WMST 229 African American Women's History

This course provides an overview of African American women’s history from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century with particular attention to women’s creative choices in navigating an oppressive gender system. Focus will be on the applicability of the standard periodization of American History to the lives of African American women, as they experienced the intersectionality of race, class, gender, and sexuality as they responded with innovative strategies for living lives of meaning. This course allows students an opportunity for scholarly analysis of the lived political, economic, and social experiences of African American women.

Credits

3

Prerequisite

Eligible to enroll in ENGL 121

Hours Weekly

3

Course Objectives

1. 1. Analyze the responses of African American women to an oppressive gender system;
   explore innovative, creative, and risk-taking strategies invented by women to enable them
   to navigate systems of race, social class, gender, and sexuality, while pursuing meaningful
   lives for themselves, their families, and communities.
2. 2. Analyze the applicability of the standard periodization of American history to the
   marginalization of the experiences of African American women within the historical canon;
   assess opportunities for African American women, as they creatively sought meaningful
   work and found innovative ways to participate in the larger society, including the rise of
   clubwomen’s movements, emergence of social and political activism in the Civil Rights Era,
   and full participation in American society.
3. 3. Analyze visual, print, and film representations of African American women, including
   fictional portrayals; compare these with what we know about the lives of actual African
   American women.

Course Objectives

1. 1. Analyze the responses of African American women to an oppressive gender system;
   explore innovative, creative, and risk-taking strategies invented by women to enable them
   to navigate systems of race, social class, gender, and sexuality, while pursuing meaningful
   lives for themselves, their families, and communities.
2. 2. Analyze the applicability of the standard periodization of American history to the
   marginalization of the experiences of African American women within the historical canon;
   assess opportunities for African American women, as they creatively sought meaningful
   work and found innovative ways to participate in the larger society, including the rise of
   clubwomen’s movements, emergence of social and political activism in the Civil Rights Era,
   and full participation in American society.
3. 3. Analyze visual, print, and film representations of African American women, including
   fictional portrayals; compare these with what we know about the lives of actual African
   American women.