Internship Opportunity: The Ten Chimneys Foundation

The Ten Chimneys Foundation is offering a curatorial internship to contribute to the museums on-going documentation of the permanent collection and provide hands on collections management experience for a student. The internship will focus on the Lunts’ personal library and the various fine and decorative arts objects used to furnish the Library interior.

This 100 hour internship is intended for individuals who have completed at least one year of undergraduate or graduate work in museum studies, art history, historic preservation, material culture, or in an allied field. An intern would gain hands on collection management experience and exposure to historic site stewardship. Students are responsible for arranging academic credit with their sponsoring institutions. No stipend is offered for this opportunity.

Ten Chimneys was the country house of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, widely considered the greatest acting team in the history of American theatre, and is now a house museum and a National Historic Landmark. Ten Chimneys’ diverse collections and remarkable interiors are comprised of the original objects selected by the Lunts in the 1920s, ‘30s, and 40s and represent a wide range of cultures and centuries.

To apply please submit a cover letter describing your interest along with a current resume to:

Keith D MacKay

Director of Historic Preservation

Ten Chimneys Foundation

PO Box 225

Genesee Depot, Wisconsin 53217

Ring 262.968.4161 Ext. 207

Email: kmackay@tenchimneys.org

Website: http://www.tenchimneys.museum/

Conference: Objects of Affection: Towards a Materiology of Emotions

May 4-6, 2011
Program in Russian and Eurasian Studies
Princton University


In the first issue of the journal Veshch-Objet-Gegenstand, which appeared 90 years ago in Berlin, the avant-gardist El Lissitsky placed the object at the center of the artistic and social concerns of the day: “We have called our review Object because for us art means the creation of new ‘objects.’ … Every organized work—be it a house, a poem or a picture—is an object with a purpose; it is not meant to lead people away from life but to help them to organize it. ... Abandon declarations and refutations as soon as possible,
make objects!”


Taking the Russian avant-garde’s concern with the material life of emotions as our starting point, the conference organizers seek to assemble an international, interdisciplinary group of scholars working at the intersection between studies of affect and studies of material culture. In the last decade, these two crucial strands of social inquiry have shifted the focus of analytic attention away from the individual or collective subject towards emotional states and material substances. These interests in the affective and the tangible as such have helped to foreground processes, conditions, and phenomena that are relatively autonomous from the individuals or social groups that originally produced them. Thus interrogating traditional notions of subjective agency, various scholars have drawn our attention to “a conative nature” of things (Jane Bennet), to “affective intensities” (Brian Massumi), or to textural perception (Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick) – to name just a few of these interventions – in order to pose questions that fall outside of dominant frameworks for understanding the epistemology of power. Despite their growing importance, however, these diverse methods and concepts for mapping the emotive biographies of things have not yet been in a direct dialogue with one another. By focusing on the material dimensions of affect and, conversely, the emotional components of object formation, this conference aims to bridge this gap.


We invite submissions from scholars in a range of disciplines including history, anthropology, sociology, religion, politics, law, psychology, history of medicine, science studies, art, film, media and literary criticism, who are interested in exploring types of affective responses, protocols of emotional attachment, and regimes of perception that are encoded into and sustained by material substances. We welcome theoretically rigorous proposals that draw attention to new configurations of object relations as well as submissions that examine historically and culturally specific forms of affective networks built around instances of inorganic life across the world.

Please send your abstract (300 words) and a short CV to Serguei Oushakine, the Chair of the Program Committee (oushakin@princeton.edu) by February 1, 2012.

Final papers will be due no later than April 15, and they will be posted on the conference's website.

Conference: Knowledge in a Box: Mundane Things Shape Knowledge Production

July 26-29, 2012
Kavala, Greece

The topic:
We invite proposals from scholars in the history of science, technology, and medicine, science and technology studies, the humanities, visual and performing arts, museum and cultural studies and other related disciplines for a workshop on the uses and meanings of mundane things such as boxes, packages, bottles, and vials in shaping knowledge production. In keeping with the conference theme, we are asking contributors to include specific references to the ways in which boxes have played a role—commercial, epistemic or otherwise—in their own particular disciplinary frameworks.

Boxes have always supported the significance of the objects they contained, allowing specific activities to arise. In the hands of natural historians and collectors, boxes functioned as a means of organizing their knowledge throughout the eighteenth century. They formed the material bases of the cabinet or established collection and accompanied the collector from the initial gathering of natural specimens to their final display. As “knowledge chests” or “magazining tools” the history of box-like containers also go back to book printing and the typographical culture. The artists’ boxes of the early nineteenth century were used to store the paraphernalia of a new fashionable trend. In the late nineteenth century the box became the pharmacist’s laboratory and a device for standardizing and controlling dosage of oral remedies. In the twentieth century radiotherapy the box was elevated to a multifunctional tool working as a memory aid to forgetful patients or as “knowledge package” that predetermined dosages, included equipment, and ready-made radium applicators.

Focusing on medicine, boxes have played a crucial role since the eighteenth century when doctors ought to bring instruments to their patient’s house for surgical or obstetrical interventions. In modern operating rooms boxes organize the workflow and build an essential part of the aseptical regime. Late twentieth century biomedical scientists store tissue samples in large-scale biobanks, where samples contained in straws are placed in vials, then the vials in boxes which in turn are stacked up in "elevators". This storage system facilitates retrieval with barcodes, indexing each individual sample so that additional variables can be retrieved from a database. Thus the container and its content are tied up in a close epistemic and material relationship.

