Examines the history of stereoscopes and stereographs, including their cultural impact and changes in technology. Provides context for resources in the Travelers in the Middle East Archive (TIMEA). Part 1 of a 4 part course called "History through the Stereoscope."
The subject of this course is the historical process by which the meaning of "technology" has been constructed. Although the word itself is traceable to the ancient Greek root teckhne (meaning art), it did not enter the English language until the 17th century, and did not acquire its current meaning until after World War I. The aim of the course, then, is to explore various sectors of industrializing 19th and 20th century Western society and culture with a view to explaining and assessing the emergence of technology as a pivotal word (and concept) in contemporary (especially Anglo-American) thought and expression.
Examines how stereographs were used as a means of virtual travel. Focuses on James Henry Breasted's "Egypt through the Stereoscope" (1905, 1908). Provides context for resources in the Travelers in the Middle East Archive (TIMEA). Part 3 of a 4 part course called "History through the Stereoscope."
Imagine that you are doing research on Egypt and come across a curious source: a book from 1905 called Egypt Through the Stereoscope, which comes with a set of 100 cards that display two nearly identical photographs. What are you to make of this resource, and how might you use it in research? What is a stereoscope? What are these cards, and why do they have two images? This course explores the use, production, and cultural significance of those cards, which are called stereographs. When viewed through a device called a stereoscope, stereographs present a single, three-dimensional image. Between the mid-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, stereographs were the leading visual mass medium, offering detailed three-dimensional views of everything from ancient monuments to current events. Relatively inexpensive, stereographs and stereoviewers were common in schools and middle-class homes. Indeed, stereographs were a dominant form of photography until the 1920s and an important source of education and entertainment, touted for presenting life-like views of their subjects. Not only does this course provide background information about stereographs, but it also examines how to use them in research projects. Examples are provided from TIMEA (Travelers in the Middle East Archive).
In this lesson, students will explore the process of designing and painting a mural. They will take into consideration the function of murals as examples of media in public, visual space and create a painting that functions as a public mural in this same, unique way. By working together, students will develop team-building skills and collaborate to create a pictorial, collective voice.
Examines different types of historical writing: political, social, cultural, demographic, biographical, and comparative. Includes discussion of historical films, fiction, memoirs, and conventional history. Particular attention given to works which have broken new ground in terms of their methodology and approach. Required writing includes brief weekly response papers and a substantial research paper (including proposal, first draft, and final draft), in conjunction with a formal oral presentation. Weekly discussion of readings include periodic student-led discussion and/or presentations. Open to all students, but required of history majors and minors in junior year.
The "small wonders" to which our course will attend are moments of present time, depicted in the verbal and visual media of the modern age: newspapers, novels and stories, poems, photographs, films, etc. We will move between visual and verbal media across a considerable span of time, from eighteenth-century poetry and prose fiction to twenty-first century social networking and microblogging sites, and from sculpture to photography, film, and digital visual media. With help from philosophers, contemporary cultural historians, and others, we will begin to think about a media practice largely taken for granted in our own moment.
Describes how to view stereographs and how to use them in a research project. Lists print and online resources about stereographs. Part 4 of a 4 part course called "History through the Stereoscope."
Our linked subjects are (1) the historical process by which the meaning of technology has been constructed, and (2) the concurrent transformation of the environment. To explain the emergence of technology as a pivotal word (and concept) in contemporary public discourse, we will examine responses--chiefly political and literary--to the development of the mechanic arts, and to the linked social, cultural, and ecological transformation of 19th- and 20th-century American society, culture, and landscape.
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