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COURSE DESCRIPTION
In this course students examine different forms of material culture as primary documents for the study of American cultural history. This semester we will study American gravemarkers and burying grounds dating from 1650 to the present. Emphasis will be placed on learning to interpret artifacts as historical evidence through first-hand experience supported by research in secondary sources. The principal focus will be on local resources and will include field trips to Providence burying grounds and cemeteries and to the Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design. In the first part of the course the class will use New England gravestones from the colonial and early national periods to examine and interpret the life of Puritan America. In the second part of the course we will examine the development of rural cemeteries. The third part of the course will address gravemarkers and burying grounds from various cultural traditions in nineteenth- and twentieth-century America. The course culminates with an original research project and final paper.

READING
The required texts for this course are:

• Ludwig, Graven Images
• Meyer, ed., Cemeteries and Gravemarkers: Voices of American Culture
• Additional readings on reserve at the Rockefeller Library. You may choose to have a set of these readings photocopied at Allegra Copy, 212 Thayer St.

REQUIREMENTS
Requirements for this course include daily reading assignments, two short written assignments, attendance in class and on field trips, in-class participation, and a midterm exam and a final project. Please turn off your cell phones before class begins.