HIST 3750 - Black Women and Material Culture

(crosslisted) AMST 3752, ASRC 3750
(HA-AS, HST-AS)

Spring. 4 credits. Student option grading.

T. Nunley.

This course invites students to consider how Black women interacted with material objects and how these artifacts informed the contexts of their daily lives. the history of Black women as creators, consumers, and collectors of artifacts tells a story about American society, culture, and the contributions of Black women’s labors and ideas to the production and meaning of material culture across time. From the early nineteenth century to the late twentieth century, Black women experienced layered relationships to artifacts, some of which they were forced to create under the system of chattel slavery and others they encountered through the prisms of desire and liberation. these varied contexts that inform Black women’s connections to material and visual objects shape how they assign meaning to these artifacts and their cultural significance. Students will engage with course themes through research-based curatorial projects that introduce them to public history and digital history methods. The course will conclude with the development of a digital archive focused on curating the history of Black women’s experiences with material culture. (HNA)