Key facts

Type	Weekly Classes
Location	Reading
Address	Room 114 Building 22 London Road Campus Reading
Dates	Thu 25 Apr to Thu 27 Jun 2013 Day: Thursday Time of meeting: 7.00-9.00pm Number of meetings: 10
Subject area(s)	History
CATS points	10
Fees	From £145.00
Application status	In progress - closed to new applications
Course code	R12P437HIW
Course contact	If you have any questions about this course, please email ppweekly@conted.ox.ac.uk.

Overview

**PLEASE NOTE - THIS COURSE COMMENCES ON APRIL 25 2013, NOT APRIL 24 AS ORIGINALLY ADVERTISED**

Between the 18th and 20th centuries, a group of courageous British women fought a series of dramatic battles against a patriarchal establishment. At last they established their social and political rights - but was the victory complete?

Description

In the Britain of the early 19th century, women lived under a form of legalised slavery. Their bodies, property and children could be used, abused and disposed of by their husbands, largely without interference. Slowly, a small and infinitely courageous group of women took on the male-dominated establishment and achieved breakthroughs in the fields of property and family law, political rights, entry to the professions and higher education, and control of their sexuality. This course examines the seminal influence of the 18th century writer Mary Wollstonecraft and the careers and contexts of women such as Caroline Norton, Josephine Butler, Annie Besant, Sophia Jex-Blake, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Emily Davies, the Pankursts and others. The battles fought and won will be fully outlined and illustrated.

Programme details

Week 1: The social, legal and political status of women in the period
Week 2: The career, writing and influence of Mary Wollstonecraft
Week 3: The struggles of Caroline Norton against the marriage laws
Week 4: Josephine Butler, prostitution and the sexual definition of women
Week 5: Annie Besant, contraception and female trade unionism
Week 6: Sophia Jex-Blake, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and the medical profession
Week 7: Harriet Mordaunt, sexual morality and mental illness
Week 8: Emily Davies and the struggle for a higher education
Week 9: The Pankhursts and militant action for the Vote
Week 10: Reflections on what had been gained and what remained to be gained.

Reading list:
Barbara Caine, Victorian Feminists
Claire Tomalin, Mary Wollstonecraft
Jane Jordan, Josephine Butler
Martin Pugh, The Pankhursts
Anne Taylor, Annie Besant
Daphne Bennett, Emily Davies and the liberation of women
Alan Chedzoy, A Scandalous Woman - the story of Caroline Norton

Staff

Course aims

Course Aim:
To give students a basic knowledge of the issues and inequalities affecting women's lives of the period, and how they struggled against the social, political and sexual definitions of their time.

Course Objectives:
1. To outline the inequalities between men and women of the period.
2. To examine the careers and biographies of the women identified.
3. To enable reflection on the importance of the gains achieved and on what remained to be achieved.

Assessment methods

Essays of 1,000 words, enabling a selection of topics from the course programme. An option will be given to write two 500 word pieces.

Teaching methods

Lecture, pairs and small group discussion, student presentation, powerpoint presentation and film clips.

Teaching outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected:
1. to be able to recognise the most important individuals of the period and topic , and their sequence in time.
2. to be able to identify the significant issues of the struggles for gender inequality.
3. to be able to reflect on the gains achieved for gender equality.

Fee options

Programme Fee

Home/EU fee: £145.00

Non-EU fee: £145.00

Apply for this course