NOTE: This syllabus is available on-line at: http://home.millsaps.edu/~mcelvrs/women_2000.html
Please consult the on-line syllabus for audio and video and for updates in the syllabus as the semester progresses.
In this course, we will view the American experience from perspectives gained by the
field of women's history. Using works of literature, art, film, and music, as well as
more traditional historical sources, we will explore not only our main focus, the
experiences of women in America, but also the ways in which women's experiences
have differed from men's and the way the sexes have interacted with each other in
American history. We will look at how gender works as a social construction, and we
will also consider the ways in which gender interacts with other social categories--such
as race, class, religion, and sexual orientation--to shape identities and experiences.
We will move chronologically through American history, exploring several different kinds of women's history at each stage: women achievers or "great women"; women's contributions to American history; women's status in American society and the struggle for women's rights; and women's separate culture and consciousness; and the new categories that the study of women's experiences causes us to add to history's existing categories.
Journals
The journal is central to the course. It will have a two-way relationship with the
discussions, both preparing students for class discussions and providing a vehicle for further reactions to points that have been
discussed in class.
In their journals students are asked to interact with the
readings, films, and classes. You should ask questions about
what you read, see, and hear, and ponder (in writing) possible
answers. Journal entries should demonstrate both that you have
read the assignment (or seen the film or kept up with what was
being discussed in class) and that you are thinking about what
you read, see, and hear.
A journal is a diary of your thought processes. After a session of reading, after a class
discussion, or after a film or music listening session, you should sit down and simply start writing
about your most dominant or curious impressions, just as in a diary you might review or comment
upon the day's events. By its nature, a journal may ramble, because you may have no idea what
you are going to say when you begin writing. The act of getting words and ideas on the page will
help you discover what your most important concerns are in the course.
Although the instructor will, in fact, be grading your journals, what you write is primarily
for your own use, both during the course and in the future. You will want to keep your journals from this course, since they will
constitute a record of your thoughts during what we hope will be
an interesting period of your lives. You need not worry about
shifting topics, contradicting yourself, losing sense or being
unconvincing. Correctness of language and problems of spelling
should not even cross your mind (unless, of course, you want
them to be a concern). Just put down
your first reactions and explore them until you have worked them out fully.
The journal will work for you only if you make it a habit. If you wait for the spirit to
move you before you pull out the journal, many of you will not use it
very much. The best way to establish real discipline is quite simply to set aside 15
minutes or so after each reading session, class, and film. You may not always get
done in that time, but at least you will know that it is a part of your routine.
Doing your journal in the proper spirit will make you a better reader, viewer, listener, and
thinker; it will also prepare you to participate more fully in class discussion and enable you to
raise issues that really concern you.
* Obtain a notebook that you use only as a journal for this
course. This should be separate from the place where you
take notes in class.
* Date each entry and keep up with the assignments right from the start.
* Begin your journal immediately, with entries on this week's readings, films, and discussions.
* Journals should contain at least one entry for each of the reading assignments (several
on each novel) and one for each film. Refer to a substantial number of specific points,
using quotations where helpful; question these points and comment on them.
In addition to comments on the readings and films, journals should
also contain comments on some points that come up in class discussions.
Journals will be collected for comments and grading at unannounced times during the
semester.
Since your journal is to be used, among other purposes, to help
stimulate class discussion, students are required to bring their journals
with them to each class. In order to ensure that they are being kept up
to date, the days on which they will be collected for review by the
instructor
will NOT be announced in advance.
Discussions
Class meetings will emphasize discussion, combined with some lecture. On
occasion, the class may divide into smaller groups for more discussion. Attendance at all class meetings is expected. It is also expected that reading assignments
will be completed before the class meeting for which they are assigned. A diversity of viewpoints
is welcomed in class discussions. Students should bring up in class any questions they have from
the readings. Absences in excess of THREE will adversely affect a student's grade.
Absences in excess of SIX may result in failure of the course.
Tests
There will be two tests in the course, in addition to a final exam.
