University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of History
HIST / WMST / EURO 259:
TOWARDS EMANCIPATION? WOMEN IN MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY
Syllabus – Spring 2018
Instructor: Prof. Karen Hagemann
TIME OF THE COURSE: TUESDAY & THURSDAY: 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM ROOM: Room: Stone Center 0209
Office Hours: Tuesday: 1:00 - 3:00 PM or by appointment Office: Hamilton Hall 562 Email: [email protected]
December 15, 2017
HISTORY / WMST 259: Spring 2018 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 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); • All primary documents and background readings you have to read for class;
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• 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.
REQUIRED READING
BOOKS The following books will provide you with a good overview of the course subject. We will read several chapters from them in the course as required reading, thus I recommend that you buy them. • Allen, Ann T. Women in Twentieth-Century Europe. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. • Fuchs, Rachel and Victoria Thompson. Women in Nineteenth-Century Europe. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. • Offen, Karen. European Feminisms 1700-1950: A Political History. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2000. • Simonton, Deborah, ed. The Routledge History of Women in Europe since 1700. London and New York: Routledge 2007. You will find these books in the Textbook Department of the UNC Student Stores for purchase or under the Course Reserves for HIST/WMST259.006 in the R.B. House Undergraduate Library.
JOURNAL ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS Moreover, we will read some journal articles and chapters from other books as required reading. You will find them all as PDF files on Sakai.
PRIMARY DOCUMENTS Several times during the semester, we will read and discuss primary documents. They are also required readings. You will find them as PDF files on Sakai. These documents are reprints from the following source collections: • Bell, Susan G. and Karen M. Offen, eds. Women, the Family, and Freedom: The Debate in Documents. vol. 1: 1750-1880; vol. 2: 1880-1950. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1983. • DiCaprio, Lisa and Merry E. Wiesner, eds. Lives and Voices: Sources in European Women’s History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. • Hunt, Lynn, ed., The French Revolution and Human Rights: A Brief Documentary History. Boston: Bedford Books, 1996. • Olafson-Hellerstein, Erna et. al., eds. Victorian Women: A Documentary Account of Women’s Lives in Nineteenth- Century, England, France and the United States. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1981. • Riemer, Eleanor S. and John C. Fout, eds. European Women: A Documentary History 1789-1945. New York: Schocken Books, 1980.
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You will find these five books under the Course Reserves for HIST/WMST259.006 in the R.B. House Undergraduate Library.
FURTHER READING FOR INTERESTED STUDENTS The following books are recommended for further reading; we will chapter of some of them: On European women’s and gender history: • Abrams, Lynn. The Making of Modern Woman: Europe 1789-1918. London: Longmann, 2002. * • Bock, Gisela. Women in European History. Oxford: Blackwell, 2002. * • Bridenthal, Renate, Susan Mosher Stuard, Merry E. Wiesner, eds. Becoming Visible: Women in European History. Third edn. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. • Clark, Anna, Desire: A History of European Sexuality. New York: Routledge, 2008. • Downs, Laura Lee. Writing Gender History. London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic Publishing, 2010. • Thébaud, François, ed. A History of Women in the West, vol. 5: Towards a Cultural Identity in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994. • Rose, Sonya O. What is Gender History?. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2010. • Sluga, Glenda and Barbara Caine. Gendering European History, 1780-1920. London: Leicester, 2000. * • Timm, Annette F. and Joshua A. Sanborn, eds. Gender, Sex and the Shaping of Modern Europe: A History from the French Revolution to the Present Day. Second edn. London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic Publishing, 2016. On European history in general: • Merriman, John M. A History of Modern Europe: from the Renaissance to the Present, vol. 2: From the French Revolution to the Present. Second edn. New York: W.W. Norton, 2004.* • Bonnie G. Smith, Europe in the World, 1900 to the Present: A Narrative History with Documents. Boston: St. Martin’s, 2007.
You will find the books marked with an * under the Course Reserves for HIST/WMST259.006 in the R.B. House Undergraduate Library.
ASSIGNMENTS Course participation (in class discussion) 10% Weekly Written Forum Assignments 20% Primary Document Essay 1 (due: Wednesday, January 31, 2018 by 9:00 am) 15% Primary Document Essay 2 (due: Wednesday, March 7, 2018 by 9:00 am) 25% Final Examination (due: Friday, April 27, 2018 by 9:00 am 30%
Class Participation (10% of the final grade): Your participation grade will reflect your active participation in the class. Read the required reading and primary documents carefully, bring them to class, and be prepared to discuss them. The secondary source reading provides you with background information that will help you to understand the primary documents. If documentary and movies are assigned in addition please watch them before class. We will talk about them in class too. If you find that you have difficulty speaking in class, please see me to discuss
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strategies so that you can participate more fully. You can make up a less active in-class participation by regular voluntary Forum contributions on Sakai. This voluntary Forum contributions are due until 5 pm on the evening before the class. They should not be longer than 1 page. Weekly Written Forum Assignments (20% of the final grade): An important part of your class work are the weekly obligatory written Forum assignments listed in the below schedule. Please submit a comment on all readings for the class (primary documents and the secondary reading) and three related questions that you would like to explore in class on the Sakai Forum. As an alternative to questions 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. Your comments and questions are due latest until 5 pm on the evening before the class. They should not be longer than 1 page.
