WMST 225 Women in American History: Colonial Era to 1880

This course examines three major cultures—Native, African, and European—as they met and mixed in Colonial America, with particular attention to women’s creative choices in navigating an oppressive gender system. Focus will be on the applicability of the standard periodization of American History to the lives of American women, as they experienced the intersectionality of race, class, gender, and sexuality from Colonial Times to 1880 and as they responded with innovative strategies for living lives of meaning. Scope will encompass wealthy merchant and planter families, indentured and convict bondservants, factory workers, and immigrants, and will include women’s familial and community relationships.

Credits

3

Prerequisite

Eligible to enroll in ENGL 121

Hours Weekly

3

Course Objectives

1. Identify the responses of American women to an oppressive gender system and organize understanding around the creative strategies they invented to navigate systems of race, class, gender, and sexuality, while pursuing meaningful lives for themselves, their families, and communities.
2. Consider the applicability of the standard periodization of American History to the lives of American women and explore alternative ways of understanding women’s history through analyzing variations in the sexual division of labor as well as new roles in wartime, on the Overland Trail, and during the Industrial Revolution.
3. Apply ideas to an analysis of fictional portrayals, in print and film, of women and their families during this period, comparing the portrayals with what we know about actual women and their families.

Course Objectives

1. Identify the responses of American women to an oppressive gender system and organize understanding around the creative strategies they invented to navigate systems of race, class, gender, and sexuality, while pursuing meaningful lives for themselves, their families, and communities.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • Research assignment

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Critical and Creative Thinking Rubric

   Critical Thinking

   • CT1
2. Consider the applicability of the standard periodization of American History to the lives of American women and explore alternative ways of understanding women’s history through analyzing variations in the sexual division of labor as well as new roles in wartime, on the Overland Trail, and during the Industrial Revolution.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • Unit tests

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Critical and Creative Thinking Rubric

   Critical Thinking

   • CT2
   • CT3
3. Apply ideas to an analysis of fictional portrayals, in print and film, of women and their families during this period, comparing the portrayals with what we know about actual women and their families.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Writing Assignments

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Critical and Creative Thinking Rubric

   Critical Thinking

   • CT4