Activities for Teaching Gender and Sexuality in the University Classroom

Elizabeth Ribarsky (PhD University of Nebraska-Lincoln) is an assistant professor in the communication department at the University of Illinois Springfield, where she teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in interpersonal communication. Dr. Ribarsky's research focuses on the construction of individual and relational identities. Specifically, much of her research is devoted to understanding the gendered communication surrounding dating and sexual communication. Her research has been published in various academic journals and books, including Communication Quarterly,Teaching Ideas for the Basic Communication Course, and Fix Me Up, a book examining the reality of reality television. She also has made numerous presentations at regional and national communication conferences and has won top paper awards.Michael J. Murphy is assistant professor of Women and Gender Studies at the University of Illinois Springfield. He holds a bachelors degree from the University of Iowa, and masters and doctoral degrees in the history of American art and visual culture from Washington University in St. Louis. He was the first male-bodied graduate of that institution to earn the doctorate with a Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies. He has published on the history of men’s clothing in the U.S., rape prevention social marketing efforts, and the place of masculinities in academic women’s studies. For several years he has taught introductory and advanced courses in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies.

• PrefaceHow to Use this BookAcknowledgementsI. Exploring Ethics, Values, Beliefs1. Where Do You Stand: Assessing Students’ Values and Beliefs—Hazel Rozema2. Femininity and Masculinity: An Exploration of the Relative Elements of Gender Identity—Evangeline Weiss and Kerry Poynter3. Is it Theft?: Using the Ethics of Crime to Frame a Discussion of Sexual Consent and Sexual Assault—Mara K. Berkland4. Bringing the Gender Movements Alive through Role Play—Sherianne Shuler5. Arguing Over Theories of Gender Development—Shelly Schaefer Hinck and Edward A. Hinck6. Same-Sex Marriage Debate: Gay/Lesbian Rights vs. Queer Critiques of Marriage—Elizabeth CurransII. Sexuality7. Sexual Secret Cards: Examining Social Norms and Cultural Taboos around Sexuality—Shawn Trivette8. Beyond Binaries: Identity and Sexuality—Robyn Ochs and Michael J. Murphy9. Dancing in Class: Choreographing Gendered Sexuality—Susan E. Stiritz10. Discussing Gender and Sexuality ‘Hot Button’ Issues: Considering the Role of Religion and Religious Beliefs—Navita Cummings JamesIII. Friendship and Romantic Relationships11. Choose Your Own Adventure: Examining Social Exchange Theory and Gendered Relational Choices—Elizabeth Ribarsky12. Perceptions of Conversations and Gendered Language in Same- and Cross-sex Friendships—Allison R. Thorson13. Let’s Talk About Sex: Teaching College Students How to Navigate Sexual Communication Conversations with Relational Partners—Jessica A. NodulmanIV. Literature14. Encouraging Reader Identification with LGBT Literary Characters through Role-play—David Hennessee15. Designing Utopia: Teaching Gender through the Creation of ‘Hisland’—Christin L. Munsch16. The Big Bad Wolf Carries a Purse: Restorying Gender Roles in Popular Children’s Stories—Stacy Tye-WilliamsV. Media and Artifacts17. Marlboro Men, Virginia Slims & Lucky Strikes: The Social Construction of Reality in Tobacco Advertising—Amie Kincaid18. Writing A Non-Sexist Television Advertisement—David Bobbitt19. Being a Man: Challenging or Reinforcing Embodied Masculinities in the University Classroom—Jessica J. Eckstein20. Communicating Gender Expectations: An Analysis of Boys’ and Girls’ Toys and Games—Elizabeth Tolman21. Engendering Material Culture: The Gendered Packaging of Bath and Beauty Products—Michael J. MurphyVI. Body22. Voicing Gender: Critically Examining Expectations about Gender and Vocalics—Lisa K. Hanasono23. Performing and Analyzing Gendered Nonverbal Communication—Deborah Cunningham Breede24. Gender-Norm Violation and Analysis—Tamara BergVII. Work25. Gender at Work: Revealing and Reconciling the Influence of Gender Norms on Perceived Occupational Roles—Jessica Furgerson26. Analyzing Media Representations of Powerful Women in the Workplace—Sarah Stone Watt27. Let's Go to Work: Discovering the Prevalence and Place of Gender and Sexuality Expectations in Organizations—Jeanette Valenti28. What’s the policy?: Exploring Sexual Harassment Policies in Organizations—Joy DaggsVIII. Global/Intersectional Issues29. Crash: Seeing the Power of Intersectional Analyses—Sal Renshaw30. Us and Them: Teaching Students to Critically Analyze Gender in a Global Context—Amy Eisen Cislo31. Claiming Your Baggage: Gender, Sexuality, and Nation in American Popular Culture—Christina HolmesList of Contributors

Activities for Teaching Gender and Sexuality in the University Classroom is an accurate title for this collection of interesting, innovative, classroom-based activities. According to the editors, Murphy and Ribarsky, the text aims to provide a myriad of examples of activities which could be utilized to teach a variety of topics related to sexuality and gender. As such, the text is a useful resource and teaching tool which can be utilized to integrate pedagogical diversity into the classroom. . . .The topical areas addressed in Activities for Teaching Gender and Sexuality are vast and wide-ranging. The text is interdisciplinary in nature and thus is well-suited for a range of disciplines including psychology, sociology, public health, communication, human development, family studies, gender studies, and women studies. . . .one of the activities encourages students to think critically about the lens through which fairy-tale stories are told and encourages students to think differently about how contemporary American culture constructs gender and gender assigned roles. Future K-12 teachers would greatly benefit from exposure to this critical lens. . . .in addition to college professors and instructors and high school teachers, educators working for non-for profit, community-based or public health organizations may also find utility in the activities presented in the text. . . .Activities for Teaching Gender and Sexuality is stylistically unique in that the text does not have to be read cover to cover. In fact, one of the positive features of this text is that an educator could skim through the table of contents in order to look for a specific topic of interest, activity that may be relevant to an aspect of their course, or an issue they wish to cover, and implement the activity in their class. . . .Activities for Teaching Gender and Sexuality is a unique text; there are few resources that one could utilize to compare this text. . . .The activities are easily adaptable for a variety of audiences and the depth and breadth of content addressed in the various activities could be useful for a range of disciplines.