The Journal Project: Dialogues and Conversations Inside Women's Studies

Andrea Levan is an assistant professor and co-ordinator of the Women’s
Studies Program, Thorneloe College, Laurentian University.

The Journal Project consists of a series of entries from the journals of
women’s studies students at Langara College, British Columbia, written
as part of their course requirement. The editors state that the purpose
of the book is to provide a model for other students, but it is clear
that they also want their book to convince us of the value of journals.
They feel that the journal process heightens the social and political
awareness of students, and highlights the connection between personal
experience and political activism. Using journals in the classroom has
become a matter of some controversy among teachers of women’s studies.
Given the power differential that exists between teachers and students
and in an institutional setting, some professors are concerned about the
ethics of encouraging students to write to them about personal
experience. The introduction to the book suggests that this debate will
be explored in some depth.

Unfortunately, the book did not live up to this promise, although many
of the entries are undoubtedly moving. The book does give us a clear
sense of the students’ anger and confusion, and of the process of
change through which many of them were struggling. Most of the students
engaged with the course material at a very rudimentary level, and it was
difficult not to become impatient with what were sometimes simplistic
explanations of women’s problems. To be sure, such entries have their
place in personal journals, but perhaps that is where they should have
remained. Furthermore, the entries seemed to reflect a particular
approach to feminism, focusing on overtly discriminatory behaviors
rather than systemic ones. For example, economic issues were rarely
mentioned. Nor did I see much resistance to the course material, yet
denial is not an uncommon response among women’s studies students,
especially as they reflect upon their own families, relationships, and
experiences. Many want to believe that things have changed dramatically
and that sexism is no longer the problem it once was.

As a result, I had a strong sense that despite differences in race,
sexual orientation, age, and class among the participants, the entries
reflected a particular perspective: an affirmation of the experiential
aspects of women’s studies, which the instructors, by their own
admission, found most valuable. This raised the question for me of
whether journals do in fact reflect what instructors want to hear—one
of the issues at the heart of the journal debates. The last section of
the book, which was supposed to explore problems like this, was most
disappointing. All of the participants were clearly in favor of the
journal exercise, and none was able to clearly articulate the criticisms
that have been raised.