History 661: American Material Culture
Spring 2004, Tues. 2:00 - 5:00 pm
Synopsis:
The aim of this course is to introduce graduate students to the study of "doing history from things," or material culture. Early in the semester, we will attend to the methods by which material culture can be harnessed for historical analysis; our emphasis will thereafter shift to significant genres - landscapes, architecture, artifacts of belief, and so forth - through which we can examine the work of historians using these objects to investigate larger historical questions about gender, race, class and society. Each week, we will look closely at one work, selected either because it is, or will surely become, a classic work in American Material Culture. At the same time, members of the class will bring to our conversation insights gleaned from their broader reading in the period or subject at hand. Along the way, students will gain familiarity with the most significant literature in material culture studies, major trends in material culture historiography, and the leading figures who have given the field its shape and direction. Students will choose one of two final projects: 1) a historiographical paper exploring the implications of material culture for a project, preferably their own, grounded in more familiar, document-based methodologies, or 2) cataloguing a significant body of objects for a local museum.
Syllabus: History 661, Spring 2003 (Save as PDF)
Course Website: Not available
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