Professor: Dr. Stacy A. Cordery
E-mail: stacy@monm.edu
This course surveys women's historical experiences in the United States from the American Revolution to the present. It is intended to introduce you to the methodology of women's history in addition to exploring the often hidden and forgotten gender dimensions of the American past. One major goal of this course, therefore, is to present women's history both as an integral part of United States history and as a unique subject of historical investigation. As with every other liberal arts class, this one should also sharpen your analytical skills, critical thinking skills, writing ability, and reading comprehension.
The course is designed so that you will teach yourself/yourselves as much as possible. To that end, (nearly) every Tuesday we will begin with small group discussions of the documents in the textbook. Then we will all discuss the documents together for the remainder of the class. On Thursdays, a pair of you will lead the discussion over the articles in the textbook. During these student-led discussions, I will not say anything for the first fifteen minutes of class. We'll reserve the last fifteen minutes for a summation and a look ahead to the next week's topic.
To prepare yourself for the discussions, and to maintain your discussion grade, every Tuesday BEFORE CLASS you will turn in to me a list of four observations that occurred to you while you did the readings. These should be the points you want to make during the class discussion--parallels, discrepancies, questions that you have, reminders of past readings, connections to ideas from other classes, connections to your life experience--anything pertinent. Your observations will become more sophisticated as time goes by, so do not censor yourself or fret that your list is "silly". I will not grade these questions, per se, but I will take them into account when calculating your final grade. If you are missing one or more weeks'worth, it will affect your grade. As you compile these questions, you will be making a great midterm and final study guide for yourself. If you are shy about discussions then it will help you to have already written your ideas down on paper. (NOTE: Since these must be handed in before class, you will want to make a copy for you to keep as a prompt during the discussion.)
N.B.: The format of the class is open to change at my discretion. I will announce any changes to you in class.
class discussion: 50 points midterm (essay and identification): 100 points final (half will be take-home and half an in-class essay): 200 points total leading a Thursday discussion: 50 points worldwide web assignment: 50 points research paper: 100 points oral history project: 100 points Tuesday observations
Class attendance is a course expectation. More than three absences during the semester will be considered excessive and will warrant my invoking the no-cut policy. If you must be absent, see me before you miss the class, if possible. In the case of an emergency, see me when you return. You are responsible for material missed during your absences. Clearly, in a seminar wherein a percentage of your grade is based on discussion, class attendance is crucial.
Aug. 26: Introduction: What is Women's History?
28: Discussion over Chapter 1
Sept. 2 & 4: The Impact of the American Revolution--Chapter 4
Sept. 9 & 11: The Cult of Domesticity--Chapter 5
Sept. 16 & 18: The Lives of Enslaved Women--Chapter 6
Sept. 23: Varieties of Nineteenth-Century Activism--Chapter 7--Documents
25: WORK ON WWW GROUP PROJECTS
Sept. 30: Varieties of Nineteenth-Century Activism--Chapter 7--Articles
30: WWW PROJECT DUE 5:00 P.M.
Oct. 2: Suffrage: read only Addams, ?A Working Woman,? and Beard
Oct. 7 & 9: Women in the West--Chapter 8
Oct. 14: Fall Break--no class
16: MIDTERM EXAMINATION
Oct. 21 & 23: Work Culture in the Early Twentieth Century--Chapter 11
Oct. 28 & 30: Women and Politics in the 1920s--Chapter 12
Nov. 4 & 6: The Great Depression and World War II
6: RESEARCH PAPERS DUE, 5:00 p.m.
Nov. 11 & 13: Women and the Feminine Ideal in Postwar America--Chapter 14
Nov. 18 & 20: Political Activism and Feminism in the 1960s and 1970s
--Chapter 15
Nov. 25: In-class Film
27: Thanksgiving Holiday--no class
Dec. 2 & 4: An Elusive Sisterhood: Since 1972--Chapter 16
4: ORAL HISTORIES DUE, 5:00 p.m.
Dec. 9: Discussion of oral histories
11: Discussion of class/wrap-up/review for final
Dec. 15 at 1:00 p.m. is the FINAL EXAMINATION for this class.
_________________________________________________________________________
Directions for leading the Thursday discussion: You and your partner
will collaborate on the readings. You may split
them up so that one of you discusses one and the other does a
different essay, or you may work together on all of the essays. You must do all three if your chapter has three. None =
of you are first-year students, and so you've all been exposed, at least in Freshman Seminar, to a discussion-based =
class. In order to lead a discussion you have to understand fully the
articles yourselves, and understand the connections among them, their
individual themes, and the way the documents support them. Lead your
classmates into fruitful discussion, but have a list of the points you
want to make--or ideally that you want them to make. Do not
dominate the discussion yourselves, but ask leading
questions that spur your classmates to thoughtful responses. Sure,
this is easier said than done. You may simply
want to begin by asking what the essays are about, or a similarly
broad question. Be sure that you have the answer
yourself, though! I strongly suggest that you and your partner come
talk about the main points of the essays before
you lead the class. We can also clear up the historical background
material that your colleagues might need to know.
