COURSE UNIT TITLE

: MATERIAL CULTURE

Description of Individual Course Units

Course Unit Code Course Unit Title Type Of Course D U L ECTS
AKE 2012 MATERIAL CULTURE ELECTIVE 3 0 0 5

Offered By

American Culture and Literature

Level of Course Unit

First Cycle Programmes (Bachelor's Degree)

Course Coordinator

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR LEMAN GIRESUNLU

Offered to

American Culture and Literature

Course Objective

This course introduces students to major intellectual trends in American culture from the Turn of the Century to the 1950s as well as contemporaneously, based on each semester's study material. The content therefore should be expected to include major art works, architectural styles, cultural artifacts, literary works, intellectual trends, throughts and values deemed relevant as part of the cultural evolution and transformation underwent in the United States throughout the years.


The course focuses on the reasons for the objects/artifacts that make up the culture to exist and emerge in history, as well as the meaning patterns that these objects have gained in culture. During this course, students not only acquire field knowledge, but also gains knowledge and experience about presenting their work in the classroom by learning academic research methods. The content and mechanical structure of academic articles related to the field will also constitute part of the study process. Students who register to this course learn the steps of research, apply them to the subject matter they decide to research, develop their own ideas, learn to choose a research topic, classify, draft a research proposal, present proposal and final research in class. The course engourages students to work intensively and collaboratively in brain storming and working interactively with classmates. During the course, students learn to analyze subject matter form a critical distance.



Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

1   Students will acquire skills to collect information about cultural objects: identifying, recognizing, perceiving and remembering.
2   Students will acquire skills in hearing in English about cultural objects. In this respect audio/visual teaching resources: documentaries etc. will be included.
3   Students will acquire skills in paraphrasing brief original information.
4   Students will acquire skills in describing texts in various formats.
5   Students will have access to teaching material on a continuing basis with the intermediary of their course blog

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Week Subject Description
1 introduction The Arts and Artefacts introducing Thomas Schlereth, Arthur Asa Berger, Dan Hicks, Jules David Prown Introduction to American Studies/Culture studies/Gender Studies/Popular Culture etc. Subject areas, chronological perspective, interdisciplinary studies and contemporary academic trends in the area.
2 Introduction to American Studies and Material Culture Studies Readings from Thomas Schlereth and Richard Grassby, Material Culture and Cultural History Lecture/power point/documentary viewing/new terminology
3 Reforms in the USA in the 1900; Urbanisation Readings from Arthur Asa Berger Jules David Prown , Introduction to the Truth of Material Culture: Truth or Fiction Lecture power point/documentary viewing/new terminology
4 Reforms in the usa in the 1900; Urbanisation Jules David Prown, Introduction to the Truth of Material Culture: History or Fiction Lecture power point/documentary viewing/new terminology
5 Literature Upton Sinclair; Edith Warthon; Theodore Dreiser; Frank Baum Jules David Prown, Introduction to the Truth of Material Culture: History or Fiction. Lecture power point/documentary viewing/new terminology reading--paraphrase
6 Art: Art Nouveau Vs. Art Deco On study of artifacts / readings fromThomas Schlereth and Prown Examples on the study of artifacts / readings from Prown Lecture power point/documentary viewing/new terminology reading--paraphrase
7 Art: Arts and Crafts Movement Landscaping and F.L. Olmstead On the study of Artifacts/ readings from Thomas Schlereth and Prown / Readings from Thomas Schlereth Lecture power point/documentary viewing/new terminology
8 Midterm
9 Thornstein Weblen, the theory of the Leisure Class, Max Weber, The Protestant Work Ethic Readings from Jules David Prown Lecture power point/documentary viewing/new terminology
10 Turn of the Century artistic trends and architecture Modernists; The Armory Show; Ash Can School; Precisionism and Technologic America; Frank L. Wright Readings from Prown Lecture power point/documentary viewing/new terminology reading--paraphrase
11 Modernist art --continued: Jazz Age, F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby; Native American art and Western Modernism; Pueblo Style; Georgia OKeefe; / Readings from Jules David Prown Lecture power point/documentary viewing/new terminology reading--paraphrase
12 Modernist art--continued, Architecture Skyscrapers, New York: Art Deco, Fritz Lang, Metropolis, Utopia versus dystopia; Readings from Arthur Asa Berger Lecture power point/documentary viewing/new terminology reading--paraphrase
13 The New Deal; F.D. Roosevelt 1932; The Works Progress Administration; Murals; Rockefeller Center; Public Art; The Hoover Dam (1935); Migration from South to North and its effects on art 1930s; Jacob Lawrence, The Migration Series (Painter). Bölgeciler; Edward Hopper (Painter) ve New York. Readings from Dan Hicks Lecture power point/documentary viewing/new terminology reading--paraphrase
14 Evaluation

