Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2021 - GSWS 320 E100

Special Topics in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies (4)

Reproductive Justice and Rights

Class Number: 3144

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 11 – Apr 16, 2021: Tue, 5:30–9:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    15 units.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

A specific theme within within the field of gender, sexuality, and women's studies, not otherwise covered in depth in regularly scheduled courses, will be dealt with as occasion and demand warrant.

COURSE DETAILS:

Reproductive politics refers ongoing struggles to define, constrain, medicalize, technologize, spur, and/or prevent reproduction. This course builds on interdisciplinary, intersectional, anti-oppression, decolonizing, and feminist tools to analyze narratives, issues, practices, and arguments regarding reproductive politics as they manifest throughout the lifecourse from preconception to end of life. Topics include interdisciplinary theories of reproduction; conceptualizations and applications of reproductive rights and reproductive justice; critical science studies approaches to reproductive biology; reproductive choices, fertility, and reproductive technology; kinship; childbirth and child rearing; menopause and andropause; and the developmental origins of health and disease.

Recognizing the topical and controversial nature of reproductive politics as well as the role of GSWS in transforming students into critical advocates for social change, assignments encourage students to engage in public dialogues on reproduction.

At the end of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of a range of feminist and anti-oppression perspectives
  2. Demonstrate knowledge of a wide range of issues pertaining to reproductive politics
  3. Analyze reproductive politics from feminist and anti-oppression perspectives
  4. Mobilize media skills for participation in public debates on reproductive politics

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

For more detailed information please see the GSWS website: http://www.sfu.ca/gsws/undergraduate/courses/Educational_Goals.html

Grading

  • Conversation Café Diary 20%
  • (2x20%) “Twitter Threads/Rants”; due weeks 4 and 8 Write 10x ~280 character “tweets” about an issue in reproductive politics (can be done in Twitter or offline) 40%
  • Podcast (completed in partners/groups) OR Long-form “Oatmeal”-style Comic (completed individually); due week 12 25%
  • Analysis Essay of Final Project; due week 13 A ~1500 word substantiation and analysis of your podcast or comic 15%

NOTES:

This course is delivered as a Combination of Synchronous and Asynchronous teaching. Lectures will be delivered asynchronously. Every week from 5:30-6:30pm on Tuesdays, which is our scheduled course time, synchronous group discussions will be held, which are called Conversation Cafés.

You will be engaging in online verbal discussion so require access to the internet as well as a microphone and ideally a webcam.

In order to complete your final project, you will need access to: recording equipment and editing software for the podcast OR drawing/composition software, scanner, or other means to create a digital comic.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

  • Skloot, R. (2017). The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Broadway Books.
  • Additional readings posted to Canvas

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

TEACHING AT SFU IN SPRING 2021

Teaching at SFU in spring 2021 will be conducted primarily through remote methods. There will be in-person course components in a few exceptional cases where this is fundamental to the educational goals of the course. Such course components will be clearly identified at registration, as will course components that will be “live” (synchronous) vs. at your own pace (asynchronous). Enrollment acknowledges that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes. To ensure you can access all course materials, we recommend you have access to a computer with a microphone and camera, and the internet. In some cases your instructor may use Zoom or other means requiring a camera and microphone to invigilate exams. If proctoring software will be used, this will be confirmed in the first week of class.

Students with hidden or visible disabilities who believe they may need class or exam accommodations, including in the current context of remote learning, are encouraged to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112).