WGST 333 (Goddess Mythology, Women’s Spirituality, and Ecofeminism) is a three-credit intermediate-level women’s and gender studies course that examines the evolution, fragmentation, and re-creation of spiritual traditions, myths, and stories associated with Goddess. The course explores the symbolic significance of female divinity and the impact of its loss on all aspects of Western culture. This course is a humanities course that has no prerequisites; however, students may find WGST 266 (Thinking from Women’s Lives – An Introduction to Women’s Studies) helpful. There is also a challenge for credit option available if students are interested.
Students should note that WGST 333 is a precluded course, meaning that it cannot be taken for credit if credit was already obtained for WMST 333.
Goddess Mythology, Women’s Spirituality, and Ecofeminism is made up of nine units, a telephone review weighing fifteen percent, an essay on goddesses worth thirty percent, a research proposal on ecofeminism for the final essay worth twenty percent, and that final essay on ecofeminism for the remaining thirty-five percent. There are no mid-term or final examinations for this course. Throughout this course students will learn about goddesses in Greek mythology, Egyptian goddess mythology, ecofeminist views of women, goddess mythology in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, indigenous and global goddess traditions, and upper Palaeolithic and Neolithic goddess mythology. To receive credit for WGST 333, students must obtain at least a “D”, or fifty percent, on the telephone review and each of the three written assignments.
My name is Brittany Daigle and I am currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts double major in Psychology and Sociology program at Athabasca University. I enrolled at AU in November of 2016 and I am about halfway done. For work, I am the Vice President Finance and Administration for Athabasca University’s Students’ Union and I hold a spot on each of AUSU’s three committees, chairing two of them.
I am currently taking WGST 333 to fill a humanities slot in my program and I am finding it to be an interesting course so far. The course comes with a physical textbook, which I appreciate, however, the content within the textbook is in black and white and due to its size, can be hard to lay flat on a table when trying to study, so I almost wish that it was an e-textbook. I also find the content within the textbook to be quite dry at times.
As for the four assignments; assignment one is a telephone review that must be completed by telephone unless there are extenuating circumstances that make it difficult for you to call your tutor. This assignment gives you and your tutor the opportunity to get to know each other and for you to ask questions about the course and upcoming assignments. To prepare for the review, students are assigned to read the assigned chapters and articles for units one and two and prepare answers to three review questions. The review will take approximately thirty minutes and the conversation is supposed to be relaxed and easygoing, so do not stress about it. You are given the opportunity to ask questions and clarify anything prior to offering your answers and you will also have the chance to discuss the answers and to clarify any misunderstandings. It is recommended that you make detailed notes of the points that you want to cover in your three answers, including your own views and some quotes (make sure you include page numbers) from the textbook. Responses should be a minimum of one page (250 words) in length for each of the three questions.
Then assignment two is an essay on a goddess of your choice and is required to be 2000-2500 words (8-10 pages double spaced) in length. Students are required to write a research paper on a specific goddess and her significance for women in her original historical / cultural context and for women today.
Assignment three is a research proposal for the final essay on ecofeminism. The assignment details provide students with topic areas for the final essay and poses some questions to help narrow down a topic in preparation to start writing the essay. This assignment should be between 1000-1250 words (4-5 pages double spaced) in length.
Last, assignment four is the final essay on ecofeminism, which is required to be between 2500-3000 words (10-12 pages) in length. Students will use the research question that they developed in the research proposal assignment and interpret a contemporary issue within the context of ecofeminism and goddess mythology. It is also required that students include a minimum of three scholarly resources additional to course readings, and it may include some creative expression, such as images or creative writing. Your paper could also include a report on a “hands-on” project related to the topic that you chose.
WGST 333 is a heavy writing course. Students could benefit from taking ENGL 255 (Introductory Composition) first as that course focuses on essay writing at the university level and it will give you a good idea of what quality of writing is expected. I also recommend not waiting too long to do the telephone review, as intimidating as it may sound, as it must be completed prior to submitting any other assignments. Last thing I would suggest is to make sure that you know how to properly use the APA formatting style with page numbers as you will need to use it to reference your sources and/or images.
Whether WGST 333 is a degree or program requirement of yours or the topics discussed above are of interest to you, this course will have you learning a lot of interesting content surrounding the topic of goddess mythology, women’s spirituality, and ecofeminism.
