Section:             MW 1:00-2:25, 207 SOCS, Section 2370

Office:              202G Social Sciences

e-mail:              cgold@elcamino.edu

Phone:              310-660-3751
Office Hours:    Monday and Wednesday 11:30-1:00; Tuesday 2:00-4:00

Syllabus for Spring 2007:

Course Description

This course surveys the history of American women from the colonial era through 1877.  You will learn about the daily experiences of American women as well the ways they impacted and shaped the nation.  The textbook, Through Women’s Eyes, and the lectures focus on three major themes:  family and personal life; politics; and work.  We will explore topics like enslaved women’s resistance to slavery; women’s participation in the American Revolution; women’s experience and role in conquering the West; and women’s sexuality in the nineteenth century.  We will study the work of women’s historians who have creatively written about the lives of women who have left a very sparse historical record, including Native American women, enslaved women, and impoverished workers.  We will also explore the public role of women in unions, conservative organizations (like the Ku Klux Klan) and political reform movements (like abolitionism, suffrage, and the anti-prostitution crusade).  Women have played a vital role in shaping our nation, workplaces, and families.  I hope this class will show you that history is interesting, entertaining, and meaningful to your life.  

Required Reading

·         DuBois and Dumenil.  Through Women’s Eyes:  An American History (with documents).  Bedford/St. Martin’s (2005).

·         Horowitz.  Attitudes Toward Sex in Antebellum America:  A Brief History with Documents.  Bedford/St. Martin’s (2006).

Grade Distribution

2 Midterms (20% each)             40%

Final Exam                                20%

2 Reading Reviews                    10%

Paper                                       20%     (outline 5%; final draft 15%)

Participation                              10%

Midterms and Final Exam

The midterms and final exam will include identifications, a primary document analysis, and an essay question.  You will be given study questions to help you prepare, and you must use a blue book on the day of the test.  Blue books may be purchased in the student store.

Reading Assignments and Reading Reviews

Students should complete the assigned reading before coming to class.  Do not fall behind in the reading, as it will be difficult to catch up.  Try to make it a habit to do your class reading in the evening or day before we meet.  Students will write two reading reviews which answer a series of questions about the primary sources in 2-3 pages. 

Lectures

Students are responsible for all the information conveyed in the lectures.  Students should take notes during lecture and should borrow someone’s notes for days that they are absent. 

Paper

Students will write one 5-7 page paper based upon Attitudes Toward Sex In Antebellum America.  We will discuss writing methods in class and students will submit a thesis statement, outline, and final draft.

Participation

Active participation in class discussion is important to success in the course.  Assigned readings must be completed in order to effectively participate. Your participation grade is based on your attendance, group discussions and class participation.

Group Projects

Every week students will divide into small groups to discuss primary document materials drawn from Through Women’s Eyes.  Group answers will be graded and will form part of the participation grade.  Please bring Through Women’s Eyes with you to class on days with student discussions.  In the event of absence, students are permitted to make-up two group discussions.

Attendance

Attendance will be taken at the beginning of every class.  More than 4 absences in the semester will adversely impact your grade unless written notification of a medical or other extraordinary reason for the absence is provided.

Classroom Etiquette, Cheating, and Late Policy

Students are expected to treat each other and the Professor respectfully.  Disruptive behavior interrupts learning and creates a tense classroom environment.  Please contribute to a positive learning experience for yourself and the other students. Arrive on time, prepared to participate in class.  Please notify the Professor before class if you need to leave early.  Out of respect for all the students’ hard work, cheating and plagiarism will absolutely not be tolerated.  Plagiarism occurs when you take credit for the original ideas and/or words of another person.  Plagiarism or cheating on any assignment or exam will incur a 0 for the grade.  For late assignments, the grade will be reduced by one full grade for each class meeting it is late. 

