COURSE SYLLABUS

• Instructor: David M. Perry
• Class Times: TR 3:30-4:45
• Location: Parmer 002
• Office: Lewis Annex 2C
• Office Phone: (708) 524-6052
• Office Hours: TR 1-2 and my appt.
• Email: dperry@dom.edu
• Course URL: http://domin.dom.edu/faculty/dperry/hist350women/
• Instructor URL: http://domin.dom.edu/faculty/dperry/

Course Description:

In this course we will examine the societal roles and experiences of European women from about 500-1500, while also considering medieval gender norms, construction of said norms, and the consequences of the ways medieval people conceived of and articulated their views on gender. We will study religion, family, politics, work, and everyday life, and look at these subjects through many different types of primary sources. These will include religious texts, legal codes, chronicles, art and literature. Our focus on historical sources will also lead to discussions about the challenges of working with different types of evidence. By the end of this course, we should have an excellent grasp of the role of women in the Middle Ages, in particular, have made an entry into the complex study of medieval gender, and we will have gained experience in the process of analyzing historical issues and sources.

Our primary goal, as detailed above, relates to the content that you will be asked to master. A secondary goal is methodological. This class meets the History core requirement at Dominican. That requirement reads:

History. Courses that meet the history requirement are designed to help students develop a sense of historical perspective as understood by historians. Such a perspective involves an understanding of the ways societies may change over time and of the importance of sequential occurrence, as well as awareness of complexity, ambiguity, and uncertainty as intractable conditions of human society—awareness gained through study of the interactions of diverse forces and circumstances on situations in past societies (Bulletin, 24).

For some of you, this will be your first and only college history course, so we will work on developing that sense of historical perspective. We will need to work on how to interpret historical evidence in all its complexities and how to articulate an argument about that evidence.

In order to succeed at both the content-related and methodological goals, we are all going to need to read a lot of different kinds of materials and write about them. This is a reading-intensive course. As we start the semester, think about how you are going to organize your time to keep up on the reading and produce regular and thoughtful reading journals. We will examine wonderfully interesting (and at times infurating) texts and cover lots of ground, but I'm going to ask you to exercise considerable independence.

Welcome!

Grading:

• Paper 1 - Land and Power - 15%
• Paper 2 - Religious Women - 15%
• Paper 3 - Women and Work - 15%
• Final Paper - History Matters - 15%
• Discussion Questions - 10%
• Recursive Assignment - 5%
• Mini-Essay (Herlihy) - 5%
• Mini-Research Paper (Good Wife) - 10%
• Participation - 10%

Assignments:

Informal Writing:

Discussion Questions - 10%

• You will write 10 informal commentaries for 12 of our class sessions as assigned.. Store these essays in a folder or binder and I will collect them every few weeks.
  • Each DQ (standing for - "Discussion Questions") is marked clearly in the calendar of readings.
  • Specific questions are (or will be) posted within each topic heading. Some sets of questions will be more specific than others.
• Each entry should be at least a page long (300 words) and some will be much longer. For example, I will ask you frequently to write brief comments on each source which we prepare on a given day, and this may take up more pages.
• All entries MUST BE TYPED AND DOUBLE SPACED.
• There are 12 days which require journal entries, and the best 10 will count for your grade. Entries will be graded S(atisfactory) or U(nsatisfactory). Each S is worth 1% of your final grade.
• I will collect reading journals only periodically, but will often use them as the basis for class discussion. If you fail to have yours with you when called upon, you will receive a U for the day. If you miss class, you must make up the reading journal before the next class for it to count.

Recursive Assignment: 5%

• "Recursion" means, from the Latin, to run back or return. For this assignment, you will re-read your reading journals and think about where your understanding has improved and write a 2-page thought piece on the subject. More information will be provided before the assignment is due. Turned in via MyDU.

Formal Writing

Mini-Essay - 5%

• 800-word essay on a chapter on The Medieval Household and its primary sources.
• Turned in via the MyDU system. More information on the "Assignments" page.

Mini-research paper - 10%

• 1500-word essay on The Good Wife's Guide, a single extended primary source on a medieval French household. You will mine it for data about every day life and gender attitudes. Turned in via MyDU.

Topical Essays - 15% each

• You will write three 1500-word essays on major topics of the class. I will give you more guidance before we get close, but each will involve identifying major themes from the primary sources and crafting a thesis about the way that women functioned within the given realm.
  • Land and Power
  • Women and Work
  • Religious Women
• Each essay will be turned in via the MyDU system.

Final Essay - 15%

• This essay will involve working with the ideas expressed by Judith Bennett in her book History Matters. You will use the primary sources you have read to agree or disagree (or some combination of both) with her theses about patriarchy and history. You will be specifically required to use data from the last month of the semester. More information to come.

Participation (and attendance) - 10%

At the end of each week, I will give you a little worksheet on which you will assess your contributions to the class, comment on your peers' work (and mine), and note any points of confusion. You will need to take ownership of your participation.

• Participation is more than just showing up, but it starts with just showing up. You cannot participate if you are not here and will be required to make up any work for each class you miss. You will need to speak to a peer to get notes then come to me with specific questions. Moreover, missing too many classes without written excuse (doctor, official Dominican event, death in the family) will directly penalize your final grade. Please read the following policy carefully:
  • Attendance Policy - You may miss two classes. I don't recommend it and you will have to make up the work on your own, but I will not ask any questions. For every class beyond two, you will need documentation to demonstrate the EMERGENCY that kept you from class. Otherwise, you will lose FIVE POINTS off of your final grade for every absence beyond two.
• But participation is about more than just showing up. It's about doing the reading, being prepared to talk about it, volunteering your input, being involved in your group work, preparing for the debates and other discussions, and generally being an asset to the class as a whole.
• Your participation is a significant percentage of your grade. Earn it. Take initiative. Do not expect to speak only when directly called upon and pass this section of the class.
• Finally, being late consistently may be counted as being absent. It will certainly lower your participation grade.

Course Policies

1. Follow all Dominican University policies in regards to Academic Honesty. If you are unsure about whether something is plagiarism or cheating, ask first. People caught cheating will be subjected to the full penalty allowable by Dominican.
2. Students must bring readings to class on the day they are assigned. Print out online materials. If we don't talk about something in class, you need to bring it to the next class too unless told otherwise. Not bringing the reading consistently may lead to you being considered absent. It means you are not prepared.
3. Writing assignments and examinations are due at the beginning of class. DO NOT EVER SKIP CLASS TO TRY AND FINISH YOUR WORK. Printing errors and lost data are a fact of life. If you wait until the last minute and encounter technical difficulties, your paper may still be counted as late.
4. For every day a paper or project is late, you lose one full grade per day (A to B, B to C, etc.). Do not test this system. Turn your work in on time.
5. All work must be electronic or typed.
6. Assignments will either be turned in using paper (in class or in my office) or via the MyDU system. Assignments will only be accepted via email if MyDU has a verifiable technical error. Assignments emailed to me do not count as turned in until you receive a confirmation email.