History/Women Studies 140
American Women's Histories
Fall Quarter 2009
Class Time
Course Instructor
Office Hours
Office Location
E-mail Address
Course Intern T.A.
North Seattle Community College
Monday-Friday, 9:00-9:50 am
Karen Stuhldreher, 206-526-7007
Tuesdays 10:30-12:00 and by apt. MWF afternoons.
Math, Science & Social Sciences Division in the Instructional Bldg. 2330B
kstuhldr@sccd.ctc.edu
webpage: facweb.northseattle.edu/kstuhldr
Parvati Brown
Course Description
This course is a survey of the history of women in the United States from the 17th century to the present, and
will examine the dynamics of race, ethnicity, class, and gender to understand women's historical conditions,
experiences, and social movements. A variety of sources including diary entries, letters, essays, plays, and
documents will be used to examine women's diverse roles in helping to shape the "new world." We will explore
several themes and questions in this course:
 What is women's history and how is historical knowledge produced in ways that have shaped
women's lives and what we know about women's lives?
 How have socially and historically constructed notions of gender, race, ethnicity, and class helped to
shape the conditions and realities of women's diverse lives in the U.S.?
 How have these socially constructed ideas and images contradicted the reality of women's lives?
 What are some of the key social movements in U.S. history that have impacted women’s lives and
what role have women played in building and shaping these movements for change?
Course Format and Learning Environment
This course will be comprised of lectures, films, class discussions, seminars, and group activities. Lectures will
present new material in addition to integrating information from the readings. Students are expected to attend
all classes, take careful notes during lectures and films, and participate actively in seminars and group work.
My hope is that together we will be able to cultivate a learning community in which students work
cooperatively with the instructor to explore the texts, share their thoughts, and critically examine diverse
perspectives and ideas in a way that is thoughtful and respectful. Dialogue is the primary tool of a learning
community in that it allows diverse and competing perspectives to be explored with the goal of gaining deeper
understanding of issues and theories. Dialogue, like learning, requires that some risks be taken. I encourage
you to take risks both by speaking out and by listening to one another in class. Sometimes asking a question or
challenging a viewpoint is a risk. Sometimes listening to a new idea or a point of view that you do not share is
a risk. Members of a learning community, like members of a democracy, must do both in a way that respects
and appreciates the differences among us.
Seminaring One of the primary activities we will engage in together as a class is a text-based seminar in
which we will come prepared, having completed the reading and some writing about it in order to discuss the
themes, issues, and perspectives offered to us by the texts each week. The objective will be for us to work
together to do close readings of the texts in order to gain a clearer understanding of what the writers are saying.
We will share our interpretations and responses to the texts in seminar. Active participation in book seminars is
an essential part of this program and will be significant in your final evaluation. You will be taught the
necessary seminar skills and be expected to demonstrate development in this area. You will need to complete
all reading assignments on time and come to all seminars fully prepared to participate.
Required Texts:
1. Major Problems in American Women's History Fourth Edition, Mary Beth Norton and Ruth M.
Alexander
2. Women, Race, and Class, Angela Davis
3. Rachel Calof’s Story, Rachel Calof
4. Course Reader -- Available at Prestige Copy & Print located at 11023 8th Ave. NE. It is off Northgate
Way just past the Washington Mutual and behind the Starbucks. You can enter from Northgate way at
the Starbucks and go to the back parking lot. If you want to call first to make sure a Course Reader is
available for you, call 365-5770.
Course Requirements
1. Attendance and Participation (20%)
To meet the course objectives it is necessary for students to participate in the classroom seminar
discussions and group activities and to do so actively and respectfully. In order to participate, you must
come to class prepared, arrive on time, and stay for the entire class. More than two unexcused absences
will affect your course grade. Seminar discussions will be a central component of this course and your
final grade will depend in part on your development in seminar skills. Your level of participation and
understanding of the course material will be evaluated based on effective and active discussion of the
texts and course topics, engaged listening, careful note taking and attendance.