Recomended or Required Reading

Thomas J. Schlereth, Material Culture: A Research Guide.
Arthur Asa Berger, What Objects Mean: An Introduction to Material Culture
Dan Hicks, The Oxford Handbook of Material Culture Studies ( Oxford Handbooks)
Jules David Prown and Kenneth Haltman, American Artifacts: Essays in American Culture.
( Course study resources maybe subject to change with prior notice)

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

Classes
1) All selected teaching material; written and visual are to be notified prior to the semester.
Syllabi maybe altered with due notice.
Lectures maybe inclusive of power point presentations; black board use, and handouts.
2) Teaching material is posted on the blog site (online) allowing for duly class preparation.
3) Audio/visual resources will be included to the class.
Computer applications:
The Course Blog will be inclusive of various course related reading and audio/visual material, as well as class related announcements.

Assessment Methods

SORTING NUMBER SHORT CODE LONG CODE FORMULA
1 MTE 1 MIDTERM EXAM 1
2 FIN FINAL EXAM
3 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE (RESIT) MTE 1 * 0.50 + FIN * 0.50
4 RST RESIT
5 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE (RESIT) MTE 1 * 0.50 + RST * 0.50


*** Resit Exam is Not Administered in Institutions Where Resit is not Applicable.

Further Notes About Assessment Methods

Exams:
1. Throughout the semester two (2) exams will be administered.
2. Midterm: (%40)
Midterm exam will be in test form, inclusive of multiple choice, fill in the blanks, open ended
type questions. This exam aims to test student understanding of acquired information.
Final: (%60)
Final exam will be in test form, inclusive of multiple choice, fill in the blanks, open ended type
questions. This exam aims to test student understanding of acquired information.
Homeworks maybe assigned to constitue (%10) of the final grade.

Assessment Criteria


1 . Student research proposals are assesed based upon academic research and writing principles.
2. In class written or test exams asses knowledge
3. Student final paper and in class presentations are assesed based upon academic research and writing principles.
All submitted projects are expected to abide by academic code of ethics.

Language of Instruction

English

Course Policies and Rules

1) Class attendance is compulsory (%70)
2) Students held exempt from class participation, from a previous semester,
need be aware of current course content, as it maybe subject to alteration.
3) Students are expected to abide by academic code of ethics.

Contact Details for the Lecturer(s)

Faculty of Letters

Office Hours

To be announced.

Work Placement(s)

None

Workload Calculation

Activities Number Time (hours) Total Work Load (hours)
Lectures 13 3 39
Preparations before/after weekly lectures 13 3 39
Preparation for midterm exam 1 7 7
Preparation for final exam 1 16 16
Preperation for paper 1 15 15
Preperation for paper presentation 1 3 3
Final 1 3 3
Midterm 1 3 3
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours) 125

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

PO/LOPO.1PO.2PO.3PO.4PO.5PO.6PO.7PO.8PO.9PO.10PO.11PO.12PO.13PO.14
LO.15555555555
LO.2555
LO.355
LO.455
LO.5555