of this group of people. Finally, provide a Statistical Analysis of the data you have organized.
  

• Readings: Read Becker and Monk, The 21st Century Workforce: Opportunity and Promise for Women.
• Assignments:  Reading Response 7: What do you think the future holds for the women you interviewed in terms of employment? How do you think work conditions will differ for women of their social status between the 20th and the 21st centuries? What kinds of careers will be open to them? How will motherhood affect women differently, if at all?
  

• Readings: Find three substantive news articles that shed light on the economic and work lives of the women you interviewed. (Don't look for specific correlation but rather larger issues and trends that affect their work.) Seek the articles in online newspapers or other news sources, including Arizona Daily Star, New York Times, London Times, Guardian, CNN, Pacifica News. (You will have to register to use some of these sources, particularly if you want to search past issues, but none of them charge a fee for registration.)
  
• Assignments: Reading Response 8: Report on what you learned, providing a critical reading of the articles you found (that is, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize). Did you notice that different news sources have different perspectives on issues? Can you identify those perspectives? How can you use this knowledge to be a critical consumer of the news?

• Readings: Begin work on your Term Paper by searching for resources to support your exploration of the topic you have identified. Your topic should draw information you gleaned through the interviews you conducted. Consult Ruth Dickstein's help page to launch your research (this is required, not optional). Remember that you need to find a range of resources (including articles from reference works [encyclopedias], scholarly journal articles, books, and web sites.

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• Assignments: Reading Response 9: Share your topic with the rest of the class. Include at least three questions you hope to answer through your research and a working thesis, that is, what you at this moment expect you will argue about your topic, given the work you have done on it thus far. This working thesis should always be open to change, and, indeed, you should plan to revise it repeatedly as you learn more about your topic, but it's essential to start out with some kind of game plan to focus your research. As the second part of your Reading Response, respond to one other person's posting (to be assigned) with some thoughtful questions and suggestions. For your third posting, respond to any other posting with questions or comments. (Make substantive, helpful comments. Praise for another's efforts is always a good place to start, but, in the end, suggestions for improvement or requests for clarification are more helpful to a researcher.)

• Readings: Continue to research and read.
  
• Assignments: Reading Response 10: Share your revised working thesis with the class, explaining why and how you have had to modify or elaborate on some of your earlier assumptions.  Then comment on others' research and theses.
  

• Readings: Complete your reading for the Term Paper.
  
• Assignments: Complete Term Paper. Send to professor and the rest of the class by email attachment.

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Week 16

• Readings: Read each others reports. Complete course evaluation.
  
• Assignments: Reading Response 11: Freeform discussion of what we've all learned this semester.