[syllabus]

COURSE DESCRIPTION
In this course students examine domestic artifacts as primary documents for the study of American culture. This semester we will study the material culture of folk life in America from the eighteenth century to the present time, emphasizing the cultural context in which objects were made and used.

In the first part of the course the class will examine the traditional crafts of pre-industrial America, and will investigate how they came to be regarded as folk art. This unit concludes with a field trip to the American Folk Art Museum in NYC. In the second part of the course we will address recent critical writings examining the construction in the twentieth century of folk art as a category defined by cultural organizations, collectors, and the marketplace.

Daily slide lectures and occasional field trips will support the semester-long discussion of folk artifacts and the nature of folk groups. The course culminates with students undertaking original research into a community -based folk art, concluding with an in-class presentation and final paper.

READING
The required texts for this course are:

• Ardery, The Temptation: Edgar Tolson and the Genesis of 20th Century Folk Art
• Becker, Selling Tradition: Appalachia and the Construction of an Amerian Folk
• Hollander & Anderson, American Anthem: Masterworks from Folk Art Museum
• 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.