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SMITH COLLEGE American Studies

Fall 2012 AMS 220 Prof. Christen Mucher M-W 1:10-2:30pm cmucher@smith.edu McConnell 403 205 Dewey Hall Tues 1-3 & by appt

Curating American Memory Description Which histories become part of national memory, and which do not? How do museums and public memorials commemorate certain events (and not others), and why? What makes an event, group, or person part of “American” memory? Our course will interrogate the intellectual, political, and pedagogical bases of museums, memorials, historical sites, and public history collections in the US from the eighteenth century to today. Readings will focus on memory studies, knowledge and classification theory, logic and history of exhibition, and descriptions of public, property, trauma, nation, and identity. In addition, we will read about US sites and collections and such as Charles Willson Peale's Philadelphia Museum, the Bunker Hill Monument, Barnum's American Museum, and the Harvard “Glass Flowers.” The last third of our course will be dedicated to exploring three case studies centered around the themes of nation, identity, and trauma: the President's House in Philadelphia, the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, and 9/11 Memorials in New York City. For the final project, students will create their own “American memory” exhibits using the digital curation software, Omeka. Objectives Gain familiarity with the current issues in Museum Studies. Learn to question how and why museums and historic sites are constructed and presented. Become fluent discussants of the theoretical underpinnings of collection and display. Gain historical perspective on ongoing debates in public culture today. Required Texts (available at Grécourt Bookstore) and on reserve at Neilson Library

1. Conn, Steven. Do Museums Still Need Objects? (2010) AM11 .C63 2010 2. Foote, Kenneth. Shadowed Ground: America's Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy,

Revised Edition (2003) E159 .F68 2003 3. Foucault, Michel. The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences (1994) AZ101 .F6913 1994

4. Horton, James Oliver, and Lois Horton eds., Slavery and Public History: The Tough Stuff of American Memory (2008) E441 .S625 2006

5. Karp, Ivan and Steven Lavine eds., Exhibiting Cultures (1991) AM151 .E94 1991 6. Lonetree, Amy ed., The National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversations (2008) E56 .N36 2008

7. Rossington, Michael and Anne Whitehead, eds., Theories of Memory: A Reader (2007) BF371 .T442 2007 [R]

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8. Savage, Kirk. Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves (1999) E468.9 .S28 1997 Requirements To get the most out of our class, each student should do all of the assigned readings and come prepared and ready to discuss and ask questions about related ideas and issues. Assignments include weekly responses, 2 group presentations, a museum/site review essay, and a final (written and multimedia) project. All work must be submitted on time to receive full credit—extensions are granted only in extenuating circumstances. Furthermore, students are expected to meet with the instructor at least once a semester to discuss projects and progress in the course. Response papers: One-page (single-spaced) response papers (a total of 10) are due by 10am on Mondays and should be submitted via Moodle. Response papers will not be graded but must consist of a full page—submitted on time—to receive full credit; responses should address an assigned reading or prompt, and are an opportunity to explore new ideas and resources and to collect your thoughts. Group presentations: Once during the semester, you will work in a small group to present a five-minute summary of a key reading and help facilitate discussion; students will select their presentation text/date/group on the first day of class. On 9/26, students will be assigned one additional essay (from the Keywords for American Cultural Studies collection) and will create a summarizing handout (in outline form) to bring to class and “flash” present on 10/3 (Flash presentations are usually less than 5 minutes). Museum review: Students are responsible for visiting at least one local museum during the semester and subsequently writing a 3-page site review essay based on questions raised during our readings and discussions (due 11/7). Final project: Students should sign-up for a (free) account with Omeka curation software (http://www.omeka.net/ --choose the “basic” plan) during the first few weeks of the semester. Students will receive a detailed information sheet toward the end of September (due 12/20). Grading will be calculated as follows: Class participation (discussions, attendance): 20% Response papers: 20% Museum/Site Review: 20% Presentations: 10% Final Project: 20% Absences To receive full marks for class participation, you must attend and contribute to every class discussion (i.e., asking questions, sharing observations). The only excused absences are religious observances, which should be cleared beforehand by the instructor (send an email before missing class) or illness accompanied by a note from the health center. Excused absences will require make-up work; unexcused absences will count against your daily participation and

