Published January 31, 2020
MELROSE — In conjunction with HarvardX, the Melrose Commission on Women is proud to bring the free online course “Women Making History: Ten Objects, Many Stories” to the Melrose Community. A special Community Forum will be held on Monday, February 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church, 70 W Emerson Street, to discuss the course.
“This moment of time, with the Women’s March and #metoo movement, may feel revolutionary, but it is actually part of a longer history of women creating, confronting, and embracing change. ‘Women Making History’ is an online course led by Harvard historians Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and Jane Kamensky with a focus on American women in the 20th century. It’s also a course on historical methodology. Using primary objects from Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library, we interrogate the stories that these objects can tell us, but also consider how history is understood and reported. We are asked to consider what kinds of changes are worth documenting and who gets to make that decision. With the use of these objects, ‘Women Making History’ will explore elements of women’s lives that are often overlooked, but are central to the American female experience,” April Opoliner, ScD, Project Lead, HarvardX.
Participants currently have free access to this online course to look at the objects, listen to experts, and explore archives and timelines associated with each object; online discussion forums are open to enrich and deepen our understanding of these objects and their place in our shared history. Each object will take 1-1.5 hours to explore. For those that may require a Verified Certificate, they can be purchased through the course’s Progress page; certification is not required to access all parts of the course.
The Commission-hosted Forum on Monday, February 24 will feature April Opoliner, the Project Lead from HarvardX, who will join us in discussing four selected objects: object #2, object #3, object #4, and object #9. The Forum will include a discussion of each object individually, as well as a broad exploration around how our understanding of history is shaped by which stories are told. History is complex, nonlinear, and in constant conversation with the present. This Forum is open to Melrose residents of all ages, and both men and women are encouraged to attend.
To register for the course, please visit https://www.edx.org/course/women-making-history-ten-objects-many-stories
For more information or if you have any questions, please contact the Melrose Commission on Women through our Facebook page or by emailing us at wengrovius@gmail.com.
