This course examines American material culture from 1650-1950. 
Material culture (the study of things) includes not only elite 
cultural artifacts but common everyday items, too.  Material 
culture encompasses anything crafted by humans: architecture, 
cemeteries, parks, gardens, clothing, fine art, furniture, 
coins, metalwork, jewelry, glass, photographs, public 
monuments, broadsides, trade cards, sheet music, panoramas, 
etc. Since both the range of materials and time span covered by 
this course are broad it is not possible to be comprehensive. 
The class is intended as an introduction to a material culture 
approach to history. 

1. Students will learn techniques of visual analysis to better 
understand an object and its meaning. 

2. Students will learn how to research an object using primary 
and secondary resources.

3. Students will engage in verbal and written analysis and 
interpretation of objects using critical thinking skills.

Introduction to material culture
Material culture of colonial America
Decorative arts in the 17th and 18th centuries
Vessels and buildings in the 17th and 18th centuries
18th-century portraiture and African American material culture
Material culture in the early republic
Cemeteries and public parks in the 19th century 
Material culture of the 19th century
Women as consumers in the 19th century
Prints and ephemera in the 19th century
Photographs and quilts
Decorative arts and painting in the gilded age
Household technology in the 20th century 
20th-century material culture and the great depression
Post-war material culture

Students are expected to adhere to the University's policy on
academic honesty (refer to the University's handbook on Academic
Honesty and the Honor Code).