HISTORY 272                                                                         JUDY KUTULAS

 

 

A HISTORY OF AMERICAN WOMEN

 

 

Office: 513C Holland Hall

 

Extension: 3236

 

E-mail: kutulas@stolaf.edu

 

Course e-mail address: history-272 (this mails to the whole class, including me).

 

Office Hours: Mondays, 2-3, Thursdays, 12-2, and by appointment.

 

 

This course is intended as a general introduction to American women’s history.  Its goal is to acquaint you with the basics of the subject, to give you some feel for the kinds of questions and challenges women’s historians face, and to teach you some skills.  The format is as varied as I can manage given the size of the class and the inflexibility of the classroom.  There will be lectures, discussions, films, and group work.  We shall read some primary materials (letters, memoirs, oral histories), consider some unorthodox kinds of evidence (advertisements), and see what historians think about certain topics.  I try to focus on a wide variety of experiences, ranging from traditional “women’s work” (housework, child-rearing) to more recent concerns (work outside the home, education, politics, health issues).  We shall also discuss issues that potentially divide women, like class, race, ethnicity, and political perspective.  The class arrangement is principally chronological; however I have included some sweeping historical surveys when it seemed more appropriate.

 

I teach this class from a feminist perspective (we’ll talk about what that means in class), but that doesn’t mean you have to agree with me.  We can have respectful discussions that air a variety of viewpoints.  If the material in this class makes you think, I’ll take that as a compliment.  However, I can’t reward any personal growth that occurs over the semester.

 

This course carries HWC credit, the domestic multicultural component credit, and a writing credit.  It also counts toward the History major (as a US course and one that satisfies the pre-modern requirement), toward the Women’s Studies major and concentration, and toward the American Studies major.

 

There are four required texts.  They are:

 

·        Mary Beth Norton and Ruth M. Alexander, Major Problems in American Women’s History, third edition.  If, like me, you’ve got the 2^nd edition, keep it; we’ll work it out.

 

·        Deborah Gray White, Ar’n’t I a Woman, second edition.

 

·        Kathy Peiss, Cheap Amusements.

 

·        Beth Bailey, From Front Porch to Back Seat.

 

All of the books are presently in the bookstore.  If you run out, contact Victoria Beussman, x-8017, and she’ll help you get a copy of what you need.

 

As with any course, we’ll have our good days and our bad days.  Some of what I plan will work and some of it won’t.  I’ll try to be flexible if you’ll try to be patient with me.

 

Course requirements are:

 

§         3 papers - link(s)  to topics - first, second

 

§         Essay midterm

 

§         Essay final

 

§         Smaller assignments and group work

 

§         Participation and REGULAR ATTENDENCE.  More than a few absences will negatively impact your grade.  I take attendance.

 

Each element above is worth roughly equal weight. I do this to accommodate different skill levels.  One of the reasons you are at a liberal arts college, presumably, is for more personal attention, so I prefer to leave this flexible.  However, I should also issue the following caveats: first, I do not deal in extra credit; second, I think about effort when I grade but there need to be some actual skills mastered; third, students who do excellent work and never open their mouths drive me crazy. 

 

I’m leaving you to pace out the readings for the three smaller books; the readings in the textbooks are designated on the schedule class-by-class.  Papers will focus on the smaller books.  We will devote one class hour to discussing each book before the papers are due. 

 

I leave it to you to decide where this course fits into your larger life.  That means if you choose to skip classes, turn in papers late, or fly to Switzerland instead of taking the midterm, that’s fine.  But if I respect your priorities, you must also respect my schedule, which means that you accept the consequences of failing to complete course requirements.  I get really cranky about late papers.

 

I realize that the vast majority of you are taking this course to satisfy general education requirements and may not be experienced writing history papers.  Before the first paper is due, we’ll discuss how best to address your needs.

 

One of my favorite parts of teaching a general interest GE class is getting to know people I don’t otherwise meet.  I spend a lot of time in my office and hope all of you will find your way up to it before the semester ends.

 

If you are a Women’s Studies or History major and may want to embark on a larger term paper as a first step toward a distinction project, I would be happy to work out substitute assignments to accommodate you.

 

Check your e-mail regularly as I put out corrections to the syllabus and things I’ve said in class, interesting tidbits, and on the occasional bad weather day, class information.  The day before each class is scheduled, I send out a study guide via e-mail that includes broad questions and specifics you should know.  If I forget about this, remind me. 

 

Students with special needs should contact me as soon as possible in the semester so we can work out appropriate accommodations. 

