First-Year Seminar (101-6-22)
Topic
Coalitional Politics–Case Studies from Chicago and
Instructors
Amy Ruth Partridge
847.491.5872
Meeting Info
Kresge Centennial Hall 2-339: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
Topic: Coalitional Politics & Case studies from Chicago and beyond: archiving the past for the present
In this seminar, we explore several 1970s-era projects in Chicago and beyond that exemplify a coalitional feminist politics and consider the usefulness of this history in an increasingly polarized present. We will read histories of this period and memoirs by movement participants, but our focus will be on engaging in collective archival research and, ultimately curating collections of (8-10) documents that aid us in recuperating these instances of successful coalition building across anti-war, women's and gay liberation, and black power/ethnic nationalist movements, as well as the intersectional politics that informed these collaborative projects. The seminar will meet in Special Collections and will introduce students to the practice of archival research as well as the remarkable range of archival materials housed in Special Collections, which might form the basis for research projects during your four years at Northwestern. Our final class project will be to collectively curate an exhibition of our findings that will be exhibited in the Main Library at the end of Spring Quarter. Over the course of the quarter, we may host a class visitor and, if covid protocols allow, go on a field trip to the Chicago Women's Health Center (established in 1975 and still going strong!) to explore current coalitions and projects that build on this legacy.
Cases: Anti-Vietnam war movement; Gay and lesbian/feminist liberation movements in Chicago and at Northwestern; Chicago's first "Rainbow Coalition" (which included the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords, and Young Patriots and Rising Up Angry); Chicago's free clinic movement; and reproductive rights/justice projects in Chicago.
Class Materials (Required)
All course materials will be provided on Canvas.
Class Attributes
WCAS First-Year Seminar
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for First Year & Sophomore only