Gender and Mennonites

3 credits · Undergraduate

(3 hrs Lecture/Seminar) This lecture/seminar course examines the role of women and of men in the evolving Mennonite society. It traces these gender roles amongst the Radical Anabaptists of Western Europe, the agrarian Mennonite communities in Russia and North America, and Mennonites in modern, urban centres in North America. The course examines patriarchal structures of Mennonite households, churches and communities, but also focuses on the ways in which women create mechanisms of autonomy and meaning within those structures. The ideas that comprise Mennonite femininity and masculinity receive special attention. Gender is also traced through the Mennonite life cycle, commencing at childhood, and tracked through times of youth, marriage, mid-age, and retirement. The course examines how Mennonite theological teachings, everyday language, modes of production, fertility rates, and national cultures affect ideas of gender in Mennonite society. Cross-listed: MENN-3108(3). Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and MENN-3108.