Learning and Writing vs. Writing for the Instructor

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There are always a few students in a class who are more concerned with writing for the instructor, than with writing something that they are keenly interested in or perhaps even believe. I feel a slight sense of frustration when I hear that they “just want a good grade.” This is a common lament among educators, so what do we do? Since the majority of the courses that I teach focus on gender, the students know that I am a feminist and hold feminist issues near and dear to my heart. Due to this, some of them sense that this bias is somehow more insidious than my Marxist’s colleagues beliefs.

What do I do? I tend to play devil’s advocate lots during lecture and try to push the students. Sometimes, gasp, I’ll even say things that I don’t necessarily believe, but I might want to instigate some discussion among the students. I hope that they leave the class with a better understanding of the concepts, yes. But, more so, I want them to leave better critical thinkers. And, this means that they don’t have to agree with me. Hopefully, some of the students working on their papers will read this and augment their papers accordingly. Don’t write for me. Write the for the argument–write the paper.

Big, Old, Bad Feminism

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What is it going to take to get more people to realize that feminism isn’t this monster out to brainwash your daughters and sons? I asked my Feminist Political Thought seminar class to ask people what they thought about feminism as part of a homework assignment. My word the responses have been funny to downright sad. I know that this means that the mainstream assumptions about feminism are just as strong as they were a generation ago. I joke with my students that this just means that I have job security. Actually, it would be great if I didn’t spend the first week of each “gender” class demonstrating why the class is necessary or how feminist political scientists have fought against the mainstream in order to pursue research related to gender.

What do we do? Well, I for one, will continue to teach the materials. Continue to talk to students in my office hours, when they are digesting the material or something that happened in another class, at work, or in their personal lives. You see, feminisms are personal and political (apologies to Carole Hanisch). I know that the material that we discuss in class causes interesting discussions for my students. This is why I suggested that the students in seminar have casual conversations with those around them. Some spoke to strangers and others struck up conversations with family members. These students are brave. They don’t all identify as feminists–and I don’t expect them to do so. Most probably identify as advocates of feminism or as social justice activists.

We just finished reading Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center by bell hooks. We have spent class time talking about the differences between identifying as a feminist and identifying as an advocate of feminism. The class didn’t seem to lean one way. There were positive and negatives with each type of label. The students, though, have added thoughtful points and responses to this classic book from hooks. And, lucky me, I get paid to have these sorts of discussions in my class or office hours. The points that hooks makes in the book are for the most part timeless. We are still working for equality and we are still working to get people to understand what social justice means.

We do have our work cut out, though.

Letting Go: Part II

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As I noted in an earlier post, I have given the Teaching Assistants working for me some more autonomy. By and large this has been successful. I need to better explain my expectations to each of the TAs and perhaps individually. One thing that continues to be extremely important–being available for a quick chat with a TA. I know that they appreciate this. It’s a constant learning experience for them and for me.

The increased autonomy gives them a sense of ownership with their job, their apprenticeship. And, I hope this translates into a better learning experience for each of the TAs and a good tutorial for the enrolled students. I’m really looking forward to Summer school and working with two TAs for the course. Teachable moments!

Work Attitudes

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For most of my academic career I was part of the contingent faculty. I am approaching my second year as regular, full-time faculty at my institution. When I was a part-time faculty member I took my job very seriously and felt a sense of obligation to the students more so than the university, my employer. Has this changed? Yes, it has. I have a stronger sense of loyalty to my employer, but this is compounded with an even stronger sense of loyalty or obligation to the students.

I have noted previously that I am content with my job and feel quite lucky to be part of the students’ higher education experience. But, I also have a sense of making this experience as seamless and supportive for them. At times I do occasionally feel like I am hitting my head against the wall. Yes, I am going to momentarily complain about the bureaucracy. There are rules about the major and overall degree program and I am here to help the students with the Political Science portion of their degree. My department has the least prerequisites of any department that I have worked for previously. This is good for the students; however sometimes the students will make a mistake and not take the proper courses and will find out about this later and in some classes, too late to graduate on time.

