Syllabus: Gender and Violence 2020

WGS373H1S GENDER AND VIOLENCE (SUMMER 2020) Course Instructor: Sonny Dhoot, PhD Candidate Email: s.dhoot@mail.utoronto.ca Office Location: Blackboard Collaborate (online) Office Hours: Mon 12:00pm-1:00 pm or by appointment Webinar: Wed 6:00PM-8:00PM COURSE OBJECTIVES: The objective of this course is to familiarize students with debates that treat gender and sexual violence as historical structures. As this is an online summer class, the focus of the course has been tapered to one specific area. We will be focusing on the gendered and sexualized structures of carceral violence. Our focus on carceral violence will require that students to cultivate an intersectional and interdisciplinary understanding of the topic. Students will learn to understand how the topic of ‘gender violence’ transverses multiple conversations, including those about nationhood, borders, racism, (dis)ability, transphobia, colonialism and rights discourses. LEARNING OUTCOMES By the end of this course students will be able to, § Use an intersectional lens to understand gendered, sexualized and carceral violence. § Explain the structural and historical forces the uphold gender and sexual violence. § Apply theories on violence to current events and their social worlds. § Demonstrate critical reading and writing skills. COURSE DESIGN: In this course, there are two components to lecture-based learning: 1. On Mondays, recorded lectures will be provided online and can be downloaded by students at a time of their choosing. Online lectures will be approximately 2 hours in length. 2. Students will have the opportunity for synchronous online webinar classes, 1-2 hours each week (Wednesday 6-8pm) for discussions, including questions about course materials and assignments. These webinars are not mandatory. These times may also be used for guest lectures. ▪ Note: for our week “Reevaluating Global Anti-Violence Campaigns” the recorded lecture will be posted Wednesday, July 29 and the online webinar will take place Wednesday, August 5. This is due to the open-book test on Monday, July 27 and the Civic Holiday on Monday, August 2 COURSE REQUIREMENTS: • Course readings are available through Quercus and external links are embedded within reading list. • Lectures will be made available on Quercus. EXPECTATIONS: • If you are having issues understanding the material, it is your responsibility to seek help from me. It is expected that you would attempt to comprehend the material yourself first, including reading the texts and attending lectures. When meeting, it is expected that all relevant material has been read. • When emailing me for a meeting indicate your name, a few dates/times you are available to meet and include the course code in the subject. I generally respond to emails within 12-24 hours, but please give me 48 hours to respond to emails. Know that I do not check emails regularly on weekends. • Students requiring accommodations should speak with me and provide documentation – from either the Accessibility Services or their own health professional – no later than the second week of class. Additionally, I am happy to talk with students to discuss ways of supporting accessibility in the course that are not covered by institutional policies. Please feel free to contact me to discuss accessibility needs, issues or concerns. ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING: Discussion Boards 20% Personal Reflection #1 5% Critical Reflection #2 5% Open-Book Test 35% Final Paper 35% 2 Discussion Boards (20%): For each of the weekly themes, students will be required to make 2 discussion board posts that reflect on the ‘intervention(s)’ made by the readings of that week. • In your first post of each week you will respond directly to the prompt provided; • In your second post you will choose a classmate’s post and respond to it. o Disagreements are fine, but personal attacks or hateful/derogatory comments of any kind will not be tolerated. • Each post should be 1-2 paragraphs in length. • Posts should demonstrate a thoughtful engagement with course materials. Posts