HIST 840
SYLLABUS
WEEKLY DISCUSSION MATERIALS
COURSE MATERIALS
Week 7:
POSSESSIONS; BUILDING MATERIALS; CELLAR AND PASSAGE
Videos:
Early doll houses:
“The Miniaturist: Real-Life History” (about Dutch doll-houses of the 17th century; 7:13 min,):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGGb_M0dBcs
“Dutch cabinet kitchen” (in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; 3:00 min.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe0IJ7buXMg
[Photos only:] “The magical miniature world of antique dollhouses” (from the Netherlands, Germany, France, England, and USA)
My aunty’s one-room flat in Mumbai, where she has lived for 55 years (2012). 10:56 min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Kj8L0kdSFg
BBC Living with Nomads: Mongolia (59 min.; for life in the ger, see 25:00-32:00 min.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzKkMIn7EZk
Biltmore House and its estate (30 min.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKquCvMamcY
Biltmore: archivists’ stories about the house and estate (7:41 min.):
https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HvOsLtl2pc
The Breakers, Providence, RI (6:19 min.; start at 2:40 min.):
https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=huNJBK33ZNg
Consuelo Vanderbilt’s upbringing (4:30 min.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugeRpSV7ybY
Readings:
Moore, The Prehistory of Home, Chapter 4 (“Durable Goods”), pp. 48-69
Fernand Braudel, Civilization & Capitalism, 15th-18 Century, vol. 1: The Structures of Everyday Life. Trans. Siân Reynolds. New York: Harper and Row, 1981, pp. 285-298 (+notes on pp. 588-589).
Mito Habe-Evans, “Everything You Own in a Photo: A Look at Our Worldly Possessions” (National Public Radio, 10 August 2010), with photos by Peter Menzel (Material World) and Ma Hongjie and Huang Qingjun (Family Stuff) https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2010/08/10/129113632/picturingpossessions
Peter Menzel, Material World (online gallery of 18 photos, from book published by Sierra Club in 1994):
http://www.menzelphoto.com/gallery/Material-World-Family-Portraits/G0000Ip09fSBViW8/C0000d0DI3dBy4mQ
(or, with 14 photos:)
http://www.menzelphoto.com/portfolio/G0000GPaxwfSZQ0Q
also archived at:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200805015116/http://menzelphoto.com/galleries/material-world/
Bryson, At Home, Chapters 9 (“The Cellar”) and 10 (“The Passage”), pp. 278-340