What I have been surprised to see–the unhelpful attitude from bureaucrats in the university. Sure, the student miscounted or misread the course list, but surely when a student is about to graduate we can make substitutions, right? No. Occasionally, it feels like Dr. Evil is the Bureaucrat–no, no, no, no. And, I think is a damn shame. Playing Devil’s Advocate, I suppose the university can (and does) say that the student should have known–should have checked, should have double checked. In the meantime, I will continue to balance my advocacy for students and the university.

Lipstick Feminism: Conversation Part II

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Dear Hollman: This is a great conversation.

The first thing is that both the writers you cite are writers and not feminist writers or feminist activists and Shalit is a known, out conservative, as well. They are coming from a particular viewpoint with their research. And, I have read both books and numerous articles from them. So, I am not just merely disagreeing with the statements. And, I have actually taught sections of Levy’s book in my Women’s Studies courses.

Yes, besides the want for equal pay, naming marital rape and date rape, lots of work detailed the negative consequences with the objectification of women and how this objectification was raced/classed/sizeist/ageist, etc.

Lipstick Feminism is not a real strand or “flavor” of feminism, but rather a critical comment or label lobbed at young feminists. Now the hearts and minds might be in the right place politically, but there also might an attention to consumerism. But, this is part of the generation—one author has referred to youth as consumnivores.

Particular to Girls Gone Wild and other discussions of this nature—in my opinion we’ve witnessed some folks running with language from feminists—agency, empowerment and the like and using it for their own benefit and part of this is the hypersexualization of girls and young women. We certainly don’t see feminist advocates saying that the women on “The Bachelor” are feminists, right?

Let’s continue this…what do you think?

Janni

Lipstick Feminism by Hollman Lozano~ A Conversation Part I

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Hi Janni,

I will love to hear from you on this issue and again, thanks for your time.

As I understand it, one of the biggest achievements of the feminist movement was to point out to the danger and consequences of the objectification of women. Precisely because it was not as evident as the lack of a vote, the debate over women’s objectification required a sustained and articulated explanation into the ins and outs of what objectification actually meant. I do believe that one of core tenets of feminism is equality and there could not be a serious discussion about equality, until objectification is comprehended and properly addressed. But it is precisely the point about objectification what makes me question, or at least remain critic of what has been called ‘lipstick feminism’. If one of the most important achievements of feminism was to point out and show the consequences of objectification, then in a sense ‘lipstick feminism will be a step on the opposite direction.   Perhaps I have a wrong view of what lipstick feminism is, mainly influenced by the reading of ‘female chauvinistic pigs’ of Ariel Levy and Wendy Shalit’s ‘girls gone mild’.

I do understand the context in which ‘lipstick feminism’ appears, namely as a backlash to the negative stereotypes about female sexuality that were created during the second wave, however, one could argue that ‘lipstick feminism’ has gone to the opposite direction. I find troubling to say the least, when women are told to demonstrate that they are ‘independent, active, mature, autonomous, free, feminist’ by flashing their breast on soft porn programs like girls gone wild, or by displaying girl-on-girl behavior in order to attract attention. I see that there is a point at which the exercise of one’s sexuality has a liberator power that not only asserts women’s identity, but also empowers them as they are able to choose within the wide array of options, which one fits them better. However, at which point ‘lipstick feminism moves too far and embodies, or accepts those tenets against which feminism fought.

Perhaps I am being –unaware of it- a conservative dull, who refuses to accept empowered women who take care of their sexuality and exploit it to the best of their benefit, however, I find troubling that magazines like ‘playboy’ are told to be ‘feminist’ because they display naked women an empower them to enjoy, display and live their sexuality. I do realize that at the beginning of Playboy, Hugh Hefner was an adamant advocate of liberties and the like, however, to which extent her daughter is hypocritically using her position to consolidate a view that portrays women merely as objects.

I agree that the term feminism should function like an umbrella term that is able to gather many different understandings of what feminism is, however, my question is, where we draw the line, if there is a line to be drawn. Perhaps we could use a different Aristotelian model and define the things not but what they are, but define them but what they are not.

