Part 1: Introduction to the study of women in antiquity

Day 1 Overview of Greek history; intro to the problems in the study of women in classical antiquity

       Required Reading:

• Gilbert Highet, "Arms and the Woman," A Clerk of Oxenford
• Gianna Pomata, "History, Particular and Universal: On Reading Some Recent Women's History Textbooks," Feminist Studies 19 (1993) 7-11.

       Lecture: Sarah Berridge, "Native American Spirituality: One Woman's Journey," Hedges, 7 p.m.

Day 2 Contemporary theoretical frameworks

       Required Reading:

• Carol Berkin, "Point of View: 'Dangerous Courtesies' Assault Women's History," Chronicle of Higher Education 11 Dec 91: A44.
• Gisela Bock, "Challenging Dichotomies: Perspectives on Women's Histories," in Writing Women's History: International Perspectives, ed. Karen Offen, Ruth Roach Pierson, Jane Rendall (Indiana 1991) 1-7, 16-17.
• Gerda Lerner, "Introduction," The Creation of Patriarchy (Oxford 1986) 3-14.
• Anna Meigs, "Multiple Gender Ideologies and Statuses," in Beyond the Second Sex: New Directions in the Anthropology of Gender, ed. Peggy Reeves Sanday and Ruth Gallagher Goodenough (Pennsylvania 1990) 99-112.
• Fantham, pp. vii-ix; 5-9.

       Recommended Reading:

• Phyllis Culham, "Ten Years After Pomeroy: Studies of the Image and Reality of Women in Antiquity," in "Rescuing Creusa: New Methodological Approaches to Women in Antiquity," ed. Marilyn Skinner, Helios 13.2 (1987) 9-30.
• Michelle Rosaldo, "A Theoretical Overview," in Woman, Culture and Society, ed. M. Rosaldo and L. Lamphere (Stanford 1974) 17-42.
• Gerda Lerner, "Placing Women in History: A 1975 Perspective," in Liberating Women's History: Theoretical and Critical Essays, ed. Berenice Carroll (Illinois 1976) 357-67.

       Informal Writing Assignment #1 due:
Describe your reactions after reading Berkin's essay, Lerner's "Introduction," and hearing Berridge's talk. Give examples that you have come across in your own reading or in other courses for at least two of the 'dangerous courtesies' that Berkin describes. Does Berridge offer any examples of "women's culture" among the Winnebago? If so, what does she say are the prerequisites for such woman-centered experiences? Finally, what do you think Lerner means when she says "The process itself is the way, is the goal" (14)? What are your personal goals for the course?
 
 

Last updated 2 December 97
grubermiller@cornellcollege.edu