WMST 230 Women in Colonial Maryland

This course examines women in three major cultures-Native, African, and European--that met and mixed in Colonial America, especially in Maryland. Particular attention is given to women's creative choices in navigating the intersectionality of race, class, gender, and sexuality from the founding of the colony in 1632 to admission to the Union in 1788. Scope will encompass indentured servants, convict bondservants, free laborers, enslaved workers, and indigenous women, and will include women's innovative strategies for living lives of meaning, individually, as well as in familial and community relationships.

Credits

1

Prerequisite

Eligible to enroll in ENGL 121

Hours Weekly

1

Course Objectives

1. 1. Analyze the responses of 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, class, gender, and sexuality, while pursuing meaningful lives for
   themselves, their families, and their communities.
2. 2. Assess variations in the sexual division of labor as Native, African, and European women
   creatively adapted to new roles during early periods of European colonization, establishment
   of settlements on the eastern and western shores, agricultural and manufacturing production
   and trade, conflicts and rebellions, and the American Revolutionary War.
3. 3. Analyze fictional portrayals, in print and film, of women and their families and communities
   during this period, comparing them with what we know about actual women and their
   families.

Course Objectives

1. 1. Analyze the responses of 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, class, gender, and sexuality, while pursuing meaningful lives for
   themselves, their families, and their communities.
2. 2. Assess variations in the sexual division of labor as Native, African, and European women
   creatively adapted to new roles during early periods of European colonization, establishment
   of settlements on the eastern and western shores, agricultural and manufacturing production
   and trade, conflicts and rebellions, and the American Revolutionary War.
3. 3. Analyze fictional portrayals, in print and film, of women and their families and communities
   during this period, comparing them with what we know about actual women and their
   families.