Priscilla Murolo

According to our national mythology, social insurgencies of the 1960s originated in the United States and pitted radical youth against the American mainstream. The real story is much more complicated. Politically speaking, the “sixties” began in the mid-1940s and extended into the late 1970s, the ferment was by no means confined to youth, and developments within the United States reflected global patterns. Revolutionary movements and ideas reverberated from Asia and Africa to Europe and the Americas, and they mobilized people from virtually all walks of life. This course situates US movements within their global contexts and explores movements that unfolded overseas. On both fronts, we focus especially on revolutionary nationalism and its various permutations among activists grappling with issues of colonialism, class, race, gender, and sexuality. Readings include historical documents, as well as scholarship, and the syllabus makes ample use of music and film.

Moving from 19th-century struggles against slavery to more recent uprisings against apartheid and global capitalism, this seminar explores women’s relationships to revolutions that have shaped the modern world. Although the course focuses largely on US history, we will also consider developments in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Topics include the revolutionary work of well-known individuals such as Harriet Tubman, Luisa Capetillo, Aleksandra Kollontai, Yuri Kochiyama, Mamphela Ramphele, and Rigoberta Menchú; unsung women’s essential contributions to revolutionary movements around the globe; the ways in which revolutions have addressed—or failed to address—women’s demands for equality and self-determination; and the emergence of independent women’s movements within national revolutions. Reading includes memoir, fiction, and political treatises, as well as historical scholarship.

According to our national mythology, social insurgencies of the 1960s originated in the United States and pitted radical youth against the American mainstream. The real story is much more complicated. Politically speaking, the “sixties” began in the mid-1940s and extended into the late 1970s; the ferment was by no means confined to youth; and developments within the United States reflected global patterns. Revolutionary movements and ideas reverberated from Asia and Africa to Europe and the Americas, and they mobilized people from virtually all walks of life. This course situates US movements within their global contexts and explores movements that unfolded overseas. On both fronts, we focus especially on revolutionary nationalism and its various permutations among activists grappling with issues of colonialism, class, race, gender, and sexuality. Readings include both historical documents and scholarship, and the syllabus makes ample use of music and film.

This course explores American labor systems and labor struggles from the colonial era to the present. Core topics include slavery and other forms of bondage, as well as wage work, the enduring legacy of settler-colonial regimes, and intersections of class, racial, and gender hierarchies. Along the way, we will focus especially on the complex relationship between oppression and collective forms of resistance—from slave revolts to political parties, from bread-and-butter unionism to revolutionary movements, and from immigrant worker centers to campaigns for gay and lesbian rights. Readings include fiction, autobiography, and scholarship ranging from classics such as W. E. B. Du Bois’s Black Reconstruction to recent work on labor issues and labor organizing in the 21st century.

This yearlong course is designed for students who are writing MA theses in women’s and gender history. We will discuss the historiographical dimensions of thesis work; assess various research methods, interpretive models, and theories of history; and grapple with practical questions about writing and documentation. Readings include historical scholarship, theoretical works, and research guides. At critical junctures, students will also read and evaluate one another’s work.