We welcome innovative understandings of the role that boxes and containers have played historically and continue to play in technology, medicine, and science. We see the workshop as contributing to an ongoing interest in science and technology studies on the importance of mundane things in scientific practice and technological innovations.

Submission guidelines:
Deadline for proposals: January 15, 2012 Please submit a 300-words abstract along with your name, institutional affiliation, email and phone number as a word or pdf attachment to the organizers of the conference

Proposals will be reviewed and notification of the outcome will be made in February 15, 2012. We are pursuing publication outlets for selected papers from the workshop. Therefore we expect full papers from those that will participate by May 30, 2012. Details will be provided after notification.

Contact info:
For further information please contact the organizers: Susanne Bauer sbauer@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de Maria Rentetzi mrentetz@vt.edu Martina Schlünder m.schluender@gmx.de

Workshop: Certain Museums of Uncertain Pasts

Hosted by the European Association of Social Anthropologists Conference 2012
Nanterre University, France, 10/07/2012 – 13/07/2012

Deadline: 28 November 2011

Museums always seem to provide their visitors with definite and confident narratives about the past, thus making strong claims towards ordering the present and the future. However, the past life of objects, collections and of museums themselves is full of uncertainties, contradictions and unrest. Although much debated by scholars, these issues rarely make their way into exhibitions and displays.

On the other hand, war, revolution or social unrest impact directly on the life of museums. Their buildings are destroyed, looted or occupied temporarily, their collections affected. Such events usually provide opportunities for new representations of the past. Examples range from classical ethnographic exhibitions to the memorial museums of anti-communism in Eastern Europe, or the newly opened impressive spectacle
buildings of museums in the field of art.

This panel invites papers that engage with the way such institutions reflect or come to terms with the traumatic events and contested moments in their past and that of the societies they claim to represent. How do they effectively deal with the inherent uncertainty and continuous social unrest? Can uncertainty be socially accepted and exhibited? Papers are welcome across the whole range of museums from anthropological or historical institutions to military or scientific ones. We also encourage discussions on other forms of visual representations (e.g. performances, photography exhibitions, installations, and events). Presenters could also focus on the life of particular objects or collections that leave or enter museums in times of historical rupture or engage with the social practices affecting their collections.

How to apply:
Proposals should consist of a paper title, a (very) short abstract of <300 characters, and an abstract of 250 words. Proposals can only be submitted online.

Online application form: http://www.easaonline.org/membership.htm.

Fellowship Opportunity: Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library Research Position

Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library is pleased to announce its Research Fellowship Program for 2012-13.

Winterthur offers an extensive program of short- and long-term fellowships open to academic, independent, and museum scholars, including advanced graduate students, to support research in material culture, architecture, decorative arts, design, consumer culture, garden and landscape studies, Shaker studies, travel and tourism, the Atlantic World, childhood, literary culture, and many other areas of social and cultural history.

Fellowships include 4-9 month NEH fellowships, 1-2 semester dissertation fellowships, and 1-2 month short-term fellowships. Fellows have access to library collections of more than 87,000 volumes and one-half million manuscripts and images. Resources for the 17th to the early 20th centuries include period trade catalogues, auction and exhibition catalogues, an extensive reference photograph collection of decorative arts, printed books, and ephemera, searchable online at winterthur.org. Fellows may also conduct research in the museum's collections, which include 85,000 artifacts and works of art made or used in the colonies or young U.S. republic to 1860. Fellowship applications are due January 15, 2012. For more details and to apply, visit winterthur.org

http://winterthur.org/research/fellowship.asp fellowship or e-mail Rosemary
Krill at rkrill@winterthur.org.
http://www.winterthur.org/

Material Matters Material Culture Symposium

Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library
Saturday, April 14, 2012

The Center for Material Culture Studies at the University of Delaware invites submissions for papers to be given at the Tenth Annual Material Culture Symposium for Emerging Scholars.

Focus: Object-based research has the potential to expand and even reinvent our understanding of culture and history. In honor of the tenth anniversary of the MCSES, we seek a broad range of papers from emerging material culture scholars. Whether exploring the latest theories, viewing existing material through a new lens, or reinterpreting standing historical conversations with an object-based focus, proposed papers should exemplify the possibilities in material culture research. In exploring these material matters, we hope to promote an interdisciplinary discussion on the state of material culture studies today.

Submissions: The proposal should be no more than 300 words and should clearly indicate the focus of your object-based research, the critical approach you take toward that research, and the significance of your
research beyond the academy. While the audience for the symposium consists mainly of university and college faculty and graduate students, we encourage broader participation. In evaluating proposals, we will give preference to those papers that keep a more diverse audience in mind.

Send your proposal, with a current c.v. of no more than two pages, to emerging.scholars@gmail.com.

Deadline: Proposals must be received by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 16, 2011. Speakers will be notified of the vetting committee’s decision in January 2012.

Employment Opportunity: Kohler Arts Center Spring 2012 Curatorial Intern

The John Michael Kohler Arts Center is seeking an Exhibitions & Collections Curatorial Intern for the spring semester, January – May, 2012.

