COURSE OUTLINE FALL 2013

HISTORY 261-WOMEN IN AMERICA

M-W 11:00 – 12:20 HC 211

Instructor: Dr. Victoria H. Cummins

Office: Sherman Hall 117 (ext. 2263) Campus Box 61616

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course traces the experiences of women in what becomes the United States, from the seventeenth century to the end of the twentieth century. We will stress economic and social change as it affects the roles of women in America.

GENERAL GOALS FOR THE COURSE:

History 261 is intended to enable the successful student to do the following:

- Acquire knowledge of significant themes of US women’s history;

- Acquire factual knowledge of Women’s experience in the United States;

- Read critically scholarly books and articles on women’s history;

- Discuss assigned readings in a meaningful way;

- Develop skill in writing essays on historical material.

REQUIRED TEXTS: Linda K. Kerber, Jane S. De Hart, and Cornelia H. Dayton eds., Women's America: Refocusing the Past 7th edition, Oxford U. Press, 2011, 978-0-19-538832-9; De Ann Blanton and Lauren M. Cook, They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the Civil War, Vintage books, 2003, ISBN 978-14000-3315-7; Mary Ann Mason and Eva Mason Ekman, Mothers on the Fast Track, Oxford U Press 2008, ISBN 978-0-19-537369-1.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS: The semester grade will be based on the student’s performance on three examinations, including a final examination, two critical book reviews, participation in class discussions, and attendance. Work will be weighted as follows for the final grade:

Essay Examinations 60% (20% each)

Critical book Reviews 30% (15% each)

Attendance and Class Participation 10%

The Final grade will be assigned on the following scale: 97.5-100=A+; 92.5-97.4=A; 90.0-92.4=A-; 87.5-89.9=B+; 82.5-87.4=B; 80.0-82.4=B-; 77.5-79.9=C+; 72.5-77.4=C; 70.0-72.4=C-; 67.5-69.9=D+; 62.5-67.4=D; 60.0-62.4=D-; less than 60.0=F. For S/D/U grading, 70.0 and above=S. 67.5-69.9=D+; 62.5-67.4=D; 60.0-62.4=D-.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. A significant portion of the content of this course is contained in class presentations and discussions. Daily attendance is therefore required. Excessive absences (more than 4) may lead to the student being dropped from the course. Your class participation grade will be based on your attendance and active participation in class discussions of assigned readings. After one unexcused absence, the CP grade will be lowered 5 pts for each additional absence. Any absence without a verifiable excuse is an unexcused absence. A student who will miss two or more classes for school-sponsored activities will not be penalized for these additional absences, however, s/he will be allowed no other absences without penalty. In general, a student who expects to miss as many as six or seven classes should not take this course this semester.

2. Incompletes will be given only in cases when circumstances beyond the student's control prevent her/him from completing the course requirements.

3. Examinations will be closed book, closed notes. Tests may include identification as well as short and long essay questions. You will be required to provide a green/blue book for each examination. Tests will cover assigned readings, presentations, films and discussion material.

4. You must abide by the general guidelines for Academic Integrity in the completion of all work for this course. This means that you do your own work on tests, and neither give nor receive aid from anyone in the preparation of the critical book review for this course, with the following exceptions. On the critical book review I will permit you to have help with the mechanics of the paper (grammar, spelling, typing, and structure). The content of the paper (approach, concepts, facts, ideas, etc.) must be your own. Any unattributed use of another author’s information is plagiarism and will be treated accordingly. I will be available to give help on content to all students in the class. All critical book reviews must be word processed in a form compatible with turnitin.com.

5. Each student is fully responsible for changes of schedule, assignment, and all course content material noted each day whether or not s/he attends class. For that reason, it is the student’s responsibility to bring to the immediate attention of the instructor as soon as possible any matter, event, circumstance, or consideration that might have a direct or indirect bearing on her/his performance or class attendance.

6. Austin College seeks to provide reasonable accommodations for all individuals with disabilities and will comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations and guidelines. It is the responsibility of the student to register with and provide verification of academic accommodation needs to the Director of the Academic Skills Center as soon as possible. For further information regarding disability services or to register for assistance, please contact the Academic Skills Center. The student also must contact the faculty member in a timely manner to arrange for reasonable academic accommodations. Students who qualify for accommodations in testing and/or other areas should present their paperwork to the instructor as soon as possible and no later than Wednesday September 18, 2013 in order to give sufficient time for arrangements to be made for the first examination.

7. Turn off all electronic devices at the start of class. You may neither send nor receive phone calls, text messages, etc. during class. There will be no use of laptops in class without the prior specific permission of the instructor.

