PUBLIC HERITAGE:
CULTURAL
CONSERVATION IN
AMERICA
American Studies Program, Penn State Harrisburg
AMSTD 482, Section 1, Spring 2006, M 6:15-9 p.m.
Schedule No. 609025
C211 Olmsted
Simon Bronner, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Folklore and American
Studies
American Studies Program
W356 Olmsted Building
Penn State Harrisburg
777 West Harrisburg Pike
Middletown, PA 17057-4898
717-948-6039 (office)
717-948-6201 (staff)
717-948-6724 (fax)
717-948-6094 (center)
sbronner@psu.edu
Office Hours: 3-5 p.m., M, W, and by appointment
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AMSTD 482 PUBLIC HERITAGE, PROF. S. BRONNER, SPRING 2006, PENN STATE HARRISBURG
Description
This course explores the meaning and significance of heritage
for public audiences in the effort to “conserve” American
traditional culture. The main subject of “heritage” is a word of
public usage to represent a feeling for the past and place that
combines or refers to history, folklife, society, and culture.
As an American Studies topic, heritage is crucial to
understanding the ways that American identity is interpreted and
constructed. As an agenda for the course, we first to define the
often contested terms of heritage, conservation, and public,
especially in relation to other keywords such as culture,
tradition, and past. Second, we will discuss the historical and
social background of the public heritage movement by learning
about its key figures in Pennsylvania–Henry W. Shoemaker and
John A. Hostetler–and using their examples to think about the
idea of being public intellectual in America. Third, we will use
move to the contemporary period to discuss the kinds of public
programming featured in heritage events and institutions, and
consider their meaning in the context of an intellectual and
social construction of American identity. Students will have an
opportunity to conduct their own heritage studies by writing an
essay on a key figure of the heritage movement and designing a
public program. As a seminar, the course will encourage
presentation and exchange of research among students. The class
will utilize multiple media and computer resources, including an
“Angel” web site for the course at cms.psu.edu.
Required Texts
Bronner, Simon J. Popularizing Pennsylvania: Herny W. Shoemaker
and the Progressive Uses of Folklore and History.
University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996.
Graves, James Bau. Cultural Democracy: The Arts, Community, and
the Public Purpose. Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
2005.
Hufford, Mary, ed. Conserving Culture: A New Discourse on
Heritage. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994.
Kurin, Richard. Reflections of a Culture Broker: A View from the
Smithsonian. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution,
1997.
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AMSTD 482 PUBLIC HERITAGE, PROF. S. BRONNER, SPRING 2006, PENN STATE HARRISBURG
Weaver-Zercher, David. Writing the Amish: The Worlds of John A.
Hostetler. University Park: Pennsylvania State University
Press, 2005.
Course Requirements:
Grading is determined by evaluating the student’s demonstration
of scholarship and communication skills in written and oral
presentations. There are three requirements of the class: (1)
proposal for a public heritage program (40 percent), (2) oral
presentation on the program (20 percent), and (3) biographical
or institutional essay on figure in the public heritage movement
(40 percent).
Regular attendance and constructive participation in class
discussions by students are important to the effectiveness of
the class. If the student cannot attend classes, he or she
should report problems to the instructor and arrange to make up
the work. The instructor will be taking attendance, which is
visible on the Angel system. Penn State Policy states that a
student whose irregular attendance causes him or her, in the
judgment of the instructor, to become deficient scholastically,
may run the risk of receiving a failing grade or receiving a
lower grade than the student might have secured had the student
been in regular attendance. Participation by students in class
should not be disruptive or offensive to other class members. See
university policies on attendance for more information and note
the summary of policies on attendance, academic honesty, and
access at the end of this syllabus.
All assignments will be discussed with the professor. The
biographical or institutional essay due March 20 should reflect
field and library research, and interpretation is based on the
models for studies on John A. Hostetler and Henry W. Shoemaker
in the class. The public program proposal due May 3 will be
written similar to a grant proposal, which will be discussed in
class. Students should use Word or Word Perfect for PC for
essays. The oral presentation given on April 10 or 17 should
utilize Microsoft Powerpoint, and techniques for effective
presentation will be discussed in class. All written submissions
should be prepared electronically; work can be submitted on
disk, hard copy, or in the digital drop box in Angel. The
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AMSTD 482 PUBLIC HERITAGE, PROF. S. BRONNER, SPRING 2006, PENN STATE HARRISBURG
minimum number of narrative pages required to complete each
narrative assignment is 7.
