Week 1 Round Up

Hi Everyone,
Happy September!

As a regular part of class, every Sunday I will send out a roundup and reminder of what’s on the horizon.

Welcome to class and thank you to those who have posted introductions so far. If you haven’t had a chance, please do it soon!  Auditors, it would be great if you could also post introductions.

Another great idea is to change your user avatar to something besides the default.  If you aren’t comfortable posting a picture, just make it an image we can associate with you–whatever you like.  To change your avatar, click on your name in the upper right-hand corner (after you have logged in) and then select “Edit Profile” from the drop down menu that will appear.

For the upcoming week, you have a few readings.  The documents password for the the site is femtechnet.  You need to read from Rosser and Fausto-Sterling (posted under documents) and a few chapters from Estelle Freedman’s book No Turning Back, which you should purchase (or check out of a library).  All of these readings will provide background for the discussions coming up in the course.

For assignments, you should post in the class forum and you should complete one of two blogging assignment: reading response or technology diary.  One small change from the syllabus: if your last name is A-K, do the reading response.  If your last name is L-Z, do the technology diary.  (These alphabetical splits will remain through the semester.  I didn’t have the class list when I divided the alphabet, and we’re balanced better if we do it this way.)  For either type of assignment, the writing style can be conversational and less formal than an essay, but you should still aim to create a coherent response that stays on topic and uses standard grammar and usage.

What are these assignments?  Well, the reading response is a fairly typical
open-ended response to something you have ready.  You can talk about how the
readings played off each other or about one specific thing, but in either case,
you should point to the text and evidence that it presents to elaborate on a
theme.  You may want to focus on something that has particular relevance to your
experience, something you disagree with, or an idea that was new to you.

For the technology diary, you should choose one piece of technology that you use
in your daily life and reflect on how class readings have influenced the way you
think about it, or given it a new context.  Think of technology broadly–pens,
pencils, tools, medicines, gadgets–it all counts.  How is the object typically
used, and does it (or has it historically) been used in gendered ways?Does the
object have significance in constructing or reinforcing gender?  Does it have
personal meaning to you?

Have a great Labor Day and please email me if you have any questions.  I’m
looking forward to a great semester!
Lisa