History 355 - SEM: WOMEN & WWI-SMITH RELIEF

Topics course.: How did women imagine their place in a war defined as quintessentially masculine?  That is a central question in this seminar, which surveys women’s varied contributions to the war effort.  Then students undertake archival research in the papers of the Smith College Relief Unit (SCRU), a unit comprised of Smith alumnae who led reconstruction efforts in one of the regions of France most devastated by the war.  By studying the letters these women wrote home, and other archival sources, students undertake a research project using the SCRU papers to address broader questions engaging women’s complex relationships with the war.

Topic: Women and World War I, The Smith College Relief Unit. Instructor Permission. Not open to first-years, sophomores