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Historic Preservation Home > Syllabi > 300 Level Courses > HISP 320 American Forms and Values

 UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION

HISP 320 AMERICAN FORMS AND VALUES

Dr. Elisabeth Sommer
129 Combs Hall
654-1310 (office)
Office Hours: MW 11-12 & 3-4pm; TR 2-3pm

TThis class is about the materials of history, the things we leave behind, the objects we write about, the traces of things long gone, and what use and meaning they have for our understanding of ourselves and the past.  It is, in effect, about forms and the values that societies attach to them.  We will therefore explore some of the theories developed by scholars in their attempt to explain the meaning of things, and test our own analytical skills on specific types of material culture.  We will also consider examples of the role specific objects or other material expressions (such as landscapes and floorplans) played in American culture and society.

Please take note—the success of this class depends on your willingness to do the following:
Read the assignments carefully
Read them on time
Add your voice to the general discussion

To make a fruitful discussion possible you will either need to take very careful notes from the readings or print the readings out and bring them to class for reference (or both).  The assigned readings to be covered each class period are listed in parentheses after the topic. 

Course Goals
The class is primarily designed to do two things—1) introduce you to thinking with and about things in new ways and to some of the methods scholars use to analyze material culture 2) give you some experience with researching and analyzing the relationship between things and society.  This will include being able to read secondary sources critically, and use primary sources effectively.  To give the class structure I have divided the course into some general themes and arranged it roughly, but not strictly, in chronological sequence.  There are also some days dedicated to practicing analytical skills using various types of primary source material.

Reading Assignments

  • Steven Lubar and David Kingery eds. History from Things: Essays on Material Culture (in the bookstore and on Amazon)
  • Articles from Ann Smart Martin and J. Ritchie Garrison eds. American Material Culture: the Shape of the Field (on Blackboard)
  • Miscellaneous additional articles (also on Blackboard)

Writing Assignments
You will have three brief (3-4 page) writing assignments and a research proposal project (7-9 pages) that will serve as your final exam.  The research proposal should focus on the analysis of a type/group of objects or social practice/ritual.  The form will consist of an opening thesis statement, including what you think can be gained from this study, an analytical overview of any previous studies of the subject, an overview of the research you are able to accomplish during the semester (which should be at least enough to support your case for further investigation), and an outline (in narrative form) of a plan for future research.  Remember that this proposal serves as a final examination, and as such, should demonstrate both your ability to use basic research skills and your understanding of at least some of the theories and approaches covered in class.  Various steps toward the final product, such as a bibliography and outline, will be due over the course of the semester.  Meeting these deadlines will prevent your proposal from going in the wrong direction and melting down at the last hour.  You will also present your proposal to your fellow students, and the presentation will form a part of the final project grade.  Presentations should focus on your own research and have some visual or material component. 

Grading

Discussion/Participation 15%
First Short Paper 15%
Second & Third Papers 40% (20% each)
Research Proposal 30% (includes all components)

You can get extra credit for assisting with the Welsh Festival hosted by the James Monroe Museum, and writing a brief (1-2 page) report of your observations of the culture of this ethnic festival.  Contact Adele Uphaus at the Monroe Museum to sign up.

Here’s the Fun Stuff! (?)

Aug. 25: Introduction to Material Culture and Analysis (or,what the heck am I doing in this class?)

Aug. 27: The Things Around Us (bring in an object for analysis—no, I’m not going to analyze it, you are)

Thinking about the Place of Things in Society

Sept. 1: Defining and Capturing Culture, Some Lessons from Europe (Peter Burke, Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe, chapter 2, pp.23-47, and chapter 3, on Blackboard)

What does Burke mean by the “great” and “little traditions?” Can these same concepts be applied to American culture?

What methods of “getting at” popular culture does Burke present?  Which one(s) do you think would be most effective?

Sept. 3: The Role of Things (from History from Things Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, “Why We Need Things”) How does Csikszentmihalyi think we use things?  How does his theory compare to what you discovered in your object analysis?

Form versus Substance (bet you didn’t know there was a difference)

Sept. 8: The Case for the Importance of Form (from History from Things Jules Prown, “The Truth of Material Culture: Fact or Fiction?”)

First Brief Writing Assignment Due: Summarize and assess Prown’s analysis of either the two teapots or the two tables.  Do you find his analysis persuasive?  Why or why not?

Sept. 10: The Case for the Importance of Substance (from History from Things Robert Friedel, “Some Matters of Substance”) What does Friedel point out about the role of substance in the study of material culture?  How does his argument relate to Prown’s theory?

Material Culture in the Study of the “Other”

Sept. 15: Material Objects as Evidence of Cultural Encounters (Laurel Ulrich, “An Indian Basket” from The Age of Homespun) How does Ulrich use the physical makeup and history of the basket to explore the relationship between Europeans and Native Americans?

Sept. 17: Primary source analysis: John White’s Paintings and Theodore de Bry’s Prints (www.virtualjamestown.org/images/white.debry.html/introduction.html; also scan Karen Kupperman “The Carolina Algonquians on the Eve of Colonization” for background—article on Blackboard) What examples can you find of ways that de Bry altered White’s paintings when he made his etchings?  How might these changes give insight into early European views of Native Americans?

