New Introductory Courses in History (200-0-22)

Topic

Sex and The Body in Early America

Instructors

Michaela Kleber

Meeting Info

University Hall 101: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

This course examines the history of sex and the body in early America, a particularly fruitful time and place for this study, as multiple different groups including Africans, Europeans, and Native Americans came together with different ideas and practices. These groups used the evidence of the body and embodied experience to articulate notions of sameness and difference at various moments, leading to new ideas about key concepts like race, gender, and sexuality. Topics include disability, disease and medicine, reproduction, sexuality, and sexual violence.

Learning Objectives

- Understand how ideals and practices of sex and the body shaped and were shaped by events in early American history and become familiar with the many voices that have shaped that history
- Develop the skills to read and analyze primary and secondary sources through both writing and speaking - Engage in reasoned and respectful discussion and construct thoughtful, evidence-based arguments from course readings and lectures.
- Consider how archives simultaneously shape and restrict what historians know about the past, as well as how we can ethically and accurately grapple with the limits of our own knowledge.
-Consider how debates and practices of sex and the body that continue to shape modern American society are rooted in a centuries-long conversation

Evaluation Method

Take-home and in-class essays, participation

Class Notes

History Major Concentration(s): Americas
History Minor Concentration(s): United States

Class Attributes

Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area

Associated Classes

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-339: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - University Hall 118: Fri 2:00PM - 2:50PM

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 4-410: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM