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Catalog Description Advisory: Eligibility for ENGL C1000 Hours: 54 lecture Description: Survey of women's roles in American history from its pre-colonial origins to the present. Emphasis on women's experiences and contributions to historical developments regarding social, economic, and cultural life, government, politics, personal issues, the U.S. Constitution, race and racism, ethnicity, sexuality and gender. (CSU, UC) Course Student Learning Outcomes CSLO #1: Compose coherent, persuasive historical argument using correct academic citation methods. CSLO #2: Differentiate primary and secondary sources and how each are used to make historical claims. CSLO #3: Identify and analyze gender expectations within American society with emphasis on geography, race, class and ethnicity. CSLO #4: Investigate major political, economic and social changes in the United States with emphasis on the role of gender, race, and/or ethnicity. CSLO #5: Investigate the origins of the American Constitution and its impact on American cultural developments with emphasis on gender, race and/or class. Effective Term Fall 2026 Course Type Credit - Degree-applicable Contact Hours 54 Outside of Class Hours 108 Total Student Learning Hours 162 Course Objectives 1. Demonstrate the ability to interpret primary and secondary sources and to compose an argument which uses them, as appropriate, for support 2. Identify and describe gender expectations within American history and the broad implications of these expectations for American women and men 3. Identify and describe the social, economic, cultural, and political contributions women have made collectively to the evolution of American society and contextualize these contributions within specific periods of American history -- e.g., colonial, antebellum, late 19th century, progressive era, the Depression, post-World War II 4. Identify individual women who have uniquely contributed to the evolution of American society and describe their social, cultural, or political contributions within the context of specific periods of American history 5. Identify, describe, and critique the changing societal assumptions and expectations regarding the roles that women were to play personally, socially, and culturally and contextualize these assumptions and expectations within specific periods of American history 6. Identify, describe, and critique the changing societal assumptions and expectations regarding the roles women are to play in family life and contextualize these assumptions and expectations within specific periods of American history 7. Identify, describe, and critique the ways in which sex and gender have been part of women's historic experiences both as personal identifiers and as societal categories 8. Identify and analyze the principle personal, social, and political issues of women's rights for each of the major periods of American history 9. Compare and contrast the philosophy and development of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights to the realities of women's legal and political experiences 10. Compare women's experiences in Colonial America and the United States to experiences in Europe, Africa, and Asia, with specific focus on the role of immigration and cultural change and continuity 11. Identify, describe, and critique the ways in which race, ethnicity, nativity, and class have been part of women's historic experiences both as personal identifiers and as societal categories General Education Information Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability AA/AS - Arts and Humanities AA/AS - Literature & Language AA/AS - Social Sciences AA/AS - Social and Behavioral Sciences AA/AS - Multicultural Studies CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval) CSU - US1 Hist/Const/Amer Idea CSU - US2 Hist/Const/Amer Idea CSUGE - C2 Humanities CSUGE - D4 Gender Studies CSUGE - D6 History Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval) IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval) IGETC - 3B Humanities IGETC - 4F History Articulation Information CSU Transferable UC Transferable Methods of Evaluation Classroom Discussions Example: 1. Describe as many common American gender assumptions and gender expectations as you can. 2. Should women be eligible for the draft? Does eligibility for the draft imply first class citizenship, and exemption from the draft imply second class citizenship? 3. Should the US Constitution be amended to include an Equal Rights Amendment? Essay Examinations Example: 1. Choose one of the following groups and define the experiences of women within each group and then compare and contrast the experiences of women between the two groups that you have chosen. Groups: a. white women in colonial Massachusetts Bay colony b. white women in Chesapeake Bay/Virginia colony ; African American slave women in the colonial South; Native American women involved in the fur trade through marriage a la facon du pays. Your essay should be thorough and should include substantiation from the readings as well as from class lectures. DO NOT focus your essay on the experiences of a single woman within your group but on the group as a whole. Essays will be graded with a rubric. 2. Power--in the traditional historical narrative a male preserve--has been redefined during the last thirty years by including women within the historical record. Define what power means to you in terms of women's experience in American history and then describe through examples from your readings and from class lectures the ways in which two of the following groups exercised power for themselves within the context of their times. Groups: a. African American slave women in the colonial south b. colonial women supporters of the American Revolution c. middle class, educated white women living in the mid-1800s d. suffragettes 1848 -1880. Be sure to address the values and beliefs of the dominant culture that dictated how American women were expected to operate at a given time. Be thorough. Essays will be graded with a rubric. Objective Examinations Example: 1. 