Middlebury Media Culture Archival History Project (20%)
Class group presentations Date March 15 & March 22; individual 5 page paper due Tuesday April 5th to Canvas (note new due date!)
The first section of the semester focuses on questions of spectatorship in relation to early moviegoing. We’re going to take this opportunity to research the history of spectatorship here in Middlebury (on campus, and/or in the town). I will assign research groups based on your interests. Together, you’ll embark on primary research and secondary on your topic. For your primary research, use the resources available at Middlebury College Library's Special Collections, the Sheldon Museum, oral histories, and any resources you uncover, online and off. Compile your findings into a prezi poster and presentation. Individually, you’ll write a short essay (5 pages) contextualizing your findings within the concepts of spectatorship and audience history we’ll be exploring in class readings and discussions.
In your individual papers, you have the opportunity to pursue an interpretation/argument regarding your research that is of specific interest to you. As we discussed in class, I also encourage you to consider questions of method and historiography in your individual papers, and to discuss your group's process of archival research and (depending on the project) scholarly/creative work.
The topics for these projects include:
- Middlebury media & entertainment culture 1890s-1920s
- Middlebury media & entertainment culture 1930s-1950s
- Middlebury media & entertainment culture 1960s-1980s
- Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater
- The Marquis: History and Present
- Drive ins in the Middlebury area
- Middlebury’s Screen Queen Contest
- Student self-authorship in local scrapbooks, yearbooks, commonplace books, etc.
- Other______ [make a suggestion; we’ll see if it’s viable!]