Discussions
The purpose of this course is to allow us to examine the experiences of women
and men in the American past (and to see ways in which this past is related to the
present). The objective is to think and talk about why things happened as they did and
what they mean. It is expected that students will attend all classes. It is also
expected that reading assignments will be completed before the class meeting for
which they are assigned. There is no one "right" way of interpreting literature or
history. A diversity of viewpoints is welcomed in class discussions. Students should
bring up in class any questions they have from the readings, films, and other class
materials.
Films
Several feature films will be shown as an essential part of the course. These
will be shown on Wednesday evenings (see Course Outline) at 7:00 PM in SH-221.
Attendance at these films is expected.
Average of Journal grades 40%
Average of 3 Test Grades 40%
Participation in class discussion 20%
Millsaps College is an academic community dedicated to the pursuit of scholarly inquiry and
intellectual growth. The foundation of this community is a spirit of personal honesty and mutual
trust. Through their Honor Code, the students of Millsaps College affirm their adherence to these
basic ethical principles.
An Honor Code is not simply a set of rules and procedures governing students' academic conduct.
It is an opportunity to put personal responsibility and integrity into action. When students agree to
abide by an Honor Code, they liberate themselves to pursue their academic goals in an atmosphere
of mutual confidence and respect.
The success of the Code depends on the support of each member of the community. Students and
faculty alike commit themselves in their work to the principles of academic honesty. When they
become aware of infractions, both students and faculty are obligated to report them to the Honor
Council, which is responsible for enforcement.
The pledge signed by all students upon entering the College is as follows:
As a Millsaps College student, I hereby affirm that I understand the Honor
Code and am aware of its implications and of my responsibility to the Code. In
the interests of expanding the atmosphere of respect and trust in the College, I
promise to uphold the Honor Code and I will not tolerate dishonest behavior in
myself or in others.
Each examination, quiz, or other assignment that is to be graded will carry the written pledge: "I
hereby certify that I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this assignment.
(Signature)" The abbreviation "Pledged" followed by the student's signature has the same meaning
and may be acceptable on assignments other than final examinations.
It is the responsibility of students and faculty to report offenses to the Honor Code Council in the
form of a written report. This account must be signed, the accusation explained in as much detail as
possible, and submitted to the Dean of the College.
Carla Morrison, Chair Dr. Darby Ray, Faculty Secretary
Brad Lokitz, Vice-chair Prof. Gayla Dance
Erin Pelleteri, Sergeant-at-Arms Dr. Andrew Felo
Jason Lee
Ned Jabour
Hannah Mashburn
Four graduate student and one non-voting freshman positions will be filled at the beginning of the fall
term.
Nancy Woloch, Women and the American Experience:
A Concise History (W&AE)
Barbara Perkins, Robyn Warhol, and George Perkins, eds, Women's
Work: An Anthology of American Literature (WW)
Susan Ware, ed., Modern American Women: A Documentary History (MAW)
Course Reader for "Women (and Men) in America"
One current issue of any women's magazine, such as Redbook, McCall's,
Cosmopolitan, Glamour, etc.
Wednesday, August 30, 7:00 PM, SH-221: FILM:
The Stepford Wives (1975)
Audio: Rolling Stones (1967)
Thursday, August 31 The Lay of the Land
in class reading (handout):
Michele de Cuneo's letter (1495)
Tuesday September 5 Encounters
Reading:
W&AE, pp. xi-21.
Wednesday, September 6, 7:00 PM, SH-221: FILM: Pocahontas (1995)
Thursday, September 7 Puritans, Visionaries, and Witches
Reading:
Anne Bradstreet, "The Prologue" (1650), Women's Work [WW], pp. 9-10;
"In Honour of That High and Mighty Princess Queen Elizabeth of Happy
Memory" (1650), pp. 10-11; "The Author to her Book" (1668), p. 23; "A
Letter to Her Husband" (1678), pp. 24-25; "In Memory of My Dear
Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet" (1678), pp. 28-29; "Upon My Son
Samuel His Going to England" (1678), p. 30.
Tuesday, September 12 All Men Are Created Equal? -- The Revolution
Reading:
Thomas Paine, "An Occasional Letter on the Female Sex" (1775),
in Course Reader, pp. 1-2. Phyllis Wheatley, "On Being Brought from Africa to America" (176/1773), WW,
111; "To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth" (1772/1773), 113-14; "To His Excellency General Washington" (1775/1776), 115-16.
