Courses - Spring 2010

History 697U/797U: Landscape and Memory

David Glassberg
Thursday 1:00PM 3:30PM

This seminar explores the relationship between historical consciousness and environmental perception, or "sense of history" and "sense of place." Among the topics we will consider are how individuals and groups identify with particular environments; represent those environments in words and pictures; and transform those environments through the creation of monuments and memorials, historic preservation, and heritage tourism. Of particular interest are issues associated with the identification and protection of cultural disciplines, including cultural geography, history, anthropology, and landscape architectures. Course Notes

Anth 597AF: Heritage Narratives: Literary Genres and Contemporary Significance

Neil Silberman
Thursdays 10-1, Machmer E-12

This graduate-level seminar will analyze the basic narrative forms and plotlines that underlie contemporary public heritage presentation in print, in video, on websites, and in various forms of on-site presentation. Drawing its theoretical insights from narratology and literary criticism, the seminar will offer a basic understanding of the interpretive significance of heritage "stories" as moralizing metaphorical narratives with profound contemporary reso-nance. Weekly examples of outstanding, noteworthy, or particularly influential heritage narratives will be presented and will be examined by the seminar participants. The final project will be the creation of an original heritage narrative on a selected site or theme of the individual participant's choice. Advanced undergraduate participation will be allowed with the permission of the instructor.

Anth 297F: Anthropology of Food

Krista Harper
Wed 6:00‐ 9:00 PM 

This course surveys how cultural anthropologists have studies the big questions about food and culture. How and why do people restrict what foods are considered "edible" or morally  acceptable? How is food processed and prepared, and what does food tell us about other aspects of  culture like gender and ethnic identity? How have power issues shaped people's access to food? How  has industrialization changed food, and where are foodways headed in the future? Along the way,  student swill read and see films about foodways in Europe, Asia, the United States, and Latin America. 

Honors 392X: Visions & Revisions

Kathleen Brown-Perez
M W F 10:10AM 11:00AM

This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to American Indians and tribes. The class begins with a discussion of the definitions of Indian, Indian tribe, Indian country, and Indian title, knowledge of which is necessary to understand the current status of Indians and tribes in the United States. The second part of the class explores American Indian cultures, including education, identity, music, and women’s roles while also addressing controversial issues such as portrayals in the media and stereotyping. The third part of the class provides an introduction to federal Indian law and policy, which defines and regulates American Indians and tribes in the U.S. We will look at environmental regulations and concerns in Indian Country, fishing and hunting rights, and tribal governments. The class will conclude with a look at contemporary issues and concerns faced by American Indians and tribes today, including health & diet, education, and tribal economic development such as gaming. This course is appropriate for students of all majors and backgrounds and fulfils a requirement of the Five College and UMass Native American Indian Studies Certificate Programs.

More Courses in Native American Indian Studies

http://www.umass.edu/nativestudies/current.html

Courses - Fall 2009

Anth 597AE: Heritage as Applied Anthropology: New Approaches to Public Commemoration and Social Memory

Elizabeth Chilton & Neil Silberman
Thurs 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

This seminar will examine the new theoretical trends and tools that have begun to transform the nature of heritage policy and practice in the United States and throughout the world. In contrast to more traditional modes of historic preservation and public commemoration, often embodied in univocal narratives and the sanctification of conserved material authenticity, recent developments have placed stress on community participation in debates on significance and in the dynamic interplay between tangible and intangible heritage. Participants in this seminar will analyze the relevance and contributions of archaeology, cultural, linguistic, and physical anthropology to this reformulation of “heritage” as contemporary social practice. Real-world case studies in urban settings and in the developing world (highlighting the issues of heritage economics, ethics, and cultural inclusiveness) will be selected for special focus, with the goal of applying the insights of anthropology to their further theoretical and practical development.

