WOMEN IN AMERICA

WGST 340/HIST 398

Fall 2002

Instructor: Dr. Ann Marie Nicolosi

Office Hours: Tuesday 3:30-4:30, Weds. 2:00-3:00, Friday 9:45-10:45

Telephone: X2276

E-Mail nicolosi@tcnj.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course will examine the history of women in the United States from the colonial era to the present. We will explore the diverse ways in which women have lived, worked and contributed to the history of the US. While we will be looking at some of the “great women” of American history, the course will focus more on the aspects of the general experiences of women and their political, social, cultural and familial relationships.

COURSE TEXTS:

The Following books are required and are available at the bookstore:

Evans, Sara M. Born for Liberty: A History of Women in America (New York: The Free Press, 1997). (Hereafter referred to as “Evans”)

Norton, Mary Beth and Ruth M. Alexander, eds. Major Problems in American Women’s History, 2nd edition (Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company, 1996). (Hereafter referred to as “Norton”)

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter (Any edition is acceptable).

White, Deborah Gray. Ar'n't I a Woman: Female Slaves in the Plantation South (New York: Norton & Co, 1999).

Moody, Anne. Coming of Age in Mississippi (New York: Bantam, 1968).

Rosen, Ruth. The World Split Open: How the Modern Women’s Movement Changed America (New York: Penguin, 2000)

In addition there are required readings posted on SOCS

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Regular attendance and informed participation 10%. It is imperative that you come to class prepared.

One 7-10 page research paper, 30% ANY PAPER HANDED IN LATE WILL LOSE A GRADE PER DAY.

Mid-term exam, 30%

Final exam, 30%

COURSE READINGS:

(*Indicates a SOCS reading)

August 27	Intro to the Course
August 30	The Study of Women’s History Evans, Introduction. Norton, Chap. 1 *DeHart, Jane Sherron and Linda K. Kerber, “Gender and the New Women’s History.”
September 6	The First American Women Evans, Chap. 1 Norton, Chap. 2 *Jensen, Joan M., “Native American Women and Agriculture: A Seneca Case Study.”
September 10	The Colonial Experience Evans, Chap. 2 *Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher, “The Ways of Her Household.” *Carr, Lois G. and Lorena S. Walsh, “The Planter’s Wife: The Experience of White Women in Seventeenth Century Maryland.” *Document: The Trial of Anne Hutchinson *Document: Sarah Kemble Knight: A Colonial Woman's Journey, 1704-1705
September 13	The Scarlet Letter
September 17	Witchcraft and Gender Norton, Chap. 3
September 20	Revolutionary Women Norton, Chap. 4 Evans, Chap. 3 *Kerber, Linda K., “The Republican Mother.” *Document: Catherine Van Cortlandt, The Revolutionary War: Letters of a Loyalist Wife, 1776-1777
September 24	The Cult of Domesticity Norton, Chap. 5 Evans, Chaps. 4 & 6 Begin reading Ar'n't I a Woman?
September 27	The Cult of Domesticity--NOT! *Perdue, Theda, “Cherokee Women and the Trail of Tears.” *Boydston, Jeanne, “To Earn Her Daily Bread: Housework and Antebellum Working-Class Subsistence.” *Stansell, Women, “Women, Children, and the Uses of the Streets: Class and Gender Conflict in New York City, 1850-1860."
October 1	Slave Women Norton, Chap. 5 White, Ar'n't I a Woman?
October 4	Radical Women--19th Century Style Norton, Chap. 7 Evans, Chap. 5 *Painter, Nell Irvin,” Sojourner Truth’s Defense of the Rights of Women.”
October 8	*Wellman, Judith, “The Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention: Study of Social Networks.” *Document: The Women’s Centennial Agenda, 1876. In Class Video: Susan B. Anthony: Rebel for the Cause
October 11	Victorian Sexuality Norton, Chap. 9
October 16	MIDTERM
October 18	Women in Industrial America *Peiss, Kathy, “Putting on Style: Working Women and Leisure in Turn-of-the Century New York.” Norton, Chapter 11 Evans, Chap 7
October 22	Mid-semester break-no classes
October 25	Suffrage and the New Century Norton, Chap. 10 and 12 Evans, Chap. 8
October 29	Women and the Depression Norton, 357-364; 370-377 Evans, Chap. 9 *Jacqueline Jones, "Harder Times: The Great Depression" *Document: Ann Marie Low: A Dust Bowl Diary, 1934-1937
November 1	Women at War Norton, 363-370; 377-397 Evans, Chap. 10 *Berube, Allan, “Marching to a Different Drummer: Lesbian and Gay GIs in World War II.”
November 5	*Milkman, Ruth, “Gender at Work: The Sexual Division of Labor During World War II.” *Document: Catherine Lang, Polly Crow, Hazel M. Burke, Ethel Pendelbury La Palme, KatherineMcReynolds and Edith Sokol Speert: Letters from the Homefront and the Battlefront, 1941-1945 *Document: Augusta H. Clawson: Shipyard Diary of a Woman Welder, 1943
November 8	PAPERS DUE In Class Video: America Goes to War: String of Pearls Begin Reading Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi
November 12	Women in Post-War America, or The Rise and Fall of June Cleaver Norton, Chap. 14 Evans, Chap. 11
November 15	*Garrison, Dee, "Our Skits Gave Them Courage: The Civil Defense Protest Movement in New York City, 1955-1961" *Kunzel, Regina, “White Neurosis, Black Pathology: Constructing Out-of-Wedlock Pregnancy in Wartime and Postwar United States” *Penn, Donna, “The Sexualized Woman: The Lesbian, The Prostitute and the Containment of Female Sexuality in Postwar America”
November 19	Radical Women-20th Century Style Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi
November 22	Norton, Chap. 15 Evans, Chap. 12 & 13 Begin Reading The World Split Open
November 26	Intensive Reading Day—No Class
November 27	Thanksgiving Break—No Class
December 3	The World Split Open
December 6	*Document; “Remembering Viet Nam” *Document: “Making the Personal Political: Challenging Feminism” *Document: Sharon Lane and Lynda Van Devanter: Letters From Vietnam, 1969 In Class Video: Gloria Steinem
December 10	In Class Video: Our Bodies Ourselves: The Feminist Movement and the Battle Over Abortion Women in the Eighties, Nineties, and Beyond Norton, Chap. 16 Evans, 14