Historians have recognized the importance of gender as both an analytical lens and a subject of historical analysis. This class explores historical methods and theories that place gender at the center of historical inquiry. Through a focus on gender and history, this class examines different ways of studying, understanding, and representing the past, and considers fundamental questions of historical method: What assumptions do we bring to our work as historians? How do historians pose questions to frame their research? How do they use evidence to build arguments? We will consider the ways in which a focus on gender has both generated new areas of historical inquiry and challenged traditional historical narratives. Topics include the intersections of feminist theories with histories of gender; meanings of place and space; oral history; methodological borrowings from disciplines other than history; the analytical category of "experience;" and intersections among class, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and gender. Format: seminar. Evaluation will be based on participation in class discussion, weekly writing, and a final essay. Enrollment limit: 20 (expected: 20). Restricted to History majors.