Two Primary Document Essays (15 % and 25 % of the final grade): Every student will be responsible for writing two primary document essays that analyze and interpret an assigned primary document with the help of the related secondary reading assigned for the course and additional research. These essays should be no longer than 6-8 pages (including cover page and bibliography). The essay should be on standard paper, typed, with 1-inch margins, 12 pt Times New Roman font, and double-spaced. You will get guides for the two assignment two weeks before the date. Students will find a general guide for this type of assignment on Sakai.
Final Examination (Essay) (30% of the final grade): Every student will have to write a final essay (8-10 pages) of an assigned movie or primary document. I will pick a movie that we watched in class or a primary document that we discussed in class and assign related background reading. In addition, I expect that you use all relevant secondary readings from the class for the essay and search for additional material that will help you with the analysis and interpretation of the movie and its historical context in the UNC Library and online. I will place more detailed information on Sakai at least two weeks before the due date. Please submit an electronic file to the instructor before the class. 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.
COURSE SCHEDULE
WEEK 1:
Thursday, January 11, 2018: Welcome and Introduction to the Course
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Questions: • What are the main aims of this course? • Why are we studying the history of women and gender in Europe? • What is the format of the course? • What are the main assignments?
WEEK 2:
Tuesday, January 16, 2018: Introduction: What is Women’s and Gender History? Questions: • What is women’s and gender history and how did this field develop? • How do gender historians define the term “gender”? • How is “gender” as an analytical category related to other “Categories of difference” like class, race, sexuality or ethnicity? Required Reading: • Rose, What is Gender History?, 1-16. • Downs, Writing Gender History, 9-34, esp. 21-34. • Offen, European Feminisms, 1-26, esp. 20-26. Methodological Theme: • Discussion of questions in respect of the syllabus and the assignments.
Thursday, January 18, 2018: Men, Women, Family and Work in 18th Century Europe Questions: • What were the working and living conditions of women and men from different social and familial status in the late 18th century? • To what degree did they change? • How did women and men respond to these changes? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • “Petition of Women of the Third State Estate to the French King, January 1, 1789,” in Hunt, The French Revolution, 60-63. Background Reading: • Olwen Hufton, “Women, Work, and the Family,” in A History of Women in the West, ed. Natalie Zemon Davis and Arlette Farge, vol. 3: Renaissance and Enlightenment Paradoxes (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993), 15-45. Methodological Themes: • How to analyze and interpret primary documents appropriately (please read the guide on Sakai in preparation) • Preparation of the Historical Simulation on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018.
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Forum Assignment, due Wednesday, January 17, 2018 by 5:00 pm:
WEEK 3:
Tuesday, January 23, 2018: The Enlightenment and the “Woman Question” Questions: • What do historians define as enlightenment? In which ways was the Enlightenment gendered? • How did educated women and men debate gender relations and the gender order in the late 18th century? • Who were the main contributors to this debate and why were their writings so important? • What were their main arguments and demands? • What is the importance of their writing for the discussion of middle class concepts of the gender order in late 18th and early 19th century? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • Bell and Offen, Women, vol. 1, 110-112 and 116-118 (Document 29). • DiCaprio and Wiesner, Lives and Voices, 248-255 (Document 91 and 92). Background Reading: • Dena Goodman, “Women and the Enlightenment,” in Becoming Visible, ed. Bridenthal et al., 233-262. • Offen, European Feminisms, 31-49.
