Women and Art: Contested Territory
WGST 4980-995/LST 4980/MLS 6010
Taught each Fall Semester
Based on the book by Judy Chicago and
Edward Lucie-Smith
Over the centuries, male artists and critics have laid
claim to a gender monopoly on artistic “greatness.” Yet many female artists have produced art of
great power despite widespread hostility and practical obstacles. Some have received critical recognition; many
more have remained obscure. One
far-reaching consequence of this is that some of the most famous images of
women have been produced by artists with no direct knowledge of the female
experience.
The course will be taught by Dr. Patricia A. Murphy,
one of the founders of the Disability Studies Program and former director of
the
Course Objectives:
We will explore the
challenge: Why aren’t there any great women artists? We will do this by examining the
evolution of feminist criticism, which since the 1970s has built up the most
coherent and most cogent body of new writing about the visual arts. We will learn about the “oppositional gaze” or
how to look at the preconceptions of dominant culture in order to resists its
perspective of women and its expectations of women. We will explore women’s art-making online,
particularly in the National Museum for Women in the Art’s database of artworks
by thousands of women artists. We will look at the work of iconic artists such
as Judy Chicago, Georgia O’Keeffe, Barbara Hepworth, and Freda Kahlo. We will ground the work of women artists
within the western tradition.
Our exploration will be based upon:
1.
Readings
2. Reviews of women’s art
3. Research into women artists
4. Discussion
5. blogs
6. Writing
7. Final Examination and Final Paper for graduate
students
Readings: Women and
Art: Contested Territory by Judy Chicago and Edward Lucie- Smith. This book may
be purchased at People Called Women by calling 419-469-8983 or by emailing them
at PCWtoledo@yahoo.com. Other readings
are located on the BB9 course website. They
include essays by Linda Nochlin, Why Haven’t There Been Any Great Women Artists;” Women’s Artwork on the
Net; Helen R. Klebesadel, The Women’s Art Movement,
Reviews of Women’s Art: (12
per semester) 200 word essays which summarize your discoveries of women’s art
on online, or in community art museums and galleries.
Research into Women Artists: (12
per semester) 300 word essays which are based on selecting a woman artist from
your readings and finding out more about their lives, their careers as women
artists, and their artwork.
Blogs: (4 per semester).
These blogs give you an opportunity to reflect on what you are
discovering about women’s art and yourself as an artist or not as the course
goes on.
Discussion: You will be placed in a discussion group of no more
than 10 students. In your group, you
will be asked to read and to respond to the essays presented by at least 3 other
students. Rules for feedback on the work
of other students include: 1) acknowledge
what’s there in an essay; 2) note what is missing in the essay if anything; 3) acknowledge
what was best about the essay; and 4) identify what essay you are addressing. Your participation is worth 10 percent of the
grade.
Participation: Your participation task is to read the work of at
least 3 other students
in your group and give feedback as noted above under “Discussion.” Therefore, you will need to log on at least
twice per week or more in order to accomplish this. Lack of participation can have a serious
impact on your final grade since is it 10 percent of your grade.
Writing: You will write twelve 200 word media essays, twelve
300 word essays on the readings assigned each week as noted above, and 4 blogs.
This work will be worth 60 percent of your grade.
Final Examination:
The final examination will be
based on your reading and discoveries.
It will be an open book examination worth 30 percent of your grade. The examination must be submitted by 5pm on
Friday, the last day of classes.
MLS students
will be expected to complete the final examination as well as a 10 page paper
on an artist of their choice. This paper
will incorporate the themes of the course.
Papers should be double spaced with 12 point type and the 13th
page will list 10 references with ONLY 2 FROM THE WEB. In short, some additional reading and
research will be required.
Some Thoughts on Academic Integrity: For
University policy on this topic, go to http://www.utoledo.edu/dl/students/dishonesty.html. One great thing about writing academic papers
is that you are not alone. That is, you
have the company of scholars who have gone before you and this is true in
articles, essays, unpublished work by another person, newspaper reports,
website discoveries, films, and audio reports.
Academic integrity means “no stealing of the ideas of others.” Academic integrity means an attitude of gratitude
which is expressed by acknowledging the authors in quotes or with other
documentation strategies. For more detail on the proper way to do this go to http://utoledo.edu/dl/students/ewriting.html.
Course Navigation Tips
Group discussion:
Once you are assigned to your
group, please post to the Bulletin Board (BB) within your group only.