W&AE, pp. 34-66.
Wednesday, September 13, 7:00 PM, SH-221: FILM: The Last of the Mohicans (1992) Thursday, September 14 Early Nineteenth Century
Reading:
W&AE, pp. 67-103
Catharine Maria Sedgwick, from Hope Leslie (1827),
WW, pp. 177-91.
Tuesday, September 19 Slavery
Reading:
W&AE, pp. 104-128.
Frederick Douglass, from Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass (1845), in Course Reader, pp. 6-14.
Harriet Jacobs, from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
(1861), WW, pp. 315-20, 327-35, 337-44.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, from Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), in
Women's Work, pp. 249-259; 276-283)
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 -- NO CLASS MEETING (MARGARET THATCHER VISIT)
Thursday, September 21 The Self-Made Man & the Cult of True Womanhood
Reading:
Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance" (1841) in Course Reader, pp. 15-27;
Margaret Fuller, from Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845), WW, 206-217;
Amy Clampitt, "Margaret Fuller, 1847" (poem 1987), WW, 951-53.
Tuesday, September 26 Mid-Nineteenth Century: Women's Rights & Civil War
Reading:
W&AE, pp. 128-135;
Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments (1848);
Sojourner Truth, 1851 Speech (handouts).
Emily Dickinson, poems in Women's Work):
211 [Come slowly--Eden!] (397)
249 [Wild Nights--Wild Nights!] (398)
898 [A Narrow Fellow in the Grass] (408)
508 [I'm ceded--I've stopped being Theirs--] (p. 402)
528 [Mine--by the Right of the White Election!] (404)
752 [My Life had stood--a Loaded Gun--] (408)
1737 [Rearrange a "Wife"'s affection!] (411)
letter [To recipient unknown/about 1861] (412-413)
letter [To T.W. Higginson/ 7 June 1862] (415-416)
Wednesday, September 27, 7:00 PM, SH 221: FILM: The Awakening
Thursday, September 28 Late Nineteenth Century
Reading:
W&AE, pp. 136-150.
Kate Chopin, "The Storm" (1898/1969), WW, 594-597.
Audio: Vanessa Williams (1995)
Link to Reviews
Audio Frank Sinatra (1958)
W&AE, pp. 21-33.
Abigail Adams, letter to John Adams, March 31, 1776, WW, pp. 104-105;
John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, April 14, 1776, Course Reader, p. 3;
Abigail Adams, letter to Mercy Otis Warren, April 27, 1776, WW, pp. 105-106;
Abigail Adams, letter to John Adams, June 30 [1778], WW, pp. 108-109;
Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence (1776) in Course Reader, pp. 4-5.
Link to Reviews
Wednesday, October 4, 7:00 PM, SH 221: FILM: Snow White (1938)
Audio
Link to reviews
Thursday, October 5 Industrialism and the New Woman
Reading:
W&AE, pp. 150-203.
"Female Perspectives on the Great Migration";
Agnes Nestor, "A Day's Work Making Gloves" (1898);
Letters to the Jewish Daily Forward (1907, 1914);
(all in Susan Ware, Modern American Women [MAW], pp. 64-74)
Fanny Fern, "The Working-Girls of New York" (1868), WW, 245-46)
Willa Cather, "Paul's Case" (1905), WW, 685-96.
Tuesday, October 10 The Progressive Era and Suffrage
Reading:
W&AE, pp. 205-240.
Anzia Yezierska, "The Free Vacation House" (1915), WW, 751-56.
Edith Wharton, "The Other Two" (1904), WW, 665-676.
Muller v. Oregon (1908), MAW, 74-78.
Margaret Sanger, Autobiography (1938), MAW, 100-106.
Marie Jenny Howe, An Anti-Suffrage Monologue (19130, MAW,
120-25.
Alice Paul, Letters on going to Jail, MAW, 131-36.
Wednesday, October 11, 7:00 PM, SH-221: FILM: The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Link to reviews
Thursday, October 12 Flappers and New Women
Audio: Jimmy Rodgers (1927)
Reading:
W&AE, pp. 241-279.
Amy Lowell, "Meeting-House Hill" (1925), WW, 710-11.
H.D., "Helen" (1925), WW, 767.
