Where does American culture come from? What can things like maps, pirates, religious revivals, and even a giant cheese tell us about the making of America?

This course will examine culture in the North American colonies and borderlands, and in the newly formed United States in the period before 1876. We will define culture broadly in this class to consider social customs and beliefs as well as more specific forms of literary and artistic expression. We will explore how culture shaped critical elements of American history, including: settler colonialism and indigenous resistance; emerging American identities and constructions of gender, sexuality, race, and class; slavery and abolitionism; democratic practices and religious participation; and the rise of urban and rural American cultures.

This course will be organized around major scholarly debates in cultural history, and will require reading scholarly journal articles and primary sources. Students should expect to come away from this course with improved skills in the practice of cultural history, including reading scholarly works and interpreting historical sources. Grading will be based on active participation, regular reading responses, 1 group presentation, and a final take-home exam.

Course Requirements:

Graded components consist of active participation in synchronous discussion, and asynchronous assignments including short reading responses, primary source analysis project, and option of final essay, project, or exam.

Class Format:

Regular lectures for this course (avg 20-30 minutes) will be recorded and made available asynchronously. We will also have biweekly discussion/breakout sessions that require synchronous participation. This course will use Canvas for all asynchronous online components. Synchronous class discussions will be conducted over Zoom or BlueJeans. Students should have access to an internet-connected computer, camera and microphone.