Final SL Paper

Your paper should include:

·       Project Summary 30%: (500 words maximum; please be concise; note that much for this section probably already exists in your proposal and log, which I hope you will draw from here.)

o   Origins and scope of project: what did you plan to accomplish and why?

o   What exactly did you do?  How did the project evolve, what were the successes and limitations of your project and its goals, and what have you learned from that?

o   What was the significance of your project to the texts, themes, and goals of the course (ie: your research)?

o   How was your understanding of the texts/issues considered in the course upheld, complicated, or negated by the process of completing the project?

·       Synthesis 35%:  (Answer ONE of the following questions that most connects with your SL project.  This section should be approximately 500 words and should include textual support and/or documentation from one external resource besides our course texts.

o   What does a feminist definition of leadership look like?

o   What does the finding that women must embody both masculine and feminine styles of leadership imply for women’s ability to negotiate the labyrinth?

o   How do institutional frameworks shape how women and men engage in leadership?

o   How does popular culture shape the perceptions of women’s leadership?

o   What are effective strategies for women trying to overcome the limitations of “leadership” as it is currently constructed?

·       Reflection and connection 35%: (approximately 500 words)

• This section will consider the ways that experiences this semester, both in and out of class, including both the readings and the SL project you completed, impacted how you understand women’s leadership. 
• How does gender impact the way the you, as a person in the real world, imagine leadership? After this class, how would you define women’s leadership? Feminist leadership?  

Upon the Passing of a Knight.

Scholars,
   I have written and created a memorial space over on my other blog for WST 3015, a class that Kathy was also in. Please follow me over there so that we can have one space to grieve.

Media Watch Assignment: Putting her in Her Place (what place is that?)

We have been reading about the ways that women must walk a tightrope of gendered leadership in relation to work and political leadership. In essence, women and leadership are like the Sears advertising crisis of the 1990s they have to sell their softer side for a crowd that only associates them 

with tool belts.

In an election year, we are privy to an array of media frenzy about women in positions of power. Here is some discussion about the political war on women:

Go to the
The Diane Rehm Show and listen to the audio clip of the "Battle Over Women Voters."

So, what does the political “war on women” mean for women’s leadership?

For this assignment, I want you to research (at least three current *within this calendar year* news or entertainment mainstream media sources) the press on a political or public woman figure. Then, in 350-450 words write about your findings, thinking about:

What is it that people say about her? How is her leadership constructed? Do these media representations support Wilson and Eagli/Carli’s conclusions about women in positions of power (explain)?

Make sure to cite at least one of our course texts and to grapple with their ideas in your post. Also, make sure to post your works cited.

Service Learning Blog

Elements of Weekly Activism Log for Service Learning

You may Begin posting your weekly activism log entries this week. See syllabus for exact dates and the number of required posts. Limit weekly entries to 500 words. Divide your weekly log into three sections.

1. Activism: What happened this week? What kind of contact did you have with your community partner? What were your successes? What were your pitfalls? What do you think should be done next week to help you complete your project?

2. Reflection: How does the activism you’ve done this week relate to material we have discussed in class? How have the week’s events influenced way you view women's leadership? What do you believe is your community partner’s view of these issues? This is your opportunity to reflect on the impact your activism is making—on you and on the community. Connect what is happening to your growing academic knowledge in this course by incorporating the evidence from the text using MLA citation style.

3. Reciprocity: Remember that Service Learning is not a one way street.You are not simply giving something to the community partner. Think about what you personally are getting in return. How might this be defined from a feminist perspective?

While your Weekly Activism Log is a way for you to document and reflect on your activism and progress, it is most definitely not an outlet for aggression. The writing and reflection you do in your log should be constructive, and though you should include problems and setbacks (if there are any) please do so in a productive fashion—this is not an opportunity to rant, but rather an opportunity to reflect. Reflection is what transforms experience into learning. Finally, this log is a good resource for developing your final reflection paper due at the end of this course.

Leadership Profile Blog Post, Due February 16

Leadership Profile Assignment

In class we have been discussing the dominant cultural view of leadership and how that understanding of leadership might be challenged by gender. Further still, we have investigated what a transformational feminist view of leadership might look like.

We have begun to see how feminist women leaders must be accountable to their principals, values, and goals. What might it mean to be accountable to the goal of feminist transformation? How might women’s leadership be accountable to women?

In grappling with what feminist women’s leadership might mean, I want us to think about women leaders. I want us to know of them, to have their stories become the fabric from which we weave our own principals, values, and goals.

Alice Walker reminds us that each generation of women must scour back through history to find the legacies of “our Mother’s Garden;” that women are in a constant state of digging up, looking back, so that they may find the foothold upon which to carve their path.

We, too, will begin our journey forward by looking back.

To this end, I ask that you recover a woman leader and profile her. We will compile our class list on the blog but also send a copy to me so that I can begin a collection to be built upon in each section of this class.

The should include the following:

·      Leader:  Brief introduction to the woman as leader, you are encouraged to include media like a photograph, audioclip, video file, newspaper clippings, manuscript image, etc. (though this is not always possible)

·      In Action: How does she meet your criteria for feminist leadership for social transformation? For women’s leadership?

·      Context: Where and when did she lead? Whom did she lead and what was the “situational” context of her leadership?

·      Cultural impact: What did she do? That is, what do you imagine she accomplished?

·      Resources: This should include places for more information (museums, societies, etc.), a list of texts about and/or by the author, etc.

·      Works Cited

You must complete this in 800 words or less. You may not use a figure you are already familiar with, as the purpose is to explore and find not reaffirm (be honest). For this assignment, you may not use a contemporary leader—that is, I want the leader to be someone you have to recover not simply ask for an interview. If you are the kind of person that needs specifics, the woman must not be born after 1930.

SL Proposal

There are three sections, which you should label, to the SL Proposal:
1. Contact Information: Title of proposal, name of community partner, names of group members submitting the proposal, date of submission.

2. Community Partner Profile: Name, address, contact(s) of community partner; mission and goals of organization (incorporate evidence from their website or literature with MLA citations; include the website link when possible); political or social basis for organization; and general needs of organization in order to continue its work.

3. The proposal:
• Define the problem or need that your SL project will specifically address. When defining the problem, consider your audiences: community partner, professor, and peers.
• Propose a plan that addresses the problem or need. This section of the proposal involves persuasive writing. You must persuade your audience that your solution is an effective response to the problem and manageable in the time allotted. Be very specific about what you will do, provide, or complete for the community partner, i.e. what your finished product will be.
• Rationale for Women’s Studies: How does this project relate to our Women’s Studies class and women’s issues of leadership in general? Be specific and cite your textbooks and other sources as necessary.

• Define your action steps for completion. Specify exactly how you will go about doing this project, including initial steps. What things will you need in order to complete this project? What are individual group members’ responsibilities and tasks?
• Create a timeline (Include a schedule of activities and events.)

Your proposal should total 700-1050 words; post your word count. Submit the proposal via your blog. Tips for writing effective proposals are at:http://www.io.com/~hcexres/textbook/models.html

Student Example:

Service Learning Proposal For Equality Florida

By: Kenneth M.

January 24, 2008

Meredith Tweed

WST 3015-0001

Community Partner Profile:

Community Partner: Equality Florida, Students Advocating For Equality

Address: 946 N Mills AvenueOrlando, Florida 32803

Contact: Joe Saunders, joe@eqfl.org

Community Partner Mission Statement: “Equality Florida is our statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights organization working to change Florida law so that no-one suffers harassment or discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression” (Equality Florida).

Political and/or Social Basis for Organization: Currently, Equality Florida and SAFE have created an awareness campaign known as “Students 4 Fairness.” This campaign seeks to motivate college students to vote against the proposed, discriminatory marriage amendment, which states:

“Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized” (Fairness for All Families).

The amendment would implicitly nullify all civil unions, even among heterosexual couples, and serves to discriminate against same-sex individuals seeking the same privilege that heterosexuals receive in our society.

Community Partner Needs: SAFE needs student volunteers to enhance the awareness attempted by their numerous events throughout the semester. Among other events planned, SAFE will be encouraging students to sign a petition indicating that they will vote against the Marriage amendment. This petition will also be advertised at various other campus events in order to make students aware of the political concerns that must be addressed.

The Proposal:

Memorandum

TO: Meredith L. Tweed

FROM: Kenneth M.

DATE: January 24, 2008

RE: Proposal to Write a Feasibility Report for a Service Learning Project

The following is a proposal to outline the needs, rationale and feasibility for a service learning project to benefit Students Advocating For Equality and Equality Florida. The following proposal contains background on the need for and benefits of a Community Outreach project, an outline of the work I plan to do, the rationale for its inclusion in WST 3015, and a scheduled timeline. This proposal may need to be revised after beginning the project and must be flexible to meet the needs of the both the Service Learning project and the community partner.

Need for volunteers for the Community Outreach Program

Equality Florida and SAFE act to prevent individuals from suffering discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.” They currently focus on issues regarding upcoming elections, specifically the proposed Marriage amendment, as voting on these issues guarantees empowerment.

The proposed amendment seeks to define marriage within the state of Florida as only between one man and one woman. Not only would this blatantly impact same-sex couples and religious minorities who define marriage differently, but the amendment perpetuates the heterosexist ideal by granting the most rights and privileges to those whose lives endorse it.

Current laws in Florida directly forbid same-sex marriage while allowing the alternative of obtaining civil unions that provide a limited amount of the benefits obtained by marriage. The Marriage amendment would implicitly nullify past, present, and future civil unions obtained by all individuals, even for heterosexual couples. It therefore discriminates across a wide range of Floridians.

SAFE has initiated a “Students 4 Fairness” campaign as part of their Community Outreach program to encourage students to become more politically active in favor of equality. Through the program, students will be informed about the amendment itself and how it may impact them and their loved ones. They will then be asked to sign a petition to agree to vote against the Marriage amendment in upcoming elections.

Plan Proposal:

Throughout the remainder of the semester, SAFE will sponsor a table in front of the Student Union from which the organization’s volunteers will approach students and ask them to sign their petition. In doing so, SAFE hopes to initially create an open dialogue about the issue between students while remaining open to answer questions and address concerns. SAFE’s ultimate goal involves students committing to vote against the amendment in order to ensure the protection of Floridians’ freedoms.

SAFE will also be sponsoring various events in order to raise funds and awareness for their political issues. During one such event, they will serve food and monitor activities at Late Knights, a regular campus event that functions as an alcohol-free alternative to potentially dangerous behaviors. SAFE members will also host house parties to accomplish the same goal. During these events, volunteers will approach individuals about the Marriage amendment in a manner similar to the aforementioned table-sponsoring, but doing so in a less academic atmosphere will allow students to focus more attention on the issue without being distracted by daily academic concerns.

I will be part of a team of volunteers contributing their time towards each of these events throughout the semester. Each student has a choice to make when filling their ballot, and an uninformed decision can lead to grave consequences. Only by reaching out to students to educate and motivate them towards equality can I participate in empowering them to protect their rights as well as the rights of their friends, family, and fellow Floridians as a whole.

Rationale for Women’s Studies: 

By seeking to end discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual orientation, Equality Florida’s mission highly pertains to the field of Women’s Studies, specifically Third Wave Feminism. Second Wave Feminists focused on middle-class, white women, often alienating women of color and preventing them from feeling included in the feminist movement (Seely 46). Third Wave Feminism, however, seeks multicultural inclusion such that women of various social locations, including the dimension of sexual orientation, can benefit equally from the gains of the movement. Women should not be forced by the current patriarchical system to endorse heterosexism to obtain entitled legal benefits for themselves and their partners.

Relating specifically to the mission of Equality Florida, feminist theory argues that heterosexual norms impact our choices by forcing us to “question our basic assumptions about body image, health care, sexuality, and work” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 18). As an example, stereotypes of one who identifies as a lesbian may wrongly conjure images of a masculine female, and by countering such pejorative labels, discrimination will become less powerfully justified. Advocates of same-sex marriage also argue that defying traditional gender roles may “provide a more equitable model of marriage in the wider society” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 295), again allowing for the questioning of these social structures. By removing institutional discrimination, we can also progress towards furthering social equality for all minorities—including women and regardless of sexual orientation.

Action:

I have already met with Jess Osborne, the UCF Campus Coordinator of Equality Florida and an officer for SAFE, to discuss volunteer opportunities available this semester. In addition to contacting her regularly, I will be attending SAFE meetings to discuss the status of new and current projects. The materials necessary to participate in each of the events will be provided for me through SAFE and its officers.

Timeline: 

I will deliver the completed project on approximately April 15th, 2008. Please note that this date may fluctuate according to additional activities that become available throughout the semester. Please also note that Table Sponsoring will proceed weekly throughout the remainder of the semester and that new projects may be developed.

1. Late Knights January 25
   
2. Primary Day of Action January 29
   
3. Table Sponsoring January 30
   
4. Write Preliminary Draft April 5th
   
5. Finalize Preliminary Draft April 13th
   
6. Deliver Preliminary Draft April 15th

Works Cited

Equality Florida. 2008. Equality Florida. 21 January 2008. .

Fairness for All Families. 2007. The Coalition. 21 January 2008.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.

Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York: NYU, 2007.

word count: 1006

AAUW Memebrship

Student Leaders!

You can go to AAUW and join as a student-affiliate. You can fill out the FREE application here. Also, some of you may want to think about applying for the advisory council, read about that here. And, they have several internships, including ones for this summer.