Women's Suffrage: Gender, Politics and Power

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In 2020, the United States is commemorating the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which prohibited the denial of voting rights on the basis of sex. In this course, we will take the occasion of the centennial to explore the place of women's suffrage in the development of American democracy and the political empowerment of women. We will examine such topics as the meaning of citizenship, the place of voting in the American democratic system, the woman suffrage movement and other feminist movements, the anti-suffrage movement and other conservative movements, and the participation of women in various political roles, including as candidates and office-holders. We will approach these topics with an explicitly intersectional lens, exploring the ways in which gender, race/ethnicity, and class, in particular, shape politics and power in the United States. Students in this course will also participate in a DPAC Learning Beyond the Classics film course (4-6 weeks) on women/s suffrage.