Course Description

This course introduces women’s contributions to cultures around the world from prehistory to 1500 CE. Drawing on primary sources, the course illuminates the lives and work of women writers, artists, philosophers, and political leaders from Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and the Americas. Focusing on women's work in the humanities—literature, philosophy, visual arts and performing arts—the course highlights societies and eras in which women’s agency, autonomy, and creative accomplishments were particularly strong. Students have the opportunity to analyze cultural factors that supported or inhibited this creativity, including ideas about gender embedded in religions, mythologies, social philosophies, and political institutions.