Independent Study

Course Overview

This independent study is meant to provide an overview of the major historical and historiographical developments in the study of women’s history. Each week you will attend History 3180 and participate in class lectures and activities. This is designed to give you an overview of some of the major events, themes, and idea in women’s history. You will also read a selection of important works in the field of US History and attend the Berkshire Women’s History Conference. In addition to coming to the undergraduate meetings of History 3180, you will also meet individually with me every other Friday and we will discuss the readings.

Required Texts:

• Blee, Kathleen M. Women of the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s. First Edition, With a New Preface. Berkeley Los Angeles London: University of California Press, 2008.
• Cott, Nancy F. The Grounding of Modern Feminism. Reprint edition. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1989.
• Curwood, Anastasia C. Shirley Chisholm: Champion of Black Feminist Power Politics. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2023. (**)
• Deutsch, Sarah. Women and the City: Gender, Space, and Power in Boston, 1870-1940. 1st edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
• Horowitz, Daniel. Betty Friedan and the Making of “The Feminine Mystique”: The American Left, the Cold War, and Modern Feminism. New edition. Amherst, Mass: University of Massachusetts Press, 2000. (**)
• Kessler-Harris, Alice. In Pursuit of Equity: Women, Men, and the Quest for Economic Citizenship in 20th-Century America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
• May, Elaine Tyler. America And The Pill: A History of Promise, Peril, and Liberation. Reprint edition. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2011. (*)
• McGuire, Danielle L. At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance–A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power. Illustrated edition. Vintage, 2011.
• Muncy, Robyn. Creating a Female Dominion in American Reform, 1890-1935. Oxford University Press, 1994.
• Peiss, Kathy. Cheap Amusements: Working Women and Leisure in Turn-of-the-Century New York. Illustrated edition. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1986.
• Ransby, Barbara. Ella Baker And The Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision. New edition. Chapel Hill: Univ of North Carolina Pr, 2005. (**)
• Reagan, Leslie. When Abortion Was a Crime: Women, Medicine, and Law in the United States, 1867-1973, with a New Preface, n.d. (*)
• Solinger, Rickie, and Elaine Tyler May. Wake Up Little Susie: Single Pregnancy and Race Before Roe v. Wade. 2nd edition. New York: Routledge, 2000. (*)
• (*) and (**) indicate books that will be read together.

Assignments & Grades

Grades will be based on the assignments listed below.

• Berks Summary: This summer we will attend the Berkshire Women’s History Conference. During the conference you should attend sessions, introduce yourself to scholars and other graduate students, and visit the exhibition hall. While you network in these spaces, ask people what they think the most significant development in the field has been in the last 10-15 years. Where is the field going?
  • When you return, in a 2-4 page paper, summarize your experience at the Berkshire Conference. Based on the panels you went to and the scholars you met, what direction is the field of Women’s History going in? What were the major conversations and themes that emerged from the panels you attended take place at these panels.
• THOMAS Entries and Discussions: We will meet every other Friday to discuss the readings. By 11:59pm the night before, you should upload a THOMAS entry for that week’s readings and be prepared to discuss them in our meeting.
• Digital History Syllabus Draft: Part of your Portfolio will include a syllabus in digital history. Since you are attending 3180 this semester which is a women’s history course taught with a significant emphasis on digital history, this is a great time for you to think about what such a course might look like for you. The final project for this independent study is to write a digital history syllabus. It should be for an upper-division (3-4000 level) digital history course based on a historical theme. You must annotate at least six weeks of the syllabus for this assignment. At the end of the semester, I will provide feedback and then you should annotate the remainder of the syllabus in preparation for your portfolio. For details on what an annotated syllabi should look like and contain see my guidelines here.

Schedule

• Friday, August 25: Cott
• Friday, September 8: Peiss & Kessler-Harris
• Friday, September 22: Blee
• Friday, October 6: Muncy
• Friday, October 13: Deutch
• Friday, October 27: Reagan, Solinger, May
• Friday, November 10: Ransby, Horowitz, Curwood
• Friday, December 1: McGuire