Studies in Women’s Life Narratives: Interrogating Marriage: Case Studies in American Law and Culture
Course facts
- Payment: Free, no certificate
- Credits: Non Credit
- Learning style: Self-paced, start anytime
- Resources: Lecture Notes; Written Assignments with Examples
MIT OpenCourseWare details
- As taught in: Fall 2007
- Department: Women's and Gender Studies
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Marriage in American law and culture since 1630: seduction narratives, cross-racial marriage, Boston marriage and same-sex marriage.
Is marriage a patriarchal institution? Much feminist scholarship has said so, but the Massachusetts court decision allowing same-sex marriage made the meaning of marriage itself demand fresh examination. This seminar studies the marriage question in America from 1630 onward through history, literature, film and legal scholarship, using cross-cultural, sociological, anthropological and other approaches. It shows sex, marriage and the family as unstable institutions that have long been flash points for the questions at the center of gender studies.
What You Will Achieve
- Trace how marriage changed in American social and legal history
- Analyze narratives of seduction, abandonment and illegitimacy in law and literature
- Discuss how law has treated cross-racial and same-sex marriage
- Write a long research paper on marriage, law and culture
Program Overview
Marriage and Sex in Early America
History, culture and the law of marriage.
- Early American sex: history and culture
- Marriage in social and legal history
- Narratives of seduction and abandonment
- Law and children born outside marriage, and their mothers
Race, Friendship and Marriage
Who could marry, and other forms of partnership.
- Cross-racial marriage
- Race and marriage rethought
- Intimate friendships
- Boston marriage
Same-Sex Marriage and the Future
Goodridge and what comes after.
- Gay marriage and the Goodridge decision
- Same-sex marriage and beyond
- Family and feminist futures
Course Completion
Job Outlook
These perspectives serve work in family law, gender studies, policy and advocacy, and teaching and research in American studies.
Good for: Graduate students and readers interested in how law and culture have defined marriage in America.
Keep in mind: A fall 2007 seminar of the Graduate Consortium in Women’s Studies; its legal discussion reflects that year, and the materials are discussion notes and assignments, not the readings.
Bottom line: A law-and-culture seminar that reopens the question of what marriage is and has been.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which faculty taught it?
Renée Bergland of Simmons College, with Leonard Buckle and Suzann Thomas-Buckle of Northeastern University, as part of the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies.
What are the student discussion notes?
For each class, one student acted as scribe, opened with an oral presentation on the readings and took down the discussion; those notes are among the posted materials.
How long is the final paper?
A paper of thirty pages on a chosen topic, written to the scholarly conventions of the student's discipline and due at the end of term.
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