The seminar will explore the historical development surrounding changes in the legal status of women from the colonial period to the present. In addition to specialized readings in constitutional history, video cassettes which analyze aspects of modern case laws affecting contemporary American women will also comprise a segment of the instructional material. Particular attention will be paid to the historical circumstances prompting women reformers to place varying degrees of emphasis upon achieving equality through equity procedures, litigation, amendments to the Constitution and public policy legislation. Bibliographies and techniques for teaching major constitutional issues will be presented and discussed. Topics: equity jurisprudence, dower rights, married womens’ property acts, the Fourteenth Amendment, Supreme Court decisions involving working women, the Nineteenth Amendment, equal and comparable pay, national commissions on women, federal legislation prohibiting sex discrimination in employment and education, divorce and family law, constitutional views on contraception and abortion, the significance of the ERA, treatment of rape victims, sexual harassment on the job.