Assignment task: You are a distinguished historian of American women. For that reason, a major publisher has asked you to supervise the revision of its college-level U.S. history survey textbook which, as it now stands, has very little coverage of women. Summarize your recommendations for the necessary changes and additions in an 8-10 page report with three distinct sections:
Section 1:
Discuss 3 major themes of particular relevance to women that should be traced through the history of American women. Explain why these themes are invaluable for an understanding of women in American history.
Section 2:
Discuss 6 important women that might appear at various points in the survey (persons profiled may be "great," or typical but obscure, but together they should provide a representative sample of various significant types of American women, over time).
Section 3:
Discuss 3 events/issues in American history whose interpretation would be substantially altered if the roles of women in them or their effects upon women were included alongside the "traditional" (more male-oriented) interpretations.
As a historian, you want your suggestions to be adopted, so be as substantive and persuasive as you can in your report. In other words, explain and justify your selections. Remember that the purpose of this final examination is to exhibit your understanding and command of the course materials.
In your report, clarify terms that are unfamiliar. Use quotes to support your points, but use them to complement your own words. This assignment shouldn't be comprised of three sections filled with pages of lengthy quotes. Quotes should supplement the point you're making.
Include direct citations as both in-text AND a references page at the end. The references list does not count toward the required page range. Quotes must come from both the module content AND the textbook. External sources are encouraged, as well, but the primary emphasis should be on citing course materials.
- Examine American women's lives across time, paying particular attention to the ways that race, class, and ethnicity shaped their experiences.
- Discern the social and political arrangements that structured women's status and condition.
- Understand the consciousness of women resisting and accommodating those conditions.
- Gain familiarity with the kinds of sources historians use in constructing their interpretations and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of those sources.
- Analyze and evaluate the various historical explanations for women's past experiences.
- Consider the implications of feminist historical scholarship for knowledge and for society.