HIST/WMST 259
Women and Gender in Europe, 18 – 20 C.
Karen Hagemann
This course examines and compares women's and men’s lives in modern Europe, roughly from the era of the Enlightenment to the period after World War II. The two main questions are:
1) How did major political, economic, social, and cultural changes, particularly the economic and political revolutions and wars, which distinguish this period of European history, did affect the lives and of ordinary people with different generational, social, racial and ethnical backgrounds?
2) How did women and men try to improve the working and living conditions of women and to what extent did this struggle for female emancipation change since the late 18th century.
In the course we thereby will not only explore the multiple differences between different groups of women and men but also the hierarchies and power relations between them.
The course will cover the period between 1750 and 1950 chronologically, but as we move through time we will concentrate on the following themes:
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Gender images and how they affected women’s and men’s lives?
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Women's and men’s role(s) in the household, the family and the workforce
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Women's and men’s role(s) in the ‘public spheres’ of civil society, nation and state
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Women’s and men’s experiences of wars and revolutions.
Given the diversity of the various regions of Europe, this course cannot hope to achieve a comprehensive coverage. The emphasis will therefore rest upon Western Europe, especially Britain, France, and Germany.
Format of the Course
Each class will combine lectures and discussion about the lecture, which presume that the students have read the required reading and the primary documents. Lectures will be coordinated with the assigned readings, but will not duplicate them. Instead, the lectures are designed to suggest emphases, to draw attention to especially important points, and to provide additional material on selected issues. The recitation sections are an important part of the course, because students will have here the possibility to discuss in small groups more intensively the required reading for the week and the shown feature films and documentaries.