2017 Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Genders and Sexualities

June 01 - 04, 2017

Although women’s history has achieved a solid position in post-secondary institutions, this perspective on the past remains largely absent from most high school history courses. While texts often include subsections and occasional documents that serve to “add in” women, such gestures more often confirm than challenge the traditional narrative.

 This roundtable will bring together educators and students to share their experiences and to brainstorm ways to expand and strengthen the teaching of women’s and feminist history to high school students. The participants will include teachers from high schools in Long Island, New York City, and California who will discuss their experiences creating and teaching courses in women’s history. Student participants will reflect on their own experiences in these classes and address issues of intersectionality, social media, and the college admissions culture, which often discourages students from taking classes in “light” subjects like women’s history. The discussion will move outside of the classroom to look at several creative efforts to make women’s history visible, including through interactive literature events and through collaborative sessions in revising Wikipedia entries to integrate women. Moderated by an instructor in social science teacher education, the goal will be a fluid exchange of strategies, stories and ideas among everyone present.