Professor Jeff Fortin
M,W: 4:30-6
HORTON Rm. 204
Ph. 2-4599
Email: jeff.fortin@unh.edu
Office: HORTON Rm. 301A
Office Hours: M 9-10am
W 3:30-4:30pm
W o m e n i i n A m e r i i c a n H i s s t t o r y
HIST 566
This course will examine key changes in women's roles in the last four centuries of
American history. Our studies, readings, and discussions will emphasize the peculiarities of the
American setting, asking how, for example, were women's lives affected by the frontier? How did the intersection of European, African, and Native American cultures impact women? What was the nature and extent of religious diversity among American women? What were the problems for women of defining citizenship in a democratic republic? We will explore these questions and more through careful consideration of recent scholarship in women's history, the study of a wide variety of primary documents produced by women, and individual and group research projects. Each student will be able to explore certain aspects of women’s history that are of particular interest to them, in turn sharing their findings with the rest of the class. As an advanced survey course, the student is expected to contribute in a meaningful way to daily class discussions, group presentations, and the overall positive energy of the classroom. We all have the same goal – to develop critical thinking and communication skills through the study of a particularly interesting historical topic – and those persons detracting from this purpose will be asked to leave.
Required Readings: (this does not include required websites posted on Blackboard )
Dubois,
Through Women’s Eyes: An American History with Documents
(Main Text)
Dubois & Ruiz, Unequal Sisters: A Multicultural Reader in U.S. Women's History
Ulrich, Good Wives
Evans, Personal Politics: The Roots of Women's Liberation in the Civil Rights Movement and the New Left
Schlissel, Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey
**All required books are available at the Durham Book Exchange and the MUB Bookstore
Course Requirements:
There are two long-term goals for this course: to improve your writing skills and to improve your critical thinking skills. Each assignment on the syllabus is intended to contribute to your reaching these two goals. This course will consist of 50% lecture and 50% discussion, which means, you will be asked to participate in class each and every day .
Please refer to the grading standards sheet that I will hand out in class and post on
Blackboard . The sheet explains the general definitions of what makes an A, B, C, D, and F.
You should view this sheet as the key to your success. Indeed, the grading sheet not only clarifies why you receive each grade you do, but it also provides a clear outline on how to get an A!
Assignment:
Paper
Percentage of Final Grade:
20%
Mid-Term 20%

Class Participation
Discussion Leader
Final Oral Presentation
20%
20%
20%
****Attendance will be taken at each class. You are allowed three unexcused absences, for each additional unexcused absence your FINAL GRADE will be deducted a partial letter grade. For example, if you miss 3 + 1 classes, an “A-“ becomes a “B+”. Excused absences include, but are not limited to: death or illness in the family, personal illness, personal trauma, and participation in
University Sanctioned sporting events. However, the student must notify me before class of their absence (except in the case of emergency) and all excused absences must be accompanied by the appropriate doctor’s, coach’s or advisor's note.
Academic Honesty and Classroom Citizenship:
Academic honesty is critical to the functioning of any university. Two people lose when a student chooses to be dishonest about his/her own work. First, the student who passes off another person’s work as their own cheats themselves from developing fundamental skills that could someday help him/her advance in their chosen profession. Second, the person whose work is plagiarized could fall victim to the strict academic code adhered to by the University of New
Hampshire and the History Department. Please read the section dealing with academic honesty in the Student Handbook. My tolerance for academic dishonesty is extremely low. For example, if you have copied another student’s work, or plagiarized written material, or passed in work that simply is not your own, you will receive a 0 (zero) for the assignment. A second offense means your immediate failure in the course. A word of advice: if you think its plagiarism, then chances are it is plagiarism. To avoid any charges of academic dishonesty, please do not hesitate to ask me if you unsure whether or not your work is appropriately cited.