The Arts Center's curatorial team mounts 12-16 original exhibitions annually. The curatorial intern works closely with the curatorial team and other exhibitions staff to research and support all exhibitions and assists with germane research projects and administrative responsibilities as assigned. Intern may also assist with collections projects, cataloging, and departmental correspondence. Applicants should submit writing samples with application and describe any special interests or skills s/he might bring to the position. Interns are expected to dedicate 20-40 hours weekly to the work of the internship, a minimum of 10 of which must be executed on-site.

Application Instructions: Please submit cover letter, resume, and writing samples to Janine Chesebro, jchesebro@jmkac.org

Spring 2012 Material Culture Classes

Due to popular demand here is a preliminary list of Material Culture elective courses being offered this coming spring semester. Please feel free to ask any questions or offer any comments. 

Art History 304 - Art and Archeology of Ancient Rome.
Explores the art and archeology of ancient Italy, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire from the Iron Age to Late Antiquity.

Art History 364 - History of American Art, 1607-Present.
Explores American art and material culture between 1607 and the present; works of painting, sculpture, architecture, and the decorative arts are examined within the broader social, historical, and cultural contexts that give them form and meaning.

Art History 368 - American Architecture - The Nineteenth Century.
Major architects and trends in American architecture from the Greek Revival to the Chicago School.

Art History 405 - Cities and Sanctuaries in Ancient Greece.

Topics include Urbanism in ancient Greece in theory and practice; the forms, technologies, patronage and use of buildings; the creation and conception of urban space; and the organization of religious sites, dedications, and rituals.

Art History 478 - Art and Religious Practices in Medieval Japan.

A study of spaces, objects, and images within the context of religious belief and practice in Japan between 1300 and 1600, when great Zen monasteries grew up alongside older Buddhist/Shinto religious "megaplexes," and new salvationist sects spread throughout Japan.

Art History 563 - Topics in Material Culture. (Ellery Foutch)
From prints to posters, houseplants to aquariums, this course will consider the effects of technology and mechanical reproduction on the look of domesticity. Rather than focusing on the high-end decorative arts and homes of the very wealthy, this class will emphasize the visual and material culture of the American middle-class home, 1850-1950. We'll also study the culture of at-home visual entertainments, from early 'magic lanterns' and optical toys to the effects of televisions, Tivo, DVDs, and computers on perception and social life. 

Anthropology 942 - Archaeological Problems; Topic: Theory in Archaeology.

This course provides an historical perspective on the growth of theory and method in North American and British achaeology and an introduction to current contoversies and emerging directions in the development of archaeological theory. In this course, you will engage with both enduring and contemporary issues related to how we construct our knowledge about ancient human cultures.

Design Studies 420 - Twentieth Century Design. 

Design, including interior, furniture, graphic and textiles, is viewed through broader social and cultural issues including: an aesthetic to express a new age; processes, materials, and marketing techniques; roles for designers; consumer versus designer initiated production. Visits to local collections.

 
Design Studies 355 - History of Fashion.
Changing form and meaning of costume in the West from Renaissance to present. Dress considered in relation to social/cultural milieu and as an art form. Includes treatment of the body; ethnic/class variations; couture; "antifashion".

Geography 305 - Introduction to the City. 

Analysis of the distributions of cities, their functions, character and relationships with their surrounding regions, and the areal patterns within cities; the spatial variation of population, economic activity, and land uses.

Geography 460 - American Environmental History. 

Survey of interactions among people and natural environments from before European colonization to present. Equal attention to problems of ecological change, human ideas, and uses of nature and history of conservation and environmental public policy.

Geography 508 - Landscape and Settlement in the North American Past. 

Historical geography of North American settlement patterns, cultural landscapes, regional identity and heritage.

History of Science 222 - Technology and Social Change in History. (Eric Schatzberg)

Topics in the history of tthey came from, why they came, where they settled, what they contributed to their new country, and what bits of their traditions they hung on to.echnology of interest to students in engineering and physical sciences. Themes include the social basis of technical change, the impact of technology on everyday life, and ethical issues in technology in the last two centuries.

Landscape architecture 423 - Evolution of American Planning. 

The nature and cultural significance of contemporary methods for the systematic formulation of public policies for community, metropolitan, and state development through comprehensive planning. Historic roots, recent trends and new directions in American planning concepts, institutions and professional specializations.

Scandinavian Studies 296 - Scandinavian Heritage in America. (Julie Allen)

In this class, we explore the immigrant experience of Scandinavian-Americans, from the conditions in the Old Country that drove them to emigrate to the difficulties they faced in creating new lives for themselves in America and their role in American society.

Exciting New Blog: It's A Material World

Current UW-Madison Art History Graduate Student Gianofer Fields, in collaboration with Travis San Pedro, has been working on a fairly recent blog: It's a Material World that deals with our everyday interactions with the material world. Please take a look at it...

www.itsamaterialworld.org


The following is a brief synopsis from the website:

"In our lifetime we’ve seen the mobile phone shrink from the size of a suitcase to something easily lost in a coat pocket. Examining the everyday objects we choose to possess helps us place ourselves within a cultural context of technology and change. This project is called “It’s a Material World.”

First, it is a virtual exhibition and meeting place: an exploration of everyday and evocative objects with a savvy blending of multiple media practices.  A radio interview mode teases out meanings and feelings from scholars, artists and ordinary people, a visual frame gives the viewer a chance to see and join in a conversation, and an electronic format allows ephemeral events and interviews to be captured and archived. 

