This page requires Javascript to run! Please get Netscape 2.0 or greater!The First Term Seminar
The First-Term Seminar introduces entering students to the challenges of the academic conversation they will share with their peers, faculty, texts and traditions for the next four years. They will encounter enduring questions of values and--as they learn to respond with critical thinking, writing, and speaking--learn to recognize and evaluate their own values. As stated in the mission statement of the college, Gustavus seeks “to provide an education which combines rigor and innovation, integrates the development of values with intellectual growth, and makes apparent the connectedness of academic disciplines.” In a small, highly interactive class at the beginning of their college experience, students will develop both the skills and the attitudes they need to engage fully in the liberal arts-based curriculum mandated by the mission statement of Gustavus Adolphus College.
Five components contribute to the larger goal of inculcating in first-year students the skills of the liberal arts for acquiring, interpreting, communicating, and evaluating knowledge. The first three allow students to develop the skills necessary to academic and civil life: improved critical thinking, writing, and speaking. They attempt to encourage students to be active in their own education. The final two offer students help in finding coherence among potentially chaotic sets of curricular choices: an emphasis on values and improved first-year advising.
Courses approved to be First-Term Seminars must meet the following criteria:
1. Critical thinking: Participation in the First-Term Seminar will develop in students the habits of critical thinking that are central to the liberal arts: the ability to identify and question underlying assumptions, to consider a number of contexts in which statements are made, to analyze implications, to propose alternative perspectives.
2. Writing: First Term Seminars offer students intensive practice in the primary medium for intellectual discourse, writing. Students engage in brief formal writing exercises (usually from three to five separate assignments), which develop useful writing processes for such tasks as summary, analysis, reasoning, persuasion, and library research. First Term Seminars also qualify as WRITI (Writing Intensive) courses.
3. Speaking: First-Term Seminars offer all students a small, discussion-oriented class and acquaint them with college as a place for active participation in discussion. Students will also make brief formal presentations.
4. Values: First-Term Seminars encourage students to reflect on the values inherent in a particular body of knowledge, to recognize the social, moral and ethical implications of that knowledge, and to move toward intellectual, emotional and relational commitments.
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5. First-year advising: First-Term Seminars serve as first-year advising groups. Faculty will help students plan coherent general education programs, advise them in exploring possible majors, and direct them to advisors in their proposed majors as necessary. First-Term Seminars could also appropriately encourage students to see that the College has concern for more than required courses and grades by engaging the class in discussion of campus events and issues.
FTS100 - The Psychology of Gender - Dr. Richard Martin, Instructor
Instructor's Hours:
I am available to meet with you at almost any time other than when I teach class. I am in my office more often than not. If you stop by and I am there, I will be happy to meet with you, but I suggest that you see me after class or email me to make an appointment. I will not respond to voicemail, but you are certainly free to phone me. My number is 7411.
General Information:
This course is designed as a broad introduction into the study of gender similarities differences, and it will be necessary to cover a great deal of material in a relatively short period of time. Classroom activities will follow the same general outline as the reading assignments in the text. Students who keep pace with the reading will have an advantage in understanding the material. The Textbook will be using is Gender: Crossing Boundaries by Grace Gallilano,
Class Attendance:
DAILY class attendance is expected. Research papers will be assigned for each class day missed.
My Philosophy for the FTS Class:
all too often students think that the professor is the expert and that the student plays a passive role in accepting what she or he has to say. Although it is true that the professors like to know much more than the student they cannot know everything and the more interesting classes at those in which students feel they have something important to contribute. We can vary the class schedule and routine based upon suggestions and ideas of class members.
Class Format:
The class will be run as a discussion class as much as possible. At times you will be asked to lead a discussion on material assigned for a particular class day. This will require you to be thoroughly familiar with the reading assignments for that day. Each day for students will be chosen as gadflies for the class. their task is to stimulate conversation concerning the topic and reading for the day. When the student is chosen as gadfly he or she is expected to either ask stimulating questions of the group might consider or to make points that might be of interest to others.
Written Assignments:
Informal Writing Assignments.
