Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice
University of British Columbia
September to December 2014
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GRSJ 205: Women, Gender, and Colonialiam in Canada, 1600 to 1920
Dr. T. van Riemsdijk
email: history444@gmail.com
Lectures & Discussion: Tues 9:30 until 10:50am Jack Bell 124
Thurs 9:30 until 10:50 am Thurs. Buchanan B 211
Office hours: Tues. 11 am until 1pm and by appointment
Office: Jack Bell building #131.
I teach two courses in the History Department as well, MWF.
My other office is Buchanan Tower #1108, 11th floor.
Mailboxes are located in the photocopier room, GRSJ Main office, Jack Bell 038.
This course explores the diversity of women in Canada, from Aboriginal encounters
with missionaries in New France, to the campaign for voting rights in 1917. Topics
include: slavery, immigration, western settlement, family economies, moral regulation,
law, and varied strategies of political activism.
Students will write a 7- page essay about a case-study set in New France. A slave
born in Portugal, Marie-Joseph Angelique, suffered torture and execution for setting
fire to her owner’s house in 1734.
Afua Cooper, The Hanging of Angelique: the Untold story of Canadian Slavery and the
burning of Old Montreal (Harper Collins, 2006).
Evaluation
Discussion group
Midterm exam
Term Essay
Final Exam
7 pages
2 hours
10%
25%
30%
35%
October 16th
Due: November 25
scheduled in December, 2014.
Assigned Books (available at UBC bookstore)
Required reading:
Jan Noel, Along a River: The First French-Canadian Women (Univ. of Toronto Press,
2013).
Afua Cooper, The Hanging of Angelique: the Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the
burning of Old Montreal (Toronto, Harper Collins, 2009).
Additional readings on www.connect.ubc.ca
When using “connect,” please look under “course content” for documents (primary sources),
and articles. Also look under “library reserves” for articles, chapters, and books.
Course objectives:
By the end of term, students should offer sound interpretations of:
a) the distinctive experiences of Huron, Algonquian, and Iroquoian women in New
France
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b) how ideas about gender shaped the milieu of cross-cultural contact between Jesuits
and Hurons
c) factors which shaped varied experiences of French-canadian women along the St
Lawrence river.
d) the distinctive experiences of slave women, -- both African slaves and “Panis”
(Indian slaves) -- in New France
e) gender and the emergence of “mixed race” marriages and families in the Great
Lakes region
f) gender as a factor is property law, criminal law, regulations (Indian Act), and
household economies
g) how gender defined relationships of power, within families, household economies,
and institutions (religious orders, schools, and government).
h) how gender ideals shaped “moral reform” crusades, including the regulation of
immigrant families in Victorian english-Canada
g) The emergence of gender-segmented labour markets late nineteenth century
canada
h) “first wave” feminism and suffrage campaigns.
i) One essay assignment will help students hone skills in expository writing by asking
them to gather and organize evidence, craft a defendable claim, and present such with
clarity and grace.
Course guidelines
No deadline extensions will be granted except for documented medical medical reasons.

Up to 24 hours late, papers will be reduced by 5 percentage points.
 Up to one week late, papers will be reduced by 10 percentage points and returned with minimal
or no comment. For example, a late paper which received a 75% grade, will be reduced to 65%.
 After more than one week from the due date, the papers will be reduced by 20 percentage points.
 After more than two weeks late from the due date, the papers will be reduced by 30 percentage
points.
 No assignment will be accepted after the final examination.
 Students must complete all assignments and the final exam – to achieve course credit.
The instructor will go over all assignments in class before the due dates. Students are responsible for
meeting the requirements for assignments; marks will be deducted for failure to comply with instructions.
Please see your instructor if you are unsure of any aspect of assignment, deadlines, or requirements
Do not submit any assignment by fax or email.
Grade Distribution
Discussion Group
10% of grade
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Please complete assigned reading prior to Friday discussion meetings.