Our goal is to facilitate conversations between authors, craftspeople, designers, manufacturers, scholars, and students about the way our lives are interwoven with things, ideas, relationships, and meanings."

 

Employment Opportunity: Operations Program Associate with the Wisconsin Veterans Museum

There are two full-time project openings at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.  These positions are for approximately two years, with a possible extension, and include full benefits.

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum is a  history museum but would welcome applications from individuals with collections experience in any type of museum.

The Veterans Museum is on the Capitol square in Madison.

Please see the link at: http://wisc.jobs/public/job_view.asp?annoid=54584&jobid=54099&index=true

Employment Opportunity: Assistant Professor of Material and Visual Culture with Parson, The New School for Design

Parsons The New School for Design, a division of the New School, seeks applicants for Assistant Professor of Material and Visual Culture, a renewable term faculty position within the School of Art and Design History and Theory.


Applicants should demonstrate expertise in the history and interpretation of the material world from the perspective of art and design history, archaeology, anthropology, the history of science, or material culture.  Candidates must be innovative in their methodologies of research in demonstrating how materiality and visuality contribute to historical understanding. Field of specialization is open, but preference will be given to specialization in a period prior to the twentieth century and/or with a non-Western focus. 


Candidates must have experience with innovative pedagogical approaches that will engage students from a variety of disciplines across Parsons and the wider University community.


To apply and for full position description, please visit http://careers.newschool.edu

Employment Opportunity: Art and Design Historian of Modern and Contemporary Designed Objects

The Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) invites applications  for a historian of design as a full-time, tenured or tenure-track faculty member beginning August 2012.

The ideal candidate will join an active research department of fifteen full-time historians of modern and to excellent teaching. The successful applicant will have a commitment to exceptional teaching, a doctoral degree, and a record of research and material culture studies, art history, or in other fields related to design history where designed objects are the focus. All candidates must specialize in modern and contemporary practices, though expertise is open to any geographical area within design history.

Please see the responsibilities, qualifications, required materials and application procedure on the www.saic.edu/about/jobs/faculty website.

By Monday, December 5, 2011, please submit an application at http://SAICfaculty.slideroom.com

FIU Fellowship Program: The Wolfsonian

The Wolfsonian–Florida International University is a museum and research center that promotes the examination of modern visual and material culture. The Wolfsonian’s fellowship program is intended to support research on the museum’s collection, generally for periods of three to four weeks. The program is open to holders of master’s or doctoral degrees, Ph.D. candidates, and others who have a significant record of professional achievement in relevant fields. 

The focus of the Wolfsonian collection is on North American and European decorative arts, propaganda, architecture, and industrial and graphic design from the period 1885–1945. The United States, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands are the countries most extensively represented. The collection includes works on paper (including posters, prints, and design drawings), furniture, paintings, sculpture, glass, textiles, ceramics, lighting and other appliances, and many other kinds of objects. The Wolfsonian’s library has approximately 50,000 rare books, periodicals, and ephemeral items.

All applicants are encouraged to discuss their project with the museum staff prior to submission to ensure the relevance of their proposals to the Wolfsonian’s collection. For more information about The Wolfsonian and its collection, visit the website at http://www.wolfsonian.org, call 305.535.2686, or email research@thewolf.fiu.edu. An electronic application form will be available through The Wolfsonian’s website after November 15, 2011. Applications for the 2012–13 academic year must be postmarked by December 31, 2011.

Material Culture Program and Kohler Foundation on the UW Homepage

Have you looked at the University of Wisconsin, Madison home page recently? 

If not then you should because there is currently a story up about the UW Material Culture program through the Art History department and its fruitful relationship with the Kohler Foundation and its focus on Outsider Art.

Current UW Madison Graduate Student Emma Silverman spent seven weeks in Lucas, Kansas studying and conserving the 'Garden of Eden' site.

Samuel Dinsmoor created more than 150 handmade sculptures that represent religious, national and populist stories that set about his home in Lucas. It is currently listed on National Register of Historic Places, but due to its relatively remote location it has proven difficult to maintain.

Already well known for its preservation of folk and vernacular art environments the Kohler Foundation stepped in assist in the sites preservation and conservation.

To learn more please refer to the story at: http://www.news.wisc.edu/19793

Exciting New Website/Blog: War and the Visceral Imagination

How does Material Culture shape our sense of War?

Share in the discussion at: http://warandvisceralimagination.wordpress.com/

This is just one of many questions that you are invited to explore on this blog and in Baltimore during the annual meeting of the American Studies Association (ASA) this October. 

The blog and ASA panel is called “War and the Visceral Imagination” because it is interested in how embodied experiences of the material shape wartime notions of citizenship, obligation, and the national imaginary.

The broader aim is to inspire conversation about the multi-sensory nature of human encounters with the material world. For example:

• How do sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste serve as means to transmit cultural values?
• What questions become possible when traditional Western classifications of the senses are challenged?
• Which scholars have influenced your work with material culture?
• What challenges do scholars of the past face in their study of embodied material experience? What approaches can help overcome these obstacles?
• How does your own work relate to the issues raised here?  

The blog hopes to expand the conversation to include material culture scholars—particularly representatives of museums and archives—who are not able to attend the conference. All are welcome to pose questions, share ideas, and contribute to the discussion.

