Kansas State University
HIST-512, Ref. #13720, Fall 2000
Prof. Marion (Buddy) Gray, Eisenhower 202
e-mail: mgray@ksu.edu; tel: 532-0367
Bridenthal, Renate; Stuard, Susan M.; Wiesner, Merry E., eds. Becoming Visible: Women in European History. 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin, 1998.
Davies, Margaret Llewelyn ed. Life as We Have Known It by Cooperative Working Women.1931; Norton, 1975.
Rossi, Alice S., ed. The Feminist Papers. Northeastern University Press, 1973
1. Reading and preparation to discuss assigned material before each class. Attendance and participation will be an informal factor in grading, with the exception of cases in which a student misses more than five classes, which will lower the grade by one-half of a letter. Eight absences will lower the grade by one letter. This is not intended as a punitive measure. It is designed as a means of relating the grade to the learning experience. In-class participation is an essential part of the course, and regular attendance and participation will clearly enhance the quality of the learning.
2. Three essays written out of class and based primarily on previously assigned material. You will select your own topic, but I will be a resource person for you. Guidelines are found at the end of the syllabus. The essays should be 1500-1750 words (six to eight pages) in length, typed, double-spaced. The three essay grades together will constitute 50% of the final grade.
3. Five quizzes to offer a structure for familiarizing yourself with the subject matter. Each is 10% of the final grade.
4. Instructor letters. Evaluated on a pass/fail system. The letters will not be graded, but failure to turn one in will deduct three points from the final average. (See further instructions below.)
I. Women in Pre-Industrial Societies
T. 22 Introduction: What Is Women's History? Chronology and Gender in European History. What are your questions about gender and history?
U. 24: Becoming Visible, Ch. 4. What was women's status in the early Middle Ages? What questions do we ask in order to evaluate women's place?
T. 29: Becoming Visible, Ch. 5. How did the construction of gender change between the early and the high Middle Ages?
U. 31: Becoming Visible, Ch 6. Did women have a Renaissance?
T. 5: Becoming Visible, Ch. 7. The Reformation of Women. Class time for discussion of paper topics.
U. 7: In one paragraph, write a plan for your first paper. (The paper is be due on Sept. 26.) Plan to turn in your paragraph in class on the 7th or beforehand by e-mail; bring to class any questions you may have about the paper. In addition, use the review sheet to begin a review for the quiz. You may raise questions in class. In class after discussing paper topics and the quiz, we will view part the film "Day of Wrath" made in 1943 by the acclaimed filmmaker Carl Dryer. It portrays documented cases of alleged witchcraft in a Danish village in 1623. What does this account reveal about the relationship between gender and power in early modern society?
T. 12: Quiz; continued viewing of "Day of Wrath."
U. 14: Marion Gray, "The Household as the Economy." Reading material will be made available.
T. 19: Becoming Visible, Ch. 8. Women's Work in Pre-Industrial Europe. First Instructor Letter due.
U. 21: Becoming Visible, Ch. 9. What was the "Enlightenment" and what was its meaning for the construction of gender?
T. 26: YOUR CONCLUSIONS: PAPERS DUE. Discussed in class
II. Political and Industrial Revolutions
U. 28: Becoming Visible, Ch. 10. The French Revolution and its meaning for women.
T. 3: The Feminist Papers, pp. 25- 54. (Assignment ends at the ellipse on the top of p. 54.) A Feminist of the Enlightenment Era: Mary Wollstonecraft
U. 5: QUIZ. In Class: The Industrial Revolution and the "Cult of Domesticity."
T. 10: The Feminist Papers, pp. 54-85. Wollstonecraft and "Radical" Solutions"?
U. 12: Becoming Visible, Ch. 11. The Industrial Revolution.
T. 17: Becoming Visible, Ch. 12. European Feminism.
U. 19: The Feminist Papers, pp. 182-214. Liberal Ideology and Gender: John Stuart Mill
T. 24: The Feminist Papers, pp. 214-238. What were Mill's proposed solutions to "the subjection of women"?
U. 26: QUIZ; in class: Gender at the Turn of the Century
T. 31: Life as We Have Known it, pp. ix-xiii; 1-55. Daughters and Wives of the Modern Working Class.
U. 2: Life As We Have Known It, pp. 67-101 and 136-141.
Patterns of Life and Possibilities for Change
Second Instructor Letter due.
