History and Folk Culture
link to student projects, Fall 2000
History and Folk Culture
HIST 4002A90
Tuesday 3:30 – 6:10
Garinger 123
John Flower
126 Garinger
office tel: 687-4637
http://www.uncc.edu/jmflower/syllist.htm
email: jmflower@email.uncc.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday, Thursday 1:00 - 2:00 pm, and by appointment.
The following is a "fluid syllabus" for a course that should be understood as a joint inquiry, a collaborative work in progress. The locus of inquiry is something called "traditional culture"-- or, more precisely, "folk culture." Through a group encounter with texts and case studies, we will look at the ways different folk-cultural identities are constructed, contested, and critiqued. The course is thematic: rather than concentrate on one geographical field or historical period, we will consider the commonalities and differences of diverse folk traditions, as well as the meta-level of methodological interplay between folklore, ethnography, narrative, and the historian's art. Simply stated, the course is about the history of culture, and about history through culture.
Common Readings:
Charles Joyner, Shared Traditions: Southern History and Folk Culture
James Deetz, In Small Things Forgotten: an archaeology of Early American Life
Jane S. Becker, Selling Tradition: Appalachia and the Construction of an American Folk, 1930- 1940
Henry Glassie, Passing the Time in Ballymenone
NOTE: On-line assignments as announced.
Course requirements:
(3) 2-3 page precis (two on Joyner, one on Deetz)
(1) five page book review
(1) 7-10 page book review
Final research paper (20-25 pages)
students will research a topic in folk culture, developed with the guidance of the instructor, and present their findings in multi-media format to the class.
Proposed Class Schedule:
I: History and the discovery of the "Folk."
In this introductory section of the course, we will begin exploring the connection between history and folklife by reading the short studies and critical essays of Charles Joyner. Students will write a two to three page precis of each reading assignment, identifying the thesis running through the essays and the methodologies used by the author.
Week One (8/21)
Organizational meeting.
Week Two (8/28)
Joyner, Part 1 (1-138).
Week Three( 9/4)
Joyner, Part 3 (177-end).
Week Four (9/11)
Deetz (whole book)
II: The "invention of tradition": cultural history and the constructivist approach.
These readings focus on the Appalachian region, looking at the construction of tradition through material culture and music. We will discuss approaches to cultural history and ethnomusicology, and students will write a five-page critical review essay of Becker’s book.
Week Five (9/18)
Becker (whole book)
Week Six (9/25)
Finish Becker, discuss David E. Whisnant, "This Folk Work and the Holy Folk: The White Top Folk Festival, 1931-1939" (chapter 3 of All That is Native and Fine: The Politics of Culture in an American Region).
Initial informal presentation of final project topics.
III: Ethnography and the narrative art.
Encounter with a masterpiece of history, folklore, ethnomusicology, and the writer's craft: Passing the Time in Ballymenone. Students will engage in on-line discussion of the book in preparation for each class, and write a 7-10 page review at the end. P.S. Don’t worry, we will divide up some of the readings by group presentation.
Week Seven (10/2) [Note: review essay on Becker due]
Glassie, Part 1 (1-87); Joyner Part 2 (141-173).
Week Eight (10/8)
Glassie, Parts 2, 3, 4 (88-311).
Week Nine (10/18)
Glassie, (finish)
IV: Contested cultural identities.
This section focuses on competing definitions of cultural identity. We look at case studies from China and Tibet (the former including an anthropological study of landscape, social space, and history by Pamela Leonard, as well as my presentation of mountain songs to the class for critique and discussion). Students will write a five-page "think piece" essay at the conclusion of this section, comparing and contrasting the material presented in class with issues raised in earlier readings in the course, and suggesting theoretical approaches for further analysis of the case studies.
Week Ten (10/23)
Hand in Glassie papers (no further reading assignment). Visitor Pamela Leonard gives presentation on fieldwork in the Chinese village of Xiakou, followed by discussion. Students will be given web-based reading assignments for the following week’s in-class presentation.
Week Eleven (10/30)
John Flower, "Why Culture?" and "Mountain Songs: history and local identity in Western Sichuan" (text)
multi-media presentation of a folk culture tradition in Xiakou village.
Week Twelve (11/6)
Think Piece essay due. Library session in multi-media lab.
Week Thirteen (11/13)
Group meeting on projects. Project outlines due by email by 5pm Monday, 11/12.
Week Fourteen: (11/20)
Individual meetings on projects.
V: Fruition
Students will present their research findings in a multi-media format, and (hopefully!) prepare the materials for the web.
Week Fifteen (11/27)
Student presentations.
Week Sixteen (12/4)
Student presentations
last updated: 09/17/01 by jmflower@email.uncc.edu