can make an argument, offer a stimulating question, make connections across different materials and/or draw on current events. • Below is a suggested timetable of when you should make your posts, but you can respond anytime during the week. However, Friday 11:30 AM is the cut-off for each week to make posts. No late posts will be accepted. ▪ Gendered and Sexualized Carceral Violence in North America o M July 13 First post o W July 15 Second post ▪ The Violence of Border Crossings o M July 20 First post o W July 22 Second post ▪ Revaluating Global Anti-Violence Campaigns o W July 29 First post o W Aug 5 Second post ▪ Reimagining Feminist and Anti-Oppressive Futures o M Aug 10 First post o W Aug 12 Second post Personal Reflection #1 (5%): Due Monday, July 13, 2020 (11:55 PM) ▪ 300 words (approx. 1 page) in length. 3 ▪ Reflect on the following the question: How do you understand the role of the police, laws and/or prisons in the problem of gendered violence? ▪ This is a personal reflection on your understanding of the topic coming into the class. This assignment does not require the usage of course texts or outside research. Critical Reflection #2 (5%): Due Wednesday, August 5, 2020 (11:55 PM) ▪ 500 words (approx. 1.5 pages) in length. ▪ Assignment question will be posted on Wednesday, July 29, 2020. Open-Book Test (35%): Monday, July 27, 2020. ▪ The test will be comprised of short-answer and/or long answer questions. ▪ The test will be posted at 6:00 PM (EST) on Monday, July 27, 2020 and will be due by 5:55 AM Tuesday, July 28, 2020. ▪ The test should take less than 2 hours to complete; the additional time is intended to allow students across different times zones to complete the test without problems. ▪ Because this is a test, o late submissions will result in a zero. I strongly encourage you to write and submit the test as early as possible. o duplicate answers between students will be considered cheating and students will receive a zero. Anyone caught cheating will be reprimanded under the University’s rules. Final Paper (35%): Due Wednesday August 12, 2020 (11:55 PM) • Papers will be 2300 words (approx. 8 pages) in length. (Anywhere between 2200-2400 words is acceptable). • Guidelines will be distributed Wednesday July 15, 2020. 4 General Submission Rules: • All assignments should be typed, double-spaced, size 12, with 1” (2.54 cm) margins. Use a standard sans serif font: Helvetica, Verdana or Calibri. • A title page is not required, but make sure you include instructor’s name, student’s name, the date and assignment name (e.g., “Critical Summary”). • All assignments will be submitted through Quercus. • Absences that will result late assignments will only be excused with documentation, or if you and I discuss the absence/extension prior to your absence (including religious holidays). Documentation submitted after the last class (Monday, August 17, 2020) may not be accepted, except for extraordinary circumstances (i.e., sudden illness). • Since this is a summer course the scheduling is very tight. As consequence, late assignments will be penalized 5% per day, and will not be accepted after one week from the original due date. This late penalty does not apply to discussion board posts, instead posts will not be accepted after the cut-off time. • Religious Accommodations, per Student Life, Students must email instructors with a request in writing for religious accommodation, then immediately follow up in person with the instructor. Normally this should be a minimum of 3 weeks before the date in question. • Academic Integrity: o Students should familiarize themselves with the University’s list of academic offences, including plagiarism: o See How Not to Plagiarize for tips on how to avoid plagiarism: MISCELLANEOUS: Student Services: • Student Crisis Response (overwhelmed or in crisis) — 416-946-7111 • Counselling + Psychological Services (CAPS) — 416-978-8070 • Community Safety Office (personal safety situations) — 416-978-1485 • Good2Talk Student Helpline | 1-866-925-5454 Professional counseling, information and referrals helpline for mental health, addictions and students well-being. • My Student Support Program (My SSP) | 1-844-451-9700. Outside of North America, call 001-416-380-6578. Culturally-competent mental health and counselling services in 146 languages for all U of T students. More information on these services can be found at the Student Life page. 5 READING SCHEDULE Mon July 6 [Lecture]: Introduction to Gender and Violence Crenshaw, Kimberlé. 