Eileen Boris and Nelson Lichtenstein, Major Problems in the History Of

HIST 283/GWS 283: Women in U.S., 1848-present Winter 2014 T/TH CRN 30859 (HIST) and CRN 30876 (GWS)

Course Description: This is a course about the history of women in the U.S. from 1848 to the present. We will explore several themes in this course. We will look at the ways work and the sexual division of labor influenced the experiences of women in the United States. We will examine the way gender roles, race, and sexuality found their ways into institutions, laws, and policies to maintain women’s subordination in society. We will also investigate the role of family and personal life in the lives of women. In all of these areas, we will reconstruct the ways women have banded together in influencing their position and status in society, especially in relation to the political values and practices of democracy, equality, and justice.

Professor John Baranski Phone: 970.247.7269; email: [email protected] Office and office hours: Noble #211, Tues. and Thurs. 10:10am to 12:10pm, or by appointment

Required reading: Ellen Carol DuBois & Lynn Dumenil, Through Women’s Eyes 3rd edition Mary Beth Norton and Ruth Alexander, Major Problems in Women’s History 4th edition bell hooks, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center

Course requirements: Midterm (20%), research paper (30%) final (25%), and attendance, participation, and quizzes (25%). You must do all assignments to pass the class. Extra credit is not available. Plagiarism will be punished at the administrative level. The attendance policy is as follows: 3 absences will lower your grade by 2/3rds; 4 absences one full grade; 5 absences 2 full grades; 6 absences 3 full grades; and 7 absences will generate an F for the course. For example, if your work adds up to a B+ and you miss 5 classes you will receive a D+. Showing up late will produce a half absence. No exceptions.

Technology statement: There are no electronic devices allowed in class. Penalty for violating this policy will be a marked absence for that day. See attendance policy for the implications of this.

Attention History Majors: All majors must complete a portfolio with samples of your coursework (papers, presentations, etc.). Please keep examples of your work from this class in a safe place for your portfolio. To learn more about the portfolio, please visit the department's website or speak with a history faculty member.

Accessibility and Disability Concerns Statement: Students with disabilities have equal access and equal opportunity in this course. If you require reasonable accommodations to participate fully in course activities or meet course requirements, you must register with Disability Services, 280 Noble Hall, 247-7459 and bring your letter of accommodation to me.

Goals and Learning Outcomes: (course, dept/program, college, and state expectations) 1) Students will become familiar with the major people, events, philosophies, and settings that influenced women from 1848 to present. 2) Students will explore how gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, class, and other identity categories impacted American women’s historical experiences. 3) Students will learn to conduct basic primary and secondary source analysis. 4) By studying American women’s history, students will understand how inequality in many arenas of American life are historically rooted and how women empowered themselves to overcome these obstacles. 5) Students will begin to be able to apply empirical and normative theories from multiple disciplines to analyze how gender intersects with other identity positions in contemporary political, social, cultural, and economic arenas to create disparities in power and opportunity. 6) Students will analyze how gender operates across historical eras and landscapes. 7) Students will engage in the process of analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating information on gender. 8) Students will understand the complex epistemological challenges involved in studying history. 9) Students will appreciate that a historical understanding of the human experience can contribute in vital ways to a responsible and reflective life as an engaged citizen in a rapidly changing and increasingly integrated world. 10) Students will learn to read effectively and comprehensively to understand historical assessments, conclusions, and data.

1 11) Students will improve their reading skills—from learning how to effectively skim textbooks to close analytical readings of primary documents. 12) Students will improve their writing skills by constructing argumentative essays and reviewing secondary source material. 13) Since this is an H1 course, we will satisfy the expected criteria, including content knowledge, learn how to analyze and interpret issues, understand diverse perspectives and groups, and develop competency in critical thinking and in written communication. 14) As a GT Pathways course students will examine historical frameworks exploring important aspects of U.S. culture, society, politics, economics or its position in the world. We will also explore historical frameworks that compare achievements, issues, and characteristics of the world and its cultures. 15) Students will develop: a) knowledge of a chronological structured analysis of significant human experiences; b) understanding of the interpretive and analytical methods that are necessary to build accounts of the past and c) understanding that alternative analytical perspectives can create different narratives of the past.

Class Schedule

Week 1 Introduction to course Theories, concepts, historiography of women in U.S. history Readings: Norton & Alexander, preface & chapter 1 & DuBois & Dumenil, intro for students

Week 2 Theories, concepts, historiography Antebellum America: Seneca Falls Women and the civil war: dislocations and opportunities Readings: Norton & Alexander, chapters 6 & 7

Week 3 Women and the civil war: mending the nation Reconstruction: work and politics Readings: DuBois & Dumenil, chapter 6 & Norton and Alexander, chapter 8 (only essays)

Week 4 Reconstruction: laws and violence Gilded Age: immigration, industrialization, urbanization, and western expansion Readings: DuBois &Dumenil, chapter 6 & Norton &Alexander, chapters 9-10

Week 5 Gilded Age: immigration, industrialization, urbanization, and western expansion Women’s work and lives in the west Readings: DuBois & Dumenil, chapter 7 & Norton and Alexander, chapters 9-10

Week 6 Midterm Women progressives and radicals: from Hull House to Emma Goldman Readings: DuBois & Dumenil, chapters 7-8 & Norton & Alexander, chapters 9-10

Week 7 Women progressives and radicals: from Hull House to Emma Goldman Women in the 1920s: work and politics in the Jazz Age Readings: DuBois & Dumenil & chapters 7-8, Norton & Alexander, chapter 11

Week 8 Women in the 1920s: work and politics in the Jazz Age Readings: DuBois & Dumenil, chapter 9 & Norton & Alexander, chapters 11

Week 9 The Great Depression, New Deal and WW II

2 Readings: DuBois & Dumenil, chapter 9 & Norton & Alexander, chapter 12

Week 10 The Great Depression, New Deal and WW II Readings: DuBois & Dumenil, chapter 9 & Norton &Alexander, chapters 12-13

Week 11 Spring break, no classes.

Week 12 Beyond the Feminine Mystique: The Cold War, 1950s, and 1960s Social movements of the long 1960 Readings: DuBois & Dumenil, chapter 10 & Norton & Alexander, chapter 14

Week 13 Social movements of the long 1960s Women’s movements Readings: DuBois & Dumenil, chapters 11-12 & Norton & Alexander, chapter 15 Research paper due on Wednesday at noon in my office Week 14 Women’s movements The 1980s and 1990s: immigration, politics, culture wars, and changing demographics Readings: DuBois & Dumenil, chapter 12 & Norton & Alexander, chapter 16, hooks, first half

Week 15 The 1980s and 1990s: immigration, politics, culture wars, and changing demographics Women and history today Readings: hooks, second half

Final exam 2:15-4:15 Thursday finals week