Finally, positive classroom citizenship consists of non-disruptive behavior while class is in session. Just as you should be trying to earn a high class participation grade for participating in class discussions, you should also be aware that minor disruptive behavior earns you low grades in class participation. For example, disruptive behavior during lectures or discussions includes, but is not limited to the following: a ringing wireless phone, chatting about last night’s party, or whining about your smelly roommate’s incredible ability to go days without a shower. Such behavior, as well as more serious offenses, will give you a grade of D for the day, or cause me to ask you to leave the class and eventually subtract from your class participation grade (which is
20% of your final grade) or even causing you to fail the class.
Students with Disabilities and Special Needs:
UNH has developed a very supportive and effective program to help students with disabilities and special needs. Almost every disability or special need can be accommodated.
Please contact the ACCESS office in Room 118 of the MUB (Memorial Union Building). I will be pleased to accommodate any disability or special need, but school policy states that you must contact ACCESS first. Please have any arrangements made by the end of September so that we can be sure you do not fall behind in class work. Please be proactive in finding help for your disability or special need and, remember, I am more than willing to help you find the support you need – just ask!
Weekly Assignments: (Remember to check Blackboard for required web assignments)
August 28: First Day Introduction
Through Women’s Eyes (hereafter referred to as the Main Text, Chapter 1
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August 30: “The Encounter: European and American Women”
Ulrich, Goodwives
September 4: No Class, Holiday
September 6: “Eve of Modernity in the Eighteenth Century”
Main Text, Chapter 2; Discuss Goodwives
See Blackboard for Assigned Leaders
September 11: “Republican Motherhood: Two competing Visions”
Main Text, Chapter 3
September 13: “A Slave Girl”
Discuss Phillis Wheatley documents (handout)
See Blackboard for Assigned Leaders
September 18: “Question of Citizenship/ Advice Literature”
Unequal Sisters, Chapter 2 & 3; handout
September 20: “Antebellum Domesticity”
Unequal Sisters, Chapter 4
See Blackboard for Assigned Leaders
September 25: “Antebellum Reform”
Main Text, Chapter 4
September 27: “Shifting Boundaries”
Web Assignment:
See Blackboard for Assigned Leaders
October 2: “Women at Work”
Main Text, Chapter 5
October 4: “Life in the Big Apple”
See Blackboard for Assigned Leaders
October 10 (Holiday makeup): “The Civil War in Women’s Lives”
Unequal Sisters, Chapter 8 (please note this reading is out of order)
Main Text, Chapter 6
October 11: “Reconstruction”/ Review
October 15: Mid-Term Exam
October 18: “Women in an Expanding Nation: Go West Young Lady!”
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Schlissel, Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey
October 23: “Life on Many Frontiers”
Main Text, Chapter 6; Unequal Sisters, Chapters 5 & 6;
October 25: “Rise of the New Woman”
Web Assignment
See Blackboard for Assigned Leaders
October 30: “Feminism and Power Politics”
Main Text, Chapter 7; Unequal Sisters, Chapter 7
November 1: “Margaret Sanger’s Crusade”
Unequal Sisters, Chapters 12, 14 & 24
See Blackboard for Assigned Leaders
November 6: “From War to War”
Main Text, Chapter 8; Unequal Sisters, Chapter 27
November 8: “Women and the New Deal”
Unequal Sisters, Chapter 26 Please Note: this chapter is assigned out-of-order
See Blackboard for Assigned Leaders
November 13: “Post-War Suburbia and the Impact of WW II”
Main Text, Chapter 9; Evans, Personal Politics: The Roots of Women's Liberation in the Civil
Rights Movement and the New Left
November 15: “Working Class Feminism”
Essay Due
November 20: “Race and Sexuality in the 1950s & 1960s”
Unequal Sisters, Chapters 28 & 29
November 22: (No class, Friday schedule) HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
November 27: “Feminism and its Discontents”
Main Text, Chapter 10;
November 29: “Equality?”
Web Assignment/General Discussion
December 4: Final Oral Presentations Due
December 6: Final Oral Presentations Due
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Happy Holidays and have a SAFE Christmas Break!
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