This graduate course will be an in-depth investigation of China?s Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), in which Mao Zedong urged the people to wrest control away from the Communist Party itself and recreate Chinese culture and society based on revolutionary principles. What motivated people, and particularly youth, to participate in activities that often brought suffering to themselves and their families and destruction to China's cherished cultural sites? What were the ideals they strove to realize, and to what extent can anything they did be considered in positive light?

The aim of this course is to introduce students to some of the many intangible issues surrounding museum and historic site interpretation. We will also be addressing some of these challenges through on-the-ground and digital collaborations with museums in Massachusetts and beyond. Seminar discussion will explore readings, including both theoretical and practical works. Writing assignments will be both practical (writing exhibit labels, digital history websites) and theoretical (analyzing meaning-making in museum exhibits and at historic sites).

This course explores methods for studying material culture and assesses historical writings focusing on objects as historical evidence. The collections, buildings and grounds of Historic Deerfield provide a laboratory for first-hand examination of objects, the built environment and the landscape in order to test a variety of approaches for analyzing artifacts and to develop the skills and knowledge needed to interpret the meanings of material productions in their historical contexts.

In this one-credit course, students will explore themes in the professional development of public historians, attending events in the History Department as well as those offered by allied units, including the Graduate School's Office of Professional Development and the Public Engagement Project.

Critical evaluation of categories of analysis periods, cultures, geographical spaces currently employed by world historians. What is lost and what is gained by a global approach to historical problems.

A survey of major historiographical themes in the study of early American history from pre-contact to the early republic.

Not available at this time

Not available at this time

Not available at this time