Investigating Early American Material Culture

Sept. 22: The Anglo-American Tea Ceremony (from American Material Culture Rodris Roth, “Tea Drinking in Eighteenth Century America: its Etiquette and Equipage” on Blackboard) What does Roth identify as the significance of tea-drinking and its material culture?  What do you notice about the sources she uses?

Sept. 24: Primary source analysis: Some Eighteenth Century Inventories (review the inventories posted on Blackboard) How can we use inventories to discover information about life, values, and changes in eighteenth century America?

Sept. 26: Welsh Festival

Fashion as Rhetoric

Sept. 29: The Language of Dress in Colonial America (Linda Baumgarten, “The Myths and Meanings of Clothing” from What Clothes Reveal on Blackboard) How does Baumgarten think that 18th century clothing “spoke?”  Can clothing “speak?”

Oct. 1: Field Trip to the James Monroe Museum exhibit on the clothing of James and Elizabeth Monroe—research proposal topic due with list of potential sources

Landscape as Artifact

Oct. 6: The Significance of Place (from History from Things Pierce Lewis, “Common Landscapes as Historic Documents”) How does Lewis think we can “read” a landscape?

Oct. 8: Primary source analysis: Town Plans (review the various town plans posted on Blackboard)—second paper due

Oct. 13: Fall Break!! (and none too soon)

Food, Glorious Food

Oct. 15: Video—annotated bibliography for research proposal due

Oct. 20: The Sociology of Food (from The Taste of American Place Gaye Tuchman and Harry Gene. Levine, “New York Jews and Chinese Food: the Social Construction of an Ethnic Pattern” on Blackboard) How do the authors explain the relationship between Jewish culture and Chinese food?  What does this analysis suggest about the role food can play in society?

Oct. 22: Primary source analysis: the Personal Interview (create a series of interview questions about food and the college experience—you will be interviewing each other)

Technology and Social Change

Oct. 27: Machines as Social Expressions (from History from Things Steven Lubar, “Machine Politics: the Political Construction of Technological Artifacts”) How does Lubar think that machines can reveal culture?  Do you agree?

Oct. 29: The Impact of Technology on the American Home (one group will read Ruth Cowan, “Coals Stoves and Clean Sinks: Housework Between 1890 and 1930” and the other will read Thomas Schlereth, “Conduits and Conduct: Home Utilities in Victorian America” both on Blackboard) How doe the respective authors tie technological changes to changes in the American households?

Gender and Space

Nov. 3: A Woman’s Place (Carolyn Brucken, “In the Public Eye: Women and the American Luxury Hotel” on Blackboard) In what ways does Brucken see luxury hotels as “feminine?”  What is her argument about “the public eye” and how does it relate to the use of space?

Nov. 5: A Manly Space (George Wagner “The Lair of the Bachelor” on Blackboard) How does Wagner view the “bachelor pad” as a male fantasy?  In what ways was this fantasy a reaction to earlier social and cultural developments?

Finding Social Significance in Decorative Objects

Nov. 10: Animals in the Parlor (from American Material Culture Katherine Grier, “Material Culture as Rhetoric: ‘Animal Artifacts’ as Case Study” on Blackboard) What role does Grier argue that animal objects played in the Victorian self-image?

Nov. 12: An Sixties Icon Deconstructed (from American Artifacts: Essays in Material Culture Joel Pfister, “Lucubrations on a Lava Lamp: Technocracy, Counterculture, and Containment in the American Sixties”) How does Pfister use the lava lamp to examine the different faces of American culture in the Sixties?  Can you identify Jules Prown’s influence in how he approaches his analysis?

The Modern American Consumer

Nov. 17: Selling It (from American Material Culture Alison J. Clarke, “Tupperware: Product as Social Relation”) What does Clarke see as the social significance of Tupperware?  Can we speak of a “culture” of Tupperware?

Nov. 19: In-class work on research proposal—thesis paragraph and proposal outline due by 5:00

Nov. 24: You’ve been waiting for it—Video “Barbie Nation”
Third short paper due (I know, you haven’t been waiting for that)

Nov. 26: THANKSGIVING!! (don’t get stupefied by your feast—there’s still a lot of work ahead)

Dec. 1: Student Presentations

Dec. 3: Student Presentations

Dec. 8: Student Presentations note: these will occur in the time slots set for your final exam as follows:

8:30 for section 01 (9:30 class)
12:00 for section 02 (2:00 class)

Final Research Proposal due to me in my office on December 8 by 6:00!

The Office of Disability Services has been designated by the University as the primary office to guide, counsel, and assist students with disabilities.  If you receive services through that office and require accommodations for this class, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible to discuss your approved accommodation needs.  Bring your accommodation letter with you to the appointment.  I will hold any information you share with me in the strictest confidence unless you give me permission to do otherwise.  If you need accommodations, (note taking assistance, extended time for tests, etc.), I would be happy to refer you to the Office of Disability Services.  They will require appropriate documentation of a disability.  Their phone number is 540-654-1266.