So, please, join in the conversation and sign up for the RSS feed. And, if you are on Twitter, follow @cjceglio and look for the #warvi hashtag.

Lecture: Elissa Auther talks about her work and String, Felt, Thread: The Hierarchy of Art and Craft in American Art

Elissa Auther has taken on the movement from textiles as "craft" to textiles as "art" and helps us to understand the more radical contemporary craft movement.

She is an associate professor of contemporary art at the University of Colorado and the author of String, Felt, Thread: The Hierarchy of Art and Craft in American Art, which presents an unconventional history of the American art world, chronicling the advance of thread, rope, string, felt, and fabric from the "low" world of craft to the "high" world of art in the 1960's and 1970's and the emergence today of a craft counterculture. She is interested in how feminist artists have embraced these homey craft materials as a critique of the prevailing hierarchies and social structure.

Her scholarly work has been supported by major research grants from the J. Paul Getty Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Georgia O'Keefe Museum and Research Center, among others.

Funding provided by the Anonymous Fund.

When: October 5th at 4:30pm - 5:30pm

Where: Room L160 Chazen Museum of Art, 800 University Ave. Madison, WI 53706.

Lecture: 'The Chinese Scholar Pattern: Style, Merchant Identity, and the English Imagination'

Please join us for this lecture sponsored by the Chipstone Foundation with Sarah Fayen Scarlett on
Thursday, September 29th at 6:15pm
Milwaukee Art Museum, Lubar Auditorium

Before this summer's The Way of the Dragon, MAM's Decorative Arts Gallery featured Enter the Dragon (Winter 2006), which explored the first three decades of the English Chinoiserie style. Curator of that exhibition, Sarah Fayen Scarlett, returns to present research that grew out of that show. Come hear the story of the Chinese Scholar pattern, a simple image of a seated Chinese figure that English potters adopted from Dutch copies of Japanese versions of Chinese Ming porcelain. This tale of seventeenth-century global trade and European fascination with Asia will appear as a full-length article in Chipstone's next issue of Ceramics in America.

 

Fall 2011 Material Culture Classes (re-posted from April 11th with additions)

AH/CLAS 330/700: The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Greece (Cahill)

TR 8:25-9:40am, L140 Conrad A. Elvehjem Building

Explores the art and archaeology of ancient Greece from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period.

AH/LCA 379: Cities of Asia (Chopra)

TR 1:00-2:15pm, 104 Van Hise Hall

Historical overview of the built environment of cities of Asia from antiquity to the present; architectural and urban legacy in its social and historical context; exploration of common themes that thread through the diverse geographical regions and cultures of Asia. 

AH 430: The Art of Natural History (Foutch)

T&TR 9:30-10:45pm, L166 Conrad A. Elvehjem Building

This course will examine the intertwined notions of art and science from the early modern period to the present: cabinets of curiosities, taxidermy and dioramas, botanical and anatomical models, natural history illustrations, expeditions, and more! At the end of the semester we'll turn to contemporary artists who engage with traditions of natural history or aesthetics usually associated with science, from artists whose work is informed by natural history illustration and field guides (Walton Ford, Fred Tomaselli), incorporates taxidermy or natural history museum display tactics (Damien Hirst, Mark Dion), or "bio-art" (Laura Splan, Marc Quinn). Field trips will include sessions held at the UW Zoological Museum, the Geology Museum, the State Herbarium, and the UW Botanic Gardens & Greenhouses.

AH 463: American Suburbs (Andrezejewski)

MWF 12:05-12:55pm, L150 Conrad A. Elvehjem Building

This course examines the landscape and material culture of American suburbs, particularly of the twentieth century, for what it can tell us about suburban cultures in the United States. The class will include a historical examination of suburban architecture and landscapes from the nineteenth century through the present, but will also focus on topics related to suburbia that include considerations of race, class, gender and region, as well as how suburban life has been represented in print and visual culture. Students will work on research projects related to Madison area suburbs as well.

AH/DS/HIST 464: Dimensions of Material Culture (Andrzejewski and Gordon)

W 2:25-4:55pm, 1310 Sterling Hall

Approaches to the interdisciplinary study of the material world in order to analyze broader social and cultural issues. Guest speakers explore private and public objects and spaces from historic, ethnographic, and aesthetic perspectives.

AH 479: Art and History in Africa (Drewal)

MW 1:05-2:20pm, L150 Conrad A. Elvehjem Building

Selected African art traditions in their historical and cultural settings.

AH 563: Factory Craft: Art, Skill, and the Industrial Age  (Lasser)

R 2:00-4:00pm, L166 Conrad A. Elvehjem Building

This seminar investigates the changing relationship between art and industry.  How have artists responded to the factory and engaged with industrial production in their work?  How are artists today responding to our present post-industrial era?  What is the difference between studio skill and factory skill?  What separates the solitary labor of the mythical garreted artist from the collaborative labor of the assembly line  This course will assist in the development of a Milwaukee Art Museum exhibition.  In addition to historical issues, matters of curatorial practice will be addressed.

AH 579: Exhibiting Africa in a Museum (Drewal; Honors Seminar!)

M 6:00-8:00pm, L170 Conrad A. Elvehjem Building

No description available.

AH 805: Seminar-Ancient Art and Architecture (Cahill)

R 400-6:00pm, L166 Conrad A. Elvehjem Building

No description available.

