Women in History Syllabus

History 212: WOMEN IN HISTORY

Fall 1999

Professor Geraldine Forbes

SUNY-Oswego

MW: 3 - 4:20 pm

Course Objectives:

This course has been designed to introduce students to gender ideology and women's status, roles, and work historically and cross-culturally. We begin with theoretical questions: Why separate

women from men for historical study? What is the value of a gendered analysis? How can we locate and understand women's agency when, for most of history, women had no voice? And, how do we conceptualize 'women' and write about them?

The material of the course is divided into three sections. First, we examine women's position in

ancient societies/ classical cultures to the extent this can be determined from law books, religious texts, and a few historical accounts. In the second part of the course we deal with women in world history between 1500-1800. In an effort to globalize and gender history, we analyze women's roles in China, the Ottoman Empire, India, Africa, and Europe. In the third section, a discussion of women since 1800, the focus will shift to women's attempts to change their condition.

Students in this course will learn about the questions historians ask regarding women and gender, seek answers in historical records, and evaluate historical writing. You will also learn how to identify and analyze gender ideologies, and about changes in women's lives over time.

Textbooks:

1. Sarah Hughes and Brady Hughes, Women in World History, vol. 1 [WWH-I]

2. Sarah Hughes and Brady Hughes, Women in World History, vol. II [WWH-II]

3. Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Sultana's Dream and Selections from the Secluded Ones [RSH]

4. History 212 Reader, 1999 [HR] available only in the College Bookstore

Course Requirements: (Total 400 points)

Mid-term Exam 100 (80 for exam + 20 pts for Learning Log)

Final Exam 100 (80 for exam + 20 pts for Learning Log)

Assignment #1 100 (80 product + 20 process)

Assignment #2 100 (80 product + 20 process)

Course Outline:*

*Students are required to read the assigned pages and answer the questions before they come to class.

I. INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE

1.Aug 30 Introduction to the course

2.Sep 1 Theoretical Perspectives: What are the Questions? [Read: WWH-I, 1-8 ; HR: 1-8]

Q: What are the two goals of women's history? Explain how women's history has challenged the basic concerns of historical thought: periodization, categories of social analysis, and theories of social change. Formulate three important questions for anyone investigating women's history. What question(s) are you bringing to this class?

II. CONSTRUCTIONS OF WOMEN IN ANCIENT HISTORY

3.Sep 6 Exploring Pre-History [WWH-I, 9-26; HR: 9-30]

Q: Explain how a new look at prehistory and ancient history causes us to revise the "man the hunter" hypothesis? Why do we look at existing hunter-gather societies? If Nisa is representative of hunting/gathering women (Shostak's hypothesis) what work did hunting/gathering women do & were they equal to men? Is Shostak suggesting that women today are less equal that their predecessors?

4.Sep 8 India: Hindu & Buddhist Culture [WWH-I 47-62; HR: 31-34]

Q: How did the ancient laws of Manu describe an "ideal" Hindu woman? Why was the legendary Sita considered an "ideal" wife? Buddhism allowed women to become nuns, and once literate, they wrote about their lives. Summarize the topics of the songs of these nuns from the 6th C. B.C.

5.Sep 13 Classical Greece [WWH-I, 79-96; HR: 35-38]

Q: How did an "ideal" Greek wife in classical Athens spend her day? Compare this with the life of a male citizen of Athens. Describe the treatment of slaves in Athens. How were women similar to slaves and how were they different?

6.Sep 15 China: Confucianism [WWH-I. 97-112; 174-182; HR: 39-40]

Q: Summarize the career of the Empress Dowager Lu. What were the main ideas of the neo-Confucian philosophers about the family and women's roles? Summarize the key points in the biography of Meng Mu (the mother of Mencius). What do we know about the historical Mulan?

7.Sep 21 (Tuesday counts as Monday) Western Europe: Christianity [HR, 23-29, WWH-I, 129-150; HR: 41-44]

Q: Describe three basic ideas of the traditional Hebrews that defined women's roles. What teachings of early Christianity suggested women were equal to men? Why were cloisters important spaces for women? What do you find interesting about Hildegard of Bingen?

8. Sep 22 The Middle East: Islam [WWH-I, 151-172; HR: 45-51]

Q: Explain how the Quran improved women's status? Why is Khadijah, the Prophet's first wife, so

highly respected? Why is Aishah considered a model woman? How did the Muslim scholar Ibn al-Hajj explain the necessity for separate spheres for men and women?

9. Sep 27 Africa: Traditional Culture [WWH-I, 189-206]

Q: What are the sources historians use to try to understand gender relations in pre-colonial African societies? What evidence is there that queens and queen mothers were very powerful in traditional African society? Give examples. Describe the status and responsibility of a woman who was the first wife.

10. Sep 29 The Americas: Aztec, Inca and Iroquois [WWH-I 227-244 ; HR: 52-53]

Q: How did Aztec society define roles for men and woman? Describe the different roles available to Aztec women. Describe the social status and work of Iroquois women in precolonial North America. What do we know about the read Pocahantas?