Historical Simulation Students prepare a fictional debate on “the woman’s question” between Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712- 1778), Mary Wollstonecraft (1750-1797) and Gottlieb Theodor von Hippel (1741-1796), in which they present their main arguments. Setting: They meet in a salon hosted in 1795 by baronesses Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein (1766-1817) in Geneva. Before the debate starts the guests will introduce themselves to each other. Special Forum Assignment, due Monday, January 22, 2018, 5:00 pm: In preparation for the historical simulation, students should summarize the main arguments of the historical actor assigned to them (see below) using the secondary reading and the primary source documents assigned for the class. The summary should not exceed 1-2 pages. On top please give the full name (and the year of birth and death in brackets) of the author you write about and the title of his/her text in a complete and correct citation. Note: Letters below indicate the first letter of your last name. The assigned author also indicates whom the student will represent during the historical simulation. Please inform yourself about the biography of the author on Wikipedia. A-E: Jean-Jacques Rousseau F-M: Mary Wollstonecraft N-Z: Gottlieb Theodor von Hippel
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Thursday, January 25, 2018: Women in the Era of the French Revolution I: Historical Background Documentary: • We will watch the following documentary in class: “The French Revolution: Impact and Sources” (USA 2004, 25 min.) (As mp4 on Sakai and at UNC Media Resources Center: 65-DVD2057, In-Library Use Only) Questions: • What were the main causes for the French Revolution? • What were the main political and social aims of the revolutionaries? • Which role(s) did women play in the French Revolution? • What were their main political and social demands? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • DiCaprio and Wiesner, Lives and Voices, 261-269 (Documents 94-97). Background Reading: • Fuchs and Thompson, Women in Nineteenth-Century Europe, 5-23. • Offen, European Feminisms, 50-76. Additional Assignment: • Please watch the following documentary before class its gi e a very good introduction into the history of the French Revolution: “The French Revolution,” (Britain, BBC 2015, 90 min.) (On You Tube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fizl8oAqG50) Recommendation: • I suggest to watch the following movie on your own: “Les Miserables”, director: Bille August (USA 1998, 134 min.) (UNC Media Resources Center: 65-DVD86)
WEEK 4:
Tuesday, January 30, 2018: Women in the Era of the French Revolution II: Female Voices and Actions Required Reading: Primary Documents (the same as for the previous class): • DiCaprio and Wiesner, Lives and Voices, 261-269 (Documents 94-97). Background Reading: • Darline Gay Levy and Harriet B. Applewhite, “A Political Revolution for Women? The Case of Paris,” in Becoming Visible, ed. Bridenthal et al., 265-292. • Joan Wallach Scott, “French Feminists and the Rights of 'Man': Olympe de Gouges's Declarations,” History Workshop, no. 28 (1989): 1-21.
The Primary Document Essay 1 is due Wednesday, January 31, 2018 by 9:00 am. Please submit the paper electronically by email to the instructor as a Word document. Name the file as follows: Lastname-First_Assignment. The instruction for the assignment will be posted at the latest two
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weeks before the assignment is due under Sakai.
Thursday, February 1, 2018: Gender, War, and Nation in Napoleonic Europe Questions: • How and why did the relations between the military, the nation and society change during the period of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars? • Which consequences did these changes have on the gender order in general and the position of women in the nation in particular? • How and why was the idea of the nation gendered? • What results did these changes have for 19th century European societies? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • “The Civilian’s Lot,” in Europe against Napoleon. The Leipzig Campaign, 1813 from Eyewitness Accounts, ed. Antony Brett-James (London: Macmillan, 1970), 89-96. Background Reading: • Karen Hagemann, “A Valorous Volk Family: The Nation, the Military, and the Gender Order in Prussia in the Time of the Anti-Napoleonic Wars, 1806-15,” in Gendered Nations: Nationalisms and Gender Order in the Long Nineteenth Century, ed. Ida Blom, Karen Hagemann and Catherine Hall (Oxford and New York: Berg Publishers, 2000), 179-205. Forum Assignment, due Wednesday, January 31, 2018 by 5:00 pm
WEEK 5:
Tuesday, February 6, 2018: Early Feminist Voices in the Democratic Revolutions of 1830 and 1848-49 Questions: • What were the main social and political developments in the era of Democratic Revolutions? • Which roles did women play in the Democratic Revolutions? • Who were the authors of the selected primary documents what were their main arguments and demands? Reading Assignment: Primary Documents: • DiCaprio and Wiesner, Lives and Voices, 282-288 (Document 102). • Bell and Offen, Women, vol. 1, 260-264 (Documents 77 and 78). Background Reading: • Gabriella Hauch, “Did Women have a Revolution? Gender Battles in the European Revolution of 1848/49,” in 1848: A European Revolution: International Ideas and National Memories of 1848, ed. Axel Körner (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2000), 64-81. • Karen Offen, European Feminism, 87-107. Forum Assignment, due Monday, February 5, 2018 by 5:00 pm
