University College Roosevelt Academy Middelburg - Arts & Humanities

A&H 287 History of Women and Gender

Content

This class studies the histories of American women and social constructions of gender (what it means to be a man or woman). The goal is to get at the histories of womanhood and manhood by focusing on girls and women. The focus broadens and deepens knowledge of history and gender, by addressing the oversights of the more common focus on male heroes and accomplishments.
The central premise is that society (not just biology) defines what it means to be a man or a woman. Three assumptions steer the course. First, the historical experiences of men and women differ. Second, women’s histories differ from each other, with race, class and age and sexuality among the central categories that shape the difference. Third, cultural expressions, forms and rituals, like “rock and roll,” television commercials, and dating habits, provide insight into what it means to be a woman or a man in a specific time and place.
The class explores the meanings by examining relevant topics, like work and leisure, within a chronological frame. We begin in the 19th century aftermath of Civil War and end in the present. Throughout the term, we read and listen to a rich and wide range of historical sources, like memoirs and novels, photographs and film, music and oral histories, newspapers and Internet sites. Current works in Cultural Anthropology, Film and Media studies, and Gender Studies and History, help us understand what we read and hear.
Students deepen this understanding in classroom discussions and projects that examine how definitions of manhood and womanhood inform power and privilege, change over time, and reflect the changing times. The analysis continues after class within handwritten journals, where they reflect on the gender constructions in media and their daily lives. By the end of the course, class members will have a clear sense of the American past, a deeper understanding of the gendered present, and the analytical skills to question the familiar.