This seminar will look at specific case studies of the production and use of architecture, paintings, and needlework within specific communities in what is now the United States.  We will look, for instance, at Shaker watercolors and design; Puritan painting and city planning; Amish, Hawaiian, African-American, and Hmong quilting; the ledger drawings and domestic structures of specific Native American groups; and the sacred architecture of the Hispanic southwest.  Our timeframe spans four centuries but our ‘geographies’ will be very focused. We will consider vernacular or folk production within the context of politics and economics as well as aesthetic and social theory. This is an American Cultures class.

This course fulfills the following Major requirements: Geographical area (C) and Chronological area (III).