Anthro 775/PubP&A 697V: Qualitative Research Methods

Krista Harper
Wed 12:20PM - 2:50PM, 620 Thompson Hall

Qualitative research methods, including ethnography, provide an essential component in the policy research "toolkit." Today's policymakers operate in complex societies and serve an increasingly diverse public. Ethnographic research helps policymakers reach the public by providing tools for understanding diverse cultural perceptions, practices, and social problems in context. The centerpiece of the course is an actual ethnographic project here in western Mass: students will design a qualitative research project, conduct field research with a local organization or other community setting, analyze qualitative data, and write up research findings in a paper that explores applications for policy or administration. Students will learn key concepts, research design, methodological strategies, and the ethics of applied qualitative research. In past years, students have conducted heritage-related research projects on the preservation of historic farm buildings, New England archaeologists' views on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), and the senses of place and belonging developed by immigrant gardeners growing food in an urban community garden.

History 397Z Introduction to Public History

Margo Shea
Tues/Thurs 9:30 - 10:45 AM

What is Public history? Public historians-whether they work in museums, archives, historic sites, federal agencies or any one of a number of other possibilities-aim to take the insights of the discipline as they are cultivated in traditional academic arenas and methods and apply them in a wide range of public settings. Public historians are accomplished social, cultural and political historians who are often conversant in related humanities fields; they are also diplomats, fundraisers, managers and mediators. This course will introduce students to the theory and practice of public history. Students will learn not only where and how historians work beyond the conventional classroom, but the many ways history operates in American public life.

History 659: Public History

Jon Olsen
Tues 2:30 - 5:00 PM

Public History is history that is seen, heard, read and interpreted by a popular audience. Public historians expand on the methods of academic history by emphasizing non-traditional evidence and presentation formats, reframing questions, and in the process creating a distinctive historical practice.... Public history is also history that belongs to the public. By emphasizing the public context of scholarship, public history trains historians to transform their research to reach audiences outside the academy. History 659 introduces students to the distinctive historical practice of Public History. The first few weeks of the course will examine the various public images and uses of history, past and present. Topics include how versions of the past are created, institutionalized and disseminated as the public history in civic celebrations, memorials and monuments; in popular culture, including television and film; and in the landscape. We will also consider the relationship of these public histories to more private versions of the past communicated among family and friends (the relationship between public history and collective memory). The remainder of the course will examine some of the particular issues confronted by historians who work in public history settings such as museums and historic sites, historic preservation agencies, archives, history‑related web sites and documentary film. Note: This course is required for those seeking an MA with a concentration in public history; it is highly recommended for others interested in the place of history in modern American culture.

Honors 499C: Historic and Contemporary Issues of American Indians and Tribes: History, Policy, and Law

Kathleen Brown-Pérez
Tues/Thurs 1:00PM - 2:15PM

Indian casinos, teepees, Wounded Knee, Navajo Code Talkers. What do you think of when you hear the term “American Indian”? What happened to Indians in the past and what is happening today? Knowledge of federal Indian policy and law as well as American Indian history through the years is essential to understanding what is happening to Indians and tribes today, why it’s happening, and how it could change. This course will begin with a look at American Indians from the time they first discovered Europeans. We will continue with a detailed consideration of the history of federal Indian policy in the U.S. and its impact on tribes and individual Indians. Federal Indian policy (which for many years had the official focus of dealing with the “Indian problem”) is continually evolving and generally represents contemporary attitudes toward Indians as well as the political agendas of those in office and on the Supreme Court. It is also a good example of definitional, structural, and culture violence perpetrated against a people who, in many cases, don’t get to define who they are or control what is happening to them. In reviewing the policies, their effects on individual tribes will be examined, with a focus on how the effects differed from tribe to tribe, because the tribes, approximately 700 of them, are diverse, each with its own history, culture, government, beliefs, and ideals. In addition to historical and contemporary Indian policy, numerous other topics will be covered, including gaming, Indian environmental rights, and federal acknowledgment. We will then cross the southern U.S. border into México for a look at the Indians who ended up on that side of the fence. Cultural, political, and legal differences south of the border will be viewed in light of the North American Free Trade Agreement and post-9/11 security measures. This is the first part of a two-semester sequence that fulfills the Capstone Experience requirement of Commonwealth College.