Course Description
Representations of women's power historically, evaluated critically in terms of gender, race, and class.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
A 20-25 page research paper and additional readings and meetings with instructor will be required for graduate students.
Athena Title
POLITICS OF GENDER
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
a) Critical analysis of the gendered nature of historical scholarship b) Development of feminist historical methodology c) Examination of women as subject in historical discourse d) Definition of gender issues as political The principal objective of the course is to teach students to think critically for themselves about the relationships between the past and the present, to learn to ask questions of the past that enable them to understand the present and mold the future, and to become attuned to both the limitations and possibilities of change. The course seeks to acquaint students with the ways in which past societies and peoples have defined the relationships between community and individual needs and goals, and between ethical norms and decision-making. In general students will be expected to: 1. read a wide range of primary and secondary sources critically. 2. polish skills in critical thinking, including the ability to recognize the difference between opinion and evidence, and the ability to evaluate--and support or refute--arguments effectively. 3. write stylistically appropriate and mature papers and essays using processes that include discovering ideas and evidence, organizing that material, and revising, editing, and polishing the finished papers.
Topical Outline
The Gender Politics of History; The Politics of Colonialism The Politics of Virtue Southern Domestic Politics; Slavery: The Politics of Gender, Race and Class The Politics of Gender Reform Women and Modernity Labor Politics Neofeminist Politics