2017 Meeting at Boston University

Consortium for American Material Culture

11th Annual Meeting
American and New England Studies Program, Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts
May 15-16, 2017


Host

Will Moore, American and New England Studies Program, Boston University

Aaron Ahlstrom, American and New England Studies Program, Boston University

P.J. Carlino, American and New England Studies Program, Boston University

Mariah Gruner, American and New England Studies Program, Boston University

Rachel Kirby, American and New England Studies Program, Boston University

Ian Stevenson, American and New England Studies Program, Boston University

Attendees

Catherine Whalen, Bard Graduate Center

Ivan Gaskell, Bard Graduate Center

Steven Lubar, American Studies, Brown University

Cindy Falk, Cooperstown Graduate Program, State University of New York at Oneonta

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Department of History, Harvard University

Debby Andrews, Material Culture Caucus, American Studies Association

Anne Verplanck, American Studies, Penn State Harrisburg

Ritchie Garrison, Winterthur Program in American Material Culture and History, University of Delaware

Catharine Dann Roeber, Winterthur Program in American Material Culture


Schedule of Events

Monday, May 15

9am – Coffee & Pastries, College of Arts & Sciences, Room 132.

9:30 am – Introductions & News of Colleagues – Remembrances of those not with us.

10:00 am - Discussion: Alternative capstone projects for undergraduates and master’s students. What works? What doesn’t work? What are the issues with scholarly forms other than the written thesis?

11:00 am – Object observation and writing exercise (Santa Claus mugs).

11:45 am – Lunch.

12:30 – 2pm Walking tour of civic sculpture on Commonwealth Avenue, the Public Garden, and the Boston Common.

2pm – Meet at the Boston Athenæum. Tour of the sculpture and material culture of the Boston Athenæum with David B. Dearinger, Director of Exhibitions and Susan Morse Hilles Senior Curator of Paintings & Sculpture, and Hannah Weisman, Director of Education.

4pm – Leave Athenaeum. Optional: Visit the Old Granary Burying Ground, see the Gardner murals at the Boston Public Library, go by the African Meeting House, photograph Richardson’s Trinity Church, or visit the Old State House and site of the Boston Massacre on the way back.

6:00 – Gather back at Room 132. Discussion: Material culture education in the era of STEM and business majors. Strategies for building enrollments.

6:30 – Drinks and dinner, Room 132.

Tuesday, May 16

9 am – Coffee & Pastries, Room 132.

9:30am – Discussion of next year and the CAMC.

10:00 am – Depart for Harvard University Murr Center.

10:30 am – Gather at Lee Family Hall of Athletic History with Warren “Renny” Little, Curator (pro bono) of Harvard’s athletic collections.

11:45 – Depart Harvard’s Soldiers Field to return to Room 132.

12:00 – Concluding discussions, announcements, and business.

12:30 – Lunch and goodbyes.


Shared Resources

From Cindy Falk:
• Cooperstown Graduate Program Portfolio Requirements
• Professional Science Master's Guidelines

From Catherine Whalen:
• Bard Graduate Center Student Handbook 2016-2017. See pages 16-17 for regulations regarding conventional qualifying papers, digital qualifying papers, and exhibition qualifying papers.
Tenure, Promotion, and the Publicly Engaged Academic Historian (2010). Adopted by the OAH, NCPH, and AHA.

From Debby Andrews:
• Material Culture Pedagogy Across the Curriculum. Session sponsored by the Material Culture Caucus of the American Studies Association for the upcoming Annual Meeting in Chicago, November 9-12, 2017. Note: Will Moore runs the ASA Material Culture Caucus Facebook Page.

From Steve Lubar: Here's an article that provides more information on the "Liberal Studies in Engineering" project I mentioned: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19378629.2015.1077253?journalCode=test20


Questions

1) How does CAMC benefit you personally?

2) How does CAMC benefit your institution?

3) How does CAMC benefit the field?

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