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lizlynn's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
Learned so much, definitely made me think more broadly about home ec. Could drag at times but had enough personality to lift out of the dry passages pretty quickly
balletbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
Super interesting microhistory - bc where home economics started is certainly not what I took in the early 1990s (sew and stir indeed). A lot of it skews into anthropology or social science or even epidemiology. (But then also all the close ties to capitalism post-WWII)
Decent audiobook production.
Decent audiobook production.
darcerenity's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to love this book. I did find it full of fascinating facts and fabulous women, and therefore well worth reading. The suggestions for the field at the end were insightful. Unfortunately, the book is also very dense, covering a significant amount of time and space and a large number of individuals, of whom I found it somewhat difficult to keep track.
karnaconverse's review against another edition
Examines the historic role of teaching life skills and addressing societal issues and emphasizes how there is still a need for those roles in the classroom
I read this in honor of my mom, who taught high school home economics, was active at the local and state levels of the national organization, and wrote letters to legislators and university administrators as financial resources and name changes to the college were debated. And: like the author's mother, I majored in home economics and journalism in the 1980s and, also like her, have always thought that what I studied "wasn't really home economics." Dreilinger's succinct exploration identifies the tension between teaching home-life skills and equipping students to address the root problems of issues like hunger and homelessness while showcasing specific examples of how home economists have changed the world from the late 1800s to today.
I read this in honor of my mom, who taught high school home economics, was active at the local and state levels of the national organization, and wrote letters to legislators and university administrators as financial resources and name changes to the college were debated. And: like the author's mother, I majored in home economics and journalism in the 1980s and, also like her, have always thought that what I studied "wasn't really home economics." Dreilinger's succinct exploration identifies the tension between teaching home-life skills and equipping students to address the root problems of issues like hunger and homelessness while showcasing specific examples of how home economists have changed the world from the late 1800s to today.