Course Schedule
1. January 9
INTRODUCTION TO COURSE
HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF MATERIAL CULTURE STUDIES
–The first session will cover the significance of public
heritage in American Studies, the requirements of the course,
and the course web site. The second part of the session will
cover the rise of heritage studies and significance of heritage
programming in the intellectual and social construction of
America. Key terms will be defined and discussed: heritage,
public, culture, conservation.
N.B. No class on January 16: Martin Luther King Holiday
2. January 23
PUBLIC INTELLECTUALS AND CULTURAL BROKERS
–In this session, the function of the “public intellectual” is
discussed, especially his or her responsibility to contributing
to a public heritage. The public intellectual arose as a force
in the nineteenth century, but many critics have claimed that it
has declined since the late twentieth century, replaced by the
public institution, with assigned “cultural brokers.” We will
discuss theorizing about the way that public intellectuals and
cultural brokers function in American society, with reference to
the Progressive and Reform movements of the early twentieth
century and the New Deal during the Great Depression.
Pennsylvania is a leader in these movements and the instructor
will pose the question it figured so prominently to the students
for discussion.
READING:
Bronner, Popularizing Pennsylvania, pp. 1-126.
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AMSTD 482 PUBLIC HERITAGE, PROF. S. BRONNER, SPRING 2006, PENN STATE HARRISBURG
3. January 30
STATE FOLKLORISTS AND GOVERNMENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN CULTURAL
MANAGEMENT
-Should government be involved in managing local, state,
regional, and national culture? Toward answering this question,
we will discuss the background of the creation of the first
state folklorist position in the country–in Pennsylvania–and the
way the position evolved into the twenty-first century.
READING:
Bronner, Popularizing Pennsylvania, pp. 127-184.
4. February 6
CULTURAL TOURISM: THE AMISH AND THE PUBLIC
–An important application of public heritage is in the promotion
of tourism. We have a prime international example of heritage
tourism near our campus with “Amish Country.” We will look at
the development of tourism of the Amish and the figures who
paradoxically promoted the Amish as a popular attraction and
also advocated that they be left alone. We will talk about
creating a “cultural biography” with reference to New Class
theory (see Bronner essay in the reading).
READING:
Weaver-Zercher, Writing the Amish, pp. 1-98
5. February 13
CULTURAL VOYEURISM: READING AND VIEWING THE AMISH
-The line between documenting and fictionalizing heritage is
often fuzzy, as indicated by the spate of movies and
documentaries about the Amish. We will look at film clips and
talk about theories of heritage “representation.”
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AMSTD 482 PUBLIC HERITAGE, PROF. S. BRONNER, SPRING 2006, PENN STATE HARRISBURG
READING:
Weaver-Zercher, Writing the Amish, pp. 189-316.
VIEWING:
Witness
Kingpin
For Richer or Poorer
Devil’s Playground
Amish: People of Preservation
6. February 20
THE NATIONAL HERITAGE MOVEMENT AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS
– When public heritage is mentioned, many people think first
about museums and national museums such as the Smithsonian
Institution. In this class, we will consider the perspective
(confession?) of a Smithsonian Institution curator about the
work he does. We will especially consider the ways that
exhibitions cover and create controversies (e.g., Enola Gay
exhibit, Back of the Big House). For discussion, the instructor
will also ask students to compare these exhibition strategies
with the “thematization” of Disneyland and Williamsburg.
READING:
Kurin, Reflections of a Culture Broker, pp. 1-108
7. February 27
PERFORMING CULTURE: FESTIVALS AND PROGRAMS
–A conspicuous development during the twentieth century in
public heritage programming has been the creation of the
festival and educational/entertainment program to bring culture
and history “alive,” or in other words to “perform heritage.” We
will discuss the functions of these festivals, and controversies
surrounding them, especially in relation to the visibility of
the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on America’s National Mall
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AMSTD 482 PUBLIC HERITAGE, PROF. S. BRONNER, SPRING 2006, PENN STATE HARRISBURG
over the Independence Day holiday.
READING:
Kurin, Reflections of a Culture Broker, pp. 109-286.
Hufford, Conserving Culture, pp. 167-83
N.B. No class March 6 (Spring Break)
8. March 13
THE CONSERVATION OF CULTURE
–What is the responsibility of intellectuals to the perpetuation
of heritage they study? We will discuss different points of view
on the question, particular in relation to local and regional
programs to sustain traditional groups and skills. What is the
difference between preservation and conservation, then? Does the
latter introduce an element of “biodiversity” to which the
government and the public should be committed? These questions
will come alive with reference to case studies of the Ozark
National Scenic Riverways and the conservation policy toward
African-American basketry.