Directions for the www assignment will be handed out to you in
class soon.
Directions for short research paper:
Write a paper of approximately 2000 words (eight typed,
double-spaced pages) on a subject in women's history of your choosing.
Your paper should be based on one major historical work and on
three (or more) primary sources. The object of your paper is define
your subject, analyze and synthesize it, and put it into historical
perspective. This is not a book review. You will be leaning on the
interpretation of one historian, but you will
supplement his or her conclusions with primary research of your
own.
To find the historical work, go to Hewes Library in the HQ section.
Find a book on a topic that is congenial to you. Bring it to me so that
I may ok it, and so that we may discuss potential primary sources to
augment your study of that topic. I encourage you to hand in early drafts of the paper so that we can =
discuss them (no grade, no penalty--just a check to make sure that you are
on the right track).
Directions for the oral history project:
This project should be a lot of fun. It consists of a three-page
paper based on an approved historical source, a list of at least
twenty questions, and a thirty-minute taped interview with--
ideally--your mother, step-mother, aunt, or grandmother. If you do not
have any of these female relatives, or if you cannot get together with
one of them to do the interview, then you will have to find another woman
to interview. See me if you have difficulty thinking of someone.
This project is due near the end of the semester because the knowledge that
you gain during the term will infuse your interview. We will spend some of
the last week of class discussing your reaction to these assignments and
figuring out what commonalities exist in your projects.
The purpose of this assignment is fourfold: to introduce you to one =
of the tools of the historian; to increase your understanding of the
possibilities and the limitations of history; to deepen your appreciation
for the history around you; and to investigate how the themes of this academic class =
have influenced or inspired or confounded one particular woman in your
life.
Oral history is a tool historians use to recreate history through
the recollections of the persons who lived it. Oral histories often focus on people who are ignored by the =
mainstream, on people who don=92t think that they have
really been a part of history, and by people who cannot write their
own history. It is true that oral histories are
conducted with senators and presidents and chairpersons of the
board, but oral histories are also conducted with people who are not likely to make it into history books. These =
people can teach historians different dimensions about
the period of United States history than can be found in
congressional papers and army reports. Do not be afraid,
then, that you know no one who has "made history."
Since this is a women's history class, you will want to ask your
interviewee about being a woman. Think of the themes we've been
discussing throughout the class and be creative. Ask her if she
wanted to be a boy when she was young, or if her parents wanted her to
be a boy--and if so, how did that make her feel? Ask what was good
and bad about being a girl. What could boys (or her brothers) do
that she couldn't and vice versa? If she grew up
within a church tradition, ask how that influenced her as a woman.
You might ask about dating customs--what was
the woman's role, and has she seen any changes? Ask her what career options she thought were open to her as a
woman. Did she face much pressure to get married? Did she face
pressure to have children? Was she ever aware
of special treatment because of her sex, and if so, was that good or
bad? Was she ever aware of discrimination?
Eventually, your interview will narrow to the topic that you have
chosen, whether that is nursing, being a housewife,
participating in the women's liberation movement, being the head
of a sorority, or coping during the Great Depression. Rely on the themes of
the course to guide you. To begin this project, you must find someone
to interview. The interviewee should be knowledgeable on the
subject, straight-forward, easily understood, and willing to
participate.
Once you have settled on a person, you must
decide what you are going to focus on in the interview. Once you
have matched the interviewee to the subject, you
must find a book from the library that will give you detailed
information about the period that you will be discussing in
your interview. This outside book that you choose and the lectures
will form the basis for the paper. The study
associated with gaining this knowledge is the most important step in
completing a useful and interesting interview.
You will demonstrate your understanding of the period and/or the
event by the background you supply in your
three-page typed paper, and by the questions you ask. These
questions should be germane, leading, insightful,
probing, and tailor-made for your interview.
NOTE: You must clear your topic with me before you begin; this
relieves you of worrying about the significance of
your interview. We will shortly pass around a sign-up sheet for
that purpose. If you'd like, you can let me see your preliminary list of
questions, and I'll be happy to check them over before you go
into the interview.
The assignment--paper (based on outside reading),
list of questions, and thirty minute tape (If it isn't thirty
minutes worth of interview, then you do not get full credit.
Period.) with release form--is due to me no later than 5:00
p.m. on Thursday, 4 December 1997. Your over-all grade will be
lowered one letter grade for each day it is late, without exception.
Interview hints:
1. I must be able to understand you and the interviewee. If I
cannot understand the tape, I cannot grade the tape. If you think it
necessary, provide a typescript to accompany the tape. Try to avoid
outside noises, like telephones ringing, airplanes overhead, rain,
ticking clocks, and sirens, which distract the listener. Be aware of this
when you choose the place for the interview.