2. Weekly Seminar Papers (20%)
During most weeks you will be responsible for writing and bringing to class on Friday a one page,
double-spaced, and word-processed or typed seminar paper. This paper will be a discussion of the
readings for the week and preparation for the seminar discussion on most Fridays. Guidelines for the
seminar paper will be provided in class most weeks. Sometimes the assignment will simply ask you to
summarize and respond to the readings for the week. Other times, you will be asked to consider a
particular question that arises from the reading material. All seminar papers should include quotes from
the texts that are carefully cited with page numbers. These references to the text will be invaluable in
seminar discussions that will be text based.
3. Take Home Essay Exams (40%)
There will be two take home exams during the quarter. The first will be due at midterm (week 6) and
the second during finals week. The questions for these exams will be generated by the texts, lectures,
and films and you will be expected to reference these materials in writing your essays in completion of
the exams. Exams must be typewritten or word-processed. There will additionally be an in class
portion of each exam for which you will receive a study guide. This will be a basic identification exam.
4. Group Research Project (20%)
Each group will choose a topic of interest to research and present to the class. Research topics must be
approved by the instructor and must be about a particular issue, era or notable woman that is significant
in the field of women's history. You will be provided with a list of suggested topics that you might
choose from. In order to do your research, you will need to access and read outside materials but you
might also use chapters from our texts that are not required reading. Your research project will
culminate in a 15-20 minute oral presentation to the class during week 11 and an individually written
report which will include a review of your research and methods and a discussion of how your group
worked together. Fuller guidelines about the written report will be forthcoming.
Assigned Readings: You are expected to complete the readings assigned for each day before coming to class.
When the syllabus lists a set of readings on Monday, for instance, you should read those articles FOR that
Monday’s class. In class you must be prepared to raise questions and to summarize and discuss the major
points of each reading.
Taking Notes: The material you will be responsible for learning in class will be presented in a variety of
formats that include films, lectures, small group discussions, and sometimes guest lectures and panels. You
should treat all of these as resources that you will draw on in writing your take home exams and papers, just as
you will the course readings. This means that you should take careful notes as you view the films and listen to
the lectures. For help on taking notes effectively, please ask me.
Asking for Assistance: I want to make myself as available to you as possible to help you to succeed in this
course. My office hours are for the purpose of providing you with any assistance you need in understanding the
course material and requirements, as well as in articulating your ideas verbally and in writing. Please don’t
hesitate to call me, e-mail me, or to come by my office with any problems or concerns that arise during the
quarter. You are encouraged--and it is your responsibility--to use my office hours if you have any questions or
if you find yourself falling behind in your work for any reason. I am also open to any suggestions you might
have for improvement in all aspects of the course. I will be asking for your feedback throughout the quarter. .
You can also talk with our student intern T.A. Parvati Brown about any concerns or questions you have. Parvati and I will
work closely together to address students’ needs and concerns so feel free to talk with either of us during the quarter.
Student Responsibility: In addition to contacting me about problems or suggestions, it is your responsibility,
as a member of a learning community, to work cooperatively with both your classmates and myself in and
outside of the classroom. To this end, I encourage study groups outside of class so that you can continue
discussions beyond the bounds of the classroom and also so you can help prepare yourselves and each other for
the course assignments. Working cooperatively and respectfully in a learning community also means coming to
class on time and prepared, participating in discussions and exercises in class, and finding out what you missed
if you are absent from class. Since this is a 5-credit course, it is also your responsibility to devote a minimum of
15 hours a week to this class. Five of these hours will be spent in class which means that you would expect to
do a minimum of 10 hours of studying, reading, and writing outside of class each week. The syllabus is
designed with this in mind.
Students are expected to:
 Be on time—lateness is disruptive and disrespectful (But don’t miss a class because you are late—come in
quietly)
 Turn assignments in during class on the DUE date and proofread all of your written work.
