AMST 43135 - Women and Work in Early America

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

American Studies

Description:

This course will introduce students to a broad view of early American social history that foregrounds the gendered aspects of work in early America - defined loosely as the period from colonial settlement to 1820. On one level, this approach allows for the recovery of women and girls' contributions to the formal and informal economies of pre-Industrial early America, including their work activities within the household. This perspective is especially crucial to the examination of white, Indian and African servitude and/or slavery, since gender ideologies dictated the work experiences of large race- and class-defined segments of the population. Yet cultural retention also played a part and this course will invite students to investigate the impact of derivative work practices (for example examining African women's dominance of market activities in the New World through the lens of West African work practices). Further, while the course title emphasizes women's experiences, the class and race implications of male work practices in early America will be similarly illuminated by a gender studies approach. Thus, an overarching purpose of the course will be to highlight the fluid and instable conceptions of work that were applied alternately to masculine as opposed to feminine occupations, just as they were alternately applied to European versus non-European, free versus enslaved, and public versus private spheres. This course fulfills the humanities requirement and the diversity requirement for second majors.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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