AMST 373.01
House and Home in America
Roger Williams University
Spring, 2016, M, W, F: 11:00-11:50
GHH 208
Monday, April 4, by Bridges.We began this semester with a consideration of the houses and homes in which class members live, then proceeded to place these homes in Suburbia, small towns, and other places where members of the class live. We proceeded to think of the evolution of suburbia in Jackson’s Crabgrass Frontier, and what constituted a “good” house in The American Woman’s Home, by Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe.As a part of all this, we’ve considered the various roles men and women have played in shaping houses, and also how houses shape the various roles of the people who have lived in them. Perhaps you’ve thought about how your house has contributed to shaping you, and your relationships with your family, neighbors, and friends. On the basis of this, here’s what I’d like to have you do.First, reflect on the considerations in paragraph two above. How has your house (or houses, if you’ve moved several times) contributed to who you are and how you’ve related with the different kinds of people mentioned above.Then, choose one of the houses illustrated in the various pattern books at which we’ve looked so far. Remember that versions of most of these house still exist, though they may have been altered across the years. Imagine growing up in that house and in a neighborhood in which that house would have been built. In what ways would your life have been different? How would that kind of environment shaped you in ways different from the way your real environment shaped you.Based on parts one and two, might you have enjoyed living in that different environment? Why or why not?