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Thursday, February 8, 2018: Marriage and Family Life in 19th- and early 20th-Century Women’s Lives Questions: • Why were marriage and family so important for women? Why did they want to marry? • What were the main trends of development in marriage and family during the 19th century? • Were these trends different for middle-class and working-class men and women? • What were the main problems for middle-class and working-class and women in marriage and family life? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • Olafson-Hellerstein et al., Victorian Women, 144-149 (Document 28). • Historical Statistics, introduction, tables 1 and 2 and the related graphs 1 and 2a-c. Background Reading: • Fuchs and Thompson, Women in Nineteenth-Century Europe, 43-60 and 84-100. • Lynn Abrams, ”At Home in the Family: Women and Familial Relationship,” in Simonton, Women in Europe, 14-53. Additional Assignment: • Please watch the following movie before class: “Sense and Sensibility,” director: Ang Lee (Britain 1995, 136 min.) (UNC Media Resources Center: 65-DVD501, also available on Netflix (DVD), and Amazon Prime)
WEEK 6:
Tuesday, February 13, 2018: Housing, Household and Housework in 19th- and early 20th-Century Women’s Lives Questions: • What were the main problems for working-class and middle-class women in terms of housing, household and family work? • How was the situation of working-class and middle-class women different? • What were the living and working conditions of female servants? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • Riemer and Fout, European Women, 151-161 (Documents 34-36). • Olafson-Hellerstein et al., Victorian Women, 350-351 (Document 74). • Historical Statistics, introduction, tables 3, 4, and 5 and the graphs 3 and 4. Background Reading: • Fuchs and Thompson, Women in Nineteenth-Century Europe, 43-60. (the same as for the previous class) Forum Assignment, due Monday, February 12, 2018 by 5:00 pm
Thursday, February 15, 2018: Reproduction and Sexuality in 19th- and early 20th-Century Women’s Lives
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Questions: • How can we explain the dramatic decrease of the birth rate during the long 19th century? • How can we explain the decrease in infant mortality? • Why were governments so interested in controlling the reproduction and care work of women? • Why were sexuality and reproduction important problems for women of this period? • In what ways were the situations of middle class and working-class women in this respect different? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • Riemer and Fout, European Women, 190-193, 202-211, 214-217 (Documents 43, 46 and 49). Background Reading: • Fuchs and Thompson, Women in Nineteenth-Century Europe, 24-42. • Anna Clark, ”Female Sexuality,” in Simonton, Women in Europe, 54-92.
WEEK 7:
Tuesday, February 20, 2018: Working for a Living - 19th- and early 20th-Century Female Employment Questions: • What opportunities did working and middle-class girls and women have to earn a living? • In what ways did these opportunities differ depending on their social status, their age and their familial status? How can we explain these differences? • How did working opportunities change during the 19th and 20th century? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • Riemer and Fout, European Women, 10-17 (Documents 3 and 4). • Historical Statistics, introduction, tables 6, 7 and 8 and the graphs 6 and 7. Background Reading: • Fuchs and Thompson, Women in Nineteenth-Century Europe, 61-83. • Deborah Simonton, ”Women Workers; Working Women,” in Simonton, Women in Europe, 134-177. Forum Assignment, due Monday, February 19, 2018 by 5:00 pm
Thursday, February 22, 2018: No class
WEEK 8:
Tuesday, February 27, 2018: The Middle-Class Women’s Movement in late 19th- and early 20th-Century Europe I: An Overview Questions: • What were the main aims of the middle-class women’s movement before World War I?
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• What differences and similarities existed in the aims and the forms of activities in different countries? • How can we explain these differences and similarities? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • Bell and Offen, Women, vol. 2, 232-245 (Documents 60-63). • DiCaprio and Wiesner, Lives and Voices, 384 -392 (Documents 128 and 129). Required Reading: • Fuchs and Thompson, Women in Nineteenth-Century Europe, 137-154 and 162-176. • Offen, European Feminisms, 182-212. If you want to read more: • Karen Hunt, “Women as Citizens: Changing the Polity,” in Simonton, Women in Europe, 134-176. • Offen, European Feminisms, 144-183.
Additional Assignment: • Please watch the following movie before class: “A Doll’s House,” director: Patrick Garland (Britain 1973, 95 min.) (UNC Media Resources Center: 65-DVD3566, In-Library Use Only, and on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjfO9qkQZpo). Forum Assignment, due Monday, February 26, 2018 by 5:00 pm
Thursday, March 1, 2018: The Middle-Class Women’s Movement in late 19th- and early 20th-Century Europe II: Feminist Militancy Required Reading: Primary Documents (the same as for the previous class): • Bell and Offen, Women, vol. 2, 232-245 (Documents 60-63). • DiCaprio and Wiesner, Lives and Voices, 384 -392 (Documents 128 and 129). Required Reading: • Fuchs and Thompson, Women in Nineteenth-Century Europe, 162-176 (the same as for the previous class). • Laura E. Nym Mayhall, The Militant Suffrage Movement: Citizenship and Resistance in Britain, 1860-1930 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 98-116. Additional Assignment: • Please watch the following documentary before class: “Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) and the Suffragists” (Britain, 1994, 55 min.). You will find it on Sakai. • For more on Pankhurst, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmeline_Pankhurst
WEEK 9:
Tuesday, March 6, 2018: The Socialist Women’s Movement in late 19th- and early 20th-Century Europe Questions: • What were the main aims of the socialist women’s movement before World War I?
