Introduction to Historical Research on Women, Gender and Sexuality
FGSS 269
Spring 2012
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
HIST 179 |
"The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it" -- Oscar Wilde, The Critic As Artist (1890)
Until the 1960s, women were absent from much historical writing. The detractors argued that there were no historical sources about women and gender. In recent decades, historians have discovered not only new sources, but they also have turned to previously known sources to write about women and gender. It is now clear that there is a plethora of source material fostering a vibrant field of study. This seminar will look at those sources, such as diaries and letters, material and visual artifacts, quantitative data, and government documents, to tell new stories about the past. We will ponder the types of evidence historians use to show how and why systems of gender and sexuality have reorganized over time. This seminar will also consider how the idea of gender as something that needs to be historicized has influenced historical writing on different periods and geographic places. Students will learn techniques for using a variety of different types of historical sources to approach the past. Throughout the course, attention will be paid to the intersection of gender with other primary modes of power: race, class, sexuality, nationalism, and ethnicity. The course is especially appropriate for prospective history and feminist, gender, and sexuality studies majors, though all students interested in using gender as a category of historical analysis for their scholarly work in other fields are welcome. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Interpretation, Writing
Students will write short papers designed to teach them how to analyze and make use of primary and secondary source materials. A final paper will teach students how to research and write a persuasive research proposal and how to find the primary sources with which they will work. Students will be asked to be individually responsible for presenting articles and structuring discussions; each student will also be asked to present a research proposal at the middle and the end of the semester.
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (FGSS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
TBA
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Examinations and Assignments:
Each student will write four discussion papers. A draft of a research proposal will be handed in at midterm; and a finished 10-15 page research proposal will be due at the end of the semester. Students will present their proposals orally to the rest of the class at midterm and just prior to completing a final draft. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course is a gateway to the FGSS major and to the "Gender and History" concentration in the History Department. |
| Instructor(s): Tucker,Jennifer Times: .M.W... 02:40PM-04:00PM; Location: ALLB004; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 0 | JR major: 0 | | |
| Seats Available: 3 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 0 | JR non-major: 0 | SO: 10 | FR: 5 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 4 | 1st Ranked: 1 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 3 |
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