Before coming to class, review your notes & prepare some questions or comments for
class discussion. Thoughtful questions indicate active reading: this will impress your
instructor and classmates. Taking good notes will improve performance for : a) essay
assignment b) in-class “Discussion Group,” and c) final exam. If there are witty,
surprising, or controversial points in the readings, write them down in quotation marks.
Reflect on these phrases, in your notes. At the right opportunity – please speak up with
your ideas in class.
UBC has clearly-articulated policies regarding classroom civility, which is part of a larger
commitment to workplace safely. In May 2014, UBC issued a new document on this
point:
http://www.hr.ubc.ca/respectful-environment/files/UBC-Statement-on-RespectfulEnvironment-2014.pdf
Term Essay.
30% of grade. Due Nov. 25th in class.
Final exam.
35% of grade
A final exam will be scheduled in December 2014
This will be a closed-book 2 hour exam.
Examination review questions will be handed out in advance.
UBC Policies
Students with Disabilities.
UBC makes efforts to assist students with disabilities. Such students are urged to register with “Disability
Services.” For more information, please see UBC’s “Access and Diversity” office at
www.students.ubc.ca/access
Concessions for extra-ordinary circumstances.
Students may speak to the course instructor about an “academic concession” when an unexpected event
might adversely affect performance in a course.
UBC identifies the following circumstances as worthy of concession: a medical condition, religious
observance, or military service.
“Instructors are not required to make allowance for any missed test or incomplete work that is not
satisfactorily accounted for.”
Vancouver Academic calendar 2014/15 “Policies and regulation” Section “academic concession”
http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,48,0,0
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Plagiarism
Essayists must cite carefully all information, concepts, arguments, and ideas, that are not their
own. If an essayist quotes word-for-word, then such a passage must be surrounded by quotation marks
and followed by a footnote/endnote. If an essayist paraphrases information from a source, then there
must be a footnote/endnote at the end of the sentence or paragraph.
Failure to cite sources properly constitutes plagiarism, also known as theft of intellectual property.
UBC has strict standards of academic integrity. Please see the UBC Vancouver Academic Calendar
Section “Academic Honesty and standards”
Other useful links include this one on citations:
www.history.ubc.ca/content/common-questions-about-citations
And this library page, “Academic integrity and plagiarism” and “tips to avoid plagiarism”
http://help.library.ubc.ca/planning-your-research/academic-integrity-plagiarism/
Itinerary
Week 1
Thurs. Sept 4.
Introduction to course themes
Week 2
First contacts
Tues Sept 9 First Nations women in New France
Thurs. Sept 11 Conversions in Huron country
Reading:
Selections from “Jesuit Relations”
See “course content” on www.connect.ubc.ca
Week 3
Slavery in New France
Tues Sept 16 Slavery in Algonquin country
Thurs Sept 18. Black slaves in British North America
Reading: Afua Cooper, The Hanging of Angelique, ch 1 and ch 3
Week 4 Family economies in rural New France
Tues Sept 23 Family businesses: Merchants, farmers, trappers,
Thurs Sept 25 Family businesses, part 2.
Reading: Jan Noel, pages 1 to 53.
Week 5 Religious women
Tues. Sept 30 Marie de L’Incarnation (1599-1672), Saint Kateri Tekakwitha “Lily of the
Mohawks” (1656-1660)
Thurs. Oct 2 Film clip: “Madwoman of God” (NFB, 2008)
Reading: Jan Noel, 54 to 108
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Week 6 Fur trading men, First Nations women
Tues. Oct 7 “Mariage à la façon du pays” (marriage in the custom of the country)
Thurs. Oct 9 Film clip “Ikwe” (NFB, 1986)
Reading: Jan Noel, 109-181.
Week 7 British Conquest 1763
Tues Oct 14 Exam review, Discussion, Jan Noel, 182-237
Thurs Oct 16 Midterm Exam
Week 8 British law, customs, courts
Tues Oct 21 Regulating mothers, wives, daughters in Victorian Canada,
Thurs Oct 23 “
“
“
Reading,
Connie Backhouse, Petticoats and Prejudice: Women and Law in nineteenth century
Canada, selections. See “course content” www.connect.ubc.ca
Week 9 Canada’s west
Tues Oct. 28 Masculinity and Canada’s Homestead Act, 1872
Thurs Oct. 30 Film clip “Great Grandmother” (NFB, 1975)
Film clip “A history of the Indian Act” (Thompson Rivers University, 2011)
Reading: To be announced.