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ultimately your grade. Communication Please feel free to email me at cmucher@smith.edu, but do allow at least 48 hours for a response. For more immediate issues, please reach out to your classmates or attend my drop-in office hours (Tues 1-3pm or by appointment). I have set up a communal Gmail account for students who may want to send me questions anonymously. The login and password are: AMSanonQ@gmail.com americanstudies Academic Integrity Smith College has an Honor Code, which is enforced by the Smith Academic Honor Board; faculty have a responsibility to report any suspected violations of the Honor Code—such as, but not limited to, cases of plagiarism and cheating—to the Honor Board and relevant Deans. For more information, see: Smith College Honor Code http://www.smith.edu/sao/handbook/socialconduct/honorcode.php Smith College Libraries Tutorial “How to Recognize Plagiarism” http://www.smith.edu/libraries/services/faculty/infolit/tutorial/tuthome.php Accessibility: If you need ability accommodation in this course, please speak with me or contact the Office of Disability Services at College Hall 104 or ods@smith.edu as soon as possible. Reading Schedule Please note that this schedule is a work-in-progress, and subject to change as necessary. Readings marked with an o are optional Please read Deuteronomy 32:7 and Jill Lepore’s “Tea and Sympathy: Who owns the American Revolution?” before we meet for the first time (available on Moodle). Week 1 Introduction M 9/10 Creating Memory, Curating the Past

• Introduction

W 9/12 Why remember the “days of old”? • Hobsbawm, Eric. “Introduction: Inventing Traditions,” in The Collective Memory Reader, Olick, Vinitzky-Serroussi and Levy, eds. (2011) pp 271-274.

• Trouillot, Michel-Rolf. From Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995) pp 1-30 (141-153 recommended)

• Foote, Kenneth. From Shadowed Ground (2003) pp 214-292. o Weinbaum, Alys Eve. “Nation,” in Keywords for American Cultural Studies,

Burgett and Hendler, eds. (2007) pp 164-170.

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Week 2 History/Memory/Forgetting M 9/17 "And suddenly the memory returns" (Proust) 1st Response Paper Due by 10am

• Rossington, Michael (ed). “Introduction,” “Classical and Early Modern Ideas of Memory,” “Enlightenment and Romantic Memory,” “Memory and Late Modernity,” “Plato,” “Aristotle” “Frances A. Yates,” “John Locke,” and “Henry Bergson” from [R] pp 1-38, 59-79, 85-90, 109-113.

o Willis, John. “Preface,” “I.1,” “III.1,” “III.2” “III.14” from Mnemonica (1618/trans1661).

W 9/19 Forgetting

• Nietzsche, Friedrich. “On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life” (1874) [R] pp 97-101.

• Nora, Pierre. “Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Mémoire” (1989) [R] pp 144-149.

o Lowenthal, David. “Memory and Oblivion,” Mu seum Management andCuratorship 12.2 (1993): 171-82

o Aug®, Marc. From "Oblivion," in The Collective Memory Reader, Olick, Vinitzky-Serroussi and Levy, eds. (2011) pp 473-474.

Week 3: Social Memory M 9/24 Memory and Society 2nd Response Paper Due by 10am: Visit the Sophia Smith Collection in the Alumnae Gym (Library). How does the collection house “Smith memory”? What memories of Smith College stand out to you?

o Hendler, Glenn. “Society” in Keywords for American Cultural Studies, Burgett and Hendler, eds. (2007) pp 225-230.

• Halbwachs, Maurice. “From The Collective Memory” [R] pp 139-143 PRESENTATION 1: Lauren and Elizabeth

• Freud, Sigmund. “From Moses and Monotheism,” in The Collective Memory Reader Olick, Vinitzky-Serroussi and Levy, eds. (2011) pp 85-88.

W 9/26 Memory and Museums

• Crane, Susan A. “The Conundrum of Ephemerality: Time, Memory, and Museums” in A Companion to Museum Studies, MacDonald, ed. (2011) pp 98-110.

