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What Is Woman's Place In The Modern World?By JO ANN MINER Register Staff WriterIs this aU there is? Have you ever asked yourself this question?Do any of these descriptions fit you as a woman?_A mother who feels the walls areclosing in. ..-An office worker who feels irapped in her little niche with no hope of finding away out. ._ A homemaker who has all the modem conveniences of living in the suburbs but very few ego satisfactions in her endless round of cleaning, baby sitting and shopping .If they do fit, don’t feel alone Many women today are wondering, “Just what is a woman's place in the modem world?’’In an attempt to answer this question and explore the needs of women, professors Norma Chinchilla and Janet Williams, along with several of their col leagues at the University of California. Irvine, have designed a Women s Studies course geared specifically for the woman who places herself in any of the above-mentioned categoriesUNIQUE COURSE According to Chinchilla, a sociology Instructor, the course is unique in that it combines academic assignments with having women analyse their own lives, experiences and families, then relate these back to the theories presented in the classIt is her belief that women are better able to understand their role in society when they go back and analyse how they developed the attitudes they have It is hoped that students will obtain a changed overall perspective on the status and role of women and, as a result, will question many previously held assumptions “The study of women was never const dered an interesting or challenging topic, Chinchilla noted. “But now there’sa tot of good research being done We are rediscovering history in a new way ” Williams, whose field is math and science, said she became interested in the program after her husband took a creativity class a neighbor was teaching and she found out the course dealt only with men “How little has been written about women ami creativity, she said Women don't question enough, they've been taught to be quiet ”GRADUATE STUDENTSChinchilla said it was her graduate students who pushed her into forming the mw Women's Studies course “I finally agreed, on the condition we would teach each other Now I’m very excited about it. 1 think people get excitud when they hear ideas they can relate to or identify with One tool the two women believe can be very useful in a class of this nature is having students interview other indi viduals.Williams said, in another class, she found that many of tor students actually believed everybody though I the same way they did So she required them to interview people One of our first assign ments in the Women’s Studies class will be to have them interview women outside of their peer groups ”Chinchilla has also assigned similar projects in other classes In one class, she recalled, she had a student interview his mother She said it was a very moving experience to hear him relate the dis coveries to had made through his inter view “It was the first time he had ever found out what she had gone through *’Both women said they think their own personal experiences give them an insight into the needs of women and will help them to relate to their students“My parents wanted me to go to college,” Chinchilla recalled, “but afterthat I was expected to get a ‘useful' job, something that required typing and shor thand I always wanted a career and a family — just didn't know it would be so hardBREAK PA881VITYMany women, she said, arm t sure what to do with their lives; they're really just rolling with the waves The mam thing we hope to do is break this passivity and feeling of helplessness Women s Studies prepares you to live in a male environment and can help women to convince themselves they can do what they want Women are finding it out it's all right to do something previously re served for man And, it's all right to be a housewife“I think the media has done a d laser vice by trying to portray the women s movement as something the majority cannot identify withWhen 1 was in graduate school, ' she continued, “the womens movement seemed a small group of women far away from us (the few women among a majon ty of men) I think being a grad student could have been leas traumatic had we realized they weren't so far away But we never talked to other women about any thing senous Now I realize how really interesting and stimulating it can to to to with other women who are doing the same thing as yourself It’s a tremendous sense of support, but I really never had that in school.”NO ROLE MODELS Williams said she is interested herself in knowing more about women Even though she went to a women's college and believes this may have been instrumental in her pursuing a career, she said, “I hadn’t ever learned anything about wo men And being in a male-dominated field, I have no role models.“I went to college, she said, “because of parental pressure. But my parentswould never have provided the money for me to go to graduate school College was important because it was the social thing to do A career was not ”In spite of the progress women have made in recent years. Chinchilla said. The university is sull s male world The group s working principles include the belief that the present university curriculum and environment reflect the un derlying unchallenged assumption which perpetuate sexist, racist and other dm sions in society Instead of training ttu dents to fit into existing slots, the new Women s Studies course is expected to to the beginning of sn attempt to develop a program which will provide greater opportunities for womenTHREE QUARTERS The course is given over the period of three quarters, in sequence or individually, and is designed so that each quartercomplements the others It will include a study of women in society, dealing with social science, biology and novels in the Fail Quarter which begins Monday This will be followed by the Winter Quarter beginning January 4 with an historical survey of women and culture, and the third part in the spring beginning March M will provide comparison acrues cul turns and races, including problems of women in our own society, with paniru lar reference to such issues ss abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment The course caa be taken either through the extension program or the regular I mversity and will to given Mond**. Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 to 1 SO . p m beginning Mooday Women who are not presently enrolled as students at UCI may obtain further information by at tending the first class meeting in room 17B, Humanities Hail, on the UCI campus
Newspaper Details
Orange County Register
Orange, California, US
Fri, Sep 24, 1976
Page 44
Full Page
Clipped by
Susun W.
USA 02 Apr 2024
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