History 294-15 /  American Studies 294-05

Sex and Gender In African American Communities

Spring 2006

Professor: Lynn M. Hudson

Office:  Old Main 302

phone:  696-6819         email:  hudson@macalester.edu

Hours:  Mondays 3:30-4:30; Fridays 12:00-2:00 and by appointment

Introduction

This course will examine the gendered and sexualized experiences of persons of African descent in the United States through an historical framework. A core theme of the course will be the intersections between the social, political and cultural constructions of race and of gender in the United States. At the same time we will consider how changing definitions of blackness have shaped assumptions about black masculinity and femininity. We will consider African Americans as sexual beings, as well as sexual subjects, and examine some expressions of black sexuality in a hostile and often violent world.

Texts (available at Macalester Bookstore)

Jennifer Morgan, Laboring Women: Reproduction and Gender in New World Slavery  (U. Of Pennsylvania, 2004)

Tera Hunter,   ‘To ‘Joy My Freedom’:  Southern Black Women’s Lives and Labors After the Civil War  (Harvard, 1998)

Angela Y. Davis,  Blues Legacies;  Gertrude Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday  (Vintage, 1999) 

James Jones, Bad Blood:  The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment : A Tragedy of

Race and Medicine  (Free Press, 1992) 

Ernestine Jenkins and Darlene Clark Hine, A Question of Manhood: A Reader in U.S. Black Men’s History and Masculinity  (Indiana U., 2001)

Grading

This course will combine lecture and discussion.  Students are expected to attend every class meeting, to do the assigned reading before the class meetings, and to conduct themselves in a courteous and respectful manner (arrive on time, do not eat in class, and please turn off your cell phone).  It is a good idea to bring your readings to class as we will often analyze specific passages and refer to them frequently.

The writing in this course is an important component.  There are four essay assignments.  In the first essay students will respond to a set of questions about the readings in the first half of class. The second essay is a response to the drama “Las Meninas,” which addresses European ideologies about race and sex in the seventeenth century.  For the third essay, students will read a scholarly article about race, sex, and gender, and analyze the contributions it makes to our understanding of the topic.  Finally, the fourth essay will be a response to a set of questions about the readings in the second half of the course.  Further instructions about the essay assignments will be handed out in class.  All essays will be accepted at the beginning of the class period in which they are due, with the exception of the final essay which is due in my mailbox in Old Main at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 5^th.   Late papers will be marked down one letter grade for every day they are late.  All assignments for the course must be completed to pass this course.

A note about plagiarism:

It is expected that all students understand the definition of plagiarism.  If you are unsure about how or when to cite a source ask your professor or a MAX Center writing tutor.  You can also refer to “Writing at Macalester College: A Handbook for First Year Students,” available at: http://www.macalester.edu/max/fym.  Remember: citing information incorrectly or incompletely constitutes plagiarism.

Grades will be calculated as follows:

Midterm essay (approximately 8 pages) = 20% of final grade

“Las Meninas” response paper (approximately 5 pages) = 15%

Analysis of scholarly article (approximately 8 pages) = 25%

Final essay (approximately 10 pages) = 30%

Class participation (including attendance and discussion) = 10%

Course Schedule

January 23, 25 & 27 :  Introduction

• Morgan, introduction and chapter 1

January 30, Feb. 1 & 3:  Trading Bodies

• Morgan, chapters 2-3

February 6, 8 & 10:  Gender and the Contours of Slavery

• Morgan, chapters 4-6

February 13, 15  & 17:  The Meanings of Freedom

• Hunter, chapters 1-4

Take-home essay assignment handed out on Friday, February 17^th

February 20, 22 & 24:   Reconstruction and Resistance

• Hunter, chapters 5-7
• Kevin R. Hardwick, “Your Old Father Abe Lincoln is Dead” in Jenkins & Hine

* * * Take home midterm essay due in class on February 24^th * * *

February 27, March 1 & 3:  Crossing the Color Line

Note:  On Friday, March 3^rd class will be held in the evening at the Rarig Center at the U. of M. to view “Las Meninas,” a play by Lynn Nottage (further instructions will be handed out in class). 

• Robyn Wiegman, “The Anatomy of Lynching” in Jenkins & Hine
• Martha Hodes, “The Sexualization of Reconstruction Politics: White Women and Black Men in the South After the Civil War”  (Journal of the History of Sexuality 1993)  on reserve

March 6, 8 & 10:   The Culture and Politics of Female Sexuality

• Davis, introduction and pp. 3-65
• Vicki Howard, “The Courtship Letters” in Jenkins & Hine

* *  Response Paper on “Las Meninas” due in class on Friday, March 10^th * *

SPRING BREAK (March 11-19)

March 20, 22 & 24:  Women’s Blues   

• Davis, pp. 66-119

March 27, 29 & 31:   The Harlem Renaissance and the New Negro 

• Davis, pp.120-197

April 3, 5 & 7:  Labor in the New South

• Manning Marable, “Politics of Black Land Tenure”  in Jenkins & Hine

• Todd L. Savitt, “Entering a White Profession”  in Jenkins & Hine
• Alex Lichtenstein, “A Constant Struggle”  in Jenkins & Hine

April 10 & 12:  Scientific Racism and the Black Body

NO CLASS on Friday, April 14^th

• Jones, chapters 1-5

* *  Analysis of scholarly article due in class on Wednesday, April 12^th * *

April 17, 19 & 21:  Eugenics

• Jones, chapters 6-10

April 24, 26 & 28: Queer Bodies

• Jones, chapters 11-14
• Dwight A. McBride, “Race in the Gay Marketplace of Desire” in Why I Hate Abercrombie and Fitch: Essays on Race and Sexuality in America

(NYU, 2005)   on reserve

Take-home essay assignment handed out on Friday, April 28^th

May 1^st:  Final Comments

* * Final essay due Friday,  May 5^th by 4 p.m. in my mailbox * *

in the History Department