GNDR 2081 - Gender and Public Power

Credits: 3
Hours/Week: Lecture 3 Lab None
Course Description: This course will apply a gendered analysis to three sites of public power the business, governmental, and non-profit sectors as well as grassroots initiatives. We will look at historical change in women’s and men’s relative status, as well as changes in ideas about masculinity and femininity. Specific issues, such as gender-based violence, reproductive rights, gender and work, education, the family, and poverty will serve as case studies to illustrate and delve more deeply into the workings of public power. Differences among women and among men will guide our inquiry.
MnTC Goals
5 History/Social/Behavioral Science, 9 Ethical/Civic Responsibility

Prerequisite(s): ENGL 1020   with a grade of C or higher OR ENGL 1021  with a grade of C or higher.
Corequisite(s): None
Recommendation: GNDR 1061  and POLS 1020  or POLS 1031  

Major Content

1. Gender differences in access to and exercise of public power across business, government, and non-profit sectors
2. Theories of public power
3. Feminist perspectives on power
4. Intersectional analyses of power in the public sphere
5. Change over time in women’s access to public power
6. Success and failures incorporating women as full citizens and persons in the public sphere
7. The role of women’s grassroots activism in changing the distribution of power along gender lines
8. Analysis of gender in public power applied to case studies, to be selected from issues such as gender-based violence, immigration, economics, education, employment, family, health care, poverty, reproductive rights, sexual harassment, among others
9. Gendered analysis of social and cultural constructions of power
10. The impact of female officials in business, the non-profit, and government sectors; the feminization of leadership

1. describe gender differences in participation in three sites of public power (business, government, the non-profit sector).
2. analyze social and cultural assumptions about power in terms of gender.
3. apply theories of public power to analyze specific issues.
4. articulate changes over time in men’s and women’s relative status regarding access to and exercise of public power.
5. articulate the roles of grassroots collective action, legislation, the judiciary, and the electorate in effecting changes in distributive power across gender lines.
6. articulate theories of public power and what a gendered analysis of public power involves.
7. evaluate how feminist scholarship changes traditional interpretations of public power.

05. 03. Use and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories.

05. 04. Develop and communicate alternative explanations or solutions for contemporary social issues.
Competency 2 (7-10)
09. 02. Understand and apply core concepts (e.g. politics, rights and obligations, justice, liberty) to specific issues.

09. 03. Analyze and reflect on the ethical dimensions of legal, social, and scientific issues.

09. 04. Recognize the diversity of political motivations and interests of others.

09. 05. Identify ways to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

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