 

The schedule that follows is not fixed in stone.  It is subject to my whims and errors (especially my errors), not to mention the kinds of spontaneous discussions that make the class come alive.

 

Whenever possible, have the reading for each day done before the class for which it is scheduled.  There are some days when this will be especially important and I will point those out in advance.

 

In several places, I have designated on-line readings that are attached to my on-line syllabus.  You can find it at http://www.stolaf.edu/people/kutulas/

 

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TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF LECTURES, READINGS, AND ASSIGNMENTS

 

9/10 - Introduction: What Is a Feminist Perspective?

 

9/13 - Native American Women (Norton, pp. 27-47).

 

9/15 - The Colonial Family (Norton, pp. 50-54).

 

9/17 – Women as Witches (no reading).

 

9/20 - Republican Motherhood (Norton, pp. 69-76).

 

9/22 - Victorian Ideal: The Cult of True Womanhood (Cult reading – this is probably one of the most famous pieces of writing about women’s history).  For those of you interested in the fluff and finery of the era, check out http://www.victoriana.com/library/harpers/harpers.html.

 

9/24 - Victorian Reality, Part I: Farm and Frontier Women (frontier reading).

 

9/27 - Victorian Reality, Part II: Women and Work in the 19^th Century (Lowell reading).

 

9/29 Victorian Reality, Part III: Sex (prostitution reading).

 

10/1 – The Changing Meaning of Family.  (Now’s a good time to start Deborah Gray White’s book).

 

10/4 - Women’s Education (And to continue reading it).

 

10/6 - Slave Women (discussion of Ar’n’t I a Woman).

 

10/8 - Abolitionism and Early Feminism (Norton, pp. 132-40, 169-85).

 

10/11 - Factory Workers and Typewriters; The Impact of Industrialization on Women’s Work (Norton, pp. 213-29 and on-line reading).

 

10/13 - Women and Reform (Norton, pp. 246-56, 263-71).  FIRST PAPER DUE.

 

10/15 – Having Babies: A History of Childbirth (begin reading Cheap Amusements).

 

10/18 - The Suffrage Movement (continue reading Cheap Amusements).

 

10/20 - The Flapper: Liberated or Constrained? (Norton, pp. 317-27).

 

10/22 - A History of Housework.

 

10/27 - How the Other Half Lived (discussion of Cheap Amusements).

 

10/29 - African-American Women in a Segregated Society (Norton, pp. 229-35).

 

11/1 - The Birth Control Movement (Norton, pp. 286-317).  SECOND PAPER DUE.

 

11/3 - Women and the Depression (Norton, pp. 329-40 and on-line reading).

 

11/5 - Video: “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter” - Note: This video runs longer than the class hour (65 minutes).  I will start it promptly and run it until there are no more people in the room.  (no reading).

 

11/8 - MIDTERM EXAMINATION.  Choice of 1 essay question from 2 or 3.

 

11/10 - Work and Play During World War II (Norton, pp. 358-61, 364-66, 384-92).

 

11/12 - Out of White Folks’ Kitchens?: Women of Color and World War II (Norton, pp. 361-63, 366-84).

 

11/15 – Like June Cleaver: Women in the 1950s (Norton, pp. 397-400; there are two on-line readings, one on 50s husbands and one on 50s wives; you might start reading Bailey).

 

11/17 - Let’s Blame Mom: Child-Rearing, Social Control, and Women’s Roles (Norton, pp. 395-97, 408-17).

 

11/19 – Sexuality and Sexual Identity (Norton, pp. 348-56, 400-07, 466-74)

 

11/22 - African American Women and the Civil Rights Movement (Norton, pp. 448-56)

 

11/29 – The Sexual Double Standard and Other Dating Issues (a discussion of From Front Porch to Back Seat).

 

12/1 - Women, SDS, and the Anti-War Movement (Norton, pp. 428-34).

 

12/3 - The Women’s Liberation Movement (Norton, pp. 437-41; also choose one from this collection: http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/wlm

 

12/6 – “That Wonderful Thing That Happens Once a Month”: A History of Menstruation (on-line reading and if you have a spare moment, check out www.mum.org  THIRD PAPER DUE.

 

12/8 - Legal Barriers, Legal Breakthroughs: Codifying the Revolution (Norton, pp. 441-44).

 

12/10 - The New Right’s Family-Centered Agenda (conservative on-line reading).

 

12/13 - The Second Shift, the Third Wave.

 

12/18, 9-11 - FINAL EXAMINATION.  Please note: college policy forbids rescheduling exams.