Grading

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This last week I have graded more than 180 2-3 page paper proposals for my first year course, the Worlds of Politics. I have been quite pleased with a majority of the paper proposals. The students read the directions and responded accordingly. During the last two days, I also returned a good number of the assignments back to students and have reviewed their assignments with them. Honestly, this is one of the rewarding parts of my job. I enjoy helping the students with their writing and critical thinking. When I review the assignments with them, the vast majority of them appreciate this. And, then, this leads to a short discussion about their topic.

I think that office hours are completely under-rated. Office hours provide the perfect moment to connect with a student and demonstrate both my interest in the material and my want for the student to succeed. This isn’t about a woman faculty being good at “care” work. I know that I have had great office hour experiences with my mentors and some demoralizing ones with other faculty. Perhaps this is why I usually don’t have a problem when my office hours extend an extra 5-45 minutes. I’m fine doing this, when I don’t have to go teach a class or have to get kids at school.

Getting back to grading, I will admit that the marking process is frustrating when a student has not bothered to pay attention to the directions. I don’t enjoy not giving points because basic points outlined in the syllabus and text are not followed. This term I even included a sample strong paper proposal from last term and  know that this made a difference with the overall mean score. However, there were still some students who did not demonstrate that they had read the assignment. My hope is that with the next assignment the students will read the directions more clearly.

Community Engagement

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I am on the list of speakers or experts on the UVic Speaker’s Bureau brochure for this year. I have already given numerous talks to different organizations or schools around the greater Victoria area. I have to say that these talks have been a real blessing. It’s fun to get out in the community and chat about my areas of interest to people who are generally interested in hearing about them. Not having to lecture based on a evaluating the audience (students) is liberating. Had I realized how much fun this would be, I would have signed up earlier!

I really want to encourage my friends and colleagues to seriously think about joining the Speaker’s Bureau or getting more involved in their specific neighborhood groups and talking to schools, civic organizations, seniors or others who are interested in their topic. Academics by nature are a smart group and we live in our little academic silos away from one another. I’ve found the increased community engagement a positive reminder of how important it is for me to give back to the community. And, if this means an hour talk discussing: 2019 Mid-Term Elections, Obamamania, the connections between politics and YA Lit, or Twilight, then sign me up.

Making a Difference

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Last week was one of those weeks when I heard from four different former students. Two contacted me via Facebook and another I spoke to face to face. They all shared common sentiments–my class and the course materials made a difference. Previously, I’ve blogged or tweeted about these sorts of contacts. And, I have to say, I never get tired of the messages, emails or cards. It’s not about narcissism–no it’s really about the fact that feminism sometimes “ferments” and the student “gets” what I said or a reading finally makes sense during lecture, a month later, or 3 years later. The things that they remember are amazing, too.

I know that most instructors have days that we leave the classroom and we’ve owned it–we’ve rocked it. And, then there are other classes and you leave feeling  a little dejected. Things didn’t go as planned. These three students reminded me that for some of them the consequences of the class are there, but something happens to inspire them or remind them about the discussion. I am glad to know that I am making a difference in students’ lives–academically and personally.

Letting Go Part II

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I can give a deep yoga breath of relief. Letting go has been easy. The TAs seem happy with the increased autonomy. Glad to allow them more opportunities on their own. The test questions they suggested were good. And, I incorporated some of them into the exam. I think each time I work with a different group of TAs this will get easier and easier.

What the TAs hopefully understand is that they are crucial to the success of the class. A disorganized TA who is “phoning it in” will not perform as well. Our undergrads not only smell fear, but they also sense when you don’t want to be there. And, this extends to instructors. I was just chatting with a colleague from another department about our jobs and she concurred that academics are pretty lucky. I repeat: we get paid to talk, think, and write.

The TAs are lucky too, as they get to have such an important role in the students’ learning. My hope is that letting go allows the TAs to flourish and that they will try out things with the students.