WOMEN IN AMERICAN HISTORY

This course examines through women’s eyes the images and realities of women’s social, political, and economic lives in America from the 1600’s to the present day. We analyze women in relation to legal, religious, and social restrictions, women’s roles in 19th century moral reform movements, the birth of the women’s rights movement, and the immigrant experience. An important component of the course will be women’s activism and women’s roles in social movements in the latter half of the 20th century, including civil rights, women’s liberation, and gay and lesbian rights. The course concludes with an assessment of feminism in the present day.