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Office: Rice 313 |
email: carol.lasser@oberlin.edu |
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Office phone: X6712 |
home phone: 774-3087 (reasonable hours please) |
This class explores when and how particular women emerge to shape and participate in critical social movements. It examines how class, race, and historical moment shape women's activism. The class is framed around several specific movements that have been especially important in constructing a tradition of activism for women.
Books to purchase:
Kathryn Kish Sklar, Women's Rights Emerges with the Antislavery Movement, 1830-1870
Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Jane Addams, Twenty Years at Hull House
Ida B. Wells, Crusade for Justice
David Garrow, ed., The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It : the Memoir of Jo Ann Gibson Robinson
Sarah Evans, Personal Politics
Note: Other readings will be available on Reserve at the Library, or on Electronic Reserve
Schedule of Classes:
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Wednesday, September 6 |
Introduction: Activism, Gender and American History Discussion Question:What is an activist woman? click here for class thoughts on activist women Video Showing: Salt of the Earth, part I Discussion of Choices for Antislavery Biographies Project |
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Monday, September 11 |
Video Showing: Salt of the Earth, Part II Finalization of Choices for Antislavery Biographies Project Further Discussion: what is an activist woman?
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Wednesday, September 13 |
Antislavery and Women's Activism: the First Wave Reading assignment:
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Monday, September 18 |
The Fugitive Slave as Activist Woman
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Wednesday, September 20 |
Writing Workshop: We will spend some time talking about your first writing assignment. The topic: How do we define and understand women's activism in historical context. Your first paper will be due in a week, on September 27. The paper should be 3-5 pages in length, double-spaced in a 12 point font. You will need to be sure to cite your sources appropriately Assignment for class: come with an outline and an introductory paragraph for discussion |
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Monday, September 25 |
African American women's Activism in the Antislavery Movement Reading Assignment:
Discussion of Biographies Project
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Wednesday, September 27 |
First Paper Due: Library Presentation in Support of Biographies Project
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Stay Tuned for Information! |
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Monday, October 2 |
The Archetype Antebellum Activist Women? Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton Video: "Not For Ourselves Alone": The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
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Wednesday, October 4 |
How Did Antislavery Activist Women Weather the Civil War and Reconstruction? You will make your presentation today on your Antislavery Biographies Project
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Monday, October 9 |
NO CLASS: YOM KIPPUR
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Wednesday, October 11 |
Further Biographies Presentation; viewing of "Not For Ourselves Alone" (time permitting) |
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Monday, October 23 |
The Classic American Woman Reformer: Reading Assignment:
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Wednesday, October 25 |
Black Women's Activism and the Rise of Jim Crow Reading Assignment
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Monday, October 30 |
Black Women's Activism and the Rise of Jim Crow Reading Assignment
Assignment Due November 13: you will write a short paper (3-5 pages) on lynching as a problem in women's activism. You may want to consider: how did African American and white women approach the issue differently? Was it possible to create a cross-racial alliance? Did gender give women a particular perspective on lynching? We will discuss this assignment briefly in class.
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Wednesday, November 2 |
Labor, Peace, and Sexual Radicalism: The Romance of Greenwich Village Video Showing: Margaret Sanger: A Public Nuisance
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Monday, November 6 |
Labor Radicalism in the Great Depression Video Showing: Union Maids |
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Wednesday, November 8 |
White Women, Race and Lynching in the Twentieth-Century South Reading Assignment:
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Monday, November 13 |
Assignment Due: you will write a short paper (3-5 pages) on lynching as a problem in women's activism. You may want to consider: how did African American and white women approach the issue differently? Was it possible to create a cross-racial alliance? Did gender give women a particular perspective on lynching?
Race, Work and War Video Showing: The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter |
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Wednesday, November 15 |
Introduction of Final Project Assignment: You will do a Biographical Study of a Twentieth-Century Activist Woman. As with your Antislavery Biographies Project, you will be provided with a list of possibilities, although you may, in consultation with me, determine a subject not on the list. You will make a 12-15 minute presentation on your subject to the class, and will also write a 6-8 page paper on your subject, based at least in part on primary sources. We will discuss this assignment in class. Video Showing: With Babies and Banners
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Monday, November 20 |
The Emergence of the Civil Rights Movement Reading Assignment:
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Wednesday, November 22 |
No Class: Get Ready for Thanksgiving |
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Monday, November 27 |
Emergence of Second Wave Feminism Reading Assignment:
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Wednesday, November 30 |
Black Women's Activism: Civil Rights and Women's Equality Video: Fundi: the Story of Ella Baker Reading Assignment: Cynthia Griggs Fleming, "Black Women Activists and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee: The Case of Ruby Doris Smith," probably on Electronic Reserve, also in Darlene Clark Hine, Wilma King and Linda Reed, We Specialize in the Wholly Impossible: A Reader in Black Women's History, pp. 561-577ose Women's Movement? |
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Monday, December 4 |
Into the 1970s: Whose Women's Movement? Reading Assignment:
Video: Jane: An Abortion Service |
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Wednesday, December 6 |
Project Presentations |
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Monday, December 11 |
Project Presentations |
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Wednesday, December 13 |
Project Presentations |
Assignments and Grading
Grading is an art, not a science. To do well in this course, students should come to class prepared; that is, you should complete reading assigned for the day, and prepare presentations when assigned. You should be ready to engage in discussion. You are expected to attend all classes. If you must miss class, please try to notify me in advance; and in any case, even after the fact if necessary, please explain to me the reason for your absence. Attendance and class participation will be considered in assigning a grade for the class.
You have four writing assignments, two of which also involve class presentations:
Assignment #1: How do we define and understand women's activism in historical context. Your first paper will be due in a week, on September 27. The paper should be 3-5 pages in length, double-spaced in a 12 point font. You will need to be sure to cite your sources appropriately.
- September 20: Introductory paragraph and outline due
- September 27: Paper due
Assignment #3: a short paper (3-5 pages) on lynching as a problem in women's activism. You may want to consider: how did African American and white women approach the issue differently? Was it possible to create a cross-racial alliance? Did gender give women a particular perspective on lynching?
- November 13: Paper due