History 481-12
Senior Research
Seminar
“The History
of Things”
Fall 2002
Gary
Reger
W:
1:15-3:55
297-2393
LSC-135
This Senior Research Seminar examines the social life of commodities: items, substances or services that acquire cultural and economic value through exchange. In readings and discussion, we will focus on objects or entities that have had international careers, such as opium, codfish, Coca-Cola, and oil, and consider how writing a history of things can differ from writing histories organized around countries, wars, or issues. During the semester, students will develop a research project centered on a specific commodity, and complete a 25 to 30-page paper. [This is Professor Sharkey’s original description.]
Absolutely
no extensions will be granted and absolutely no late work will be accepted under
any circumstances. Late work will receive a non-negotiable “F.”
This policy, which perhaps seems harsh, follows from my necessity: this semester
will be the busiest I have ever had at Trinity, and I simply cannot adjust my
grading schedule to accommodate work that is not turned in on schedule. If you
are suffering a crunch, don’t come to me for an extension; ask your other
instructors, bearing in mind that passing an SRS with a grade of at least C- is
required for graduation as a History major. If some major event (sickness, a
death in the family) so disrupts your life that you cannot complete work on
time, drop the class and take another SRS
in the spring. If the drop period has passed, I will gladly support a
petition to the Academic Affairs Committee to drop the course, under suitable
circumstances.
The
fundamental task is to produce an original research paper based on primary
sources of roughly 25-30 pages length. The paper will be written and developed
on the following schedule:
1.
Initial
discussion of possible topics: September 18. Come with ideas and arguments to justify them!
2.
Short
presentation of a proposal for a topic and bibliography: October 2 and 9. Due at
your presentation: a one-page thesis statement and bibliography.
3.
Discussion
of where you are and what you are working on: October 23.
4.
Initial
formal presentations: October 30 and November 6. These 20-minute presentations
should give a clear idea of the state of your paper and deal in detail with
specific aspects of your work and your sources. A draft of 10-15 pages is due at this time.
5.
Final
presentations: November 20 and December 4. You will have 30 minutes to give a
polished and full presentation of your work.
6.
Final
written papers due to me no later than Monday, December 9, at 4 pm.
Grading.
Grades will be based roughly on the following: class participation;
presentations; thesis statement and bibliography; draft paper; final paper. That
is to say, every element will be graded and will figure in your final grade.
Our
common readings are necessarily few. The chief aim is to provide examples of how
some historians have treated the history of things and to offer a “theoretical
underpinning” for the writing of such histories.
Philip L. Fradkin, A River No More. The Colorado River and the West (New York 1981). 360 pp. University of California Press; ISBN: 0520205642, $24.95, P
Virginia Scott Jenkins, Bananas. An American History (Washington 2000). 210 pp. Smithsonian
Institution Press; ISBN: 1560989661, $16.95
Stephen J. Pyne,
Fire. A Brief History (Seattle 2001). 204 pp. University of Washington
Press; ISBN: 029598144X, $18.95
The Social Life of Things.
Commodities in Cultural Perspective ed. Arjun Appadurai (Cambridge 1986).
329 pp. Cambridge Univ Pr (Pap Txt); ISBN: 0521357268, $23.00
September
4: Introduction
September
11: No class (Reger out of town)
September
18: Read Arjun Appadurai, "Introduction. Commodities and the Politics of
Value," in The Social Life of Things:
Commodities in Cultural Perspective, ed. Arjun Appadurai (Cambridge 1986) pp.
3-63. Be prepared to begin discussing possible topics for papers.
September
25: Second meeting: Read Fradkin,
A River No More. Be prepared to discuss further possible topics.
October 2: Read Jenkins, Bananas. Part II of meeting: half the class presents proposals, we have discussion. Turn in written one-page proposal and preliminary bibliography.
October
9: Read Pyne,
Fire. Part II of class for the presentations
October
16: Library research session
October
23: Discussion of problems and issues for each topic. Be prepared to give a
brief (10-minute) presentation of your material.
October
30: Preliminary presentations for Group I; plan on 15 minutes each.. Draft of 10-15 pages due.
November
6: Preliminary presentations for Group II; plan on 15 minutes each.. Draft of 10-15 pages due.
November
13: Free class. I will be available for individual meetings to discuss your
paper if you like; make an appointment.
November
20: Final presentations for half of class
November
27: Thanksgiving vacation
December
4: Last class. Final presentations for the rest of the class
December
9: Final written version due by 4 pm.
Some
books on things (a very eccentric selection)
Brian
J. Cudahy , Rails Under the Mighty Hudson:
The Story of the Hudson Tubes, the
Pennsylvania Tunnels and Manhattan Transfer (Hudson Valley Heritage, 2)
Stephen
J. Pyne, The Ice: A Journey to Antarctica
(Cycle of Fire)
Esther
Cameron, Leather and Fur: Aspects of Early
Medieval Trade and Technology (London 1998).
Julia
V. Emberley, The Cultural Politics of Fur
(Ithaca 1997).
Ruth
Mazo Karras, Common Women. Prostitution
and Sexuality in Medieval England (New
York 1996).
Christopher
B. Steiner, African Art in Transit (Cambridge
1994).
Mark
Kurlansky, Cod: A Biography of the Fish
that Changed the World
(New York 1997).
Witold
Rybczynski, One Good Turn: A Natural
History of the Screwdriver and the Screw.
Andrew
Dalby, Dangerous Tastes. The Story of
Spices.
Andrew F. Smith, The Tomato in America. Early History, Culture, and Cookery
Gary
Paul Naban, Gathering the Desert (Tucson
1987).
Giovanni
Rebora, Culture of the Fork (Arts and
Traditions of the Table.
Perspectives on Culinary History), tr. by Albert Sonnenfeld
Betty
Fussell, The Story of Corn. The Myth and
History, the Culture and Agriculture, the Art and Science of America’s
Quintessential Crop (New York 1992).
Daniel
Roche, A History of Everyday Things: The
Birth of Consumption in France,
1600-1800 (2000).
Linda
Farrar, Ancient Roman Gardens
Sidney
W. Mintz, Sweetness and Power. The Place
of Sugar in Modern History (New York 1995).
Elizabeth
B. Moynihan, Paradise As a Garden: In
Persia and Mughal India.
Mark Kurlansky, Salt. A
World History
(New York 2002)
Ian
Gately, Tobacco: A Cultural History of How
an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization
Sue
Shephard, Pickled, Potted, and Canned: How
the Art and Science of Food Preserving Changed the World
Pat
Willard, Secrets of Saffron: The Vagabond
Life of the Worlds Most Seductive Spice
Simon
Winchester, The Map That Changed the
World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology
Mark
Pendergrast, Uncommon Grounds. The History
of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World
Bryan
Ward-Perkins, J. B. Ward-Perkins, Hazel Dodge. Marble in Antiquity: Collected Papers of J. B. Ward-Perkins (Athens
1992).