8. Do not eat in class.

Lecture Topics and Reading Assignments

Date Topic Reading

W 9/4/13 Introduction; Why study the history

of women? Intro. KDD 1-23

UNIT I – COLONIAL AND ANTE-BELLUM AMERICA CA.1600-CA 1850

M 9/9 Native Americans and settlers Intro. KDD 25-7;

W 9/11 Women in the subsistence agricultural Karlsen, KDD 76-89

Economy Documents, KDD 98-102

M 9/ 16 Women in the commercial agricultural Berlin, KDD 90-97;

economy

W 9/18 The American Revolution's affect on

women's lives; Women of the Republic Kerber, KDD 147-153

M 9/23 The effects of early nineteenth Intro, KDD 159-160

century economic changes on women

W 9/25 The "Cult of True Womanhood" & Smith-Rosenberg, KDD,189-204;

the idea of separate spheres

M 9/30 The reality of Victorian America: Block, KDD 164-173 diversity in women's lives

FIRST EXAMINATION WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 2, 2013

UNIT II – INDUSTRIAL AMERICA ca. 1850- ca 1930

M 10/ 7 Slavery's impact on women Testimony of slave women, KDD 161-163; Drew Gilpin Faust, KDD 283-294

W 10/9 The early feminist movement Documents, KDD 264-268;

Lerner, KDD 257-263

M 10/14 The Civil War; Post-war politicization

and the women's rights movement; Documents KDD 331-333;

W 10/16 Economic change in the late 19^th century Intro. KDD 341

Life cycles of non-elite women Hunter, KDD 298-308;

M 10/21 Militancy: The Club Movement Sklar, KDD 402-414;

and Social Welfare Schechter, KDD 349-355

W 10/23 Educational advance and legal

Stagnation; Suffrage Cowan, 484-492

CRITICAL BOOK REVIEW OF DE ANN BLANTON AND LAUREN M. COOK, THEY FOUGHT LIKE DEMONS: WOMEN SOLDIERS IN THE CIVIL WAR DUE 12 PM (NOON) Monday 10/28/13. CBRS MUST BE POSTED TO TURNITIN.COM

M 10/28

W 10/30 Aftermath of Suffrage: The 1920's Brumberger, KDD 451-459;

Ruiz, KDD 477-484

SECOND EXAMINATION MONDAY NOVEMBER 4, 2013

UNIT III - MODERN AMERICA 1930-1990’s

W 11/6 Women in the Great Depression Jones, KDD 512-515; Kessler-Harris, KDD 519-529

M 11/11 Women in World War II Milkman, KDD 553-565

The Post war Era Matsumoto, KDD 537-543

W 11/13 The ideal of the perfect housewife

in the 1950's; Horowitz, KDD 577-590

M 11/18 the revival of feminism . Documents, KDD 691-94, 696-701

W 11/20 Feminism, cont

M 11/25 Anti-feminism and post-feminism DeHart, KDD 672-690; Documents,

KDD 714-718

M12/2 CONTINUED

W 12/4 TH 12/1 Women's issues at the end of the

Twentieth century

CRITICAL BOOK REVIEW OF MASON AND MASON MOTHERS ON THE FAST TRACK

DUE 1 AM 12/3/13 CBRS MUST BE POSTED TO TURNITIN.COM

THIRD EXAMINATION THURSDAY 12/12/13 9 AM

INSTRUCTIONS FOR WRITING CRITICAL BOOK REVIEWS

Format and Content:

I. Each review should be a minimum of 1200 words (about four typed double-spaced pages) in length. Use Times New Roman 12 as your font. You will submit the review through turnitin.com.

II. In addition to the text, it must have an unnumbered title page that gives the complete citation for the book, as well as your name and the name of this class.

III. The review should consist of a critical commentary written in essay form, which covers the whole work. The critical review must address all of the following:

a. A brief résumé or summary of the book’s contents, about one page in length. Cover the whole book, not just a few chapters. The purpose of this is to provide enough summary to characterize the subject of the work.

b. The critical commentary, covering the next five points. Most of the paper should deal with this.

1. the general purpose and intended audience(s) of the book

2. the author’s thesis and major interpretations

3. the author’s point of view, including any evidence of bias or slant in the work

4. the sources used by the author and whether these supported the book’s argument

5. how the work added to your existing knowledge of the subject (including if it didn’t, and why).

SAMPLE GRADING RUBRIC FOR PAPERS

NAME__________________________________

GRADING: A - Superior College-level work. Element fully achieved/discussed with appropriate detail. B - Good College-level work. Element partly achieved/discussed with some supporting material. C - Meets minimum standards for College-level work. Lacking in completeness of extent, discussion, detail, or all three. D - Work below the minimum standard, but still passing. F - No credit/ required element not addressed/included.

Required Element A B C D F

Meets minimum Length and uses proper format 10%
Brief résumé or summary 10%
Discusses general purpose and intended audience(s) 10%
Identifies the author’s themes and major interpretations 30%
Discusses the author’s point of view, including any evidence of bias or slant 10%
Evaluates the sources used by the author and whether these supported the book’s argument 10%
Discusses how the work added to his/her existing knowledge of the subject 10%
Writing: grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, Paragraph coherence, spelling, etc. 10%

OVERALL CBR GRADE: ______

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