HST 485: Seminar in American History --
Masculinity and Femininity in American Culture
Instructor: Dr. Brad D. Hume Office:
Humanities (HM) 433
Phone: 93381
Email: brad.hume@notes.udayton.edu
Web: http://academic.udayton.edu/BradHume
Office Hours: Thurs. 2-4 and by appointment.
Objectives of the Course: Since the 1980s a number of scholars have investigated women's and men's roles in history using such concepts as gender, sex, femininity and masculinity. In this course we will read some of the best work and look at how these conceptual tools have been revised. Students will gain an appreciation for the history and historiography of this exciting cultural history field. Students will also improve their research skills and write a research paper relating to the course topics.
This syllabus is subject to change.
Assignments: Your grade will be based on your participation in class (40%), preliminary paper assignments (20%), student presentation (%10), and your final paper (30%). Seminars involve some intensive reading, a great deal of discussion, and original research on your part. The focus is more on all of us working together to consider historical events, historiographical shifts, and methods for defining and grappling with historical questions. Be proactive: if you don't understand something, look it up; if you don't know what events the author is referring to, try to find out what they were. Don't rely on me to fill in all the gaps -- you are expected to be active scholars in a seminar. See the descriptions of the paper project below and specific dates for preliminary paper assignments on the syllabus calendar. You will receive detailed instructions about the preliminary paper assignments soon.
Research Paper: Each of you will be asked to work on a research paper. Research papers involve historical materials (primary sources) and support from existing historical studies (secondary sources). There are a number of printed historical sources as well as microfilm collections here at Roesch Library. In addition you can also request both primary and secondary sources from Ohiolink (do that as early as you can) and a variety of on-line sources (such as the Making of America Project web sites at Cornell University and the U. of Michigan, which contain full on-line copies of magazines, pamphlets and 1,000s of books). Your paper may be on any topic in American history (colonial era included) as long as femininity and/or masculinity are major components of your discussion. We will discuss that in class. More detailed instructions will be available soon. Don't wait to think about the project, you need to have a topic finalized by 30 September. You will not be permitted to change your topic after that.
Grading:
Course Grades by percentage:
Major assignments will be worth 100 points and your grade will be based on the
following scale:
| 93 –100 = A | 80 – 82 = B- | 67 – 69 = D+ |
| 90 – 92 = A- | 77 – 79 = C+ | 60 – 62 = D- |
| 87 – 89 = B+ | 73 – 76 = C | 63 – 66 = D |
| 83 – 86 = B | 70 – 72 = C- | 59 down = F |
Final Grades will be computed based on points weighted for percentages. For example, if an assignment was worth 30% of your grade and you received an 86, the grade would be computed by taking 86 and multiplying it by .30, or 86 x .30 = 25.8. Grade points with decimals of .5 and above will be rounded to the next whole number. In the above example 25.8 would become 26. In other words 30% at the B level computes to 26 points out of 30 possible in that category and 30 out of 100 total points.
Course Policies:
NOTE: I do NOT give extra credit assignments. Please do NOT come to me at hoping to be able to bring up your grade with extra work. In addition to the Department of History policies, please note the following.
Objectives and General Understanding: This syllabus is designed to give you all the information you need to understand what will happen in this course. You are responsible for reading and understanding this syllabus. I am responsible for making sure that all your questions are answered. Unless you tell me otherwise, I will assume that you have read and understood what we will be doing and how your grade will be determined. You may ask questions at the start of each class, via email, or in my office hours. You are being advised as to major due dates from the very beginning, please be sure to budget your time so that you are not faced with doing last minute work.
Assignments: Unless I specifically say that you may work with others on your assignments, you should assume that all assignments are to be done by you alone. The student handbook has all the definitions of plagiarism and other infractions against the academic code. Be sure to read and understand them so that you do not make any accidental mistakes. If you have any confusion about an assignment be sure to ask me – not another student! – long enough in advance that I will have time to give you a response. I am happy to answer all questions and provide any guidance that I can to help you produce quality work.
Due Dates: All assignments are due in class unless otherwise specified on the date assigned. Late papers will be docked 5 points (roughly one-half grade) for each day late (e.g., 3 days late = 15 points off the total points for the assignment; e.g., an 84 would become a 69). Weekend days count.
Attendance: Attendance and participation in seminars is expected. Come to class prepared with comments, questions, and a willingness to engage the material. Participation is worth 40% of your grade. Take it seriously.
Class Materials and Communications: Most additional materials will be available on my website. Each semester I receive an email address that is really a distribution list (all I see is 03_FA_HST_485_01). I will be using that email address to communicate with you. If you do not use Lotus Notes regularly you will need to have your mail forwarded to your preferred address. Go to notes.udayton.edu and follow the instructions at the web site.
Class Books:
Nancy Isenberg, Sex
and Citizenship in Antebellum
Dana D. Nelson, National
Manhood: Capitalist Citizenship and the Imagined Fraternity of White Men (Duke Univ Press, 1998) ISBN:
0822321491
Wendy Kline, Building a Better
Race (Univ. of
Joanne Meyerowitz, How
Sex Changed : A History of Transsexuality in the United States
(Harvard Univ Press;
2002) ISBN: 0674009258
Reading and Assignment Schedule
W 1 8/25-8/29
Joan W. Scott, "Gender:
A Useful Category of Historical Analysis," The American
Historical Review, Vol. 91, No. 5. (Dec., 1986), pp. 1053-1075.
Peter N. Stearns, "Girls,
Boys, and Emotions: Redefinitions and Historical Change", The
Journal of American History, Vol. 80, No. 1. (Jun., 1993), pp. 36-74.
W 2 9/1-9/5
Isenberg, Introduction-101
Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, "Dis-Covering
the Subject of the "Great Constitutional Discussion," 1786-1789,"
The Journal of American History, Vol. 79, No. 3, Discovering America: A
Special Issue. (Dec., 1992), pp. 841-873.
W 3 9/8-9/12
Isenberg, 101-204; Nelson, Preface-101
W 4 9/15-9/19
Nelson, 102-237
Arnaldo Testi, The
Gender of Reform Politics: Theodore Roosevelt and the Culture of Masculinity,
The Journal of American History, Vol. 81, No. 4. (Mar., 1995), pp.
1509-1533.
Paper Topics and a paragraph about the paper due
Order Ohiolink books early!!!
W 5 9/22-9/26
Research Week
W 6 9/29-10/3
Topic: Masculinity and the American Western
Readings: TBA
Special Guest: Anthony B. Smith, Religious Studies, U. D.
Class will meet in Sears Recital Hall (first floor, Humanities building), hand in assignment:
Preliminary Bibliographies due; all project topics
MUST be finalized by this date.
W 7 10/6-10/10
Research week, no class
W 8 10/13-10/17
Research week, no class
W 9 10/20-10/24
Research week, no class
W 10 10/27-10/31
Meyerowitz, 1-167
Paper Progress Report due with prose outline, and annotated bibliography due
W 11 11/3-11/7
Meyerowitz, 168-286
W 12 11/10-11/14
Student Presentations
W 13 11/17-11/21
Student Presentations
W 14 11/24-11/28
Kline, Entire book
Special Guest: Wendy Kline, History, U. of Cincinnati, author of Building a
Better Race
W 15 12/1-12/5
Student Presentations
W 16 12/8-12/12
Student Presentations & dinner at Prof. Hume's house
Final Class: 12/9
Final papers due by 4pm on the first day of exams (12/11)
Examinations 12/11-12/17