11.Oct 4 GROUPS -- READ DRAFT OF ESSAY # 1

III. MEDIEVAL TO MODERN (1500-1800)

12.Oct 6 China & Japan: Neo-Confucianism [WWH-II, 13-32]

Q: In 17th century China men could improve their status through education and/ or commerce. How could women improve their status? How was rape defined in Qing China? What effect did these laws have on women's lives? Why did so many widows commit suicide?

13.Oct 11 Middle East: Ottoman Empire [WWH-II, 33-49]

Q: What geographical area did the Ottoman monarchs control? What was their religion? Define the word harem. Explain the Ottoman system of producing heirs to the throne? Why didn't the Ottoman sultans marry? How did women exercise political power from within the harem? Write a brief sketch of Hurrem.

14.Oct 13 India: Mughal Empire [WWH-II,51-69]

Q: Although Indian women of the 15-16th century were considered subordinate to men, some women became great poets. Name two: what did they write about? Did the protest women's position? What kind of power did Nur Jahan have and why was she able to exercise power?

15.Oct 20 **MID-TERM EXAMINATION **

16. Oct 25 Europe: Witches and Workers [WWH-II,71-87]

Q: What is meant by the term 'witchcraze'? List and explain at least four different explanations that have been given for the killing of thousands of women as witches in Europe between the 16th and the 18th century? Why was Anna Pappenheimer executed for witchcraft? Identify two areas of work where women were losing ground at this time.

17. Oct 27 Gender & European Colonization [WWH-II, 89-112]

Q: How did missionaries in North America alter gender relations among native tribes? Describe how slave owners in New Mexico exploited women slaves and how this affected the treatment of their own women? How were women slaves treated in the West Indies? What is most notable about the career and writings of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz?

18.Nov 1 African Women in the 17th Century [WWH-II, 113-135; HR: 54-61]

Q: Explain how Queen Ninga came to power and ruled. Explain how Madame Yoko became chief of the Kpa Mende. What factors made it possible for Betsy Heard and Mary Faber to become successful slave traders?

III. THE MODERN WORLD (1800-PRESENT)

19.Nov 3 The French Revolution: Equality for Women? [WWH-II,139-150; HR: 62-65]

Q: What were the goals of the French Revolution? Outline the grievances of market women and bourgeois women at the beginning of the French Revolution. Why were women's demonstrations suppressed after 1793?

20..Nov 8 The Industrial Revolution [HR: 66-77]

Q: Explain the term: 'industrial revolution.' What countries were the first to be affected? How and why did women lose out when production shifted from the household to a separate workplace? What was the 'ideal of domesticity'? How was work gendered in the new factories and how did this affect women?

21. Nov 10 Feminism, Women's Rights, and Suffrage in the West [WWH-II, 151-160; HR: 78-90]

Q: What is the main point in Wollstonecroft's "Vindication"? Why was the Declaration of 1848 considered radical? Why did women want the vote? What point did Sojourner Truth make when she spoke in Akron, Ohio?

22.Nov 15 Women in World War I and World War II [HR:91-95]

Q: How did the demands of W.W.I shatter the conventional view of women? The impact of W.W.II on women depended on who they were and where they lived. Compare the war experience of women from Germany with those of women from the USA. Be attentive to differences within these two countries.

23.Nov 17 Africa: the Colonial Legacy for Women [WWH-II,161- 184]

Q: What is meant by the term 'European colonialism'? Why did Europeans come to Africa? Explain how colonialism altered the lives of women, specifically, widows among the Beti people, wives in Kenya, and urban migrants in Uganda.

24. Nov 22 Early Feminist Consciousness in South Asia [Read Rokeya, All] GROUPS -- READ DRAFT OF ESSAY # 2

25. Nov 29 Muslim Women and the Veil [WWH-II, 185-203]

Q: What is meant by the term 'veiling'? Why do Muslim women veil? Huda Shaarawi protested in the veil and then took off the veil in protest in 1924. What was she protesting in each case and what did the veil symbolize (to her) in each instance? In Iran the veil was banned in 1936 and imposed by law in 1980. What was the justification in each case?

26.Dec 1 Women and the Indian Nation [Read: WWH-II, 205-229 ; HR: 96-101]

Q: What reforms did the British propose and sponsor for Indian Women? What reforms did the Nationalists propose? What did Gandhi do to bring women into the freedom movement? What issues were important to women? What issues were important to Indian women in the resurgent women's movement of the 1970s and 1980s?

27.Dec 6 The "Modernization" of Women's Work [HR: 102-115]

Q : Why have women in the West returned to the labor market in such large numbers since the 1960s? Interview your mother (or a woman of about her age) about pros and cons of combining family responsibilities with the demands of the workplace.

28. Dec 8 USA: The Women's Movement of the 1970's-90's [HR:116-129]

Q Reading through the 1967 NOW Bill of Rights, which of these ten goal have been achieved and which remain for the future? Summarize bell hook's criticism of mainstream American feminism? How does Schrof define "third wave feminism?" Would you call yourself a third wave feminist?

