History of Women in America
HIS 70603
Spring 2007
INSTRUCTOR
Dr. Rebecca Sharpless R.Sharpless@tcu.edu
Reed Hall 302A
Telephone 257-5645
Office hours: Wednesday 10-12, 2-4 and by appointment
BOOKS REQUIRED
Murray, Judith Sargent. Selected Writings of Judith Sargent Murray
Von Mehren, Joan. Minerva and the Muse: A Life of Margaret Fuller
Fuller, Margaret. Woman in the Nineteenth Century (in The Essential Margaret Fuller)
Kern, Kathi. Mrs. Stanton’s Bible
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. The Woman’s Bible
Cooper, Anna Julia. A Voice from the South
Lane, Ann J. To “Herland” and Beyond: The Life and Work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Herland
Falk, Candace. Love, Anarchy, and Emma Goldman
Goldman, Emma. Red Emma Speaks: An Emma Goldman Reader
Horowitz, Daniel. Betty Friedan and the Making of the Feminist Mystique: The American Left, the Cold War, and Modern Feminism
Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique
hooks, bell. Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism
INTRODUCTION
This course is designed to be a broad survey of women’s thought across two centuries. We will take two approaches: reading works by eight American women and reading works about six of them. The biographical approach will allow us to evaluate the events and ideas that underlay the woman’s intellectual development, and the primary sources will give us direct access to the woman’s thinking. In addition, each student will examine one primary writing from the so-called “second wave” of feminism (from the 1960s to the early 1980s) to compare and contrast the thinking of that generation with their predecessors.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course, the student will:
1. Be familiar with the thinking of eight American women writers
2. Gain insight into the milieus in which six of the women lived and wrote
3. Compare and contrast the thought of one second-wave feminist to that of an earlier feminist
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
The course grade is based on a combination of attendance and participation, a comparative essay, and a final examination.
Attendance and participation: 45 percent
We are a community of scholars together, and you are expected to attend each class and contribute meaningfully to each class discussion. Your contributions should consistently demonstrate thoughtful engagement with the material.
Comparative essay: 15 percent
The so-called second wave of feminism in the 1970s and early 1980s brought forth a substantial body of writing on women. We will investigate whether this writing has roots in any of the earlier writings that we will be considering. Each student will be required to select one work from the list of writings from that period (attached to this syllabus) and compare and contrast it with the primary work under consideration that week. For example, one might choose a book by Mary Daly and compare it with The Woman’s Bible.
Each student will write a paper of five to six pages on the second-wave work under consideration, with four parts:
1. A biographical summary of the writer;
2. If possible, a discussion of her motivation for writing;
3. A summary of the main points of the book;
4. The comparison and contrast with the primary text of the day.
Each paper will be distributed to all members of the class so that at the end of the semester, all of us will have a body of reviews on second-wave feminist thought.
We will discuss these during each class on a primary text (February 6, February 20, March 6, March 27, April 10, April 24, and May 1).
Final exam: 40 percent
We will have a final exam with questions similar to those that you might encounter on a qualifying exam. Essays that have no weaknesses and that would clearly pass the exam will receive a grade of A; essays that would likely pass but stimulate some negative discussion among the exam committee will receive a grade of B; and an essay that would not pass the exam will receive a grade no higher than C.
Communication with the Outside World during Class Time
Please keep your attention focused inside the classroom during class time. Use of cell phones (including text messages), BlackBerries, wireless Internet, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, including devices of which the professor has not yet heard, is expressly and vehemently forbidden.
Statement on Disability Services at TCU
Texas Christian University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 regarding students with disabilities. Eligible students seeking accommodations should contact the Coordinator for Students with Disabilities in the Center for Academic Services located in Sadler Hall, 11. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations. Further information can be obtained from the Center for Academic Services, TCU Box 297710, Fort Worth, TX 76129, or at (817) 257-7486.
Academic Misconduct (Sec. 3.4 from the Student Handbook)
Any act that violates the academic integrity of the institution is considered academic misconduct. The procedures used to resolve suspected acts of academic misconduct are available in the offices of Academic Deans and the Office of Campus Life. Specific examples include, but are not limited to:
Cheating: Copying from another student’s test paper, laboratory report, other report, or computer files and listings; using, during any academic exercise, material and/or devices not authorized by the person in charge of the test; collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during a test or laboratory without permission; knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in its entirety or in part, the contents of a test or other assignment unauthorized for release; substituting for another student or permitting another student to substitute for oneself;
Plagiarism: The appropriation, theft, purchase or obtaining by any means another’s work, and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of that work as one’s own offered for credit. Appropriation includes the quoting or paraphrasing of another’s work without giving credit therefore.
Collusion: The unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing work offered for credit.
Class Schedule and List of Readings
January 16 Intro
Judith Sargent Murray
January 23 Selected Writings of Judith Sargent Murray
Margaret Fuller
January 30 Minerva and the Muse
February 6 Woman in the Nineteenth Century
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
February 13 Mrs. Stanton’s Bible
February 20 The Woman’s Bible
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
February 27 To Herland and Beyond
March 6 Herland
March 13 Spring Break
Anna Julia Cooper
March 20 eCollege readings
March 27 A Voice from the South
Emma Goldman
April 3 Love, Anarchy, and Emma Goldman
April 10 Red Emma Speaks: An Emma Goldman Reader
Betty Friedan
April 17 Betty Friedan and the Making of the Feminist Mystique
April 24 The Feminine Mystique
bell hooks
May 1 Ain’t I a Woman
Other Relevant Dates, subject to confirmation:
Wednesday, January 24, 4-6 p.m.: Women’s Studies graduate student happy hour, Blue Mesa Grill
Wednesday, January 31, 4-5:30 p.m.: A reception celebrating the new Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies, Faculty Center (Reed Hall)
Wednesday, March 8: Women’s History Month celebration, 2:00, details TBA
Thursday, May 3: Women’s Studies graduate student end-of-semester soiree, details TBA
Second-wave Feminist Works
Select one. You may propose a title that is not on this list, but you must have the instructor’s consent to use it for your report.
Aptheker, Betina. Tapestries of Life: Women’s Work, Women’s Consciousness (1989).
Boston Women’s Health Book Collective. Our Bodies, Ourselves, first edition (1973).
Bulkin, Elly, Minnie Bruce Pratt, and Barbara Smith. Yours in Struggle: Three Feminist Perspectives on Anti-Semitism and Racism (1984).
Daly, Mary. Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation (1973).
Daly, Mary. Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism (1978).
Dworkin, Andrea. Pornography—Men Possessing Women (1981).
Firestone, Shulamith. The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution (1971).
Greer, Germaine. The Female Eunuch (1971).
Griffin, Susan. Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her (1978).
Hull, Gloria, Patricia Bell Scott, and Barbara Smith, eds. All the Women Are White, All the Blacks are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave (1982).
Lorde, Audre. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (1984).
Millett, Kate. Sexual Politics (1970).
Moraga, Cherrie, and Gloria Anzaldua. This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (1979).
Morgan, Robin. Sisterhood is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from the Women’s Liberation Movement (1970).
Rich, Adrienne. Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution (1976).
Rich, Adrienne. On Lies, Secrets and Silence: Selected Prose, 1966-1978 (1979).