Women's Studies 494

Group Studies

Spring 2008

Instructor: Jill Bystydzienski
bystydzienski.1@osu.edu
Office: 286P University Hall 614-292-1021


Instructor: Julie Graber
graber.17@osu.edu
Office: 114 University Hall 614-247-7130

Course Description
This is a one-quarter internship course that offers students the opportunity to learn leadership and policy making skills by working closely with women lawmakers and reflecting on that experience through reading, online discussion, and a final written report.  Students will be matched with Ohio women lawmakers for their internships.

The course operates in multiple formats:

• 9 weeks of a 10-15 hour/week internship experience in the office of an Ohio woman lawmaker (weeks 2-10).
• 3 face-to-face class meetings (Fridays, 10:30-12:18; weeks 1, 6,  and 9)
• weekly online class discussions
• written weekly journals
• a final written report

Course Goals
The course provides students an opportunity to connect the study of political leadership and leadership skills with observation and practice of those skills through internships in the offices of Ohio women lawmakers. This course aims to educate and empower women to pursue public leadership roles by providing them with the opportunity to build experience, relationships, and support through legislative internships.

Upon successful completion of this course students will:

• understand the skills and strategies required of women lawmakers;
• understand the scope of work of a public lawmaker, including the process of policy development and the impact of public policy decisions at various levels of government;
• be able to place their specific internship experience in a larger theoretical and empirical context through reading about women in politics and leadership and through online discussions;
• be able to link women's local legislative and policy making experiences to global developments in respect to women in politics.

Required books
Pamela Paxton, and Melanie M. Hughes. 2007.  Women, Politics, and Power:  A Global Perspective. Los Angeles, CA: Pine Forge Press. (paperback)

Susan J. Carroll, and Richard L. Fox. 2006. Gender and Elections:  Shaping the Future of American Politics. Cambridge University Press. (paperback)

Schedule

Week 1 Orientation Meeting
Friday, March 28 Preparation for first meetings with lawmaker mentors
10:30-12:18 Course requirements and expectations
Introduction to leadership

Week 2 First meetings with lawmaker mentors
March 31-April 4 Online discussion of first meetings: What struck you about
your first meeting? What surprised you?  What questions do you have?
Readings: Paxton & Hughes, Introduction and Chapter 5

Week 3 Online discussion: Gender and politics; state elections
April 7-11
Readings: Carroll & Fox, Introduction, pp. 1-7, and Chapter 8

Week 4 Online discussion of interviewing and informational interviewing. 
April 14-18 (Before this week, please complete the interview tutorial at <www.quintcareers.com/informational_interviewing.html>)
Reading: Carroll & Fox, Chapter 5

Week 5 Online discussion based on student postings
April 21-25 Career exploration interview journal due
Readings: Paxton & Hughes, Chapter 7 and 9

Week 6 Class meeting
Friday, May 2 Guest speaker
10:30-12:18
Reading: Paxton & Hughes, Chapter 10

Week 7 Online discussion of guest speaker's lecture
May 5-9 Media representations of women in politics
Readings: Carroll & Fox, Chapter 7 and
Vasby Anderson article (From Spouses to Candidates…) (on Carmen)

Week 8 Online discussion regarding politics and the media
May 12-16
Readings: Falk, Women for President: Media Bias in Eight Campaigns, Chapter 3 (on Carmen)

Week 9  Class meeting: Discussion of leadership —How do you understand leadership Friday, May 23 principles after working with your lawmaker mentor for one quarter?
10:30-12:18 In-class presentations of reports
Readings:  Chin et al., Introduction and Chapter 1 (on Carmen)

Week 10 Online discussion of leadership, gender and politics
May 26-30
Readings: Chin et al., Chapter 8, and Falk & Kenski article (Sexism vs.....)(on Carmen)

Finals Week Written report due
Wednesday, June 4

Assignments
Internship experience in legislative offices. Students will work in legislative offices 10-15 hours per week.  Job activities may include:  bill tracking, policy research, constituent services, office management, meeting assistance, working with coalitions.

Face-to-face class meetings.  We will meet as a class face-to-face three times during Spring quarter.  The first meeting will provide an orientation for the internships.  We will meet together in mid-quarter to hear a guest speaker.  In week 9 of the quarter, we will meet for a final time to hear presentations of student reports on leadership and policy making.