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• What differences and similarities existed in the aims and the forms of activities between the middle-class and the socialist movements? • How can we explain these differences and similarities? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • DiCaprio and Wiesner, Lives and Voices, 371-383 (Documents 125 und 127). • Poem "That Day" by Ada Neart, in Lefleat: "Frauenwahlrecht!" (“Women’s Suffrage!”), by Clara Zetkin, March 2, 1913. • Clara Zetkin (1857-1933): “The German Socialist Women’s Movement,” in Die Gleichheit (Equality), October 9, 1909. Background Reading: • Fuchs and Thompson, Women in Nineteenth-Century Europe, 162-176 (the same as for the previous class) • Ute Frevert, “Women Worker, Workers’ Wives and Social Democracy in Imperial Germany,” in Bernstein to Brandt: A Short History of German Social Democracy, ed. Roger Fletcher (London: Edward Arnold, 1987), 34-44. • Charles Sowervine, “Socialism, Feminism, and the Socialist Women’s Movement from the French Revolution to World War II,” in Becoming Visible, ed. Bridenthal et al., 357-387.
The Primary Document Essay 2 is due Tuesday March 7, 2018 at 9:00 am. Please submit the paper electronically by email as a Word document. Name the file as follows: Lastname-Second_Assignment. The instruction for the assignment will be posted at the latest two weeks before the assignment is due under Sakai.
Thursday, March 8, 2018: The International Women’s Day and the Right to Vote for Women Questions: • What is the International Women’s Day? • Why was the right to vote at its center until 1914? • Why was the right to vote so important for women from very different political and social backgrounds in the decade before World War I? • Which different demands and strategies did they pursue to get the right to vote? • What were the reasons for the different strategies? Background Reading: • Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz and Ruth Rubio-Marín, “Introduction: Transition to Modernity, the Conquest of Female Suffrage and Women's Citizenship,“ in The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe: Voting to become Citizens, ed. Blanca Rodriguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marin (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2012), 1-46.
Historical Simulation Students prepare a fictional debate on women’s rights and women’s suffrage, its best possible form and the appropriate strategies to get it between the militant British suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst (1858- 1925), the moderate feminists Millicent Garrett Fawcett (1847-1929), president of the British National Union of Women’s Suffrage, Jeanne Schmahl (1846-1915), the French feminists and founder of the French Union for Women’s Suffrage, Helene Lange (1848-1930) the moderate leader of the German middle-class
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women’s movement, as well as the leading socialist feminist Clara Zetkin (1857-1933). Setting: an international meeting organized by the British Women’s Social and Political Union in 1912 in London. Before the debate starts the guests will introduce themselves (by student volunteers). Special Forum Assignment, due Wednesday, March 8, 2017 by 5:00 pm Students should summarize the main arguments of one of the feminist strategies represented by five important women using the secondary reading and the primary source documents assigned for Week 8-9. Your summary should not exceed 1-2 pages. Please post the text on the Sakai Forum. The summary should not exceed 1-2 pages. On top please give the full name (and the year of birth and death in brackets) of the author you write about and the title of his/her text in a complete and correct citation. Note: Letters indicate the first letter of your last name. The assigned author also indicates whom the student will represent during the historical simulation. Please inform yourself about the biography of the author on Wikipedia. A-E: Emmeline Pankhurst F-K: Millicent Garrett Fawcett L-R: Jeanne Schmahl and Helene Lange S-Z: Clara Zetkin
WEEK 10:
Spring Break
WEEK 11:
Tuesday, March 20, 2018: Home/Front: The Gender Order of the First World War Questions: • What was new in the relations between front and home front during World War I? • How did different groups of women in the involved countries respond to the First World War? • How did their response and involvement change during the war and why? • Which differences can we observe between different countries and how can we explain them? • Did World War I emancipate women? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • Bell and Offen, Women, vol. 2, 259-263 (Document 65-67). • DiCaprio and Wiesner, Lives and Voices, 413-415 (Document 134). Background Reading: • Allen, Women in Twentieth Century Europe, 6-20. • Timm and Sanborn, Gender, Sex, 157-202. If you want to read more: • Jane Potter, “Valiant Heroines or Pacific Ladies,” in Simonton, Women in Europe, 259-299.
