Psychology of Women

Curriculum Guideline

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Course
PSYC 1110
Discontinued
No
Course Code
PSYC 1110
Descriptive
Psychology of Women
Department
Psychology
Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Credits
3.00
Start Date
End Term
Not Specified
PLAR
No
Semester Length
15
Max Class Size
35
Contact Hours
Lecture 4 hours per week/semester
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Learning Activities

The course will involve a number of instructional methods, such as the following:

  • lectures
  • small group discussions
  • demonstrations
  • presentations
  • visual content
Course Description
This course will study the experiences, realities, and possibilities of women’s lives. It will explore both the psychological origins and psychological effects of the feminine role. This will be discussed through critical analysis grounded in and sensitive to the everyday life experiences of women within North American and global contexts. It will examine diversity and development, focusing on relationships, knowledge, sexuality, health, work, and aging. Throughout the course, sexism will be analyzed as it intersects with colonialism, racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, heterosexism, ableism, and classism.
Course Content
  1. History of Psychology of Women and Women in Psychology: North American and Global Context
  1. Theories and Mechanisms of Socialization
    • The dynamics of patriarchy and hegemony.
    • Sexism, heterosexism, heteronormativity, and stereotyping.
    • Social constructionism and essentialism.
  1. Decolonization and Intersectionality as the Course Framework
    • Inequalities among women.
    • Replacing additive integrations with intersectional solutions: The importance of critical theories by Indigenous Women, Women of Colour, Women with Disabilities, Lesbians, 2-Spirit People, Transgender Women, Bisexual Women, Working Class Women, and Women of Dispossessed Classes.
  1. Quantitative and Qualitative Methodologies
  1. Consciousness: Concepts of Girls’ and Women’s Experiences Throughout the Lifespan
    • A gendered biology.
    • Educational histories and experiences.
    • Body image, media, and representation.
    • Paid and unpaid work.
    • Girls’ and women’s friendships, alliances, relationships, and families.
    • Sexuality and sexual experiences.
    • Violence against girls and women.
    • Mental health and therapeutic interventions.
    • Voice, language, and communication.
    • Women aging.
  1. Challenging Gendered and Sexual Scripts
    • Transcending and transgressing the gender binary.
    • Lesbian theories and identities.
    • Postcolonial theories.
    • Poststructuralist theories.
    • Feminist activisms within psychology.
Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course the successful student will be able to:

  1. Explain the major theories of the socialization of women.
  2. Describe the development and maintenance of gender roles.
  3. Describe past and current responses to sexist stereotypes and heteronormativity.
  4. Describe the diversity of female roles within social, home, family, and work contexts.
  5. Describe the gender-specific issues of women’s aging.
  6. Describe physical and mental health issues of women over the adult age span.
  7. Describe the impact of feminist activisms on women’s psychological experience.
  8. Describe the history of psychology of women and feminist psychology.
  9. Describe the critical importance of intersectionality in women’s psychological experiences.
Means of Assessment

The course evaluation will be in accordance with ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ and Psychology Department policies. Evaluations will be based on the course objectives. The specific evaluation criteria will be provided by the instructor at the beginning of the semester.

 

An example of a possible evaluation scheme would be:

 

2 midterm exams       50%
Final exam  20%
Presentation  15%
Written essay  15%
Total 100%
Textbook Materials

Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students:

 

Textbook(s) such as the following, the list to be updated periodically:

 

Lips, H. (2016). A new psychology of women: Gender, culture, and ethnicity (4th Ed.). Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press.

 

and/or

 

A course pack of prepared readings of peer-reviewed theoretical and empirical primary sources (journals selected from PsycInfo and chapters drawn from academic press)

Prerequisites

Courses listed here must be completed prior to this course:

  • No prerequisite courses
Corequisites

Courses listed here must be completed either prior to or simultaneously with this course:

  • No corequisite courses
Equivalencies

Courses listed here are equivalent to this course and cannot be taken for further credit:

  • No equivalency courses
Which Prerequisite

PSYC 3120