HIST/WMST 490
Military, War and Gender in Comparative Perspective:
18-20 Century – Germany and the United States
(Joint graduate/undergraduate course)
Dirk Bönker (Duke University) and Karen Hagemann (UNC)
This course introduces students to gender as a category of analysis in the history of military and war in a comparative perspective with a focus on Germany and the US from the late eighteenth to the twentieth century. We will examine the interrelations between changes in the military systems, warfare, the gender order and gender relations in a period of rapid transformation not only in economy, politics and society, but also in the military system and the conduct of warfare. The comparative transatlantic perspective will help to define, which changes are more related to specific national economic, social and political developments, and which are more general trends related to the transformation of military and war.
Two main questions will frame the discussion in the course:
- How major changes in the military system and warfare affected civil society, in particular the gender order, i.e. the norms and concepts of femininity and masculinity, the legal gender system, the economic and social relations of men and women and the cultural practices of everyday lives of men and women.
- In what way the gender order, particularly the norms and concepts of femininity and masculinity, influenced changes in the military system and in the conduct of warfare.
Format of the Course
The course is planned as a seminar for undergraduate and graduate students. The sessions will center on discussions of assigned reading. Participating in a group discussion is important both as a skill and as a learning opportunity. Preparation for and participation in the class discussions are therefore key requirements for this seminar. Active, engaged reading is therefore a critical part of the preparation for an active, engaged discussion.