AH865: US Modernism and the Culture of Things (Kroiz)

M 4:00-6:00pm, L166 Conrad A. Elvehjem Building

This seminar will introduce students to the burgeoning interdisciplinary field of “thing” theory to examine the relationships of objects, subjects and things. We will consider the materiality and agency of inanimate objects themselves, as well as the role of objects in establishing and mediating social relationships. In addition to our theoretical focus on things, we will also focus historically to consider U.S. modernism as a phenomenon formulated within a culture of proliferating consumer goods. We will draw on methodologies from art history and material culture studies, as well as literature studies, anthropology, and political science. We will also examine primary source materials from the turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century.

ANTH 354: Archaeology of Wisconsin. (Schroeder; fulfills ethnic studies req.)

T 6:00-8:30pm, 6102 Sewell Social Sciences

Introduces students to the archaeological evidence for the diverse Native American cultures of Wisconsin over the past 12,000 years.
 

ANTH 690: Things and Lifeworlds: Theoretical and Ethnographic Perspectives. (George)

F Location and Time: TBD

A Social Theoretical Compass for the study of Things and Lifeworlds.

CLAS 430: Troy: Myth and Reality (Aylward)

TR 8:25-9:40am, 114 Van Hise Hall

Explores topics in the archaeology of ancient Greece and Rome, such as the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the archaeology of Greek and Roman religion, or Late Antique Palaces.

DS 430: History of Textiles  (Gordon)

TR 2:30-3:45pm, 1335 Sterling Hall

Designs and meanings and interrelationships of textiles in selected cultures and time periods.

DS 501: History of Interiors  (Boyd)

TR 2:30-3:45pm, Location: TBD

The course will delve into the designers who gave form to interiors during the Twentieth Century. The careers of these individuals will be viewed within the broader international design community during the period.

DS 642: Taste (Chopra)

T 4:00-6:30pm, 399 Van Hise Hall

Exploration of the idea of taste - both "good" and "bad", in "popular" and "high" culture. Cross-cultural readings from theoretical and historical perspectives, relating to architecture, landscape, public space, art, and clothing.

A Service Learning Post by Katie Dreps--McFarland Historical Society

With support from the Caxambas Foundation, the Material Culture Program sponsored three undergraduate service learning opportunities this summer. Each student partnered with a local historical society in Wisconsin to help them digitize and share their collections through Wisconsin Heritage Online, a statewide digitization program. Our final report comes from History major Katie Dreps. The objects she describes will be available online this fall.

Over the summer, I have been working with the McFarland Historical Society to turn a portion of their collection of Norwegian artifacts, assembled by local resident Albert Skare, into an online resource. Skare, who’s parents emigrated from Norway to McFarland in the 1850s, began collecting traditional Norwegian objects sometime in the early 20th century. His extensive collection includes farm implements, household and kitchen objects, and trunks and furniture, most dating from the 19th century or earlier. Skare originally displayed in several buildings on his Hidden Valley Farm outside of McFarland, including several cabins constructed by early settlers. According to information collected by the McFarland Historical Society, the artifacts were specially displayed for viewing at family reunions as early as the 1930s and 1940s. Shortly after Albert Skare’s death, his niece Margaret Greene Kennedy donated his entire collection to the McFarland Historical Society in 1969.

I was particularly interested in working with the McFarland Historical Society when I heard about their collection of Norwegian artifacts. My grandmother grew up on a farm outside of Lodi, Wisconsin, the granddaughter of Norwegian immigrants. And while my Norwegian heritage is relatively easy to trace, before this summer, my knowledge of Norway involved only vague notions of fjords and the smell of lutefisk. This internship has been (and continues to be) a great opportunity for me to connect with my Norwegian heritage in a direct way.

As a history major with little prior experience working with artifacts, I began the process of creating a digital collection with some apprehension. But with much

help and encouragement early on in the summer from Wisconsin Heritage Online Outreach Specialist Emily Pfotenhauer, I began to familiarize myself with Albert Skare’s collection of artifacts, and learn the professional methods of archiving a digital collection. In June Emily and I spent a whole day in McFarland photographing a portion of Skare’s collection. As Emily photographed, I closely examined each object, recording measurements, catalog numbers, and details like paint colors, cracks, and evidence of repairs. Much of my work for the summer has been transforming the notes I took that day into the organized information required for a digital collection. Eventually, these photographs and notes (and notes from subsequent visits) will form the base for the digital collection.

In addition to cataloging each artifact in the database, and editing the photographs for color adjustment and to bring out detail, I have been researching to create informative descriptions for each object. It has been difficult to trace the ownership history of specific objects. While some objects are marked with a date and even with initials, it is very difficult to say who owned them, or when they came into Albert Skare’s possession. Rather, I have been focusing on researching the techniques used to create the objects, like bentwood boxes or turned bowls. Some of the techniques used to create artifacts in the collection date all the way back to medieval times in Norway! Understanding the traditional techniques used to make these objects has deepened my appreciation for their forms, and my research on the immigrant experience has deepened my appreciation for the fact that these objects even exist for us to view. Specially selected for travel across the Atlantic, many of these objects were an important part of settlers’ early days in Wisconsin. I imagine my own ancestors packing trunks with similar household goods,

preparing for a new life. I hope that the descriptions will facilitate a more thoughtful experience for those who view the collection online, and maybe help others connect with their own immigrant heritage.