• Hein, Hilde. “Looking at Museums from a Feminist Perspective,” in Gender, Sex and Museums (2010) pp 33-64

Å Look at the Pop-up Museum Philadelphia slideshow and "about" pages http://www.queermuseum.com/past-pop-ups/ http://www.queermuseum.com/about/ Choose presentation reading for 10/3 (in class) Week 4: Identities M 10/1 Public Privates 3rd Response Paper Due by 10am: Visit the Historic Northampton Museum Website

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(http://www.historic-northampton.org/) and take the “Virtual Tour.” In your opinion, how effective is this in giving an overview of the museum and its collection? What did the tour seem to focus on the most, or what kind of impression of the museum does this tour provide?

o Robbins, Bruce, “Public,” in Keywords for American Cultural Studies, Burgett and Hendler, eds. (2007) pp 183-187.

• Levin, Amy. “Why Local Museums Matter,” in Defining Memory, Levin, ed. (2007) pp 9-26.

• Conn, Steven. “Chapter 6” in Do Museums Still Need Objects? (2011) pp 197-232 o Mills, Robert. “Queer is Here? Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Histories

and Public Culture,” in Gender, Sex, and Museums (2010) pp 80-88. W 10/3 Private Publics

• Kaplan, Carla. “Identity,” in Keywords for American Cultural Studies, Burgett and Hendler, eds. (2007) pp 123-127.

• Kaplan, Flora Edouwaye S. “Making and Remaking National Identities” in A Companion to Museum Studies, MacDonald, ed. (2011) pp 152-169.

• Handler, Richard. “Is 'identity' a useful concept?” in Commemorations: The Politics of National Identity Gillis, ed. (1994) pp 27-40

In-class presentations on the following: § Ferguson, Robert. “Race,” in Keywords for American Cultural

Studies, Burgett and Hendler, eds. (2007) pp 191-196 § Halberstam, J. “Gender,” in Keywords for American Cultural

Studies, Burgett and Hendler, eds. (2007) pp 116-120. § Somerville, Siobhan. “Queer,” in Keywords for American Cultural

Studies, Burgett and Hendler, eds. (2007) pp 187-191 § Yu, Henry. “Ethnicity,” Keywords for American Cultural Studies,

Burgett and Hendler, eds. (2007) pp 103-108. Week 5 Trauma M 10/8 No class, Fall Break W 10/10 Traumatic Memory

• Caruth, Cathy. “Recapturing the Past: Introduction” (1995) [R] 199-205PRESENTATION 4: Hannah and JD • Erikson, Kai. “Notes on Trauma and Community” in in Trauma: Explorations in

Memory, Caruth ed. (1995) pp 183-199 o Alexander, Jeffrey. “From 'Toward a Cultural Theory of Trauma',” in The

Collective Memory Reader, Olick, Vinitzky-Serroussi and Levy, eds. (2011) pp 307-310.

• Cvetkovich, Ann. “The Everyday Life of Queer Trauma,” from An Archive of Feelings (2003) pp 15-48.

Week 6: National Memory M 10/15 Early Sites 4th Response Paper Due by 10am

o Gable, Eric and Richard Handler. “Public History, Private Memories: Notes from

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the Ethnography of Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, USA,” in Defining Memory, Levin, ed. (2007) pp 47 – 62.

• Webster, Daniel, “The Bunker Hill Monument” (1825). • Howells, William Dean. “Question of Monuments” in The Atlantic Monthly

17.103 (May 1866): 646-649. • Foote, Kenneth. From Shadowed Ground (2003) pp 111-144. o Blight, David. “The Lost Cause and Causes Not Lost” in American Studies: an

Anthology (2009) pp 528-539. • Savage, Kirk. Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves (1999) pp 129-161.

W 10/17 Early Museums

o Bodnar, John. From Remaking America: Public Memory, Commemoration, and Patriotism in the Twentieth Century (1992) pp 21-38.

• Harrison, Les. From The Temple and the Forum: American Museum and Cultural Authority in Hawthorne, Melville, Stowe, and Whitman (2007) pp 1-46.

• Dennett, “Barnum and the Museum Revolution, 1841-1870,” from Weird and Wonderful (1997) pp 23-40.

• The Lost Museum http://www.lostmuseum.cuny.edu/intro.html Week 7: Taxonomy M 10/22 Order 5th Response Paper Due by 10am

• Borges, “The Analytical Language of John Wilkins,” from Other Inquisitions, 1937-1952 (1964) pp 101-105.

• Foucault, Michel. “Preface,” from The Order of Things (1994) pp xv-xxiv. o Heesen, Anke Te. “The Box and Collecting,” from The World in a Box: the Story

of an 18th-century Picture Encyclopedia (2002) pp 135-162.

