Women's Studies Program News
This winter semester, Dr. Rachel Cope will offer a new class on Mormon Women's History on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12-1:30. This course has never been offered before. Don't miss this cutting-edge opportunity.
The First Relief Society
"Throughout the semester, a number of interesting themes will be explored in which Mormon women will be placed within their various contexts: religious history, women's history, and Mormon history in general. Topics will include: historical agency (what does that even mean for a woman?), conversion narratives (how does Lucy Mack Smith compare to her Protestant contemporaries who also wrote memoirs?), hymnody as history and theology (how might understanding that make D&C 25 more meaningful? And did Protestant women compile hymn books?), print culture (what were women reading and writing, and how did that influence them?), reform movements (how does Relief Society fit into that context?), polygamy (so much to say—just trust me on this one!), anti-Mormonism and anti-Catholicism in nineteenth-century America (why was anti-religious literature so prone to sexualize and demean women?), women as missionaries (how do they fit into the larger context?),suffrage (Mormon women were political?) race (we will talk about 1978 — and consider the experiences of the first black woman to serve a mission), ERA (what was that all about?) and on and on and on. If you are interested in learning more about your roots, and discussing an array of subjects with academic rigor in a context of faith, this may be just the class for you!" --Professor Rachel Cope
Rachel Cope is an Assistant Professor of Church History and Doctrine. She received her PhD in American history, with an emphasis on religious history and women's history, from Syracuse University in 2009. Dr. Cope's research interests include women's spirituality and conversion narratives in eighteenth and nineteenth century America. She teaches Mormon Women's History (WS 390R).