Edna St. Vincent Millay, "First Fig," "Oh, Oh," "What lips," in WW, pp. 824-25, 826-27, 830.
Carrie Chapman Catt, "New Voters" (1920), MAW, pp. 143-45.
Dorothy Dunbar Bromley, "Feminist-New Style" (1927), MAW, pp.145-49.
Kate Simon, "Female Adolescence," MAW, pp. 166-71.
Tuesday, October 17 The Great Depression
Audio: Gold Diggers of 1933
Audio: Robert Johnson (1937)
Reading:
W&AE, pp. 280-301.
Meridel LeSueur, "Women on Breadlines" (1932);
Women Ask Eleanor Roosevelt for Help (1934, 1935);
Ann Marie Low, Dust Bowl Diary (1934), all in MAW, pp. 172-189.
Lorena Hickok, Letter to Harry Hopkins (1934), in Course Reader, p. 34.
Elizabeth Bishop, "Squatter's Children," in Course Reader, p. 35.
Zora Neale Hurston, from Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), WW, pp. 818-824.
Eudora Welty, "Livvie" (1943), WW, pp. 910-919.
Wednesday, October 18, 7:00 PM, SH-221: FILM: Woman of the Year (1942)
Link to reviews
Thursday, October 19 World War II and Rosie the Riveter
Audio Mills Brothers (1943)
Reading:
W&AE, pp. 301-319.
Fanny Christina Hill, "Rosie the Riveter Revisited";
Monica Sone, "Japanese Relocation," both in MAW, pp. 213-219; 231-236.
Hisaye Yamamoto, "Seventeen Syllables" (1949), WW, pp. 956-964.
H.D., "The Walls Do Not Fall" (1944), WW, pp. 767-772.
Wednesday, October 25, 7:00 PM, SH-221: FILM: Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Link to reviews
Thursday, October 26 Father Knows Best?: The Fifties
Audio: Muddy Waters (1947)
Audio: Billy Ward & the Dominoes (1951)
Audio: Slim Harpo (1957)
Reading:
W&AE, pp. 320-336.
Philip Wylie, from A Generation of Vipers (1942, 1955) (handout).
Betty Friedan, "The Way We Were--1949," MAW, pp. 241-252.
Flannery O'Connor, "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" (1955), WW, pp. 972-979.
Mary McCarthy, "Artists in Uniform" (1954, 1961), WW, 920-28.
Gwendolyn Brooks, "Song in the Front Yard," "Queen of the Blues," "We Real Cool," "Crazy Woman," WW, pp. 936-941, 944.
Adrienne Rich, "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers," WW, 999-1000.
Tuesday, October 31 The Feminine Mystique
Reading:
Betty Friedan, from The Feminine Mystique (1963), in Course Reader, pp. 40-43.
Anne Sexton, "Her Kind," "For John," "The Double Image," "Self in 1958," WW, pp. 987-995, 998.
Sylvia Plath, "Black Rook," "Morning Song," pp. 1078-1081.
Adrienne Rich, "Living in Sin," Snapshots of a Daughter-
in-Law," WW, 1000-1004.
Wednesday, November 1, 7:00 PM, SH-221: FILM: Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Link to reviews
Thursday, November 2 "I Wanna Be Bobby's Girl" -- Music of the Feminine Mystique
Audio: Shirelles (1960)
Audio: Rick Nelson (1961)
Audio: Jan and Dean (1963)
Audio: Little Peggy March (1963)
Audio: Marcie Blane (1962)
Audio: Dixie Cups (1964)
Audio: Tammy Wynette (1968)
No Reading assignment!
Wednesday, November 8, 7:00 PM: CLASS PARTY
Thursday, November 9 Civil Rights
Reading:
W&AE, pp. 337-350.
Rosa Parks & Virginia Foster Durr, MAW, pp. 263-269.
Charlayne Hunter-Gault, "Desegregating the University
of Georgia, 1961," MAW, pp. 269-273.
SNCC Position Paper, "The Position of Women in the Movement,"
(1964), in Course Reader, pp. 36-37.
Casey Hayden and Mary King, "Sex and Caste: A Kind of Memo" (1965), in
Course Reader, pp. 37-39.
Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (1959), Act I,
WW, pp. 1011-1036.
Tuesday, November 14 Civil Rights and Feminism
Reading:
Hansberry, Raisin in the Sun, Acts II and III, WW, 1036-68.
Combahee River Collective, "A Black Feminist Statement,"
MAW, pp. 296-305.
Michele Wallace, "A Black Feminist's Search for Sisterhood" (1975),
MAW, pp. 305-312.
Wednesday, November 15, 7:00 PM, SH 221: FILM: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Thursday, November 16 The Sexual Revolution
Reading:
Helen Gurley Brown, from Sex and the Single Girl (1962),
MAW, pp. 347-353.
Anne Koedt, "The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm" (1968), in
Course Reader, pp. 44-48.
Anselma Dell'Olio, "The Sexual Revolution Wasn't Our War" (Handout)
George Gilder, from Men and Marriage (1989) (Handout)
Virginia Breath, "Making the Sexual Revolution Work for Women" (Handout)
Tuesday, November 21 The Second Wave of Feminism
Reading:
"Founding of NOW" (1966);
Robin Morgan, "No More Miss America" (1968);
Pat Mainardi, "The Politics of Housework" (1969)
all in MAW, pp. 279-292.
Adrienne Rich, "Diving into the Wreck," WW, pp. 1005-1007.
Alice Walker, "Everyday Use . . ." (1973), WW, pp. 1130-1036.
Tuesday, November 28 The Second Wave Continues
Reading:
W&AE, pp. 350-361.
Roe v. Wade (1973);
Margaret Cruikshank, "Is This the Reward of a Catholic Girlhood?"
(1980); both in MAW, pp. 353-362.
Louise Glück, "The School Children" (1975), WW, 1124-25.
Maxine Hong Kingston, "No Name Woman" (1976)
Wednesday, November 29, 7:00 PM, SH-221: FILM: Working Girl(1988)
Thursday, November 30 The Second Shift : The Seventies & Eighties
Reading:
Rita Dove, all selections, WW, pp. 1146-1149.
Joyce Carol Oates, "Nairobi" (1986), WW, 1090-95.
Ann Beattie, "Skeletons" (1986), WW, 1136-39.
Bobbie Ann Mason, "Hunktown" (1989), WW, 1103-14.
Crystal Lee Sutton, "The Real 'Norma Rae' Tells Her Story,"
MAW, pp. 313-315, 320-324.
Johnnie Tillmon, "Women on Welfare," MAW, pp. 334-338.
Tuesday, December 5 Backlash? -- The Eighties & Nineties
Reading:
Phyllis Schlafly, from The Power of the Positive Woman
(1977)
Susan Faludi, from Backlash (1991),
both in MAW, pp. 378-389.
Toni Morrison, from Beloved (1987), WW, pp. 1068-1078.
Amy Tan, "Rules of the Game," from The Joy Luck Club
(1989), WW, pp. 1150-1156.
Thursday, December 7 Misogyny in Popular Culture
Reading:
W&AE, pp. 362-395.
Abra Fortune Chernik, "The Body Politic" (1995), MAW,
pp.400-404.
Mary Pipher, from Reviving Ophelia (1994) (handout)
Glück, "Dedication to Hunger" (1980), WW, 1125-27.
Tuesday, December 12 The Nineties and the New Millennium
Reading:
Anita Hill, "Statement to Senate Judiciary Committee" (1991),
MAW, pp. 389-394.
Stuart Taylor, Jr., "Her Case Against Clinton" (1996) (handout)
NOVEMBER 16-19 ATTEND A PERFORMANCE OF MILLSAPS PLAYERS' PRODUCTION OF "A DOLL'S HOUSE"
Audio: The Pointer Sisters
Audio: John Lennon
Audio: Helen Reddy (1972)
Wednesday, December 6, 7:00 PM, SH-221: FILM: Fatal Attraction
(1987)
Audio: 2 Live Grew (1989)
Audio: Guns N' Roses (1989)
Audio: Snoop Doggy Dogg (1994)
Audio: Nine Inch Nails (1995)
Audio: No Doubt (1995)
Audio: Paula Cole (1996)
Audio: Meredith Brooks
Audio: Counting Crows (1999)