W 10/24 • Foucault, Michel. “Chapter 3: Representing,” “Chapter 5: Classifying,” “Chapter

7: The Age of History,” and “Chapter 10: Human Sciences,” from The Order of Things (1994) pp 46-77, 125-165, 344-end (as well as any other parts you’d like to read). PRESENTATION 5: Jess

Week 8 Objects M 10/29 Objects and Selves 6th Response Paper Due by 10am: Visit the First Person Museum online (http://www.firstpersonmuseum.org/), select a story from the “Gallery,” and write about your thoughts.

• Conn, Steven. “Chapter 1” and “Chapter 3” from Do Museums Still Need Objects? (2011) pp 20-57, 86-137.

• Pearce, Susan. “Objects as Meaning; or Narrating The Past,” from Objects of Knowledge (1990) pp 125-140. [ebook]

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o Daston, Lorraine. From Things that Talk: Object Lessons from Art and Science (2004) pp 223-256.

W 10/31 Property

• Conn, Steven. “Chapter 2,” from Do Museums Still Need Objects? (2011) pp 58-85.

• Merryman, John Henry. “Two Ways of Thinking about Cultural Property,” in The American Journal of International Law 80.4 (October 1986): 831 – 853. PRESENTATION 6 : Arielle and Nancy

• Gaither, Edmund Barry. “'Hey! That's Mine': Thoughts on Pluralism and American Museums,” in Reinventing the Museum, Anderson ed. (2004) pp 110-117.

Week 9 M 11/5 Homes as Objects 7th Response Paper Due by 10am: Look at the Porter-Phelps-Huntington House Museum website (http://www.pphmuseum.org/) and explore the “Museum Online” tab. Why is this specifically a “House Museum” as opposed to any other kind of museum?

• Pustz, J. “Shrines, Slave Quarters, and Social Relevance—the Changing Historic House Museums,” from Voices from the Back Stairs (2010) pp 13-33.

o Rossiter, Thomas P. “Mount Vernon, Past and Present. What Shall Be Its Destiny?,” The Crayon 5.9 (Sept 1858): 243-253. [JSTOR]

o Wall, Charles C. “Notes on the Early History of Mount Vernon,” William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd ser., 2.2 (April 1945): 173-190. [JSTOR]

• Brandt, Lydia Mattice. “Re-creating Mount Vernon,” The Winterthur Portfolio 43.1 (Spring 2009): 79-114. [JSTOR]

W 11/7 Selves as Objects

• Levine, Stephen, ed. “Chapter I: The Museum as a Way of Seeing,” “Chapter 2: Exhibiting Intention: Some Preconditions of the Visual Displays of Culturally Purposeful Objects,” “Chapter 12: Always True to the Object, in our Fashion,” “Chapter 15: Why Museums Make Me Sad,” “Chapter 18: The World as Marketplace: Commodification of the Exotic at the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893,” “Chapter 20: Objects of Ethnography,” in Exhibiting Cultures (1992) pp 25-41, 191-204, 255-278, 344-365, 386-443.

• Vizenor, Gerald. “Ishi Obscura,” West-Northwest Journal of Environmental Law & Policy (Spring 2001).

Museum Review Essays Due

Week 10 Curating American Memory M 11/12 History of Slavery 8th Response Paper Due by 10am: go to the David Ruggles Center websitehttp://www.davidrugglescenter.org/ find and read the "AfricanAmerican Heritage Trail"pdf. Did you know about this history? In what ways can this history serve the community?

• Horton, James Oliver, ed. “Intro,” “Chapters 1-4,” “Chapter 6,” “Chapter 7,” “Chapter 11,” from Slavery and Public History (2008) pp vii-xiv, 1-74, 103-150, 213-224.

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Å Savage, Kirk. From Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves (1997) pp 3-53. oo Ferguson, Leland, “African Americans on Southern Plantations,” in Unlocking the

Past (2010) pp 30-35. • National Park Service, Boston African American/Black Boston/Black Heritage Trail Pamphlet (2010).

W 11/14 History and Slavery • The President’s House in the local press PRESENTATION 7: Kyle • Nash, Gary. “Chapter 5: For Whom Will the Liberty Bell Toll? From Controversy

to Cooperation,” in Slavery and Public History Horton (2008) pp 75-101. • Yamin, Rebecca, from Digging in the City of Brotherly Love (2008), pp 39-58.

