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Junior Colloquium: Constructions of Culture
AMST203 SP
This junior colloquium examines the construction of a dominant national culture in the antebellum United States and explores its relationship to constituent subcultures and oppositional cultures. The transformation of
colonial society will be compared
with related processes of cultural reorganization among Native American peoples attempting to retain a separate identity within the new nation. The seminar introduces a variety of theoretical conceptions of culture and
considers a range of artifacts that
can be used to reconstruct a cultural past. Special emphasis will be placed on the built environment and material culture, on developing distinctions between popular and high culture, and on gendered representations of
the new social order.
MAJOR READINGS
Richard Bushman, THE REFINEMENT OF AMERICA Cathy Davidson, REVOLUTION AND THE WORD Karen Haltunnen, CONFIDENCE MEN AND PAINTED WOMEN Anthony Wallace, THE DEATH AND REBIRTH OF THE SENECA William McLoughlin,
CHEROKEES AND MISSIONARIES Susan
Davis, PARADES AND POWER Joy Kasson, MARBLE QUEENS & CAPTIVES Selections from Erving Goffman, THE PRESENTATION OF THE SELF IN EVERYDAY LIFE; E.H. Gombrich, THE IMAGE AND THE EYE; Mary Douglas, PURITY AND DANGER; and
Pierre Bourdieu, DISTINCTION.
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Two short papers and a final research project will be required. Participation in seminar discussion will be reflected in the final grade.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed
Drop/Add form to the Registrar's
Office.
COURSE FORMAT:
Lecture
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level:
UGRD
Credit:
1
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST
Grading Mode:
Student Option
Prerequisites:
HIST235 OR HIST236 OR AMST154 OR ENGL204
Last Updated on MAR-24-2000
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Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459