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Topics in Women’s History: Women in Twentieth Century America
Fall 2006
Professor Michelle Nickerson
TTh 11:00-12:15, JO4.102
Office: JO 5.426
Phone: 972-883-2063
E-mail: michelle.nickerson@utdallas.edu
Office Hours: TTh 3:30-4:30, or gladly by appointment
Course Pre-requisites
Students must complete a lower division history course to be eligible for this class.
Course Description: This course examines women’s history in the United States from
1900 to the present day. The class will study a range of female experiences across class,
race, ethnic and religious lines, following women as they participated in the century’s
major social, political and cultural developments. Themes will include: women’s work;
recreation and the family; political movements; and the formation of gendered racial
identity. We will use different types of texts to cover this breadth of experience,
including autobiographies, fiction and historical monographs. The class examines ways
in which women’s sense of self, private and public experiences, and status have changed
over time. The semester will start with a discussion about women and rights: specifically
the expansion of rights embodied in the suffrage amendment and the constriction of
rights represented by Jim Crow laws. Our conversations will move to debates about
feminism, women and the emergence of the consumer culture, female workers and the
war effort, the revival of domesticity in the post-World War II era, the Civil Rights
movement, the backlash against Women’s Liberation, and contemporary sorority culture.
Student Learning Objectives: The purpose of this class is to provide students with the
historical tools they need to parse out the gendered origins of the world they inhabit. By
the end of the semester, students should be able to:
a. identify how women participated in the major cultural, political, social and
economic transformations of the twentieth century.
b. describe how class, race and ethnic differences shaped women’s experiences of
history.
c. write a coherent historical essay with a thesis, body and conclusion.
d. cite concrete historical evidence to prove historical arguments.
Required Texts:
The following books can be purchased at the UTD bookstore or at Off Campus Books
located at 581 W. Campbell Road, #101.
1. Theresa Malkiel, Diary of a Shirtwaist Striker
2. Kathy Peiss, Hope in a Jar: The Making of American Beauty Culture (Owl Books,
ISBN: 0805055517)
2. Trudier Harris, "White Men as Performers in the Lynching Ritual" in David Roediger,
ed., Black on White: Black Writers on What It Means to Be White, pp. 299-304.
3. Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, “The Mind that Burns in Each Body: Women, Rape and Racial
Violence,” in Powers of Desire : The Politics of Sexuality, ed. Ann Snitow, et. al. (New
York: Monthly Review Press, 1983).
4. Sonya Michel and Robyn Rosen, “The Paradox of Maternalism: Elizabeth Lowell
Putnam and the American Welfare State,” Gender&History 4, no. 3 (Autumn 1992).
5. Hazel Carby, "It Jus Be's Dat Way Sometime: The Sexual Politics of Women's Blues,"
Radical America 20:4 (1986), 9-22.
6. Elaine Tyler May, Chap. 3: “War and Peace,” in Homeward Bound: American
Families and the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, 1988).
7. Nickerson: “Moral Mothers and Goldwater Girls,” The Conservative Sixties, eds.
David Farber and Jeff Roche (New York: Peter Lang).
8. Betty Friedan, “The Problem That Has No Name,” in The Feminine Mystique (New
York, Dell Publishing Co. , 1963).
9. bell hooks, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (Boston: South End Press, 1981),
Chapters 1&2.
10. bell hooks, Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism (Boston: South End Press,
1984), ch. 3.
11. Jane Mansbridge, Why We Lost the ERA (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1983), pp. 1-7, 178-91.
12. Caitlin Flanagan, “The Virgin Bride,” To Hell with All That: Loving and Loathing
Our Inner Housewife, pp. 3-22 (New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2006).
Course Schedule
Week 1 8/17
Th Week 1)
Introduction
Week 2) 8/22-8/24
T Female Moral Authority
Reading: COURSE RESERVE: Mary Harris Jones, The Autobiography of Mother Jones
(New York: Dover Publications, Inc, 2004), Chapters 1&5.
Week 3) 8/29-8/31
T From Clubwomen to Feminism
Reading: start Theresa Malkiel, Diary of a Shirtwaist Striker.
Week 4) 9/5-9/7
T Suffrage
Reading: Start Kathy Peiss, Hope in a Jar, Intro, Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Week 5) 9/12-9/14
T Beauty Culture
Reading: Kathy Peiss, Hope in a Jar, Intro, Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Paper 1 Due
Week 6) 9/19-9/21
T Modernity and Sexuality
Reading: COURSE RESERVE: Hazel Carby, "It Jus Be's Dat Way Sometime: The
Sexual Politics of Women's Blues."
Th Women and the Great Depression
Reading: Born for Liberty, 197-218.
Week 7) 9/26-9/28
T Screening: Rosie the Riveter
Week 8) 10/3-10/5
T Women and World War II
Reading: Monica Sone, Nisei Daughter
Th Midterm
Week 9) 10/10-10/12
T Postwar Domesticity
Reading: COURSE RESERVE: Elaine Tyler May, Chap. 3: “War and Peace,” in
Homeward Bound.
Th No class meeting, but start reading Ann Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi.
Week 10)10/17-10/19
T Women and Anti-Communism
Reading: COURSE RESERVE: Nickerson: “Moral Mothers and Goldwater Girls.”