 Call or e-mail if you must miss class. Take responsibility for finding out what you have missed and for
obtaining copies of notes, handouts, assignments, and changes.
 Talk with me if you miss more than three classes. Do not just disappear.
 Listen attentively and respectfully to others. Tolerate and work through dissention in class discussions.
 Respect the need for a productive learning environment by turning off your cell phone and pagers at the start of
class and leaving them off for the duration of the class.
 Refrain from using artificial fragrances; sensitivity to chemicals can dramatically affect some people and a
fragrance free environment is part of the North Seattle Community College Code.
 Because laptop computers can be disruptive to the learning community, refrain from using laptops during class
time unless you have special accommodations that are documented.
 Become comfortable with ambiguity and complexity as you study course content and practice course skills.
 Take responsibility for your own progress which means asking questions as they arise and seeking help when
the work feels too challenging or confusing
Course Outcomes and Learning Objectives: Completion of this course earns you credit toward the A.A.
degree in the areas of Individuals and Society and U.S. Cultures. With this in mind, I have identified some
general course outcomes that are important for you to work toward as you complete HIS/WMN 140
In completing this course you will:
 Examine gender, race, and class as significant forces in the development of human communities
 Reclaim and recover the experiences and contributions of women actively shaping their lives in U.S.
history and society.
 Gain insight into the meaning and significance of the U.S. as a multi-cultural society
 Discover the value of interdisciplinary writing, research, methods and knowledge
 Attain and improve critical thinking skills in reading and writing
 Analyze and synthesize materials from different academic disciplines
 Work and communicate effectively in groups
 Demonstrate a willingness to learn from many different people, methods, and viewpoints by being
actively involved in a learning community that includes people similar and different than you.
Weekly Schedule of Topics and Assigned Readings (please be aware that this is a tentative schedule that is
subject to change.)
Week 1
Tuesday
(September 29-October 2)
Course Introduction: Placing Women in History
Course Introduction—Welcome!
Wednesday Defining “U.S. Women's History”
READ
Major Problems, Chapter 1, pp 1-8—the introduction and essay by Kate Haulman
What’s In a Seminar?
Thursday
READ
Examining Dichotomies in Women’s History
Major Problems, Chapter 1, pp. 8-14—essay by Gisela Bock
Friday
READ
From Margin to Center in Women’s History
Major Problems, Chapter 1, pp. 14-23—essays by Antonia Castaneada & Leslie Alexander
Consider the following questions as you read this week’s readings:
Why did American historians develop women's history as an independent field? What is useful about studying
women's history? What are the challenging dichotomies in Women’s History? Given the differences among
women throughout U.S. history, how can Women’s History take shape?
Week 2
Monday
READ
(October 5-9) The First American Women
The Problem of Perspectives in Understanding History
Jane Tompkins "Indians": Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History” in Course Reader
Tuesday and Wednesday American Indian Women
READ
Major Problems, Chapter 2, all
Thursday
Film: In The White Man's Image
Friday
Weekly Seminar--First Seminar Paper Due
Consider the following questions this week as you read and prepare for Seminar— How were the roles of
American Indian women impacted by the arrival of Europeans? Did Native American women lose status and
autonomy? Did they gain new opportunities for political leadership?
Week 3
Monday
READ
(October 12-16) Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century America
Witches and their Accusers in 17th Century New England
Major Problems, Chapter 3—choose documents that interest you and read closely.
Also in Major Problems, “The Characteristics of Accused Witches” by John Putnam Demos
Tuesday
READ
The Economic Roles of Colonial Women
Major Problems, Chapter 4, look through Document 1 and read closely the essay entitled
“Women’s Work in Colonial Philadelphia by Karin Wulf, pp. 97-103
Wednesday and Thursday The American Revolution and the Rise of Republican Motherhood in the
Eighteenth Century
READ
Major Problems, Chapter 5, Documents 1, 4, and 6 and Essays by Mary Beth Norton and
Jacqueline Jones, pp. 120-133
Joan Hoff, “The Negative Impact of the American Revolution on White Women” Course Reader
Friday
Weekly Seminar--Second Seminar Paper Due
Consider the following questions for Seminar Discussion—How were the roles and lives of European
American women impacted by the American Revolution? Consider the divergent views of Hoff and Norton.
