HISTORY 240 JUDY KUTULAS

A HISTORY OF AMERICAN WOMEN

Office: 513C Holland Hall

Extension: 3236

Course e-mail address: history-240 (this mails to the whole class, including me).

Office Hours: Mondays, 2-3, Thursdays, 9-10, and by appointment.

This course is a general introduction to American women’s history.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 arrangement of lectures is mainly chronological; however I have included some sweeping historical surveys on themes like education, childbirth, and sexuality.

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.This class is also composed of members of both sexes and everyone should be treated with respect.Being female in a women’s history class is not like extra credit; nor is being male a bar to full participation.This is, in many ways, a more personal history class than many others you might take.If the class reaches you on a individual, personal level, I will be thrilled.However, for grading purposes, I don’t reward personal growth or change.

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, second edition.

·Deborah Gray White, Ar’n’t I a Woman, second edition (it’s possible you can substitute the older edition if necessary.Talk to me).

·Kathy Peiss, Cheap Amusements.

·Beth Bailey, From Front Porch to Back Seat.

As of the day this was written, all books in appropriate editions were in the bookstore.If we run out of copies, please contact both me and David Gonnerman(e-mail: gonnermd; extension 8017) at the Bookstore.He is the person who can get a book for you ASAP; I may have a spare copy.These are exactly the same books I used last semester if you had a friend who took the course last year and kept the books.

The format of the class is as informal as possible given the number of people enrolled.Some of the time I’ll lecture, some of the time we’ll discuss, and some of the time we’ll work in small groups.Some of this 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 worth 20% of the grade each.

§Essay midterm, worth 20% of the grade. To see 2002 midterm study questions click here.

§Essay final, worth 20% of the grade.

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

My method of calculating grades combines steely mathematical precision with individual reckonings.I begin with a calculation based on the first three items above and then factor in the last item individually.If you have circumstances that bear upon your grade, including special needs, please let me know about these.

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.

My style in general is non-confrontational.I will not yell at you if you come in late or miss classes, but, frankly, I notice.Perhaps not the healthiest way to be, but there it is.

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.

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.

²²²²²²²²²

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF LECTURES, READINGS, AND ASSIGNMENTS

9/6 - Introduction: What Is a Feminist Perspective?

9/9 - Native American Women (Norton, pp. 20-45).

9/11 - The Colonial Family.

9/13 – Women as Witches (Norton, pp. 46-75).

9/16 - Republican Motherhood (Norton, pp. 76-107).

9/18 - Victorian Ideal: The Cult of True Womanhood (Norton, pp. 115-22 – 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.

9/20 - Victorian Reality, Part I: Farm and Frontier Women (Norton, pp. 190-95, 204-16).

9/23 - Victorian Reality, Part II: Women and Work in the 19^th Century (Norton, pp. 161-6, 169-77).

9/25 – The Changing Meaning of Family.(Now’s a good time to start Deborah Gray White’s book).

9/27 - Women’s Education (And to continue reading it).

9/30 - Slave Women (discussion of Ar’n’t I a Woman).

10/2 - Abolitionism and Early Feminism (Norton, pp. 167-9, 177-88).

10/4 - Factory Workers and Typewriters; The Impact of Industrialization on Women’s Work (Norton, pp. 284-91, 293-7, 303-11).

10/7 - Women and Reform (Norton, pp. 267-75).FIRST PAPER DUE.

10/9 – Having Babies: A History of Childbirth.

10/11 - The Suffrage Movement (Norton, pp. 258-67).

10/14 - The Flapper: Liberated or Constrained?

10/16 - A History of Housework.

10/18 - Video: “Bernice Bobs Her Hair.”

10/23 - How the Other Half Lived (discussion of Cheap Amusements).

10/25 - African-American Women in a Segregated Society (Norton, pp. 254-7, 291-3, 297-303, 348-56).

10/28 - The Birth Control Movement (Norton, pp. 218-21, 327-29, 412-15).SECOND PAPER DUE.

10/30 - Women and the Depression (Norton, pp. 357-63, 370-7).

11/1 - 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).

11/4 - MIDTERM EXAMINATION.Choice of 1 essay question from 2 or 3.

11/6 - Work and Play During World War II (Norton, pp. 363-5).

11/8 - Out of White Folks’ Kitchens?: Women of Color and World War II (Norton, pp. 365-70, 377-97).

11/11 – Like June Cleaver: Women in the 1950s (Norton, pp. 401-7, you might start reading Bailey).

11/13 - Let’s Blame Mom: Child-Rearing, Social Control, and Women’s Roles (Norton, pp. 275-83).

11/15 – Sexuality and Sexual Identity (Norton, pp. 122-32, 223-30, 407-12, 430-37)

11/18 - African American Women and the Civil Rights Movement (Norton, pp. 443-4, 456-63)

11/20 – The Sexual Double Standard and Other Dating Issues (a discussion of From Front Porch to Back Seat).

11/22 - Women, SDS, and the Anti-War Movement (Norton, pp. 438-42, 445-47, 464-72).

11/25 - The Women’s Liberation Movement (Norton, pp. 447-55; also choose one from this collection: http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/wlm

12/2 – “That Wonderful Thing That Happens Once a Month”: A History of Menstruation (if you have a spare moment, check outwww.mum.orgTHIRD PAPER DUE.

12/4 - Legal Barriers, Legal Breakthroughs: Codifying the Revolution (Norton, pp. 482-87).

12/6 - The New Right’s Family-Centered Agenda (Norton, pp. 491-6).

12/9 - The Second Shift, the Third Wave.

12/11 – The future????

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