Course Requirements:

Exams

The mid-term and final will be short-answer and essay exams. The questions for both exams will be based on the questions assigned for each class period. You will be allowed to bring your Learning Log with you to the exam.

*Learning Log

You are required to use a 8 1/2" x 1l" small spiral notebook [or loose leaf or folder] that you will use only for your Learning Log (class notes should be kept in a separate notebook or folder). The syllabus includes questions to be answered (minimum: two hand-written pages) using the assigned reading before the class on that topic. Begin each class day's set of answers on a separate page and indicate the class date as well as the title. Bring your LL to every class - you may be asked to read from it in class. You are allowed to bring your LL to exams. It must be handed in with your exam and will count for 20 pts of your exam grade.

Assignment #1: due: Oct 13, 1999

Topic: Women's lives in Ancient/Traditional cultures

The purpose of this assignment is to encourage you to read about one culture in detail and try to imagine how women's lives were circumscribed by law and custom, and the extent to which they could act independently.

Write a biographical sketch of a woman (you will have to invent her and name her), from birth to old age, living in one of the ancient or traditional cultures we have studied [ Section I -- WWH-1]. Decide on her social status (slave or free, class, etc.) at birth, and then trace her life through childhood to marriage, motherhood, and old age. In your biographical sketch mention how she is similar to or different from other women in her society as well as prevailing cultural and religious ideas about women that affected her life. What options did she have for change? Your essay should be factual in terms of what we know about the society and religion historically but imaginative in terms of your fictional subject.

Length: 800 -1000 words in length, typed or computer printed (12pt, 1" margins)

Sources: Use at least four different sources from articles, books, encyclopedias and the Internet. Use WWH-I's "Suggested Other Readings" for references. You are allowed to use only one internet sources and only one encyclopedia sources.

References: Indicate your sources throughout the paper, that is, use MLA style footnotes or endnotes, to cite your sources. At the end of the paper list, in alphabetical order (by author) the sources used in the paper.

*Process

Each student will read a draft of her/his essay to his/her Group. You will be assigned to a group of five students at the beginning of the class and will continue to work with this group throughout the semester. The purpose of working with a group is to a) learn how to work in groups and b) share what you are doing and get feedback.

For Assignment #1 you will read a draft of your paper (max. 15 minutes) to your group. Those listening will write their comments on sheets provided by the instructor. Each person will respond to these questions: 1) has the author fulfilled all the requirements of the assignment? 2) what catches one's attention in this paper? 3) What would like to know more about? Are there interesting topics here that the writer mentions but hasn't clearly articulated? The process grade (20 pts) will be given on the basis of the draft which must be handed in with the comments from group members.

*Product

Each student is responsible for editing the first draft and handing in a well-written, well-organized paper free of spelling and grammatical errors. If you need help, ask a friend, go to the writing center or make an appointment with me. Ultimately it is your responsibility and if the paper is not well written you will lose 7 pts. (80 pts)

Assignment # 2: due Dec 1, 1999

Topic: Feminist Consciousness in Sultana's Dream.

The purpose of this assignment is to encourage you to reflect on how women in non-western countries began to criticize their own societies.

Read: Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Sultana's Dream and Selections from the Secluded Ones and write an essay in which you include the following: Explain who Begin Rokeya was, where she lived, how she grew up, how she gained an education, and what motivated her to begin writing about women's issues and opening schools for girls.

The society Rokeya lived in practiced purdah. What does this term mean and why did Rokeya think purdah and seclusion were harmful to women? Summarize her two major written works that addressed the issue of female seclusion. What did she want to accomplish with her writing?

Do you think she was successful? Would you describe Rokeya as a feminist (you will need to define the term feminism)? Whether or not she was a feminist, she had a "feminist consciousness" -since we know she didn't read western books by women like Mary Wollstonecroft, where did Rokeya learn her feminism?

Length: 800-1000 words, typed or computer printed, 12 pt, 1 " margins Sources: Use the assigned book and indicate, throughout the paper, what page you are referring to with MLA style footnotes or endnotes.

*Process

Each student will read a draft of her/his essay to his/her Group. Those listening will write her/his comments on paper handed out by the instructor and give them to the reader. Each will respond to these questions: 1) has the author answered all the questions clearly? 2) what catches one's attention in this paper? 3) What would like to know more about? Are there interesting topics here that the writer mentions but hasn't clearly articulated? The process grade (20 pts) will be given on the basis of the draft which must be handed in with 4 cards from group members.

*Product

Each student is responsible for editing the first draft and handing in a well-written, well-organized

paper free of spelling and grammatical errors. If you need help, ask a friend, go to the writing center or make an appointment with me. Ultimately it is your responsibility and if the paper is not well written you will lose 7 pts. (80 pts)

Please Note:

** Attendance is required. If you miss a class you are required to hand in a paper (600 wd min) in which you answer the questions for the day you missed.

*** COPYING, CHEATING AND/OR PLAGIARISM (to practice fraud, act dishonestly or falsely claim the work of others as one's own) WILL, AT MINIMUM, RESULT IN A DROP IN THE FINAL GRADE. Please be aware that this must be taken seriously.