1990. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review 43 (6): 1241–1300. The section “Representational Intersectionality” (page 1282-1295) is optional. Palmater, Pamela. 2018. “Why Canada Should Stand Trial For Tina Fontaine's Murder.” Now Toronto, February 25, 2018. Law, Victoria. 2014. “Against Carceral Feminism.” Jacobin Magazine, October 17, 2014. University of California Television. 2008. “The Prison: A Sign of Democracy?” YouTube, March 7, 2008. [Video] Additional Texts: Rustbelt Abolition Radio. 2017. “Settler Colonialism and the Struggle for Abolition.” Rustbelt Abolition Radio, December 11, 2017. [Audio] Equitable Education. 2015. “Pam Palmater interview on MMIWG: Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women & Girls in Canada.” YouTube, February 26, 2015. [Video] Incite! and Critical Resistance. 2003. “Critical Resistance-Incite! Statement on Gender Violence and the Prison-Industrial Complex.” Social Justice 30 3 (93): 141–50. Wed July 8 [Webinar] Mon July 13 [Lecture]: Gendered and Sexualized Carceral Violence in North America ▪ Reflection #1 Due Human Rights Watch. 2013. “Those Who Take Us Away: Abusive Policing and Failures in Protection of Indigenous Women and Girls in Northern British Columbia.” Human Rights Watch, February 13, 2013. 6 Palmater, Pamela. 2016. “Shining Light on the Dark Places: Addressing Police Racism and Sexualized Violence against Indigenous Women and Girls in the National Inquiry.” Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 28 (2): 253-284. Maynard, Robyn. 2017. “Misogynoir in Canada: Punitive state practices and the devaluation of Black women and gender-oppressed people.” In Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present, 128-155. Nova Scotia: Fernwood Press. Gao, Rebecca. 2020. “Wellness Checks Are All Over The News—But What Are They?” Chatelaine, June 16, 2020. Spade, Dean. 2015. “What’s Wrong With Rights?” In Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law, 38-49. Durham: Duke University Press. Additional Texts: Rustbelt Abolition Radio. 2018. “Carceral Ableism and Disability Justice.” Rustbelt Abolition Radio, January 10, 2018. [Audio] D'amore, Rachael. 2020. “She Spent 4 Years in a Men’s Prison — How Canada often Ignores Complexities in Trans Violence.” Global News, February 17, 2020. [Video] Hassan, Huda. 2015. “Police Carding Is Tied to Anti-Blackness in Canada and Black Suffering Throughout North America: Canada has perpetuated a multicultural con game through the guise of ‘progressive tolerance’ for far too long.” Vice Media Group, June 5, 2015. Law, Victoria. 2018. “For People Behind Bars, Reporting Sexual Assault Leads to More Punishment.” Truthout, September 30, 2018. Wed July 15 [Webinar] ▪ Final Paper Guidelines Distributed 7 Mon July 20 [Lecture]: The Violence of Border Crossings Dolmage, Jay. 2018. “Pier: Canada’s Pier 21 and the memorialization of immigration.” In Disabled Upon Arrival Eugenics, Immigration, and the Construction of Race and Disability, 51-71. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press. Walia, Harsha. 2013. “What is Border Imperialism?” In Undoing Border Imperialism, 3578. Oakland: AK Press. Cader, Fatima. 2011. “Tamil, tiger, terrorist? Anti-migrant hysteria and the criminalization of asylum seekers.” Briarpatch, July 7, 2011. No One is Illegal-Vancouver. 2014. “End Immigration Detention: Statement by NOIIVan.” No One is Illegal-Vancouver, October 7, 2014. Falcon, Sylvanna. 