Women and Global Human RightsPSYC/ANS0/WOMN 2000 & HRTS 2086
Professor: Dr. Linda M. WoolfOffice Hours:
|  |
Texts:
- Agosin, Marjorie (Ed.) (2002). Women, gender, and human rights: A global perspective. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
- Lockwood, B. B. (Ed.) (2006). Women's rights: A Human Rights Quarterly Reader. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.
Course Description:
Discussions of human rights often fail to acknowledge the unique concerns of women around the globe particularly as they relate to the subordination of and injustices against women. Yet clearly, women's rights are human rights concerns. Violence against women and girls is the most pervasive violation of human rights in the world today. Discrimination against women and girls is an important basic cause of malnutrition. The very high rates of child malnutrition and low birth weight throughout much of South Asia are linked to such factors as women's poor access to education and their low levels of participation in paid employment, compared with other regions. Women comprise 70% of the world's poor. Eighty percent of the world's refugees are women and children. And as stated by Her Excellency Mary Robinson, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, "Bonded labour and the traffic in women and children have become our modern day versions of slavery." More than 1 million children, mostly girls, are forced into prostitution every year. In this course, we will examine the issue of women's rights within the context of global human rights.
Course Objectives:
- Objective: To become more knowledgeable about global human rights, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and the United Nations Convention to End all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
- Objectives: To become more knowledgeable concerning the major human rights violations experienced by women across the globe including the United States.
- Objectives: To examine the unique concerns of women and why these concerns are often omitted from discussions of global human rights.
- Objectives: To examine the importance of understanding the psychosocial context including religious and national context when evaluating women’s’ human rights.
- Objectives: To become more knowledgeable concerning methods of intervention, assessment, and treatment in regards to women survivors of human rights violations.
- Objectives: To further develop library and cybrary research skills.
"Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less." - Susan B. Anthony
Course Outcomes:
- Outcome: The student will be able to discuss the concept of global human rights, the thirty articles contained within the UDHR, and the CEDAW.
- Outcome: The student will be able to articulate and discuss global human rights within the context of women's rights and concerns.
- Outcome: The student will be able to discuss in depth at least two human rights concerns of particular and/or unique concern for women.
- Outcome: To student will be able to discuss the reasons why women's concerns are often omitted from the discussion of global human rights.
- Outcome: The student will to conduct independent research and communicate their findings through written and oral presentations.
Class Meetings:
The class will meet on Monday, Wednesdays, and Friday from 12:00 - 12:50. Classroom attendance is very important. Class participation and discussion will greatly enhance your understanding of the material. Additionally, you and your fellow classmates are interdependent in this course. A high level of commitment is necessary from everyone to guarantee optimal learning and benefit. As such, participation/discussion will constitute a large percentage of your final grade.
Course Requirements:
- A Midterm and Final Exam to cover the major concepts and ideas as discussed in readings, lecture, video, and discussion. Exams will comprise 50% of your final grade.
- Term paper with bibliography discussing a particular human rights concern of women. A presentation to class to accompany the paper. All topics must be approved by the professor via email to woolflm@webster.edu. Only electronic copies of the paper in Word format will be accepted. 15%
- Class presentation with another student. Organizing of student presentations will occur at the beginning of the third week of class. Students, in pairs, are responsible for presenting on a specific topic (20-25 minutes) and providing an annotated bibliography of readings to the class. You cannot use the topic of your presentation for your class presentation. 15%
Note: No students (or pairs) may select the same topic. Our goal is to be able to discuss as many human rights concerns of women as possible during this seminar.
- Service Project with short report - Details to be discussed in class. 10%
- Class participation and discussion. 10%
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change world - indeed it is the only thing that ever does" - Margaret Mead
All grades will be assigned on a scale of 0 - 10 with:
| 90 - 100 | A-,A | Excellent |
| 80 - 89 | B-,B,B+ | Above Average |
| 70 - 79 | C-,C,C+ | Average |
| 60 - 69 | D-,D,D+ | Below Average |
| Less than 60 | F | Failing |
Policy Statements:
Use of Electronic Devices in the Classroom: Please respect others in the class by turning off all cell phones and pagers before entering the room. Text messaging during class is not acceptable. Laptops may be used in class but are only to be utilized for class related activities (e.g., taking notes). If it becomes apparent you are using the computer for non-class activities (e.g., checking your email, playing games) then you may be asked to turn off your computer and refrain from bringing it into class in the future. Laptop use is restricted to the back or sides of the classroom so that other students are not distracted during lecture.Plagiarism (attempting to pass off the work of another as one's own) is not acceptable. Plagiarism includes copying all or part of another's writings (even a single sentence), inappropriate paraphrasing, using another student's paper as your own, submitting a paper for more than one class. All papers will be submitted to the university's plagiarism database for review. Plagiarism, either intentional or unintentional, will result in a grade of 0 for that assignment and will be turned over to the appropriate university source for disciplinary action. In addition, cheating on exams will also result in the same fate.
Here are some Web sites that will help you avoid the problem of plagiarism particularly plagiarism resulting from paraphrasing too closely to the original source. -
- Establishing Authorship by Paul C. Smith, Alverno College
- How to Avoid Plagiarism Tutorial
- The University of Indiana's Online Plagiarism Tutorial - You can print out a certificate of completion!
Late withdraws from this class will not be approved by the instructor except in cases of emergency discussed with the instructor. No late withdraws will be approved on the basis of poor class performance.
This syllabus is subject to change at the instructor's discretion. All changes concerning course requirements will be provided in writing. Changes concerning exam dates may be made at the instructor's discretion and communicated verbally to the class.
It is understood that remaining in this course (not dropping or withdrawing from this course) constitutes an agreement to abide by the terms outlined in this syllabus and an acceptance of the requirements outlined in this document. No grade of Incomplete will be issued for this course.
"When it comes to violence against women, there are no 'developed' countries." - Charlotte Bunch, Center for Women's Global Leadership
The schedule below provides a general guideline to the semester and may be revised based on the need for greater or lesser discussion related to any particular topic as agreed to by the class.
Course Schedule | |||
Week Ending | Topic | Reading | |
| August September | 28 4 | Introduction to class What are Global Human Rights Are Women's Concerns Unique? Historical Perpectives | Introduction Universal Declaration of Human Rights Agnosin - Chapters 1 - 2 Lockwood - Chapters 2 - 3, 5 |
| September | 11 18 | Religion, Culture, and Women's Human Rights | Agnosin - Chapter 11 Lockwood - Chapters 6 - 8 |
| September October | 25 2, 9, 16 | Violence Against Women Midterm: October 16 | Agnosin - Chapter 3, 10 Lockwood - Chapters 9 - 14 |
| October November | 30 6 | Health and Reproductive Rights | Agnosin - Chapter 5 Lockwood - Chapters 17 - 19 |
| November | 13, 20 | Economic and Political Rights | Agnosin - Chapter 11 Lockwood - Chapters 15 - 16 |
| November December | 27 4 | Other Topics | Agnosin - Chapter 9 |
| December | 11 | Working Towards Change | Agnosin - Chapters 4, 8, 12 |
| December | 16 | Final Exam (Double check Final Exam Schedule for Date and Time) | |
"All human beings, whatever their cultural or historical background, suffer when they are intimidated, imprisoned or tortured. We must, therefore, insist on a global consensus, not only on the need to respect human rights worldwide, but also on the definition of these rights. for it is the inherent nature of all human beings to yearn for freedom, equality and dignity, and they have an equal right to achieve that." - The Dalai Lama, New York, USA, April 1994
 |  Woolf Home Page |