Dr. Nicole Ivy | nicoleivy@gwu.edu
Office Hours: https://calendly.com/drnicoleivy/prof-ivy-virtual-office-hours
EARLY AMERICAN CULTURAL HISTORY
AMST/HIST 2010
Sylvia Drake and Charity Bryant (c. 1805–1815), Collection of Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History
Course description
This course explores how people’s efforts to make meaning of natural landscapes, built
environments, social worlds, and encounters of difference influenced the formation of
the United States. We track the development of national ideas about freedom and
democracy alongside the evolution of everyday beliefs and practices in order to explore
what culture might mean as a category of study–and what difference the study of
culture makes.
Learning outcomes
As a result of completing this course, students will:
• Develop a foundational understanding of cultural studies as a method of
engaging the past
• Identify and assess the effects and significance of diverse cultures and lived
experiences across Early American history
• Understand major issues, debates, and organizing ideas in the scholarship on
Early American cultural history
Average minimum amount of independent, out-of-class, learning expected per
week
Over 15 weeks, students will spend 2.5 hours (150 minutes) per week attending, for a
total of about 37.5 hours of direct instruction and discussion. Reading course materials
and other out-of– class work is estimated at around 7 hours (420 minutes) weekly, with
some variation, for a total of about 105 hours over the course of the semester.
Required Books
ALL required reading, listening, and viewing material will be available on Blackboard.
Some readings will come from the online textbook, The American Yawp, where
indicated.
Grading Breakdown – In Percentage of Total Grade
15%