Personal Logs. It is my opinion that writing improves the more practice one has doing it, but writing about things may have more effects than just helping you to become a better writer. Recent research shows that writing about emotional experiences can be therapeutic. It is conjectured that we often inhibit our emotional components connected with troubling events and this can be stressful. Writing about these events can be a way of working through an understanding of why we feel the way we do, helping us to process the events of our lives and perhaps providing us with more effective ways of dealing with them. To provide you with more opportunites to write as well as testing whether this works or not, I am requiring you to write personal logs on your experiences during this first semester. When I read them I will be looking primarily how they are written and how effective you are in communicating your thoughts. How dramatic your life is will not be a factor. Although these essays will be held in confidence it is not meant to to be an invitation to bare your soul. Length will be determined by you but it is expected that each log will be equivalent to one page or more.
Responses to articles and Assignments. Articles assigned on the web site will require responses in writing for credit. The response should be a reaction on your part to the information presented. What is the author saying in the article and what implications does it have for your thinking about the topic. Length should be approximately a half page.
All personal logs and responses to articles must be sent to me as emails. FTS should appear somewhere in the subject line.
Formal Writing Assignments.
Essays. From time to time I will assign topics for essay papers. These will be due on Wednesdays by 10 in the morning. Papers should be written using Word or similar word processor and should be submitted as an attachment to an email. On these Wednesdays we will break into small groups and students will read their papers to other members of the class who will comment first on the ideas presented and secondly ways the paper could be rewritten to better communicate what was intended. These papers will then be rewitten and submitted to me as final drafts on Friday. Essay papers will be graded Pass/fail. If you receive a fail you must rewrite the essay and turn it in a second time. I expect the final draft will have no spelling errors, very few grammatical errors, and that it will have something to say. To see the evaluation form I will use click here. For help in evaluating peer writing click here.
Research Paper. Each student will write an in-depth paper on a topic on gender using academic journals in our library and on the WEB. The body of the paper will be 8+ pages long (12 pt Times Roman with 1 inch margins. Students will choose a suitable topic on an issue dealing with gender, and inform me of their choice no later than October 31. I have included a list of possibilities, but it is by no means exhaustive. Click here for details on writing the paper. It is important that you register your topic early, since I will not allow duplication of topics. Each paper must reference at least 12 articles. If you want to get to the library direcly, click here.
Class Presentation.
Each person will present a 8 -10 minute oral report of their research paper to the class using PowerPoint software. After each presentation, students will field questions on the topic from other members of the class. Be prepared! It would be wise to practice beforehand so that you present material smoothly and clearly. For details on the prsentation click here.
Testing and Grading:
The Personal logs, responses to articles, essays, and PowerPoint Presentations will be graded Pass/Fail (30 percent of grade). On occasions a student will write a particularly good response and in those instances they will receive a P+. This means that exta points will be added to their total. Late submissions will receive half credit. Research papers will receive letter grades (10 percent of grade). At the end of the semester I will also grade you for participation in class discussion (10 percent of grade). In addition, there will be four exams in the cours composed of multiple choice questions, completion items, and short essays (50 percent of grade).
The final grade for this course will be based on the total number of points earned. The letter grades will be determined on the basis of a student's percentage of the top score in the class. For example, if the top student in the class attained 300 points on the five examinations those students who attained 96% of that score, or a minimum of 288 points would receive A's. To pass the course a student must earn 65% of the top score, or in the case of my example, a minimum of 195 points.
Policy On Academic Honesty:
It is a rare occurrence when I have to deal with academic dishonesty but you should know my expectations and that any such transgression will be dealt with severely. It should be obvious that cheating on exams is dishonest, but it is also dishonest to copy another student's work, or represent someone else's work as your own, or to represent that you have completed work when that is not the case. Sanctions will include failing this course and a referral to the Associate Dean of the college.
Schedule of Assignments:
WEEK ONE
September 7 Introduction-Format of Class
September 9 Read article "Helicopter Parents" for class discussion. Email response required.
Personal Log Due by Midnight
WEEK TWO
September 12, 14, and 16.
How do we come to "know" things in science and "explain" phenomena? What is accepted as evidence?