How does the information about colonial women’s economic roles inform the debate between Hoff and Norton?
Week 4
Monday
READ
(October 19-23)
Nineteenth Century America
The Cult of Domesticity: The Image and its Historical Context
“The Cult of True Womanhood” by Barbara Welter in Course Reader
Tuesday and Wednesday Women’s Activism in the Early Republic—The Rise of Republican Motherhood
READ
Major Problems, Chapter 6, Documents 1, 3, and 6 and essay by Anne M. Boylan, “Women’s
Organizations in New York and Boston,” pp. 166-173
“Varieties of Nineteenth Century Activism” in Course Reader
Thursday
SGID—Student Guided Instructional Diagnosis OR opportunity to evaluate the course
Film on Seminaring
Friday
Weekly Seminar— Third Seminar Paper Due
Consider the following questions for Seminar Discussion—
Whether and to what extent did the cult of domesticity create barriers and open possibilities for white women’s
engagement in politics and labor activism in the nineteenth century? How has the distinction between public
and private spheres limited understanding of women’s political and activist roles?
Week 5
Monday
READ
(October 26-30)
Slavery, Abolition, and Suffrage
Lives and Conditions of Enslaved Women
Major Problems, Choose documents in Chapter 7 and also return to Documents 2 and 3 in Ch. 4
to read and gain a sense of the conditions and forms of resistance of enslaved peoples.
Major Problems, Chapter 7, essay by Shirley Yee, pp. 188-194
Women, Race, and Class, by Angela Davis, Chapter 1
Questions to Consider as you read--What have you learned about the lives of enslaved women that you did not
know before? What is the matriarchal thesis? How has it affected the lives of Black women and their families
throughout history? What is Davis' characterization of the Black family under slavery?
Tuesday
Hand out Midterm Take-Home Exam and Go Over
Wednesday The Anti-Slavery Movement and the Birth of Women's Rights
READ
Davis, Chapters 2-4
Questions to Consider as you read—What drew white women to the cause of Abolition? How did their
participation in this movement become a catalyst for the first women's rights movement? Who were the
significant women—white and black-- in these struggles?
Thursday and Friday
Film: “Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton”
Week 6
Monday
READ
(November 2-6) Turn of The Century --The Suffrage Movement and Social Reform
The Impact of Race and Class on the Suffrage Movement During Reconstruction
Davis, chapters 7-9
Tuesday
Film: Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton”
Wednesday
Mini Seminars--Discuss film in relation to Davis’s text
Thursday
Friday
Midterm Take-Home Exam DUE
Week 7
Monday
READ
(November 9-13) Western Migration & Immigration: Frontier and Urban Life for Jewish
Immigrant Women
The Conditions of Women in the American West
Rachel Calof’s Story, all and the Epilogue
Tuesday
READ
Historical Analyses of Calof’s Story and the Conditions of Jewish Women in the West
Elizabeth Jamison’s essay, pp. 135-153 in Rachel Calof’s Story
Wednesday
Veterans’ Day—Holiday, No Class
Urban Life and the “New Woman” of the Late Nineteenth and Early 20th Centuries
Major Problems, Chapter 10 Documents all, and Chapter 11 Documents all
Susan Glenn, “The Working Lives of Jewish Immigrant Daughters in Urban America” in Course
Reader
Film: Women in American Life Series, Program 2: “Immigration, New Work and New Roles”
Thursday
READ
Friday
Weekly Seminar—Fourth Seminar Paper Due
Questions to Consider for Seminar Discussion— How was the experience of urban Jewish immigrants similar
and different from those who migrated westward like Calof? How does the “New Woman” image help to
describe these immigrant women at the turn of the century? What is the debate between gender equality and
difference that affected the lives of working immigrant women? How did the working conditions of women at
the turn of the last century give rise to the labor movement?