Topics: Please post to the topic on the BB. Please note that I will be numbering topics
as we go along. This will make it easier
for us to know what we are commenting upon when we read each other’s comments.
Questions: Questions about course navigation and course content
should be posted to your group BB so others can benefit as well.
Email to the Instructor/Online Office Hours: Please
use email to the instructor for private issues only. Use email to the instructor as you would use
the instructor’s office hours. Thank
you.
Time: I will be online almost every day for this
course. I recommend that you spend at
least 30 to 40 minutes per day online and this way you will not get
behind. Please note that longer
assignments will be given on Thursdays so that you will have the weekend to do
the work. Late work will result in loss
of a grade point. Please make time for
your reading and research.
Computer Help: If you are unable to get into your discussion group or
are having problems getting into the course go to http://www.utoledo.edu/dl/helpdesk/hlp_index.html.
Assignments: I will give you assignments twice per week on Mondays
and Thursdays. Please go to assignments
on your course menu.
August, September, October: We
will be reading Linda Nochlin’s foundational essay, Why Haven’t There Been Any Great Women
Artists? We will then move onto the Chicago and Lucie Smith book, Women and Art: Contested Territory. In this text, we
will explore the themes of the divine, the heroic, maternity in women’s lives
and art and women as a colonized people.
We will also be exploring the artworks of women, particularly in the
database created by the National Museum for Women in the Arts. You will
complete 2 blogs during this time.
October, November, December: We
will continue with the Chicago and Lucie Smith text and explore the themes of
the casting couch and brothel, self portraiture, body as battleground, mirrors,
and identity issues in
women’s lives and art making. We will continue with our
explorations of women’s art making and complete 2 more blogs.
This syllabus is only a guide and may change as the
course develops and the needs of the class participants change.
Learning
Policies for the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies
General
provisions
1. This policy is in line with AAUP policies regarding Distance Learning (DL) courses, in case of any contradiction between the AAUP version and this policy the AAUP version shall prevail.
2. Distance learning courses (DL) shall comply with all of the standard practices, procedures, and criteria which have been established for traditional in the classroom courses.
3. Faculty member teaching a DL course shall receive the appropriate technical training that is available at UT. Whenever new technologies are added, faculty member shall be required to take the training courses available on campus. Instructors may seek further training offered online or elsewhere if they choose to do so.
Definitions:
4. Student: any person who registers for a DL course offered by the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies (the Department) at the University of Toledo.
5. Instructor: A qualified member of the University of Toledo (UT) faculty who meets the requirements stated above.
6. Course: any class offered for credit or otherwise that a student may register for.
7. Distance Learning (DL) course: refers to a course not taught in class but establishes communication between instructor and student via one or more technological media available at UT, such media may be developed, improved, or acquired by UT and may change as UT continues to acquire more sophisticated means of electronic media for DL.
Rights and
Responsibilities of Students
8. All students registered for a DL course shall abide by the regulations and policies established by the university for in-class courses, in particular DL students are responsible for:
a. Delivering assignments on time
b. Participation in online discussions
c. Following rules regarding academic honesty;
d. Refraining from addressing the instructor and fellow students using derogatory or disrespectful statements.
9. Students in a DL course are entitled to:
a. Delivery of written notes or complete lectures if a live medium is used.
b. Have their questions answered
c. Freedom of expression provided that they abide by article 8. above.
10. Any disagreement, conflict, or any other problem that arises in the course should be settled or solved by the faculty member teaching the course. The instructor shall not allow the problem to escalate without offering solutions.
11. If the instructor is unable, for any reason, to resolve a problem, he/she must report the problem to the Department Chair who in turn shall seek a solution to the problem.
12. Any complaints made by students directly to the Chair of the Department shall be communicated immediately to the instructor who should work with the Chair or other faculty to solve the problem. Solutions shall, as far as possible, seek to satisfy the student’s needs without breaching the rights of other students enrolled in the course or the instructor’s.
13. The syllabus shall contain instructions on the line of communication if the problem is a technical one, i.e. students are to report the problem to the Helpdesk copying the instructor.
14. The instructor must contact the Helpdesk if the problem is not solved in a timely manner.
15. The Department may develop an online evaluation form for student’s assessment of the course, such form is be sent to the students directly from the Department’s secretary’s office and sent back through the same channel it was sent through.