Re: The Mezzanine

John Unsworth (jmu2m@virginia.edu)
Wed, 26 Feb 1997 16:01:25 -0500 (EST)

I'm enjoying the various reactions to the book, and I thought it
might be useful to suggest a perspective from which these trivial
things do become important--a perspective hinted at in class on
Tuesday, namely, the study of material culture. There is an entire
interdisciplinary field of study (that crosses physical anthropology,
american studies, engineering and history of science, folklore, and
others). People in this field look at objects as evidence of the
nature, purpose, quality, and scope of everyday life in cultures
past and present--you'd find studies of colonial artifacts, artifacts
from other cultures, and the familiar stuff of our daily life. If
you're interested in looking at some sample titles and syllabi, here
are some pointers. Might be a paper in there somewhere...

http://hfm.umd.umich.edu/tc/SHOT/syllabi/Lubar_Mat.html
Material Culture of Technology syllabus (Umich)

http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journals/details/mcu.html
Journal of Material Culture (table of contents only)

http://www.georgetown.edu/crossroads/aq/material.html
American Quarterly: Material Culture
(list of articles from various issues)

John Unsworth
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http://www.village.virginia.edu/~jmu2m/ jmu2m@virginia.edu