TOWARDS EMANCIPATION? Women in Modern European History
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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of History HIST / WMST 259: TOWARDS EMANCIPATION? Women in Modern European History Instructor: Dr. Karen Hagemann James G. Kenan Distinguished Professor of History SYLLABUS – SPRING 2020 Time of the Course: Tuesday & Thursday: 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM Room: Bingham 101 Office Hours: Tuesday: 13:00 - 3:00 PM or by appointment Office: Hamilton Hall 562 Email: [email protected] DIGITAL RESOURCE AND COURSE WEBSITE The Digital Humanities Project “ToWards Emancipation? Women in Modern European History. A Digital Exhibition & Encyclopedia”: https://hist259.web.unc.edu/ is an important source for information about people, organizations, laws and secondary literature. See also the Sakai site of the course: https://sakai.unc.edu/portal/site/e1f6d6f2-9a5a-4161-940d- 2f0e2d9319b2 16 November 2019 HISTORY / WMST 259: Spring 2020 2 AIMS OF THE COURSE In this course. we will study women's lives, work and the history of the women’s movement in modern Europe from the era of the late Enlightenment and the French Revolution to the period of the two World Wars, the Holocaust, and the Cold War. We will eXplore how the major political, economic, social, and cultural changes affected the lives of women from different social backgrounds and how they responded to these changes. The struggle of the women’s movement that emerged everywhere in Europe during the nineteenth century to improve the working and living conditions of women, achieve equal civil and political rights for women and increase their social, cultural, and political influence, will thus be one central theme. We will ask how the aims and forms of this struggle for female emancipation varied between different groups and countries and changed over time. We also will eXamine the ways in which women were involved in wars and revolutions and experienced them. The course is organized chronologically, but as we move through time we will concentrate on the following themes: • Gender images and dominant ideas about the gender order and how they affected women’s lives • Women’s role(s) and eXperiences in the household, the family, and the workforce • Women’s and men’s role(s) in the ‘public spheres’ of nation, state and civil society • Women’s struggle for equal rights in the family, society, the workforce and politics. Given the diversity of the various regions of Europe, this course cannot achieve comprehensive coverage. We will therefore concentrate on Western Europe, especially BRITAIN, FRANCE, AND GERMANY. FORMAT OF THE COURSE LECTURES, DISCUSSIONS, GROUP WORK AND PARTNER WORK: Each class will combine lecture and discussion of the lecture and the assigned reading in the class, in groups and with partners. Students are to complete the assigned reading by the beginning of class on the day on which it is listed in the course schedule below. Lectures will be coordinated with the assigned readings; they are designed to suggest emphases, to draw attention to important points, and to provide additional material on selected issues. PowerPoints of each lecture will be available on Sakai before each class in the folder with the reading for this class under “Resources/Course Reading.” The PowerPoints provide students with the most relevant historical background information for lecture and discussion in class. In addition, you will find a handout for the preparation of each class with questions for the reading on Sakai in the same folder. It is strongly recommended that students come prepared with questions for each required reading and primary document to class FEATURE FILMS, DOCUMENTARIES AND IMAGES: Along with the required reading and the primary documents, we will work with feature films, documentaries and images as representations of history. All feature films are available on DVD in the UNC Undergraduate Library, and in addition on NetfliX, Amazon Prime or You Tube. Please make sure that you have access to the movies and documentaries with adequate time. We will discuss them in class. BACKGROUND MATERIAL ON SAKAI: To help you organize your coursework, learn more about European women's and gender history and keep track of the diverse historical developments in Europe and important events and persons, you will find the following material on Sakai: • The most recent version of the syllabus and guides for all assignments; • Handouts for the preparation of each class; • PoWerPoints for most classes (uploaded not later than the day before each lecture); 16 November 2019 HISTORY / WMST 259: Spring 2020 3 • All primary documents and background readings you have to read for class; • A timeline (chronology) with links to information about important historical events and developments and short biographies of important historical protagonists; • Maps that document the change of the borders in Modern