2006. “Securing the Nation Through the Violation of Women’s Bodies: Militarized Border Rape at the US-Mexico Border.” In Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology, edited by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, 119-129. Boston: South End Press. Bixby, Scott and Betsy Swan. 2018. “Trans Woman Was Beaten in ICE Custody Before Death, Autopsy Finds: Roxsana Rodriguez died following lack of medical treatment in a privately run immigration detention center. An autopsy concludes that she was beaten.” Daily Beast, November 27, 2018 Additional Texts: Martin, Jeffery. 2020. “60 Percent of ICE Detainees Tested Have Coronavirus.” Newsweek, April 28, 2020. Matteis, Stephanie. 2018. “Canada 'failed' latest victim of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur, migrant workers groups say: Death of refugee claimant Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam, 37, highlights need for change to immigration system.” CBC News, April 22, 2018. Speri, Alice. 2018. “Detained, Then Violated: 1,224 Complaints Reveal a Staggering Pattern of Sexual Abuse in Immigration Detention. Half of Those Accused Worked for ICE.” The Intercept, April 11, 2018. Gonzales, Richard. 2018. “ACLU Report: Detained Immigrant Children Subjected To Widespread Abuse By Officials.” NPR, May 23, 2018. Wed July 22 [Webinar] 8 Mon July 27: Open Book Test ▪ Last day for course-drop Wed July 29 [Lecture]: Reevaluating Global Anti-Violence Campaigns Kempadoo, Kamala. 2013. “Victims and Agents of Crime the New Crusade Against Trafficking.” In Global lockdown: Race, Gender, and the Prison-Industrial Complex, 25-55. New York: Routledge. Maynard, Robyn. 2015. “Fighting Wrongs with Wrongs? How Canadian Anti-Trafficking Crusades Have Failed Sex Workers, Migrants, and Indigenous Communities.” Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice 37 (2): 40–56. Nosheen, Habiba and Andrew Culbert. 2019. “Canadian Law Can't Punish some Peacekeepers for Sex Misconduct Abroad — and the UN isn't Happy about it.” CBC News, September 16, 2019. Ahmed, Aziza and Meena Seshu. 2012. “‘We have the right not to be ‘rescued’’...When Anti-Trafficking Programmes Undermine the Health and Well-Being of Sex Workers.” Anti-Trafficking Review 1: 149-65. Additional Texts: Simon, Scott. 2019. “Researchers Say U.N. Peacekeepers Fathered And Left Behind Children In Haiti.” NPR, December 21, 2019. [Audio] Sayers, Naomi. 2018. “Criminalizing Sex-Work Has Not Saved Indigenous Women.” HuffPost Canada, February 26, 2018. Porter, Jody. 2013. “Child prostitution victim warns of sex trade on ships: Police, border officials ignore concerns of First Nations women, advocates say.” CBC News, Sep 05, 2013. Mon Aug 3: Civic Holiday – No class Wed Aug 5 [Webinar] ▪ Reflection #2 Due 9 Mon Aug 10 [Lecture]: Reimagining Feminist and Anti-Oppressive Futures Spade, Dean and Reina Gosset. 2014. “No One Is Disposable: Everyday Practices of Prison Abolition.” Barnard Center for Research on Women & Sylvia Rivera Law Project, 2014. [Videos] (Watch parts 1-3) Goujard, Clothilde. 2018. “Help LGBTQ Prisoners Survive: LGBTQ inmates can experience higher rates of violence. But having an outside connection can help keep them safe.” The Walrus, May 1, 2018. Mingus, Mia. 2019. “Transformative Justice: A Brief Description.” Leaving Evidence, January 9, 2019. Palacios, Lena. 2016. “‘Ain’t No justice ... It’s just us’: Girls organizing against sexual and carceral violence.” In Girlhood and the Politics of Place, edited by Claudia Mitchell and Carrie Rentschler, 279-295. New York: Berghahn Books. Ziyad, Hari. 2019. “What do we do with abusers like R. Kelly if we abolish prisons?” Black Youth Project, January 8, 2019 Hewitt-White, Caitlin, Peter Collins, Emily Aspinwall, Filis Iverson, Sonia Marino, Julia Sudbury, Kim Pate and Patricia Monture. 2009. “Roundtable: Prison Abolition in Canada.” Upping the Anti: A Journal of Theory Action (4). Zapatista Army of National Liberation. 2019. “Letter from Zapatistas to Women Who Fight All Over the World.” Translated by Abolition Media Worldwide. International Viewpoint, February 16, 2019. Additional Texts: Benaway, Gwen. 2018. “In Light of the Junot Díaz Essay, What About the Women Who Have Loved Male Survivors?” Flare, April 13, 2018 Wed August 12 [Webinar] Analysis Paper Due Mon August 17 [Webinar] Last Class – Wrap-Up 10