Th Thanksgiving
Grading Policy: Course evaluation will be based on class participation, two writing
assignments and two exams. See the aforementioned items listed in the course objectives
to understand the criteria I will use to determine your grade.
Scale:
Class Participation 5%
First Paper 20%
Second Paper 25%
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 25%
Assignments: The writing assignments and exams are designed to test your knowledge of
the material, your critical thinking skills and your ability to articulate your ideas clearly.
The papers you submit, 3-4 pages each, will respond to interpretive questions drawn
from the assigned reading and classroom discussions. Since understanding history
requires more than memorization of historical figures and events, it is absolutely critical
that you learn how to craft an essay with a strong thesis, followed by evidence and a
conclusion. No additional reading or research will be required to complete these papers.
No late assignments will be accepted.
The exams will cover two separate sections of the course. They will include essays and
identification questions. The final exam, to take place during the final examination
period, will not be cumulative but based instead on the second half of class. There will
be no make-up exams.
Course & Instructor Policies Class Participation: You will be expected to come to
every class having done all the reading. Be prepared to answer questions and talk about
the assigned books and articles because I will be calling on you individually. Attendance
is mandatory. More than two unexcused absences will result in a letter grade
deduction. Cell phones and pagers must be turned off during class. Please do not come
in late. I will institute a lateness policy if it becomes a problem. All writing assignments
will be submitted as (1) a hard copy to me (2) an electronic copy to turnitin.com.
The University of Texas System and The University of Texas at Dallas have rules
and regulations for the orderly and efficient conduct of their business. It is the
responsibility of each student and each student organization to be knowledgeable
about the rules and regulations which govern student conduct and activities.
General information on student conduct and discipline is contained in the UTD
publication, A to Z Guide, which is provided to all registered students each
academic year.
A student at the university neither loses the rights nor escapes the responsibilities
of citizenship. He or she is expected to obey federal, state, and local laws as well
as the Regents’ Rules, university regulations, and administrative rules. Students
are subject to discipline for violating the standards of conduct whether such
conduct takes place on or off campus, or whether civil or criminal penalties are
also imposed for such conduct.
Academic Integrity
The faculty expects from its students a high level of responsibility and academic
honesty. Because the value of an academic degree depends upon the absolute
integrity of the work done by the student for that degree, it is imperative that a
student demonstrate a high standard of individual honor in his or her scholastic
work.
Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, acts or omissions
related to applications for enrollment or the award of a degree, and/or the
submission as one’s own work or material that is not one’s own. As a general
rule, scholastic dishonesty involves one of the following acts: cheating,
plagiarism, collusion and/or falsifying academic records. Students suspected of
academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary proceedings.
Plagiarism, especially from the web, from portions of papers for other classes, and
from any other source is unacceptable and will be dealt with under the
university’s policy on plagiarism (see general catalog for details). This course
will use the resources of turnitin.com, which searches the web for possible
plagiarism and is over 90% effective.
Email Use
The administration of this institution has set deadlines for withdrawal of any
college-level courses. These dates and times are published in that semester's
course catalog. Administration procedures must be followed. It is the student's
responsibility to handle withdrawal requirements from any class. In other words, I
cannot drop or withdraw any student. You must do the proper paperwork to
ensure that you will not receive a final grade of "F" in a course if you choose not
to attend the class once you are enrolled.
Procedures for student grievances are found in Title V, Rules on Student Services
and Activities, of the university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures.
Copies of these rules and regulations are available to students in the Office of the
Dean of Students, where staff members are available to assist students in
interpreting the rules and regulations.
As per university policy, incomplete grades will be granted only for work
unavoidably missed at the semester’s end and only if 70% of the course work has
been completed. An incomplete grade must be resolved within eight (8) weeks
from the first day of the subsequent long semester. If the required work to
complete the course and to remove the incomplete grade is not submitted by the
specified deadline, the incomplete grade is changed automatically to a grade of F.
Disability Services
Essentially, the law requires that colleges and universities make those reasonable
adjustments necessary to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability. For
example, it may be necessary to remove classroom prohibitions against tape
recorders or animals (in the case of dog guides) for students who are blind.
Occasionally an assignment requirement may be substituted (for example, a
research paper versus an oral presentation for a student who is hearing impaired).
Classes enrolled students with mobility impairments may have to be rescheduled
in accessible facilities. The college or university may need to provide special
services such as registration, note-taking, or mobility assistance.
It is the student’s responsibility to notify his or her professors of the need for such
an accommodation. Disability Services provides students with letters to present
to faculty members to verify that the student has a disability and needs
accommodations. Individuals requiring special accommodation should contact
the professor after class or during office hours.
The University of Texas at Dallas will excuse a student from class or other
required activities for the travel to and observance of a religious holy day for a
religion whose places of worship are exempt from property tax under Section
11.20, Tax Code, Texas Code Annotated.
If a student or an instructor disagrees about the nature of the absence [i.e., for the
purpose of observing a religious holy day] or if there is similar disagreement
about whether the student has been given a reasonable time to complete any
missed assignments or examinations, either the student or the instructor may
request a ruling from the chief executive officer of the institution, or his or her
designee. The chief executive officer or designee must take into account the
legislative intent of TEC 51.911(b), and the student and instructor will abide by
the decision of the chief executive officer or designee.
These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the
Professor.