History 697D: Topics in U.S. Women's History

Joyce Berkman

Fall 2003, Wed. 7:00 - 10:00 pm

Synopsis:

This course will focus on selected topics in the history of U.S. women and gender from the colonial era to the present.  Since gender is a mutable and historically variable feature of women’s lives – its nature shaping and being shaped by other societal ascriptions, e.g. race, ethnicity, sexuality, social class, religion, region – we will examine women’s experience through multiple interpenetrating lenses. 

Topics for this semester will be: Native American Women ca. 1600-1900; African American women ca: 1800-1930; immigrant women ca. 1850-1930; medical and scientific construction of the female body and the struggle for female bodily self-definition and control ca. 1800 to the present; various waves of feminism. 

We problematize how we know as well as what we know and the relationship between these two variables.  Each week’s readings will include essays wrestling with types of evidence, historiography, and historical epistemology. 

Requirements: Written: Two essays, 8-12 pages, based on assigned readings for two topics.  Oral:  One presentation as part of seminar leadership for one topic (can be the same as topic for your written essay).  Regular and active participation in class discussion.

Syllabus: History 679D, Fall 2004

Course Website: Not available