READING:
Hufford, Conserving Culture, pp. 1-96, 122-66
9. March 20
“Rap on Race”: Public Program
Biographical Essay Due
10. March 27
CONSERVING AND CONSTRUCTING AMERICAN TRADITION
–We will talk about the previous week’s “public program”
(organized by someone else than the instructor) in relation to
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AMSTD 482 PUBLIC HERITAGE, PROF. S. BRONNER, SPRING 2006, PENN STATE HARRISBURG
the issues of the class. We will then transition to some of the
case studies of public programs to encourage folklife in New
York City, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
READING:
Hufford, Conserving Culture, pp. 167-252
N.B. Middle Atlantic American Studies Association Meeting at
State Capitol Building, Harrisburg, March 31-April 1
11. April 3
CULTURAL DEMOCRACY: THE POLITICS OF HERITAGE
–What is the role of heritage as a tool of social inclusion as
well as exclusion in sustaining American democracy? We will
discuss the idea of “cultural democracy” and the ways that
public heritage programs respond to social issues (e.g., race,
ethnicity, gender equity, class, age) in the United States and
abroad. Why are controversies created, for example, in “culture
wars” about funding heritage programs? The topic therefore
refers from headlines of the last few years as students consider
the politics of public heritage.
READING:
Graves, Cultural Democracy, pp. 1-174
12. April 10
ORAL PRESENTATIONS I
13. April 17
ORAL PRESENTATIONS II
14. April 24
THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC HERITAGE AND THE FIELD OF HERITAGE STUDIES.
Where will the priorities of heritage programming be in the
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AMSTD 482 PUBLIC HERITAGE, PROF. S. BRONNER, SPRING 2006, PENN STATE HARRISBURG
twenty-first century? What functions will they have? We will
discuss emerging trends in heritage work and what students
foresee in their own futures. The instructor will provide
resources for careers and research in heritage studies.
READING:
Graves, Cultural Democracy, pp. 175-220.
15. May 1
Programming Proposals Due
N.B. Schedule Subject to Change
Attendance, Weather, Access, Academic Integrity
Attendance.
A student should attend every class for which the student is
scheduled and should be held responsible for all work covered in
the course. The instructor will be taking attendance, which will
be visible in the Angel system. A student whose irregular
attendance causes him or her, in the judgment of the instructor,
to become deficient scholastically, may run the risk of
receiving a failing grade or receiving a lower grade than the
student might have secured had the student been in regular
attendance. Participation by students in class should not be
disruptive or offensive to other class members.
Cancellations Due to Weather.
When the Provost and Dean makes the decision to close the
Harrisburg campus or delay the start of classes, the regional
media will be notified at least two hours prior to the standard
8:00 a.m. reporting time for staff and before the start of the
earliest scheduled class. The college will make its announcement
in the following ways:
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AMSTD 482 PUBLIC HERITAGE, PROF. S. BRONNER, SPRING 2006, PENN STATE HARRISBURG
1. The college's web page at www.hbg.psu.edu will carry a
message regarding the status of classes.
2. The university's email system will also be used to notify
email subscribers about the weather emergency.
3. An announcement will be placed on the college's AUDIX
telephone system at the 948-6000 and 948-6029 numbers.
4. MEDIA OUTLETS OFFERING WEATHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
. RADIO
TELEVISION
WHP-AM (580)
WHP-TV 21
KISS-FM (99.3)
WLYH-TV 15
WRBT-FM (94.9)
WTMP-TV [FOX 43]
WHYL-AM (960)
WHTM-TV 27
WQXA-AM (1250)
WGAL-TV 8
WQXA-FM (105.7)
WCAT-FM (106.7)
WRKZ-FM (102.3)
WNNK-FM (104)
WITF-FM (89.5)
WLAN-AM (1390)
WLAN-FM (96.9)
WSBA-AM (910)
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AMSTD 482 PUBLIC HERITAGE, PROF. S. BRONNER, SPRING 2006, PENN STATE HARRISBURG
WARM-FM (103)
WRVV-FM (97.3)
For more information, see the weather policy web page at
http://www.hbg.psu.edu/hbg/weather.html
Access
Any student who cannot complete requirements of the class
because of physical disabilities should make circumstances known
to the instructor. In cases where documentation of disability
is available, alternative ways to fulfill requirements will be
made.
Academic Integrity
According to Penn State policy, Academic integrity is the
pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception and
is an education objective of this institution. Academic
dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating,
plagiarizing, fabricating of information or citations,
facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having
unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting work of
another person or work previously used without informing the
instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other
students. The instructor can fail a student for major
infractions.
Revised 1-5-06
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