Week 8
Monday
READ
(November 16-20) Twentieth Century America-- Decades of Crisis and Challenge
Asian Immigration to the U.S.—The Effects on Asian American women
Major Problems, Chapter 9 introduction, page 231 and essay by Judy Yung, pp. 245-252
Introduction to Making Waves and World of Our Grandmothers in Course Reader
Tuesday
Experiences of Chinese and Japanese American Women in the mid 20th Century
READ
Poetry by Mitsuye Yamada in the Course Reader
Film: “Mitsuye and Nellie”
Wednesday
READ
The Impact of the Great Depression and World War II—
Major Problems, Ch. 12, Introduction and Documents 1-3 and 5-8
Major Problems, Ch. 13, Introduction and Documents 1 and 4 and essay by Valerie Matsumoto,
pp. 388-399
Introduce Group Research Projects
Thursday
Film: Rosie the Riveter
Friday
Weekly Seminar —Seminar Paper 5 Due
Questions to Consider for Seminar--What have you learned about Asian American immigration that you did
not know before? How did the poetry help you to understand the experiences of Asian women immigrants and
also of internment in a different way than reading the articles? What did you learn about the Great Depression
and WWII that was new to you given the focus on women’s experiences with respect to these historical
moments?
Week 9
Monday
(November 23-27)
Twentieth Century America—Decades of Change—1950’s and ‘60’s
Library Research Orientation for Group Research Projects
Tuesday
READ
The Civil Rights Movement and the Catalysts for the Second Wave of Feminism
“A Feminist Memoir Project and “Coming of Age: Civil Rights and Feminism” from The
Feminist Memoir Project in Course Reader
Major Problems, Ch. 14, Introduction and Documents 2, 4, 5, 6
Wednesday
Film: “Eyes on The Prize: Mississippi: Is this America?”
Thursday and Friday
Thanksgiving Break—No classes scheduled
Week 10
Monday
READ
(November 30-December 4) The Second Wave of the Feminist Movement—1960’s & 1970’s
The Second Wave of Feminism: Women’s Liberation
Major Problems Ch. 15 Introduction and Documents 1-6 & essay by Alicia Chavez, pp. 469-476
From the Course Reader: “Our Gang of Four”, “History Makes Us, We Make History” “On the
Origins of the Women’s Liberation Movement…” “Two Letters from the Women’s Liberation
Movement” all from The Feminist Memoir Project in Course Reader
Tuesday
Theories of Feminism
Wednesday
Group Research Time
Thursday
Film: TBA
Friday
Seminars on the readings from weeks 9 and 10—Seminar Paper 6 Due
Questions to Consider for Seminar: What were the various catalysts that brought about the second wave of
feminism? How did this period in history mirror the period in history 100 years earlier when the first wave of
feminism began? What are some similarities you now notice between these two moments in U.S. history?
What have you learned about the experiences of women of color—Black and Latina--in relation to the second
wave of the women’s movement? Why the phrase “double jeopardy” to describe the experiences of women of
color? What roles did women play in the Civil Rights Movement and how did this movement act as a catalyst
for the Women’s Liberation Movement? What is the “problem that has no name” which Betty Friedan
identified in 1963? What are NOW, SNCC, SDS and why are these organizations significant in women’s
histories? What kinds of changes did the second wave of feminism bring about for women and for men in the
U.S.?
Week 11
Monday
READ
(December 7-11)
The End of the Twentieth Century-Present
The Shape of Feminism Over the Last 20 Years
Major Problems, Chapter 16
Tuesday
Film: “Public Hearing Private Pain: Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill”
Wednesday
Group Research Projects
Thursday
Group Research Projects
Friday
Group Research Projects
Week 12
Monday
(December 14-15)
Celebration and Last Thoughts
Final Course Evaluation
Final scheduled the day of Finals for this course.