I am thankful for the help of Emily Pfortenhauer, who in addition to walking me through the basics of artifact photography and photo editing, has pointed me towards helpful sources on material culture and provided a sounding board for ideas. Dale Marsden, president of this McFarland Historical Society, has been incredibly helpful, accommodating my hectic schedule and answering my questions about McFarland. I can’t forget to mention the rest of the gang at the McFarland Historical Society, including Gini and Ginny, Wes, Mary and Jackie! We’ve got some coordinating community activities in the works for the launch of the digital collection, including a special display at the library of objects featured online. I hope that this is only the beginning, and that the digital collection continues to grow, deepening McFarland’s connection to their history, increasing the appreciation of Norwegian folk art and handicrafts, and inspiring new interest in discovering the past.

--Katie Dreps

A Service Learning Post by Andrea Hudson--Portage Historical Society

With support from the Caxambas Foundation, the Material Culture Program is sponsoring three undergraduate service learning opportunities this summer. Each student has partnered with a local historical society in Wisconsin to help them digitize and share their collections through Wisconsin Heritage Online, a statewide digitization program. Our second progress report comes from Art History major Andrea Hudson. The photos she describes will be available online this fall.

This summer, I am working with the Portage Historical Society and Portage Preservation Consultants to digitize a collection of 19^th century photographs of local residences.  These photographs have been in the hands of the Portage Public Library for all of the 20th century.  And their collection doesn’t stop with the 72 photographs that I am digitizing.  They have an extensive (and incredibly interesting) collection of anything and everything related to local history.  My hope is that once this project is completed, through our collaborative efforts, Portage can digitize more of their local lore.  As just one example, they have a journal from a 1940’s Portage photography club that highlights all of the members’ experiences and recommendations behind the lens. Anyway, back to the project that I am working on, which is just as exciting.

The photographs that I am working with are quite impressive in detail—especially when scanned at high resolution.  They are all turn-of-the-century images of Portage residences. The main goal of the Portage Historical Society was to preserve these physical examples of community culture.  I am scanning these images and researching the context of each individual photograph. Though the photos were all taken around the same period of time, through our collaborative research, we have discovered that it is likely that the collection is made up of photographs from two different studios.  It is difficult to confirm this—but it is our suspicion.  Also, some of the photographs have the homeowners posed in front of their residence, while other photographs do not.  Finally, within the collection, there are repeated residences—but the photographs were taken at different points in time.  They are separated by a few years.  These variations have made the dating process more difficult. Nonetheless, these challenges have made the process far more intriguing.  

With the photographs highlighting the posed residents, I have attempted to determine who is in the photograph, as well as when the photograph was taken.  For example, in the image entitled, “Residence of James Baird,” I was able to identify (with a moderate level of confidence) the members of the family, through census data.  In this photograph, which has been dated around 1902, are James Baird, his wife, Jessie R Baird, and their children, Agnes, Mary, Janette, and James G Baird.  One wonderful aspect of the digital image is that the viewer is able to zoom in to see details that aren’t necessarily noticeable with the material original! This allows the viewer to observe, in greater detail, anything from architectural elements to reflections in the windows to the clothing worn by individuals in the photographs. In this manner, the digitization gratifies all types of curiosities. 

Moreover, in each photograph’s summary, I will attempt to include architectural, biographical, and other historical detailing, so the images will cater to all types of researchers. Not all of the images have been as uncomplicated as the “Residence of James Baird,” in determining the who, how, and when, however.  These challenges have allowed me to grow as a researcher.  These sources include newspapers, censuses, biographical sketches, and property deeds, oral histories, surveys, and discussions with local historians. 

It has been wonderful working with these individuals in Portage (shout out to Judy Eulberg, Peggy Amend, and Joan Indermark) and Wisconsin Heritage Online (shout out to Emily Pfotenhauer), as this project has been a collaborative effort.  While I work on it in Madison, I have kept in constant contact with my partner institutions and made regular visits to Portage. I have shared the entire process and all of my progress (including frustrations) with them, so that we can learn from one another and achieve our separate goals, together.  It is my hope that the product of this “Historical Residences Collection” will not be limited to the collection itself.  I hope (and I know that the Portage Historical Society and the Portage Public Library hope, as well) that the aforementioned collection of primary documents in the Library’s collection will be digitized one day, as well, for preservation purposes.  I even presented my progress to the Portage Historical Society, at one of their monthly meetings.  They were enthused by our efforts and progress and excited about the project.  

I have discussed some projects to finalize my efforts with this individual online collection.  Specifically, my Partner Institutions and I have talked about having a workshop, where I can show individuals how to digitize artifacts; a symposium to present the complete online collection; and a photography comparison project—one that would use the photographs I have digitized, juxtaposed against the present condition of the residences.  As photography is a great passion of mine, that potential project could meld my efforts as an Art History student and novice photographer. These are all dependent on what my partner institutions would like to do, but I think they would all be a great way to involve the community in the process! Thus far, this internship opportunity has offered me indescribable benefits for professional and personal growth.  

--Andrea Hudson

Photos from Vernacular and Outsider Arts Seminar Field Trip to Chicago

Here are some photos from the Chicago field trip (April 2011) taken by students in the seminar AH865: Vernacular Arts: Outsider, Folk, Eccentric, and Other Arts at the Edge, taught by Prof. Ann Smart Martin.  Stops included the House of Blues and Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art.

