Course Description
The experiences, challenges, and achievements of women in modern Europe. Perceptions of women--religious, literary, political, and social. Through such study, we can learn more both about women and about how society functioned and responded to change.
Athena Title
HIS WOMEN MOD EUROP
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course examines the history of women in modern Europe from the eighteenth century to the present. Although we will consider both the contributions which specific European women have made in various fields of human endeavor – politics, culture, science, etc. – and, more generally, the ways in which women themselves have acted to determine their own history, we will also pay close attention to the larger historical patterns, social contexts, and human relationships which have shaped women’s lives. Thus, we will examine the different experiences of urban and rural women; the relationships between women of different social classes; the history of women’s participation in the domains of public life and politics; women’s encounters with organized religion, the state, and professional groups; the history of marriage, the family, and sexuality. A 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
Introduction The Body & Sexuality The French Revolution Women in the French Revolution Mary Wollstonecraft On Revolution & Love The Middle Classes Sense and Sensibility (cont.) Women and The Industrial Revolution Domesticity & “Separate Spheres” Masculine Rituals Voyage to Italy Women & Imperialism Women In Public World War I The Russian Revolution Women in Fascist Italy & Germany Glasnost in Russia
Syllabus