Student Outcomes and Assessment

Student Outcomes   After successfully completing this course, students will be able to:	Assessment Tools   Tools used to measure student success at achieving each outcome:
1.  Provide an overview of women’s experience in and impact on American workplaces, families, and political systems from the colonial era through 1877.	·   Midterms and final exam
2.  Accurately use appropriate historical methods to analyze visual and written primary sources about women’s history.	·   Group and class discussions ·   Midterms and final exam ·   Reading reviews
3.  Effectively communicate ideas and actively participate in an oral dialogue about women’s history in small groups of 5-6 students and in the general classroom setting.	·   Group and class discussions
4.  Write a well-organized 5-7 page paper that persuasively argues an original thesis using primary and secondary sources and appropriate historical methods.	·   Paper
5.  Independently read and accurately comprehend secondary historical sources.	·   Reading reviews ·   Midterms and final exam ·   Paper ·   Class discussions

Weekly Meetings and Assignments

Week One

Feb. 12             Course Introduction and The Field of Women’s History

Feb. 14             Native American Women

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Introduction pp. xxv-xxxiii; Chapt. 1 pp.
                                                            2-14 & pp. 38-49.

                        Group Discussion:          Images of Native American Women

Week Two

Feb. 19             Holiday – President’s Day

Feb. 21             European Women in Colonial America

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 1 pp. 14-37

Week Three

Feb. 26             European and African Women in Colonial America

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 1 pp. 50-64

                        Group Discussion:          Colonial Women

Feb. 28             Film:  A Midwives’ Tale, 1998

Week Four

Mar. 5              Film:  A Midwives’ Tale, 1998

The American Revolution

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 2 pp. 70-87

Mar. 7              The American Revolution

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 2 pp. 102-118

                        Group Discussion:          Painting:  Portraits and the Revolution

Week Five

Mar. 12            The Young Nation

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 2 pp. 87-101; 119-123

                        Reading Review #1 Due (Phillis Wheatley)

Mar. 14            The Young Nation

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 2 pp. 124-130

Group Discussion:          Education and Republican Motherhood

Week Six

Mar. 19            Midterm #1

Mar. 21            “True Womanhood” (Early to Mid-Nineteenth Century)

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 3 pp. 136-145; 182-189

                        Group Discussion:          Women’s Magazine:  Godey’s Lady Book

Week Seven

Mar. 26            The Early Industrial Revolution (Early to Mid-Nineteenth
                        Century)

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 3 pp. 146-154 & pp. 169-174

Mar. 28            Slavery

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 3 pp. 154-168; 175-181 & 190-
                                                            197

                        Group Discussion:          Factory Worker and Slave Photographs

Week Eight

Apr. 2               Film:  The Color Purple, 1985.

Apr. 4               Film:  The Color Purple, 1985.

Spring Break:  April 9-13       (Please read Attitudes Towards Sex in Antebellum
                                                America during Spring Break.)

Week Nine

Apr. 16             Westward Expansion

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 4 pp. 202-213 & 236-244

                        Group Discussion:          Californian Women During the Gold Rush

Apr. 18             Nineteenth Century Women’s Sexuality

                        Reading Assignment:     Attitudes toward Sex in Antebellum America
                                                           (entire book, including the introduction).

                        Reading Review #2 Due

Week Ten

Apr. 23             Reform and Women’s Rights

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 4 pp. 213-228

Apr. 25             Reform and Women’s Rights

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 4 pp. 245-250

                        Group Discussion:          Women’s Rights

Week Eleven

Apr. 30             Midterm #2

May 2               The Civil War

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 4 pp. 228-235 & 251-263

                        Group Discussion:          Women on the Battlefield

Week Twelve

May 7               Film:  Cold Mountain, 2003

                        Thesis and Outline Due

May 9               Film:  Cold Mountain, 2003

Week Thirteen

May 14             Post Civil War Women’s Rights and Reconstruction

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 5 pp. 270-283

May 16             Post Civil War Women’s Rights and Reconstruction

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 5 pp. 306-310

                        Group Discussion:          Ida B. Wells

Week Fourteen

May 21             Industrial Wage Labor and Unions (Late Nineteenth Century)

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 5 pp. 283-292 and 311-316

May 23             Wealth and Reform (Late Nineteenth Century)

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 5 pp. 292-305 & 327-333

Group Discussion:          The Paintings of Winslow Homer

Paper Due

Week Fifteen

May 28            Holiday – Memorial Day

May 30             Wealth and Reform

                        Reading Assignment:     DuBois, Chapt. 5 pp. 317-326

Group Discussion:          Higher Education

Week Sixteen

June 4               Final Exam

June 6               Pick up final exam and course grade consultation