1. how have medical and scientific understandings of human reproduction framed social and cultural expressions of sexuality in the american past? (one and two sex models)
2. what are the differences between premodern and modern sensibilities of time and nature? how did the transition from one to the other take place in the U.S.? (circular vs linear thinking)
3. what do we mean by historical empathy and historical memory? how are the two concepts interrelated?
4. how do historians use their primary sources for social history and the history of sexuality? (court cases, laws, letters, diaries, popular books and pamphlets, etc)
5. how did the first settlers view and engage with native american sexuality? how did early settlement and territorial expansion impact native american families?
6. how did childhood and family life differ for diverse groups of americans during the time of slavery?
7. what were the processes of frontier settlement and “civilization building” like along the mississippi river in the mid-nineteenth century? how did life along the river change over time?
8. how did mid-nineteenth century urbanization of cities and class formation spur the emergence of victorian sexuality? what was the civil war’s impact in this process?
9. what challenges did african American families face after emancipation and during reconstruction?
