U.S. Women's History
| HST 286-4511/WMS 286-4510 |
Professor Catherine Lavender |
| Fall 1999 |
Office: 2N 203, 718-982-2869 |
| Monday 440-620, 2N 107; Wednesday 440-620, 3N 106 |
Office hours: M/W 2:15-3:15, T 1:20-2:30,
and by appointment |
Purpose of the Course:
This course explores the history of women's experience in American society. The course will emphasize student development of analytical skills through textual analysis, and writing skills through student writing. The course will also aim to familiarize the student with historical method and historiography, emphasizing the construction of historical arguments (thesis, methodology, historiography, evidence, sources, research, and narrative), as well as identifying areas for further research. In addition, this course will introduce students to the field of American women's history. Women's history is the study of women in past times and across cultures. Its goals are to find the women missing from the pages of our history books; to analyze and understand their experience as lived, felt, and understood; to integrate that knowledge into the history of particular times, places, and societies; and to develop from that knowledge conceptual frameworks with which to understand the role and significance of gender in culture and society.
Course Requirements:
All students are required to attend lectures and take part in discussions. Exams will require students to synthesize lecture materials as well as readings. Students must also read and assimilate required readings, and be prepared to discuss readings on the schedule given below. Students will submit all assignments on time; late papers will not be accepted without prior arrangement with the professor. Further, no student with more than four unexcused absences will receive a passing grade for the course.
A Note About Academic Integrity: Integrity is fundamental to the academic enterprise. It is violated by acts such as borrowing or purchasing term papers, essays, reports, and other written assignments; using concealed notes or crib sheets during examinations; copying others' work and submitting it as one's own; and misappropriating the knowledge of others. The sources from which one derives one's ideas, statements, terms, and data must be fully and specifically acknowledged in the appropriate form; failure to do so, intentionally or unintentionally, constitutes plagiarism. Violations of academic integrity may result in failure in the course and in disciplinary actions with penalties such as suspension or dismissal from the College.
Contacting the Professor:
My office is in 2N 203, and my office phone is 718-982-2869; I have office hours Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:15 to 3:15, Tuesdays 1:20-2:30, and by appointment. You may also reach me via email at lavender@postbox.csi.cuny.edu.
Assignments:
First Midterm Exam (Monday, October 18): 35% of Final Course Grade
Second Midterm/Final Exam (Wednesday, December 15): 45% of Final Course Grade
Participation (attendance, quiz grades, discussion contribution): 20% of Final Course Grade
Required Texts:
Sara Evans, Born for Liberty: A History of Women in America (New York: The Free Press, 1989)
Linda Brent, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper and "Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper" (available online)
Ruth Underhill, Papago Woman
Rosie the Riveter (documentary)
Salt of the Earth (film)
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (documentary)
Patricia Raybon, My First White Friend
There are additional optional materials for this course on the WWW at http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/286links.html
Course Schedule:
| Week One: Introduction |
|
Monday, August 30 |
Introduction to the Course; Introduction to Women's History |
|
Wednesday, September 1 |
Introduction to Women's History, cont. |
|
Readings: Evans, "Introduction." |
| Week Two: Colonial Origins I |
|
Monday, September 6 |
CSI Closed--No Classes |
|
Wednesday, September 8 |
The Colonial Family |
|
Readings: Evans, Chs. 1 and 2. |
| Week Three: Colonial Origins II |
|
Monday, September 13 |
The Colonial Family and Witchcraft |
|
Wednesday, September 15 |
The Midwife's Tale |
|
Readings: Evans, Chs. 1 and 2. |
| Week Four: Republican Womanhood |
|
Monday, September 20 |
CSI Closed--No Classes |
|
Tuesday, September 21 |
Classes follow Monday schedule; Republican Womanhood |
|
Wednesday, September 22 |
The Meaning of Liberty/Industrial Revolution |
|
Readings: Parts One and Two of Liberty Rhetoric Website; Evans, Chs. 2 and 3. |
| Week Five: Slavery and American Women |
|
Monday, September 27 |
Slave-Holding Women and the Meaning of Slavery in the Southern Gender System |
|
Wednesday, September 29 |
Slave Women |
|
Readings: Evans, Chs. 4 and 5; Brent, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. |
| Week Seven: Suffrage |
|
Monday, October 11 |
CSI Closed--No Classes |
|
Wednesday, October 13 |
Classes follow Monday schedule; Suffrage and Liberty Rhetoric |
|
Readings: Evans, Ch. 6, Third section of Liberty Rhetoric Site |
| Week Eight: FIRST MIDTERM |
|
Monday, October 18 |
First Midterm Exam |
|
Wednesday, October 20 |
The Civil War and Reconstruction |
|
Readings: Evans, Ch. 7 |
| Week Eleven: Sexual and Social Revolutions |
|
Monday, November 8 |
The New Women, Flappers and Other Revolutionaries |
|
Wednesday, November 10 |
The Great Depression |
|
Readings: Evans, Ch. 10; Underhill, Papago Woman |
| Week Twelve: Between the Waves |
|
Monday, November 15 |
Discuss Underhill, Papago Woman |
|
Wednesday, November 17 |
Rosie the Riveter; view Rosie the Riveter in class. |
|
Readings: Evans, Ch. 11; Underhill, Papago Woman
|
| Week Fifteen: Finding Our Place |
|
Monday, December 6 |
Strategies of Resistance and Survival; discuss Raybon, My First White Friend |
|
Wednesday, December 8 |
Summing Up; Review for Second Midterm |
|
Readings: Raybon, My First White Friend |
| Finals Week: Final Exam (Second Midterm/Final) |
|
Wednesday, December 15 |
Second Midterm/Final |
Last updated: Monday 30 August 1999.