Women and the American Experience

Catalog description

Selected aspects of the role of women in United States history and culture from colonial to modern times. AMST 104 / WMNST 104 Women and the American Experience (3) (GH;US)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. AMST 104 / WMNST 104 is a broad-ranging introduction to women in American history and culture from colonial to modern times. While specific topics may vary from class to class, this survey course examines the history of American women, paying particular attention to issues of race and diversity and examining how American women's cultural, political, and economic roles have changed over time. Major themes and topics might include: work and the sexual division of labor; civic activities and the political dimensions of women's historical experience; political power and processes in American history; the role of family and personal life; women as active makers of history in the full range of national experience; the influences of art, literature, popular culture, technology, geography, regionalism, religion, immigration, and other sociological and cultural factors. This course offers students valuable experience in critical thinking, analysis, and writing and a broad introduction to American women's issues, and so serves as preparation for more advanced courses in American studies, American literature, American women's history, and women's and gender studies. AMST 104 / WMNST 104 counts towards the American Studies major and minor and the Women's Studies major and minor.