Europe; • A brief introduction to each movie with links to further information on each feature film; • Brief biographical information on most of the authors of the primary documents; • A bibliography With selected literature for further reading; • And additional useful links on the course subject. ASSIGNMENTS Course participation (in class discussion) 10% (For four additional voluntary Forum contributions graded with a B or better you will get an "B" even though you do not participate regularly in the class discussion) Weekly Written Forum Assignments (due: Mondays at 4 PM) 25% (Eight are required on the Syllabus, if you do more voluntary, I count the eight best) Primary Document Essay (due: Friday, March 6, 2020 by 9 PM) 30% Final Examination (due: Monday, April 27, 2020 by 9 AM) 35% Class Participation (10% of the final grade): Active class participation is very important in this course. Your participation grade will reflect your attendance and active participation in class. Read the required reading and primary documents, bring them to class and be prepared to discuss them. The secondary literature provides you with historical background information about the subject of class and also will help you to understand the primary documents. The handout with questions for the reading will help you to eXplore the teXts. If you participate regularly in every class you will get an "A"; if you participate only sporadically you will get a "B"; if you say nothing you will get a "C." If you find that you have difficulty speaking in class, please see me to discuss strategies how you can participate more fully. You can also make up a less active in-class participation by additional voluntary Forum contributions to the classes for which no Forum contribution is requested. This voluntary Forum contributions are due at 4 pm before the respective class. For four additional voluntary Forum contributions graded with a B or better you will get an "B." Weekly Written Forum Assignments (25% of the final grade): An important part of your class work are the weight obligatory written Forum assignments listed in the class schedule below. Please submit a comment and questions on the secondary readings or the primary documents assigned for the class or respond to a set of two or three questions on the handout for the class. On SAKAI you will find a guide with four alternative formats for your Forum contribution. In addition, you can also comment on and respond to comments and questions of others on the Forum of the respective week. In this way, I hope to create a dialogue already before the class starts. In this way, I hope to create a dialogue already before the class starts. Your Forum contribution is due not later than 4 16 November 2019 HISTORY / WMST 259: Spring 2020 4 pm on the evening before the class. They should not be longer than one to two pages. Please see the guide on Sakai. Eight are required on the syllabus, if you do more voluntary, I count the eight best. Report on a Primary Document (30%): Every student will be responsible for writing one essays (6-7 pages) focusing on the analysis and interpretation of an assigned primary teXt document on a subject we talk about in class. I will place more detailed information for the primary document report on Sakai at latest two weeks the due date. Please see the guides on Sakai. Final Examination (Essay) (35% of the final grade): See the special guide for the final assignment on Sakai, which will be posted three week before the deadline. General Comment: All papers should have 1-inch margins, be typed and double-spaced and the pages need to be numbered. Please don’t forget your name, the course number and name, and the date at the top of the cover page and make sure that you use all relevant readings of the course and if necessary additional literature for the assignments; document your sources in the footnotes and the bibliography of each paper with complete and correct citations. As common in history use the Chicago Manual of Style for the writing of your notes and the bibliography. The preparation of all assignments will be discussed in class. A guide to the Chicago Manual of Style can be found on Sakai. GRADING The written and oral assignments are intended to help develop the skills of systematic inquiry, critical analysis, and clear eXpression necessary for historical and other forms of research. Accordingly, evaluations will be based on three major, closely-related criteria: § mastery of the relevant material § development of an argument or point of view that is pertinent to the issue at hand and that has breadth, coherence, and insight, and § expression of ideas in clear, concise, even engaging prose. These criteria Will translate into grades as folloWs: A—excellent. Outstanding in all three areas. Offers integrated, insightful coverage based on ample, sound evidence. B—good. Strong in all three areas or notable strengths in one balanced by significant weakness in another.