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In this course students explore the many ways in which the material artifacts and built environments of Americans serve as historical "texts" -- to be studied, and often, preserved and interpreted for the public. We learn to see America's tangible, three-dimensional cultural landscape as a window into the attitudes, values, beliefs, behaviors, hopes, ideals, achievements, and fears of Americans across time and space. Extensive reading in the field of material culture studies, along with lecture, film, discussion, and two field trips shape the course. Along the way, students are challenged to conduct their own interpretations of places and objects and think about their meanings and significance in American history.
