Dr. Tanya Roth, Upper School History Teacher, was ecstatic: there was enough interest this year for her to offer a Women in the Modern World course. In the past century and a half, the legal status and social roles of women have been debated and reevaluated by people around the world. Many western countries extended voting rights to women, government officials around the world rewrote laws regarding women’s rights and roles, and in some parts of the world, women rose to powerful positions in business and government leadership. In other places, however, women’s rights and roles have remained consistent, or even regressed. This globally-focused course examined the changing status of women worldwide since the late nineteenth century and explored the roles that women have played in their societies and governments. In addition to considering basic rights like the right to vote, the class evaluated women’s rights in the context of human rights, examined areas of progress and regression, and considered the forces that create new opportunities and, at times and in places, reinstate old limitations.
Dr. Roth has been working on this course for several years, and was ready to dive into this complex subject. “I was so excited by the prospect, and a little nervous, too,” she admits. “I know American women’s history best, and expanding a course to take on the whole world? That’s something else altogether.”
The course became a partnership between Dr. Roth and her students, as they explored together their own interests with a global dimension. At some point, Dr. Roth had a conversation with Colleen Williamson, Upper School Librarian, about the class. Williamson reminded her that zines, which is short for “fanzine” and are usually small-batch, independently published work that circulates less than a 100 copies, emerged over the history of the women’s movement in the United States and beyond. “I tend to think of them as late 20th century projects,” Dr. Roth notes. (Click here to learn more about zines.) An idea was born: what if, for their capstone research and final product, the students in the Women in the Modern World class produced their own zine?
The students enthusiastically agreed, choosing topics that are both personally interesting and culturally relevant, and diving deep to make global connections. The result is a 97-page zine titled girls. 8 volumes of women’s issues throughout the globe. The zine includes science/health topics, women in sports, recognition of women in the film industry, and beauty. The students wrote their own bios, crafted their zines, and together, came up with the title and the organization of the publication. “Taken together, these Zines provide readers with much-needed insights about a range of women’s issues and challenge us to question the status quo and work to create change,” wrote Dr. Roth in the editor’s note.
“The students of the inaugural run of Women in the Modern World have set the bar high. I will never forget this experience we had together.” Enjoy this informative work by our talented students! Click below to read through the zine.