Online class discussions. As a class, we will also meet each week in an online format.  Some of these electronic a-synchronous class discussions will be led by the instructors, but each student will be responsible for posting a question or topic for discussion at least twice over the quarter.

Written Assignments
Reflection/analysis journals. Students are required to submit one reflective journal each week. Please also note that one week during the internship, the journal will be focused on a specific topic—career exploration interview. Please see attached guidelines for the journal assignment for regular weekly entries as well as the informational interview assignment.

Written report. By X during Finals Week (the final exam date assigned for courses meeting Fridays, 10:30-12:18), each student will turn in a 8-10 page research paper that brings together the study of leadership and policy making with her/his own internship experiences. Additional instructions are at the end of this syllabus.

Grading
Course grades will be determined on the following basis:

Internship evaluation 50%
By internship supervisor and instructor, along with a student self-assessment.
Journals 15%
Online Discussion 15%
Written Report 20%

Academic Misconduct
It is the responsibility of the Committee on Academic Misconduct to investigate or establish procedures for the investigation of all reported cases of student academic misconduct. The term "academic misconduct" includes all forms of student academic misconduct wherever committed; illustrated by, but not limited to, cases of plagiarism and dishonest practices in connection with examinations. Instructors shall report all instances of alleged academic misconduct to the committee (Faculty Rule 3335-5-487). For additional information, see the Code of Student Conduct (<http://studentaffairs.osu.edu/info_for_students/csc.asp>).

Disability Services
Students with disabilities that have been certified by the Office for Disability Services will be appropriately accommodated, and should inform the instructor as soon as possible of their needs. The Office for Disability Services is located in 150 Pomerene Hall, 1760 Neil Avenue; telephone 292-3307, TDD 292-0901; <http://www.ods.ohio-state.edu/>.

Guidelines for Journal
The purpose of your weekly journal

• Your journal entries are intended to serve as a vehicle through which you can reflect on your internship experience with regards to your professional, personal and academic development.
• Your journal is also intended to inform the instructor about your internship work experience and will be used as a component of your internship evaluation.
• Your journal entries will be treated with full confidentiality and will only be shared with your peers upon your approval.

Your journal entry should include

• a brief description of your weekly activities;
• what you have learned from this work and how it relates to readings and class discussions;
• any highlights/comments/concerns you may want to share with your supervisor.

Guidelines for journal submission
Length: one page; double spaced; 12 font
Format: each journal entry should include your name, site name and date; sent electronically, as an attachment in Word Perfect or MS Word
Deadline: the end of your work week but no later than on Saturdays by 5:00 pm

Informational Interview Journal Assignment
As one way of collecting information for your final research report, one of your journal assignments (Week 4) will be an information interview with a lawmaker or a senior leader working in the political process.  Examples of "senior leaders" include campaign directors and administrators with associated non-profit organizations (e.g., The League of Women Voters).  The interview should be conducted in person, but exceptions for phone interviews are possible (advance approval from the instructor is required).  For additional information on interviewing, please see www.quintcareers.com/informational_interviewing.html

The purpose of the assignment is to promote career exploration as well as an understanding of how leadership skills are developed. In addition, some of the information you collect through these interviews may be used in your final research report.  Sample questions from the assignment include:

• Who has been instrumental in your career in helping you to become a strong leader?  
• What was your first position in the political sector, and what were the high/low points associated with working in that position?

Final Written Report
This final paper offers you the opportunity to bring together all of the work you've done this quarter: your study of leadership and policy-making (through readings and online class discussions) and your own internship experiences. In an 8-10 page paper, please discuss the following questions.

• What qualities of leadership seem to you most significant in making public policy?
• How did those qualities show themselves as significant in the work of your lawmaker mentor?
• How does your observation and analysis of these leadership qualities relate to our reading and discussion of women's leadership this quarter?

Please include specific examples from your internship experience and refer to specific discussions of leadership from the readings. You may use additional relevant articles and/or books and you may want to refer to your weekly journals and our online discussions as sources of information.

Criteria for the written final report

• Report discusses internship experiences as they relate to the overall goals and the learning outcomes outlined for the course.
• Writing uses internship experiences to illustrate leadership principles discussed in readings.
• Outside sources are appropriately cited (using, e.g., MLA or APA format).
• Writing is well organized so that the reader can follow its argument.