Week 11 M 11/19 Museums and Indigenous History 9th Response Paper Due by 10am

• Brown, Michael. “Exhibiting Indigenous Heritage in the Age of Cultural Property,” in Whose Culture, Cuno, ed. (2009) pp 145-165.

o Ames, Michael M. “Cultural Empowerment and Museums: Opening Up Anthropology Through Collaboration,” in Objects of Knowledge (1990) pp 158 -173.

o Loewen, James W. “Celebrating Genocide” from Lies Across America (1999) pp 415-418.

• McGeough, Michelle. “Indigenous Curatorial Practices and Methodologies,” Wicaso Sa Review 27.1 (Spring 2012): 13-20. [Project Muse]

W 11/21 No Class, Thanksgiving Break Week 12 M 11/26 Indigenous History Museums

• Lonetree, Amy ed., from The National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversations (2008) pp xiii-xxx, 3-127.

• Smithsonian Institution, from Spirit of a Native Place: Building the National Museum of the American Indian (2004) pp 67-85, 151-183.

• Smithsonian Institution, from The National Museum of the American Indian: Map and Guide (2004). PRESENTATION 8 : Maris

W 11/28 Indigenous History Museums • Lonetree, Amy ed., from The National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversations (2008) pp 131-178, 241-327, 331 -383, 431-447.

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Week 13 Traumatic Commemoration M 12/3 10th Response Paper Due by 10am

o Doss, Erika. “Anger” from Memorial Mania (2010) pp 117-186. • Foote, Kenneth. Shadowed Ground (2003) pp 337-357. • Conlon, Anna. “Representing Possibility: Mourning, Memorial, and Queer

Museology,” in Gender, Sex and Museums (2010) pp 253-263. W 12/5

o Kaplan, Amy. “Homeland Insecurities: Transformation of Language and Space,” in September 11 in History, Dudziak ed. (2003) pp 55-69.

• Taylor, Diana. “Lost in the Field of Vision: Witnessing September 11,” in The Archive and the Repertoire: Performing Cultural Memory in the America (2003) pp 237-265.

• Sturken, Marita. “Tourism and 'Sacred Ground': The Space of Ground Zero,” in Tourists of History (2007) pp 165-218.

• Remembering 9/11 in the local press (2006- 2012). • Steve Reich and the Kronos Quartet. From WTC 9/11 (2011): ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isnF7aKPK0o

Week 14 M 12/9 Counterhistory, Countermemory

• Foucault, Michel. “Nietzsche, Genealogy, History” in Language, Counter-Memory, Practice (1977) pp 139-164.

Å Gordon, Avery. from Ghostly Matters (1997) pp 137-190. W12/12 Creating the Past

• In-class presentations of Omeka exhibits Thurs 12/20 Final Project Due

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Appendix I: Local Museums The following museums and historical sites are accessible from Smith College by foot or PVTA bus. See also http://museums10.org

• Amherst Historical Society and Museum www.amhersthistory.org/ • Amherst Natural History Museum • Archive Project (Northampton)

http://lavenderlegacies.wikispaces.com/Archive+Project • Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum (Northampton) www.forbeslibrary.org/coolidge/coolidge.shtml

• David Ruggles Center for Early Florence History & Underground Railroad Studies (Florence) www.davidrugglescenter.org/

• Emily Dickinson Museum (Amherst) http://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/ • Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (Amherst, near Hampshire College)

http://www.carlemuseum.org/Home • Hadley Farm Museum (Hadley) www.hadleyfarmmuseum.org/ • Historic Northampton Museum and Education Center (Northampton) www.historic-northampton.org/

• Mount Holyoke Art Museum • Smith College Museum of Art• Sexual Minorities Archives (Northampton) http://lavenderlegacies.wikispaces.com/Archive+Project

Å Smith College Botanical Garden • Volleyball Hall of Fame (Holyoke) http://www.volleyhall.org/index.html • Wistariahurst Museum (Holyoke) www.wistariahurst.org • Yiddish Book Center (Amherst, on Hampshire College Campus)

www.yiddishbookcenter.org/ To Florence Center: PVTA Red 42, Red 44