25 multiple choice, 10 true/false and five matching questions covering Women's History from the Pre-Colombian period to the American Revolution. 1.“The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” written by Julia Ward Howe, was written in: a.1861 b.1865 c.1776 d.1857 Projects Example: 1. Students, in pairs, will create a visual presentation to place in the Quad during Social Justice week for public view that relates to Women's History on 3-Panel Poster Board. Students will be graded on the accuracy and presentation quality of the project. Reports Example: 1. Students choose a category (medicine, science, sports, politics, lesbians, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, African Americans, law, business, etc..) and for 10 points submit a 1 page, single-spaced biography with sources about a significant American woman within that category. 2. Students attend a feminist play, reading, talk, or watch a feminist film and, for 10 points, write a 1-2 page report describing the event and its significance. Repeatable No Methods of Instruction Lecture/Discussion Distance Learning Lecture: Instructor will present a lecture with primary sources that compares and contrasts the privileges, responsibilities, and protections of American citizenship as defined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights with the realities of American citizenship for women during key periods of American history (e.g., post-American Revolution, Early Republic, Civil War and Reconstruction, Progressive Era). Instructor presents a lecture/class discussion that will analyze through oral history interviews with local women and videos the meanings attached to the word "feminist" and historical correlations to these meanings. This lecture will identify women who have contributed to the evolution of American society within the context of specific periods of American history. Instructor presents a lecture analyzing the possible historical correlations to the gendered beliefs presented in LYBW presentations. This lecture will critical evaluate how sex and gender have been a part of women's historical experiences utilizing primary sources and secondary sources. Instructor will present a lecture with primary sources that analyzes the fight for women’s suffrage during the mid-19th century. Class period will include an in-class examination of the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. Discussion will include groups both in support of suffrage and those who opposed. Instructor will present a lecture on Eugenics and forced sterilization. Supreme Court decision Buck v. Bell as well as primary source material in the form of survivor statements and interviews will be evaluated. Issues of race and economic status will be addressed in the in-class discussion. This lecture will include connections between the Constitution and the United States Supreme Court and women’s rights. Distance Learning The instructor will assign a Discussion Board assignment in the online course, which requires the students to compare and contrast the strategies of suffrage activists in the early 20th Century. The students must then respond to two students in the discussion board. Typical Out of Class Assignments Reading Assignments 1. In Kerber and De Hart, read the selections on word power and analyze them in the context of this question: "Define the word power from a woman's viewpoint circa 1500 - 1700 and substantiate your definition with examples from your reading in Kerber and De Hart. 2. Read Deborah Gray White's, Ar'n't I a Woman? and analyze the intersection of gender, race and objectification in an essay focused on the Jezebel and Mammy myth. 3. Read a selection of letters between John and Abigail Adams and compare their philosophy on the role of women in the new nation. Consider how each would interpret the success of the Constitution in creating an American political community. 4. Read a selection of primary documents related to the fight to add an Equal Rights Amendment into the Federal Constitution in the 1970's. Analyze and critically evaluate both the pro-ERA and anti-ERA arguments. Writing, Problem Solving or Performance 1. ESSAY. In Kerber and DeHart, read the section "Early America: 1660-1820" and analyze power in the context of this question: Define the word power from a women's viewpoint through time. Substantiate your analysis with examples from Native women, Early colonial white women and African/African American slave women. 1. CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW ESSAY. "We are all Americans": For this assignment you will prepare a four-to-five page review of the Constitutional developments relevant to American women's citizenship. Your essay should address the contradictions between the language of the Constitution and Bill of Rights and the realities of Constitutional privileges and protections for women. Make sure to explore the historical competition between gender and race as definers of U.S. citizenship. Remember to clearly cite SPECIFIC points of the Constitution and Bill of Rights in constructing your arguments, and to cover in your analyses 18th, 19th, and 20th century Constitutional developments. 2. LOVE YOUR BODY WEEK ESSAY: Attend at least two LYBW presentations that explore the connection between sex and gender as personal identifiers in society today and compare to the historical perception of women in the 19th century. Include in your analysis the role of class and race in the evolution of female objectification. Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.) Required Materials American Women's History: A New Narrative History Author: Melissa Blair, Vanessa Holden and Maeve Kane Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publication Date: 2023 Text Edition: 1st Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: Arn't I a Woman? Author: White Publisher: Norton Publication Date: 1999 Text Edition: Rev Ed Classic Textbook?: Yes OER Link: OER: A People's History of the United States Author: Zinn Publisher: Harper Publication Date: 2010 Text Edition: Dlx Rep Classic Textbook?: Yes OER Link: OER: Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.