Topics in American History
Women in American Reform Movements

Indiana University/Purdue University, Indianapolis
History A421 (C688) and H511 (C706)

Course Description:

This topics course is a one-semester class on women's history focusing on women's involvement in reform efforts from (roughly) the 1830s to the present. We will explore a variety of movements, both progressive and conservative, including temperance, woman's rights, abolition, suffrage, settlement houses, anti-lynching, the Klan, social legislation, the "second wave" of feminism, and so-called "anti-feminist" women. It is not possible to cover this topic comprehensively in a semester and I welcome students pursuing topics and aspects beyond what is on the syllabus and incorporating that exploration into class discussion and written assignments.

Classes will include discussion as well as lectures and you should come prepared to talk about the issues raised by the readings and lectures. Reading assignments will encompass a variety of "primary" and "secondary" sources. Readings will include some "classics" of women's history as well as more recent scholarship. You are encouraged to ask questions during class or my office hours.

Lectures, discussions, and written assignments are designed to help students learn how to develop a historical argument, use evidence to support it, and convey their insights to others. Students will also critique the effectiveness of other people's interpretations as a way of learning what history is and how it is done. Gaining these abilities helps not only in understanding American history, but also in improving essential communication and critical thinking skills.

In addition, students will examine the consequences of studying women for their understanding of American history and society as a whole. Part of the course will be to ask how do women's experiences and the historians of women cause us to rethink categories like conservative and progressive? Does studying women (or different groups of women) mean that we need to rethink historical periodization? What are useful definitions of politics and reform? What are women's issues? What does it mean to think of gender as a category of historical analysis? And, critically, does it make sense to study women as women? In addition to asking questions about how have women's experiences and politics changed over time, we will look at how the historians of women have changed their understanding and analysis of those women.

Required Books:

These can be purchased at the bookstore in Cavanaugh or at Folletts.

Kathleen M. Blee, Women of the Klan: racism and gender in the 1920s (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991) [referred to as BLEE]. Also on Reserve in the Library.

Sara M. Evans, Born for Liberty: a history of women in America (New York: Free Press Paperbacks, 1997) [referred to as EVANS]. The 1989 edition is on Reserve in the Library and I will put a copy of the Final Chapter and updated suggestions for "Further Reading" on ERROL.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper" [1892] (New York: Dover, 1997; any edition will do, but when else can you buy a book for $1?!) [referred to as GILMAN]. FYI: all copies have walked from our Library.

Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl [1861] (New York: Signet, 2000; any edition should do) [referred to as JACOBS]. The 1988 Harvard University, with useful supplemental materials, is on Reserve.

Linda K. Kerber and Jane Sherron De Hart, Women's America: refocusing the past, 5^th edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) [referred to as K&D].

I have placed a concise edition of both halves of a U.S. history text on reserve in the library as a reference tool. The book is: John Mack Faragher, et al., Out of Many: A History of the American People, v.1 (U.S. history before 1877), 2nd ed. and v. 2 (U.S. history since 1865), 3^rd edition. They are officially on reserve for History H106 - Section C651/Robertson. You are welcome to rely on any other U.S. text (although the more recent the better).

I will update this section with other materials placed on Reserve.

I am compiling a list of interesting and useful web sites to place here. I invite you to share ones that you discover. Two resources that I do want to flag are the:

"Women and Social Movements, 1830-1930" website out of SUNY/Binghamton:

http://womhist.binghamton.edu

And the H-net Listserv for women's history:

http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~women/

You are more than welcome to join the Listserv. We will have a short discussion in class about web etiquette, and I encourage you to talk with me before posting a query (in the interests of full disclosure, I am one of the editors of this Listserv).

Undergraduate Students:

Lead one class discussion (10% of grade)
Paper on that class session (15% of grade)
Summary-analysis of 2 primary sources (15% of grade)
Longer paper (25% of grade)
Final examination (20% of grade)
Class participation (15% of grade)

Class discussions will go better and be more interesting and useful if students keep up with the reading (indicated on the schedule below for each class). I expect you to meet due dates of written assignments. If you have a problem, please talk with me BEFORE the deadline, otherwise I will need documentation of illness or other emergency. Unless we have reached an alternate agreement, late papers will be marked down a 1/3 of a letter grade for each day they are late. That is: a paper that would have been an A, will be an A- if it is one day late and a C- if it is 7 days late, etc. (Days means days of the week, not class sessions). Make-up exams are offered only at the discretion of the professor.

Developing your intellectual skills is possible only when you actually do the work assigned. We will have a longer discussion of intellectual work, intellectual dishonesty, and plagiarism. Plagiarism and cheating will result in an "F" for the work in question and possible disciplinary action by the University. See the Indiana University Academic Handbook (p. 123) or the IUPUI Campus Bulletin, 2000-2002 (p. 36) or talk with me if you have questions about what is or is not permissible.

A grade of "incomplete" is troublesome for everyone. The University's policy is that they are only for students who have completed almost all course requirements and have been prevented by significant or unanticipated circumstances from finishing them.

Come to class. You may have to miss a class very occasionally (see my attendance policy). I strongly encourage you to find someone who will share notes with you if you miss class. You should check the web page for the class for announcements, handouts, etc. You will find, however, that other people's notes are rarely a replacement for being in class yourself.

You are encouraged to ask questions during class or my office hours. It is possible that I may decide to hold off on a question in the interests of the class flow, but I will come back to it as soon as possible. If you feel shy about talking in class, please come and see me so we can develop strategies to make class go well.

Keep on top of the reading; the reading listed for a day should be done before the class lecture and/or discussion.

I cannot stress too heavily the usefulness of planning ahead, saving work on your computer OFTEN, making backups, and printing out your paper early. A goal of this course is to assist students in developing their analytical and writing skills. That means I count improvement in your work. If you want to rewrite an assignment, you MUST speak with me first. You must also hand in the original version when you submit the rewrite.

As you may know, you are entitled to an e-mail account through IUPUI. I realize that many of you prefer to use another provider for e-mail and web work. The University encourages you to set up your IUPUI account to forward information to your other accounts. It means that you can easily access information from the University. It also assists me if I need to send out a general class announcement. If you need help setting up the account or forwarding mail, contact:

http://iupui-accts.iupui.edu/students/student.html

There is a University web page that will let you know if the campus is closed for snow:

www.iupui.edu/it/registrar/adverseweather.html

This syllabus will be put on ONCOURSE, as will adjustments, corrections, and handouts. The syllabus is subject to change. Please be sure to keep on top of changes and announcements.

SCHEDULE OF CLASS MEETINGS