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Historical Simulation in Class: Students prepare a fictional debate over the question, if women should support the war, why and how or if they should fight against the war, why and how. The debate takes place during The International Congress of Women which convened on April 28, 1915 at The Hague, Netherlands, with more than 1,200 delegates from 12 countries—including Britain, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Poland, Belgium and the United States—all dedicated to the cause of peace and a resolution of the great international conflict that was World War, but with different strategies to reach this goal in mind. Special Forum Assignment, due Monday, March 19, 2018 by 5:00 pm: Please prepare a historical simulation over the question, if women should support the war, why and how or if they should fight against the war, why and how. Make notes to be able to actively join the debate. Use the primary and secondary sources for your argumentation. The summary should not exceed 1-2 pages. Please post the text on the Sakai Forum. On top please give the position you present. Give a complete and correct citation of the sources you refer to. Note: Letters indicate the first letter of your last name. They indicate which side the student will represent at the historical simulation: A-K: Supporters of the position that women should support the war; L-Z: Opponents of this position. Recommendation: I recommend to watch the following two movies: • “Un long dimanche de fiançailles” (A very long engagement), director: Jean Pierre Jeunet (France 2003, 133 min.) (UNC Media Resources Center: 65-DVD2347 pt.1.) • “Testament of Youth”, director James Kent (Britain, 2014, 129 min.)
Thursday, March 22, 2018: Women in the Interwar Period: Gender and Politics Questions: • Why did women in so many countries involved in World War I finally attain the right to vote? • How did women respond to and try to utilize these new rights? • Did the position of women change in politics because of their legal political equality? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • Bell and Offen, Women, vol. I2, 296-298 (Document 80), and 317-327 (Documents 89 and 91). • Table: Electoral Behavior of Men and Women • Graph: Women in Weimar Politics Background Reading: • Allen, Women in Twentieth Century Europe, 21-41. • Offen, European Women, 277-310. If you want to read more: • Karen Hagemann, “Men’s Demonstrations and Women’s Protest. Gender in Collective Action in the Urban Working-Class Milieu During the Weimar Republic,” Gender & History 5, no. 1 (1993): 101-119. • Patricia M. Thane, “What difference did the vote make? Women in Public and Private Life in Britain since 1918,” Historical Research 76 (2003): 268-285. Forum Assignment, due Wednesday, March 21, 2018 by 5:00 pm:
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WEEK 12:
Tuesday, March 27, 2018: Women in the Interwar Period: The “New Woman”, the Rationalization of Everyday Life, and the Gender Order Questions: • How did contemporaries define the image of the “New Woman”? • What do historians mean, when they talk about a “rationalization of the everyday life”? • In which parts of everyday life and in which segments of the population did a modernization and “rationalization of the everyday life” took place? • Was there a “New Woman” in Interwar Europe? Which social groups of women were able to live in their everyday lives the ideal of the “New Woman”? Which conditions were necessary? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • DiCaprio and Wiesner, Lives and Voices, 455-457 (Document 144). Background Reading: • Grossmann, Atina, “Girlkultur or Thoroughly Rationalized Female: A New Woman in Weimar Germany?”, in Women in Culture and Politics: A Century of Change, eds Judith Friedlander et al. (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1986), 62-80. • Clark, Desire, 162-180. Additional Assignment: • Please watch the following documentary before class: “Flappers: The Birth of the 20th-century Woman,“ (Britain 1999, 53 min.). (Available online on the UNC Library website:https://auth.lib.unc.edu/ezproxy_auth.php?url=http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID =102632&xtid=11563) Forum Assignment, due Monday, March 26, 2018 by 5:00 pm
Thursday, March 29, 2018: The Third Reich and World War II – An Overview Documentary: • We will watch the following documentary in class: “Master Race, 1933,” (USA 1998, 56 min.)
Required Reading: • Allen, Women in Twentieth Century Europe, 42-59
WEEK 13:
Tuesday, April 3, 2018: Women in Fascist Century Regimes: The Example of Nazi Germany
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Questions: • What concept of the gender order did the NSDAP propagate? • To what degree did the Nazi Party incorporate this concept in their concrete politics between 1933 and 1945? • What role did women play in the politics of the Third Reich? • What opportunities existed for women to become politically active in the Third Reich? • Which groups of German women supported the NSDAP and why? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • Riemer and Fout, European Women, pp. 106-110 (Document 26). • DiCaprio and Wiesner, Lives and Voices, pp. 496-502 (Document 156 and 157). Background Reading: • Allen, Women in Twentieth Century Europe, pp. 42-59 (the same as for the previous class) • Claudia Koonz, “The 'Women Question' in Authoritarian Regimes," in Becoming Visible, ed. Bridenthal et al., 463-492. Forum Assignment, due Monday, April 2, 2018 by 5:00 pm
Thursday, April 5, 2018: Home and Front in World War II Questions: • How did the different European war societies try to mobilize women and men for the Second World War? • Which roles did women play during World War II on the home front? • In which ways were women involved in the military and why? • Did the specific war experience in different countries influence the post-war gender order? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • DiCaprio and Wiesner, Lives and Voices, 534-542 (Document 167 and 169). Background Reading: • Allen, Women in Twentieth Century Europe, 60-70 and 79-96. • Karen Hagemann, “Mobilizing Women for War: The History, Historiography, and Memory of German Women’s War Service in the Two World Wars,” Journal of Military History 75, no. 3 (2011): 1055-1093. • Timm and Sanborn, Gender, Sex, 157-202 (the same as for week 11.1).