T. 7: CONCLUSIONS: PAPERS DUE. Discussed in class.
III. Women in Industrial Society
U. 9: The Feminist Papers, pp. 478-516. August Bebel, Friedrich Engels, and Emma Goldman: Socialism and Other Ideals of Emancipation of Women. (Some choice of reading allowed in this assignment.)
T. 14: Becoming Visible, Ch. 14 Gender, Race and Empire.
U. 16: QUIZ; In class: Gender in the Twentieth Century
T. 21: Becoming Visible, Ch. 16. Women in War and Peace (the two World Wars).
[U. 23: Thanksgiving recess; no class]
T.28. Article on Reserve in Hale Library: Atina Grossman, "Abortion and Economic Crisis: The 1931 Campaign Against Paragraph 218," in Renate Bridenthal, Atina Grossman, and Marion Kaplan, eds., When Biology Became Destiny: Women in Weimar and Nazi Germany, pp. 66-86. Who Controls Women's Bodies?.
U. 30: Becoming Visible, Ch. 17. Women and Fascism.
T. 5: Becoming Visible, Ch. 18. Women and the Welfare State.
U. 7: QUIZ. In Class: Women Since 1945.
T 12: 2:00-3:50 p.m. FINAL PAPERS DUE.
Class will meet to discuss them as usual. (Equivalent to final exam.)
Kansas State University has a new Honor Code. For information see http://www.ksu.edu/honor/. The provisions of this code will be followed in this class. For all papers, quizzes and other work, the Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: "On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work."
It is possible for students in fields other than History to enroll for graduate credit. In such cases, assignments will differ slightly. Please consult with the instructor.
Each student should set up an account on K-State Online. Here is how to do it:
Using a browser (Netscape 4.5 or higher is recommended) go to the URL: http://online.ksu.edu/. Click the "Create Account" Button. Fill in the fields appropriately--click the help button on the bottom to see a description of what is expected in each field. The system does require you to enter your social security number so that it can determine your course enrollment from the Registrar's records. The userid will be your login name. It is suggested that you use the same one as you use for other accounts so that it will be easy to remember. Passwords must be at least 5 characters long, must contain at least one letter and at least one number and cannot contain underscores.
You may at any time communicate directly with me by addressing e-mail to me, rather than to the electronic discussion list: mgray@ksu.edu. Also visit the course web site where you can obtain the syllabus and other materials. Enter through my home page:http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~mgray/.
Twice during the semester (September 19 and November 9) instructor
letters are due. This is your opportunity to be in communication with me
about any topic that you wish to discuss. They will not be graded. The
only requirement is that you turn one in by the dates indicated.
2. Substantiation of your argument with historical data. While interpretation is the ultimate goal, every interpretation of a historical subject is meaningful only if it rests solidly on concrete evidence. In writing history it is important to demonstrate your evidence, not only to support your argument, but also because the details of human activities give history its interest and bring readers into the historical situation. Merely restating the conclusions of historians is not a good way to substantiate your argument. Using their data is what is important. (25%)
3. Utilizing historical perspective. What distinguishes history from other academic disciplines is its concern with change over time. Historians deal with all facets of human experience including economics, culture, religion, politics and social customs, but they always focus on how the issues they are investigating are shaped by the particular historical context. For example, historians know that they cannot explain the division of labor by gender in medieval Europe without particular attention to cultural, legal, political, religious and social factors unique to the Middle Ages. Moreover, historians always avoid judging historical situations by standards belonging to an era different from the one they are investigating. One would not, for example, criticize a pre-industrial European practice on the grounds of its being undemocratic, since democracy only became a socio-political goal in the eighteenth century. (30%)
4. Clear communication. Use a precise, grammatical, well-organized
writing style. (25%)
2. Using non-assigned material.
a. If you find that, in order to substantiate your argument, you need data not found in assigned readings, it is legitimate to use library resources. However, the major thrust of your argument should come from material you have read and discussed.
b. One of your three essays may be on a topic not specifically covered in the syllabus, although it should be within the confines of the geographical and chronological material discussed during the unit of study. This will allow class members to pursue their own interests and will broaden the scope of the course. All topics of this type must be discussed with me prior to the writing of the paper.
3. Documenting sources. Formal footnotes are not required. However, it is important to identify the exact source(s) of your information in order to convey your method of utilizing information. The simplest way to do this is to indicate sources and page numbers in parentheses. For those sources assigned in class, abbreviated references can be made. For other sources, give complete bibliographical information. If you find it simpler to do so, use footnotes. Documentation of sources is a requirement.
4. Place your name at the end of the paper, not on a title page. Print a word count on the paper.