Week 10 How to Write a Brilliant paper
Tues Nov 4 Vivid sentences, graceful paragraphs, and forceful thesis statements
Thurs. Nov. 6 Discussion, Afua Cooper, 107 to 285.
Essay question: Write an essay that evaluates the power relationship between Mme
Francheville and her slave, Angelique. In explaining this relationship, identify strategies
of slave resistance, and evaluate whether these strategies challenged the boundaries of
social authority in old Montreal.
Week 11 Regulating newcomers, 1885-1920
Tues Nov. 11 Remembrance Day No class
Thur Nov 13 Anglo-canadians in a ‘moral panic’
Reading: Mariana Valverde, The Age of Light, Soap, and Water: Moral Reform in
English Canada, 1885-1925, selections
Week 12 Women at work, post 1890
Tues Nov. 18 Gender-segmented labour markets
Thurs. Nov. 20 Women workers in textile industry
Reading: Reading, to be announced.
Week 13 Women’s Suffrage
Tues Nov. 25 Women’s suffrage
Tues Nov. 25 Essays are due.
Thurs Nov. 27 Exam review
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Essay Format
Format tips:
a) title page.
b) double-space, 12 point font, numbered pages, stapled together.
c) no gaps between paragraphs, no subtitles or headings.
d) write in the simple past tense. Avoid the passive voice.
e) One idea per paragraph, transitions between paragraphs.
f) Use direct quotations sparingly. If you wish to quote a section of text, it must be
short, witty, and to-the-point. Direct quotations must be shorter than two lines.
g) Paraphrased materials (indirect quotations) work well for short essays.
h) Use footnotes or endnotes (no parenthetical citations). This format is called
“The Chicago Manual of style”
Frequently asked questions
Q: Is the instructor fussy about citations?
A: Yes. Please only use footnotes or endnotes. Parenthetical citations are not
acceptable.
Q: Will the instructor look at drafts?
A: Yes. Instructor will read an introduction, and an outline of points. Please bring a
hard copy to her during office hours.
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Academic writing
The UBC History Department has online resources for undergraduate essay-writers.
http://www.history.ubc.ca/content/writing-centre
Another useful resource on campus is the “UBC Writing Centre.”
Drop-in hours are posted online. Students can make an appointment too.
http://learningcommons.ubc.ca/tutoring-studying/improve-your-writing/
The following are general guidelines for the evaluation of written work in this course
A range (80% to 100%)
A+ (90%+) A (85-89%) A- (80-84%)
Exceptional performance.
Superior grasp of subject matter with sound critical evaluations.
Evidence of extensive knowledge of the literature.
Superior organization and use of evidence.
Persuasive composition.
B range (68% to 79%)
B+ (76-79%) B (72-75%) B- (68-71%)
Competent performance.
Clear grasp of the subject matter and appropriate use of evidence.
Some evidence of critical and analytical ability.
Demonstrated familiarity with the literature.
Clear composition.
C range (60 to 67%)
C+ (64-67%) C (60-63%)
Satisfactory performance.
Basic understanding of the subject matter.
Demonstrated ability to develop solutions to basic problems with the issues and material. Acceptable but
uninspired presentation that is not generally faulty but lacks style and depth. Generally flawed
composition.
D to C- range (50 to 59%)
C- (55-59%) D (50-54%)
Minimal acceptable performance.
Familiarity with material and themes but no consistent analytical or expository qualities.
Usually awkward, difficult composition and /or organization.
F range (0 to 49%)
Inadequate performance.
Little or no evidence of understanding of the subject matter or use of materials.
Weak critical and analytical quality.
Substandard composition and/or failure to meet the technical requirements for the assignment.