Rowley, Sarah B., Ph.D.
History
Associate Professor of History
I am historian of the 20th-century United States, specializing in the histories of women, gender, and sexuality. For the past several years my research has focused on how gender operated in 1970s political culture, with particular interest in the small cohort of congresswomen serving during that era. I am currently working on a political biography of former U.S. Representative Pat Schroeder (D-CO), tentatively entitled "If She Wins, We Win": Pat Schroeder and People-Centered Politics in Congress, 1970s-1990s. My work has been funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Philosophical Society, and DePauw faculty development grants. I am also co-editing a book entitled Beyond I Do: Marriage in the 20th-Century United States.
If you have taken a class with me, you know that I am genuinely excited by history and love to share it with students. Our current politics, culture, and economy only make sense when we can place them in historical context. History is much more than memorizing facts; it is a way of seeking knowledge about the world that encourages depth and complexity. Join us!
Come stop by my office to talk history any time (virtual office hours are available), and follow us on Instagram @DePauwHistoryDepartment
Publications:
"Sexpo '76: Gender, Media, and the 1976 Hays-Ray Congressional Sex Scandal." Journal of the History of Sexuality 32, no. 2 (May 2023): 144-73.
"'I Was Me': Yvonne Burke and the Politics of Representation." In "It's Our Movement Now": Black Women's Politics and the 1977 National Women's Conference, ed. by Laura L. Lovett, Rachel Jessica Daniel, and Kelly N. Giles, 195-210. Gainsville: University Press of Florida, 2022.
"Married Congresswomen and the New Breed of Congressional Husbands in 1970s Political Culture." In Suffrage at 100: Women in American Politics since 1920, ed. by Stacie Taranto and Leandra Zarnow, 275-94. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020.
"Babies by the Bundle: Gender, Backlash, and the Quiverfull Movement." Feminist Formations 23 (spring 2011): 47-69. Coauthored with Laura B. Harrison.
Courses Taught at DePauw:
HIST 100 Historical Encounters: The "Good Life" in Post-WWII America
HIST 100 Historical Encounters: Sex & Society in Modern America
HIST 197 (first-year seminar) America & Vietnam: History, Culture, Memory
HIST 197 (first-year seminar) American Stories: Exploring History through Magazines
HIST 264 19th-Century United States
HIST 265 20th-Century United States
HIST 278 U.S. Women's History 1890-Present
HIST 300 Race & Identity in America
HIST 300 Gender & Politics in U.S. History
HIST 368 U.S. in the Seventies
HIST 490 Senior Seminar
WGSS 140 Introduction to Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
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