WEEK 14:
Tuesday, April 10, 2018: Gendering the Holocaust I Questions: • What do you know about the Holocaust? Where did you learn it? • Is an attempt to gender the history of the Holocaust appropriate?
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• What enabled Jewish men and women to emigrate, to resist or survive the hell of ghettos and concentration camps? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • DiCaprio and Wiesner, Lives and Voices, 522-526 and 529-533 (Documents 164 and 166). Background Reading: • Allen, Women in Twentieth Century Europe, 70-76 (the same as for the previous class). • Baumel, Judith Tydor. “Women’s Agency and Survival Strategies during the Holocaust.” Women’s Studies International Forum 22, no. 3 (1999): 329-347. • Milton, Sybil, “Women and the Holocaust: The Case of German and German Jewish Women,” in: Different Voices: Women and the Holocaust, ed. by Rittner and Roth (New York: Paragon House, 1993), 213-249. • Rittner, Carol and John K. Roth, “Prologue: Women and the Holocaust,” in Different Voices: Women and the Holocaust, ed. by Rittner and Roth (New York: Paragon House, 1993), 1-21. Forum Assignment, due Monday, April 9, 2018 by 5:00 pm
Thursday, April 12, 2018: 6:30 – 8:15 PM, Media Center, Room 205 No class in the morning Gendering the Holocaust II Documentary: • We will watch the following documentary in class: “The Women from Ravensbrück” (Die Frauen von Ravensbrück), director: Loretta Walz (Germany 2005, 90 min.). Be Required Reading: • The same as for the previous class
WEEK 15:
Tuesday, April 17, 2018: Gendered Civil Courage, Protest, and Resistance against Nazi Germany Questions: • How would you define resistance? • Which forms of resistance existed? In what ways were they different? • Was there a gender specific resistance? In what ways were women involved? • What motivated and enabled people to protest and get active in the resistance? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • DiCaprio and Wiesner, Lives and Voices, pp. 526-533 (Documents 165 and 166). Background Reading: • Allen, Women in Twentieth Century Europe, pp. 76-78 • Erpel, Simone, “Struggle and Survival: Jewish Women in the Anti-Fascist Resistance in Germany”, in Leo Baeck Institute. Year Book 37 (1992): 397-414.
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• John Michalczyk, “The White Rose Student Movement in Germany: Its History and Relevance Today,“ in Confront! Resistance in Nazi Germany, ed. John J. Michalczyk (New York: Lang, 2004), 211- 220. Additional Assignment: • Please watch the following movie before class: “Sophie Scholl – The Final Days” (Sophie Scholl: Die letzten Tage), director Marc Rothemund (Germany 2005, 117 min.) (UNC Media Resources Center: 65- DVD3430, In-Library Use Only, and on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baRvF6ZBK18) Recommendation: • In addition, I suggest to watch the following movie: “Rosenstrasse,” director: Margarethe von Trotta (Germany 2003, 135 min.) (UNC Media Resources Center: 65-DVD2068, In-Library Use Only, and on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS0KW16b3wQ) Forum Assignment, due Monday, April 16, 2018 by 5:00 pm
Thursday, April 19, 2018: Re-Gendering Post-World War II Societies Questions: • How did the situation of women change after World War II in Europe? • Which role did the family play in the reconstruction of European post-war societies? • Why did the model of the male-bread-winner family become so influential in European post-war societies, politics and culture? • What were the main points of criticism of post-war feminists like the French author Simone de Beauvoir? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • Bell and Offen, Women, vol. 2, 420-432 (Document 119 and 120). Background Reading: • Allen, Women in Twentieth Century Europe, 79-96 und 115-132. • Jane Jenson, “Friend or Foe? Women and State Welfare in Western Europe," in Becoming Visible, ed. Bridenthal et al., 493-513 • Barbara Einhorn, "The Great Divide? Women's Rights in Eastern and Central Europe Since 1945," in Becoming Visible, ed. Bridenthal et al., 514-539 Additional Assignment: • Please watch the following movie before the class: “The Marriage of Maria Braun” (Die Ehe der Maria Braun), director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Germany 1979, 120 min.). Available online on the UNC Library website: http://unc.kanopystreaming.com/video/marriage-maria-braun
WEEK 16:
Tuesday, April 24, 20178: The New Women’s Movement of the 1960s - 1980s Questions: • What economic, social, political and cultural factors contributed to the development of the New Women’s Movement? • What role did the postwar gender order play in the development of a new feminist thinking?