2. Make sure that your tape recorder works before you get to the
interview. Check the batteries and the tape.
Always bring a pad of paper and a pen, in case your tape recorder
fails. Before you get to the interview, speak both
of your names, the location, and that day's date into the tape.
(I.e., "This is Jane Doe interviewing Hillary Clinton, on
October 5th, 1997, in the East Wing of the White House in
Washington, D.C.")
3. Have the interviewee sign and date a release form stating that
she allows you to use her interview for this class assignment.
4. Allow time for both of you to get comfortable. Chat about the
weather or your surroundings, or anything
else of minor consequence until you and your interviewee are ready
to begin the interview.
5. Take notes as you go. Describe the interview and the setting.
Note follow-up questions. Ask for
clarification on personal and place names. Make observations
concerning facial expressions or voice inflections
which may clarify the taped material.
6. Write your questions out in advance and take them with you.
Make sure that your questions cannot be
answered with a simple "yes" or "no." Try to formulate process
questions, questions that begin with "How did you . . .?" or
"Why do you think that . . . ?" rather than "Did you like
growing up in the city?" Be sure to politely cut off
aimless reminiscences that draw you off your topic. This is the
list of questions that you will turn in to me.
At the same time, do not be absolutely tied to your questions.
It may be that your interviewee decides to
disclose something important that you didn't know about beforehand.
In this case, do your best to stay with her, and
be extra certain to ask her for clarification on all matters of
which you are uncertain. In other words, if you go to
interview a nurse who served during the Vietnam conflict, and in the
course of the interview you learn that she was
taken a prisoner of war, don't neglect this topic simply because you
hadn't written out questions about it in advance.
8. Do not contradict the answers given you, even if you are
positive that they are incorrect. You may try to
guide your interviewee, but you will get nowhere if you attempt to
show off your knowledge of history at the expense
of their memory of history. If she tells you that Goldwater ran for
election in 1976--an error of fact--you may try to
suggest that she meant to say Ford, but don't ruin your interview by
sounding like you know it all. You can point out
errors of fact made by your interviewee in the paper. This is
especially important if you are interviewing an older
relative, who may not be accustomed to you knowing more than she
does about a time in which she lived.
9. Try to make sure that your interviewee speaks only about herself.
Stories that begin, "A friend of mine once
told me that she saw . . ." are not as immediate or as historically
relevant as first person memories.
10. If your interviewee brings out materials to show
you--scrapbooks, medals, photos, tools, clothing--describe
them into the tape, or write up a description of them to hand in to
me. Consider taking along photographs, of your
own of from a book, to help your interviewee recall the time
period.
11. A good way to draw the interview to a close is to ask for an
overwhelming feeling or impression of the time. Sometimes it is helpful to ask if the interviewee had a sense of =
being a part of an historical moment or movement, and how they come to feel
that way. Do not cut them off mid-thought when the thirty minutes are up.
Let the interview go on as long as you see fit. The thirty minute time
requirement is because it often takes ten minutes or so
for the two of you to get to the significant events or feelings.
12. I hope this goes without saying, but be sure to call in
advance to confirm your meeting, and always, always
send a thank you note afterwards, even if it is your mom.
13. One page of your three-paper should contain the following:
1)your name and social security number
2)the name of your interviewee
3)the place and the starting and ending time of the interview
4)a brief physical description of your interviewee
5)the reason that you chose this person to interview
6)their place in history
7)the significance of what you discovered during your interview
The other two pages should consist of a background history, drawn
from the book that you read to prepare you for the interview. Your
interviewee should not teach you about the broader subject or the time
period. If she does, you haven't done your homework. Be sure to cite
the book in full at the conclusion of your paper. If you quote
from the book, cite the page number(s). If you are unclear about
how to cite from a book, see me. Plagiarism is
academic dishonesty. See the ScotsGuide for details.
13. Clear up questions with me before you begin the interview
Directions for the take-home part of the final exam: For the final
exam, you will be asked to locate a document from
U.S. popular culture and analyze it in light of the themes of the
course. This one-hundred point essay will be handed
in on the day of the final and it must include a copy of whatever it
is you are analyzing. Most particularly, consider
the document in an historical context. Do you see any signs of
issues/ideas/causes/problems from the past? What
image of women is portrayed in the document you?ve chosen? What can
it tell us about modern U.S. culture?
Consider the questions we?ve been asking of the documents all
semester long. Your paper should describe your
document and its venue, analyze it and its historical context, and
draw conclusions about women in the United States
today. It would be in your best interest to be on the lookout for
this document during the semester and most
definitely in your best interest to clear the document with me
before you hand it in as half of your final exam grade.