Erica Meier walking around the "Architecture of Hope" exhibition at Intuit.

A group photo taken at the House of Blues.  Top row, left to right: Prof. Martin, Lex Lancaster, Chris McGeorge, Amy Brabender.  Bottom row, left to right: Emma Silverman and Erica Meier.

A Service Learning Post by Breanna Norton-Three Lakes Historical Society

With support from the Caxambas Foundation, the Material Culture Program is sponsoring three undergraduate service learning opportunities this summer. Each student has partnered with a local historical society in Wisconsin to help them digitize and share their collections through Wisconsin Heritage Online, a statewide digitization program. Our first progress report this summer comes from Breanna Norton, a recent graduate of the Anthropology department.

 For this service learning internship I am working with the Three Lakes Historical Society in northern Wisconsin to digitize a portion of their collection for the Wisconsin Heritage Online database. TLHS is a small historical society in the heart of the Northwoods, and this internship is an exciting opportunity to place a portion of their collection online for the wide world to access. Three Lakes is essentially a tourist town, so it population fluctuates greatly depending on the season, affecting how many people visit TLHS’s museum. By allowing the museum to be a part of the WHO database, their possible audience has increased tremendously and that can only lead to positive results for the Historical Society.

I began my internship with absolutely no idea of what I would be digitizing. I spent about a week during the beginning of June inventorying the Historical Society’s archival and artifact collections, attempting to get a picture of the possible topics that could be covered in the database. After talking with the curator of the Historical Society museum, Mr. Alan Tulppo, and discussing the most asked-after topics by visitors I decided to focus my project on the history of camps and resorts in the Three Lakes area. The history of Three Lakes follows a very distinct pattern that can be found throughout Northwoods Wisconsin. The lumber industry was the main industry in the region during the late 19^th-early 20^th centuries, after which farming took over. Once farming began to wane, tourism flooded Three Lakes until just after the mid-20^th century. Three Lakes is currently in a retirement and vacation home phase in which the area is dominated either by individuals who have decided to retire in the Northwoods or who are wealthy enough to own a vacation home up north. My focus is on the third phase: tourism. In order to make my project more manageable, I chose to spend the first half of my three-month time period working on the resort portion of the project, specifically focusing on the Northernaire Resort and Spa—the most popular and luxurious resort in the Three Lakes area.

Once I made my final object list regarding the Northernaire portion of the project, Emily Pfotenhauer, the Outreach Specialist for Wisconsin Heritage Online, brought to my attention that some of the published materials may be under copyright law and that I should spend some time researching this possible problem. I searched the internet and the library for who, if anyone, I should contact for permission to put these materials online. Fortunately, every company that printed the postcards was no longer around, and as such I concluded that putting the objects online should pose no problem. Those items that were printed or created by the Northernaire Resort and Spa I decided needed to be inquired about, along with each newspaper article. I talked with numerous editors and managers and much to my surprise I had no difficulty in gaining everyone’s permission to reproduce the objects online. It seems that local history, and being a part of it, is of interest to everyone. Finally, with the copyright problem resolved, I was able to move on to scanning and creating spreadsheets for the database.

I have been fortunate enough to have had a diverse array of experiences completing object research for material culture classes and internships, and those experiences have been extremely helpful with this particular project. Rather than focus solely on the use of written sources like I have in the past, I have had to rely on human sources for many dates and names. This change in technique has been a welcome one and has broadened my ideas on how to conduct research and what types of resources are available to the researcher. The use of human sources may seem unreliable to many researchers, but given the research topic they may be the best source available.

I have almost completed my spreadsheet regarding the first half of the project, the Northernaire. Once I have completed it I will begin work on the history of summer camps in the Three Lakes area. I am confident that through this internship I will not only be learning new ways of applying material culture studies to the museum field, but I will also be providing a vital service to a museum that otherwise may never have such an opportunity.

--Breanna Norton

Plastics Collection at Syracuse University Is Now Online

If you like plastics, plastic objects, and information about plastic, the Special Collections Research Center at the Syracuse University Library has created a new website devoted to the Plastics Collection, which is the largest university-based collection regarding the history of plastics. The site contains images of the more than 2,000 artifacts and links to more than 40 archival collections on the history of plastics, and to the library's catalog of several thousand books and periodicals related to the history, science, technology and business of plastics.  New information and artifacts are added regularly.

Photo Essay: Fred Wilson Events

On April 4-6, 2011, artist and independent curator Fred Wilson visited campus and graciously gave his time to a variety of events, including a public lecture, a brown bag lunch and workshop with graduate and advanced undergraduate students, and guest taught Prof. Nancy Mithlo's class, AH432, "Multiculturalism and the New Museology."  Here are some photos from Wilson's time with Mithlo's class.

Prof. Martin with Wilson in the Chazen Museum of Art's Contemporary Art Gallery.

Wilson posing with students.

The artist discussing the implications of still life paintings.

The AH432 class in the contemporary art mezzanine, Chazen Museum of Art.

Course instructor Prof. Nancy Mithlo

Prof. Martin, Wilson, and Prof. Mithlo discussing the changing role of the museum and its relation to different racial, ethnic, and class groups.