Rights and equality are words that are no stranger to a child born in the 21st century. These words have become part of our social rhetoric and are heard in many different spheres of life. However, this is a relatively new phenomenon. In this class, students will travel back to the 1910s and 1920s in Canada to learn about how first - wave feminists fought for votes for women. These Suffragettes fought hard, and their fight deserves to be remembered. This class will help students understand and appreciate the rights they may hold for granted.

This class will explore :
-First-wave Feminism. What is it? (this will be an overview, as entire semester courses could be given on each wave of feminism)
- Suffragettes and the right to vote in Canada 
- The Famous Five (who are they? What did they fight for?) 
- The issues and gaps surrounding the fight of the Suffragettes and the Famous Five. The first wave of feminism was extremely exclusive and ignored most women due to race and social status. 

This class will be taught lecture style with a PowerPoint and will have room for questions and discussion throughout.

Please note : First-Wave feminists and the Famous Five were not fighting for the right to vote for all women. Unfortunately, they were concerned with upper and middle class white women. This is a huge problem with the first wave of Feminism and one that continues to be fought for. It should also be known that one of the Famous Five, Nellie McClung has recently come under scrutiny and criticism for her beliefs in eugenics. While this class will not be delving into the horrors of eugenics policies and beliefs, it may briefly be brought up as we discuss why first-wave feminists were not inclusive to all people regardless of race, age, social status, etc. This class does not endorse the exclusive and limited view of eugenics and I will make it clear to students if it comes up that this was a horrible and unfounded theory.