HISTORY OF U.S. WOMEN SINCE 1890
(History 5468-01 for Graduate Students)
Instructor: Cita Cook Spring Semester 2003
Office: 3210 TLC (770-836-4555) email: ccook@westga.edu
Office Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 2:00-4:30
Other times, by appointment
Class Meetings: Wednesday, 5:30-8:00, 206 Pafford
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students will learn basic developments in the history of women, as individuals and in groups, in the United States since 1890. In their essays, exams, discussions, and other work, they will demonstrate the ability to analyze what women (as individuals and in groups) did to affect the development of modern U.S. society, what problems they faced, what they did to try to overcome those problems, and how this all varied for women in different circumstances. Graduate students will also demonstrate in discussions and written assignments the ability to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of how different scholars have researched and discussed the history of American women.
TEXTBOOKS
Nancy Woloch, Women and the American Experience, Third Edition
Susan Ware, Modern American Women: A Documentary History
Anzia Yezierska, Bread Givers
Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi
Kathryn Kish Sklar and Thomas Dublin, Women and Power in American Hisotry from 1870, Volume II, Second Edition
There will also be frequent handouts of other readings, some for all students and some only for graduate students. It is highly recommended that everyone find and review regularly a second volume of any fairly recent textbook covering the history of the United States since 1865 as you will be expected to be familiar with the most significant developments in U.S. history.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
I. Class Attendance, Participation, and Short Assignments - 10% of the semester grade
A. Class Attendance: The typical class will involve a combination of lecture, discussion, and occasional videotapes. Some of the information and ideas of the course will be presented or explained only in class, so you should take some notes during the lectures. Regular attendance is required. If you have to miss a class, you are responsible for discussing with me whether it is excused and for arranging to get any handouts, to find out what was covered in class, and to make up any missed assignments. You should average at least six hours of study a week for the class (two hours for every hour in class). If you are doing this and still feel confused or overwhelmed, it is a good idea to make an appointment to meet with me or to discuss your concerns by telephone. Too often instructors find out too late about problems that could have been solved fairly easily with earlier notification.
We shall set aside a special time each week when the graduate students will meet with me as a group to evaluate the articles assigned only to you and to discuss your special projects. You are required to make at least two appointments (which can be by phone) during the semester to discuss your special project with me. At least one meeting should be within the first two weeks of the semester and at least one within the first two weeks after the midterm exam.
B. Weekly Reading and Comment Sheets: Each assignment will include a list of study questions and identifications to indicate what you should be learning from the reading and what you need to study for the tests. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ANSWER THE STUDY QUESTIONS IN WRITING and I do not have time to correct attempts to do so. If you are not sure of the answer to any of the questions, please ask about them in class and/or in your weekly comments. The assignment sheets will include a list of the basic developments in American history that you need to know to understand the reading. If they are unfamiliar to you, refer to any basic text in American history and only then, if necessary, ask about them.
The class discussions, including the separate discussions with only graduate students, will be conducted on the assumption that everyone has read all of the reading assigned for that day. Ask any questions or say what you had trouble understanding, but always be prepared to present some kind of reaction to the reading.
Everyone is required to hand in a Comment Sheet each week, indicating briefly what you consider the most significant points in the reading, any thoughts you have about the material covered in the reading and in class, and/or any questions you have, including any positive or negative reactions to the reading or class. Always give your sense of the strengths and weaknesses of the essays assigned only to graduate students as well as any questions or other thoughts you have about them. Prospective teachers may add thoughts on how you might teach the material we have covered that week. Although the comment sheets will not be graded, THE CREDIT YOU RECEIVE FOR PARTICIPATION WILL DEPEND ON WHETHER OR NOT YOUR COMMENTS SHEETS SHOW THAT YOU HAVE DONE THE READING AND EVALUATED THE GRADUATE STUDENT ARTICLES. They will be handed back so you can receive feedback from me and use them for review.
C. Short Assignments: There may be a few short graded homework assignments. This includes a family history due on January 22 that will be explained on a separate sheet.
II. Essays - 45% of the semester grade
A 4-7 page essays (typed, unless you have special permission) will be assigned on the books by Yezierska (due February 12) and a shorter one on Moody (due April 23). You will receive a handout with specific directions at least two weeks before each essay is due. You will also write a 12-15 page review essay of several articles and books on a particular topic (due April 23 and counting 25%). You will receive a handout of directions for it. Each student should discuss with me by the third week the particular focus you wish to take for the review essay and hand in progress reports at several points during the semester. With special permission, students working toward a Master’s degree in Education may include some lesson plan material as part of this assignment.
Every spring the History Department awards the Elizabeth L. Parker Prize for the best paper on the history of Georgia, with an award of $100. Students who wish to submit a paper for this award may substitute for the review essay a research paper of 10-30 pages on the history of twentieth century women in Georgia based on an approved list of at least four primary and four secondary sources, one of which must be a journal article. Students earning an A or B on this paper will also receive some extra credit toward the semester grade. Anyone wishing to do such a paper should make an appointment within the first two weeks of the semester to discuss a possible topic and to be given more specifics of the requirements set by the contest.
III. Open Book In-Class Essay - 5% of the semester grade
On January 29, you will answer in class an essay question using any books or notes that you wish. This is to give you a chance to gain feedback on the kinds of essay questions that will be asked on the (closed book) exams.
IV. Exams - 40% of the semester grade
There will be a two hour midterm (on February 26) and a final examination (on April 30) based on both the reading and the class lectures, with each counting 20%. The final exam will include some choice between questions covering the whole semester and questions covering just the second half of the semester. The exams will not require any specific information that was not covered in the study questions, but you may have to think about the information in a new way. Each test will involve a combination of identifications and essay questions of varying lengths. If you miss a test because of a validated excuse and prior permission of the instructor, you are responsible for arranging a time to make it up.
V. Academic Honesty
All work handed in at the State University of West Georgia should reflect only the work of an individual student. This does not mean that students should not study together, only that they need to work alone when doing the final version of an assignment. Any use of the ideas, information, or words of anyone else, including paraphrasing of the words and ideas, without crediting them is plagiarism and is a crime. A direct quote of the words (even only a few words) of someone else must be in quotation marks as well as have a note of its source. Any clear evidence of plagiarism or any other kind of cheating on a test or any other graded assignment (after consultation with the student) will result in a permanent zero for that assignment. See the section on Academic Honesty in the Catalog or Uncatalog.
(See tentative schedule on the back of this sheet.)
SCHEDULE
This schedule is tentative. Pay attention to the weekly assignment sheets and class announcements for any changes, as well as for the details of what you are expected to read.
1. January 8 - Introduction; American Women at the Turn of the Century
2. January 15 - Women in the South and West
3. January 22 - Immigrant Women
FAMILY HISTORY DUE
4. January 29 - Progressive Reformers
IN CLASS OPEN BOOK ESSAY
5. February 5 - Organizations of Working Women
6. February 12 - Radical Women
ESSAY ON YEZIERSKA’S BOOK DUE
7. February 19 - World War I and Women’s Suffrage
8. February 26 - Women in the Twenties
MIDTERM EXAM
9. March 5 - Women in the Thirties
10. March 12 - Women in World War II
SPRING VACATION - NO CLASS ON MARCH 19
11. March 26 - Women after World War II
12. April 2 - Women in the Civil Rights Movement
13. April 9 - Women in the Sixties
14. April 16 - Women in the Seventies
15. April 23 - Women in Recent Decades
SHORT ESSAY ON MOODY’S BOOK AND REVIEW ESSAY DUE
April 30 - FINAL EXAM