SCOTT CASPER

NORTHERN NEVADA TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY PROJECT

SEPTEMBER 2012

What Is “Cultural History”?

One step back: What is “culture”?

Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Romney’s Side Course of Culture” What definition(s) of “culture” do we see here? (What

is Romney’s, according to Coates? What is Coates’s?)

One step back: What is “culture”?

Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Romney’s Side Course of Culture” What definition(s) of “culture” do we see here? (What

is Romney’s, according to Coates? What is Coates’s?) What belongs to the realm Coates calls “culture”?

One step back: What is “culture”?

Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Romney’s Side Course of Culture” What definition(s) of “culture” do we see here? (What

is Romney’s, according to Coates? What is Coates’s?) What belongs to the realm Coates calls “culture”? What does it mean to describe “culture” vs. “cultures”

(singular vs. plural)?

One step back: What is “culture”?

Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Romney’s Side Course of Culture” What definition(s) of “culture” do we see here? (What

is Romney’s, according to Coates? What is Coates’s?) What belongs to the realm Coates calls “culture”? What does it mean to describe “culture” vs. “cultures”

(singular vs. plural)? What shapes “culture(s)”? Or, what is the relationship

between “culture” and other realms of human history?

One step back: What is “culture”?

Rubin/Casper, Oxford Encyclopedia of American Cultural & Intellectual History p. 1: definition of “culture”—unpack that

One step back: What is “culture”?

Rubin/Casper, Oxford Encyclopedia of American Cultural & Intellectual History p. 1: definition of “culture”—unpack that key terms in the essay: “practices” (p. 4);

“representations” (p. 5); “institutions” (p. 11)

One step back: What is “culture”?

Rubin/Casper, Oxford Encyclopedia of American Cultural & Intellectual History p. 1: definition of “culture”—unpack that key terms in the essay: “practices” (p. 4);

“representations” (p. 5); “institutions” (p. 11)From “culture” to “cultural history”

Now, to “cultural history”

What is “cultural history”?What do “cultural historians” study?What questions do “cultural historians” ask?

relation between “culture” and “society,” “politics,” “economics,” etc.

relation between different “cultures” within a particular context (a particular place, time, etc.)

change over time in “culture(s)”

Now, to “cultural history”

What is “cultural history”?What do “cultural historians” study?What questions do “cultural historians” ask?

relation between “culture” and “society,” “politics,” “economics,” etc.

relation between different “cultures” within a particular context (a particular place, time, etc.)

change over time in “culture(s)”What distinguishes “cultural history” from

“social history,” “political history,” or “intellectual history”?

Topical Outline from Oxford Encyclopedia

Understanding the headings

Topical Outline from Oxford Encyclopedia

Understanding the headingsImagining what belongs under each—and

what COULD go under each

Topical Outline from Oxford Encyclopedia

Understanding the headingsImagining what belongs under each—and

what COULD go under eachExploring the overlaps: what “belongs”

where? Why?

Now, let’s DO some “cultural history”

Analyze the cultural text: Text: What’s going on here? (Look as closely as

possible.) Context(s): What is the history of the production,

dissemination, and reception of this text? What “cultural work” is it doing?

Does this text have a life beyond its original cultural moment?

Text: What’s going on here? (Look as closely

as possible.)

Context(s): What is the history of the production,

dissemination, and reception

of this text?

What “cultural work”is it doing?

Does this text have a life beyond its original cultural moment?

Why study cultural history?

Content: What does cultural history teach—or illuminate—about the past that other “types” of history don’t?

Why study cultural history?

Content: What does cultural history teach—or illuminate—about the past that other “types” of history don’t?

Pedagogy: What can cultural history offer to you and your students? How might it enhance not just WHAT they learn but also HOW they learn?