Courses at The Evergreen State College

Stephanie Coontz has been a member of the faculty at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington since 1975. She is currently teaching the following courses:

What Are Families For ?

Fall and Winter 2008-09
Faculty: Stephanie Coontz, 867-6703. C2104 Seminar II, coontzs@msn.com

Schedule:

Mondays
10:00-12:30 - Book Seminar: Seminar 2, C2107
12:30-3:00 - Workshop, film, or lecture: Seminar 2, C2107

Tuesdays
10:00-Noon - Field work/ethnographic seminars: Library 1412
1:00-4:00 - Book seminar: Library 1412

Wednesday OR Thursdays
7 hours Field Work - see below

Friday
10:00-1:00 - Book seminar: Seminar 2, D3109

Field Work:

You will do one of the following: A 7-hour day on Wednesday or Thursday at Garfield Elementary School OR three two-hour shifts (three days a week) at Evergreen Village or Evergreen Vista. This component of the program involves hands-on community service, working with youth and their supervisors and at the same keeping ethnographic field notes on your observations of their interactions and the way that the institutions organize their lives. You will receive coaching about how to take ethnographic field notes and you must type up your observations after each session, keeping them in a notebook that I may at any time ask to see. Please bring these notebooks to the Tuesday ethnographic seminars, as I will sometimes ask people to read aloud from their notes. You are required to get your attendance and hours verified by your supervisor each week and to make up any absences or tardiness. Each student should draw up a weekly time card and have it signed and dated by your supervisor. You must have at least 9 weeks worth of
service and field notes.

Program Description:

This program explores the historical evolution of family life in the United States, including changes in sexual norms, patterns of family formation, the role of children and teens in society and in the family, and the challenges involved in the transition from adolescence into adulthood. This course of study will prepare students for more advanced work in a wide range of disciplines. In addition, it will sharpen skills of critical reading, effective writing, and in-depth analysis and argumentation. A side benefit, but not the main intent of the program, will be a better understanding of our own family experiences and interpersonal relationships, as we learn to put them in context, understand their origins, and see the larger social forces that affect even the supposedly most private, individual aspects of our lives.

Because this is a demanding and intensive program, students should not attempt to work more than 10-15 hours a week. Attendance and participation in all seminars, workshops, and other program activities are mandatory. Absences or tardiness will result in loss of credit. Students are expected to consider different points of view and interpretations of evidence, to fairly evaluate arguments with which they disagree, and to explore possible contradictions or exceptions to their own positions. Expect to back up your position with concrete examples and logical argumentation, and be prepared to defend your positions against challenge. If you are absent for seminars, you must do a written exposition of the author's argument and explain where you agree and disagree, or what you think the work contributes to our understanding of the subject.

Books to be read fall quarter:

Barrie Thorne, Gender Play
D;Emilio and Freeman, Intimate Matters
Hine, Rise and Fall of the American Teenager
Bailey, From Front Porch to Back Seat
Isserman and Kazin, America Divided (tentative; do not purchase yet)
Stacey, Brave New Families
Kotlowitz, There Are No Children Here
Coontz, Parson, and Raley, American Families: A Multicultural Reader (2nd edition only; used copies of the first edition will not work)
Reich, Fixing Families

A full syllabus will be available by the end of August.