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• What was the social background of the leading feminist activists of the new women’s movement? • What were their aims and strategies? • Who were some of the most influential figures in the movement? Required Reading: Primary Documents: • DiCaprio and Wiesner, Lives and Voices, 559-564, 573-577 and 580-582 (Documents 173, 175 and 177). Background Reading: • Allen, Women in Twentieth Century Europe, 115-131.
Recommendation: • I recommend to watch the movie: “Vera Drake,” director: Mike Leigh (Britain 2006, 126 min.) (UNC Media Resources Center: 65-DVD2239)
Thursday, April 26, 2018: Final Class: Do Men and Women Have Equal Rights and Chances Today? Questions: • Do men and women have equal rights and chances today? • Do we still/again need a women's movement? Required Reading: • Nancy Gibbs, “What women want now: A Time special report,” TIME Magazine, October 26, 2009. • Nancy Gibbs, “Love, Sex, Freedom and The Paradox of the Pill”, TIME Magazine, May 3, 2010. • Kate Pickert, “What Choice?” TIME Magazine, January 3, 2012.
Final Essay is due on: Friday, April 27, 2018 at 9:00 am. Please submit the paper electronically by email as a Word document. Name the file as follows: Lastname-Last_Assignment. The instruction for the primary document essay will be posted under “Sakai/Resources/Support for Assignments” not later than one week before the assignment is due.
SAKAI I will be using Sakai to make course materials, announcements, and other essential information available to you. You are expected to check Sakai regularly and are responsible for the material that appears on it. To access Sakai: 1. Go to http://sakai.unc.edu and type in the name you use for your email and then your password 2. You will then receive a list of all the courses for which you are registered this semester. Click on HIST 259 or WMST 259 (whichever you are registered for). 3. Please familiarize yourself with the course Web Page. It is an essential tool for taking this course. 4. If you do not want to use your UNC email address, you must contact the Help Desk at 962-HELP. 5. A copy of the syllabus is on Sakai under Syllabus. It may be updated periodically. Please note: if you have dropped this course, the registrar will take you off the course email list within 48 hours. You do not need to contact the instructor or take any other action.
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RULES OF THE ROAD
1. Read this syllabus carefully. You should consider it a contract between you and the professor. Your enrollment in the course signifies your agreement to adhere to it. Keep it for reference. You will also find it on Sakai. 2. Read the email and announcements on SAKAI carefully and regularly. I will communicate with you by email and announcements on SAKAI during the course. Please read your email and check the SAKAI announcements.
3. Communicate appropriately. Learn how to write a professional email. Please read over the handout from the UNC Writing Center on email etiquette and effective communication at colleges and universities: http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/effective-e-mail-communication/
4. Attendance will be taken in every class. No more than four missed classes will be accepted. After four missed classes, your participation grade will go down 0.1 points for every day you miss class, but if you excuse yourself in advance for additional missed classes in case of crisis and emergency, we will find a solution, for example the make-up assignment of response paper (see the guide on Sakai). 5. No late papers or other written work will be accepted except in the case of documented dire emergencies or a previous agreement. Remember to make back-up copies of your drafts and papers; a hard disk crash a day or two before papers are due is not an acceptable excuse for turning in a late paper. If you face serious problems to handing in an assignment in time please contact me in advance and we will find a solution. For unexcused lateness, your grade will go down ten points. Thus, if you have a B+, your grade will fall to a C+ or if you have a C, your grade will fall to a D. 6. Plagiarism: to take or pass off as one's own the ideas, key writings, etc. of another; to copy the exact words or to use key phrases from another author; to steal key ideas, even if you put them in your own words. If you do any of these things, without using a footnote to indicate your source, you are guilty of plagiarism. The exact words of another author must be put in quotation marks. Be forewarned that it is extremely easy to trace sources of plagiarism with software and on the web. If you plagiarize a paper you will receive a zero on that piece of work, and you will be subject to prosecution under the UNC Honor Code. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the Honor Code (http://instrument.unc.edu).
7. Cheating: In case of cheating, you will flunk the exam. We will also report delinquents to either the UNC Honor Court or the UNC Dean of Academic Affairs. Students may not bring any material related to the course to the final examination unless it is contained in a closed book bag or knapsack. It is your responsibility to be familiar with, and act according to, the universities’ honor codes. 8. Finally - Electronics: I support “old school” communication and note-taking during classes, however, I will allow laptops in seminar sessions as a tool for your class work in specific circumstances. Pen, paper and face-to-face dialogue reduce unnecessary distractions. Please turn off all electronic devices including, but not limited to, iPhones, cell phones, iPods, iPads or any other devices that ring, buzz or ding. These devices should be properly secured in your backpack.
HONOR CODE Papers and exams must bear either the full honor code pledge (“On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this assignment.”) or the word “Pledge” followed by your name as a shorthand way of communicating your adherence. Otherwise, no grade will be recorded. More information is also available at http://instrument.unc.edu and at: http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/plagiarism.html.
15 December 2017