Women's Voices and Activism in American History

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course traces the history of American women’s activism and pursuit of equal rights from the late eighteen to the twenty-first century. Drawing on primary sources and recent scholarly work, we will investigate how the goals, meaning, and pursuit of gender equality in the United States have changed over time. We will also consider shifting attitudes toward the label “feminist” and how it has been historically understood and deployed. We will approach feminism as an argument—not a received truth—responsive to historical developments and marked by divisions of race, class, sexual orientation, age, and religion. Course readings are organized around major turning points in the American women’s movement and chart significant continuities and contradictions that have animated each new wave, including questions of gender difference, economic dependence, reproductive rights, marriage, subjectivity, and citizenship.