Textbook:
Chapter 1, Thinking about Sex and Gender
Chapter 2, Studying Gender
Notes for Introduction and stats
Notes for Theories
Notes for writing exercises
Personal Log Due
WEEK THREE
September 19
Textbook:
Chapter 3, Theories of Gender
September 21 First Essay Due as an attachment to email 10 a.m.
September 23Personal Log Due, Midnight Friday
The log assignment is to complete a personal assessment of yourself. What are some of the things that you do very well, and are there areas you would like to improve? College is intended to be a time of exploration. Are there activities on campus you would like to attend, organizations you might consider joining, people you might want to meet, or maybe courses that you might want to take that you heard about from friends, that might encourage you to develop in a new and interesting way?
Final draft of first Essay due
WEEK FOUR
September 26, Exam on Chapters 1, 2, and 3.
September 28-29 Attend NOBEL
September 30 "Sociobiology"
Response to Nobel due by class time
No Personal Log Due This Week
WEEK FIVE
Textbook:
Chapter 4, Gender and the body
Notes for the biology of gender
Notes for cognitive differences
Class:
October 3
October 5
October 7 Read and respond to "Group Seeks to Alter SAT to Raise Girls' Scores"
Personal Log Due. It is likely that you have settled into established patterns of behavior in your life at Gustavus. Are they helpful? Are there changes you would like to make?
WEEK SIX
Textbook:
Chapter 6,Gender and Relationships
Chapter 5, Lifespan Gender Development
Class:
October 10
October 12, Read and respond to "Sex, Lies, and Conversation" by Deborah Tannen. Second hour we will visit the library
October 14 Personal Log Due. What have you been thinking about? Your choice of topic.
WEEK SEVEN
Notes for relationships
Class:
October 17
October 19 Second Essay Due
October 21 Second exam: Chapters 4, 5, 6. Final Draft of Second Essay due by Wednesday, October 26. No Personal Log Due
MIDBREAK
WEEK EIGHT
Turn in the topic of your research paper by the end of the week (October 28).
Textbook Readings for this section:
Chapter 7, Gender As Social Performanc
Notes for emotions and aggression
Chapter 8, Gender and Sexuality
Notes for Sexuality
Chapter 13, Gender and the Media
Class:
October 26
October 28 Read and respond to the article: "What about girls? Are they really not aggressive?"
Personal Log Due. What did you do over the break and how did it feel coming backe to Gustavus?WEEK NINE
Class:
October 31, Turn in references for 6 articles you intend to use in your research Paper.
November 2- No class 3:30-4:20.
November 4, Turn in tentative outline of your paper, No Personal Log DueWEEK 10
Textbook:
Class:
November 7
November 9,
November 11 Turn in two or more pages of rough draft
WEEK 11
Textbook Reading for final section of course:
Class:
November 14, Exam on chapters 7, 8, and 13
Class:
Chapter 9, Gender and Education
Notes to gender and education
Chapter 10, Gender and Work
Notes to gender and work
Class:
November 16 Read and respond to "Where the boys are." by Cathy Young
November 18 rough draft of current progress on your research paper due
WEEK 12
Class:
November 21
November 23 THANKSGIVING - No ClassWEEK 13
Class:
November 28 Welcome back. Personal log.
November 30
December 2, Exam Chapters 9 and 10, and lectures.
WEEK 14
This week will be spent working on your presentations and papers. Each of you will signup for an individual meeting with me and bring both a rough draft of you paper and your Powerpoint presentation .
Class:
December 5 Individual meetings
December 7 Individual meetings.
December 9 Presentations.
WEEK 15
December 12 Presentations: Daniel Tewalt, Maren Balk, Kayla Timm, Nichole Vogler, Jason Pitt, Luke Dedo, Eric Johnsen, Riley Karbon.
December 14 Presentations: Carly Ernst, Rachael Flohrs, Vwaire Orhurhu, Daniel Barthell, Ryan Kotnik, Daniel Forest, Rosanna Tauke.Final Exam: Friday, December 16, We will meet as a class in our usual classroom at 8:30 a.m. We will discuss what you have learned about gender.
Finished drafts of papers due and last personal log on the topic: How have the last five months gone for you? Are you sasitfied with where you are at? What are your thoughts about your future at Gustavus?