Calendar

WEEK # TOPICS DUE DATES
1 Introduction  
Part I: Historical Perspective
2 From artisan to technician: The labor and value of craftwork before and after the Industrial Revolution  
3 The craft of scientific work Assignment 1 due
4

Artisanship and modernist craft revival (and re-revival)

Screening:
Excerpts from Craft in America, pbs.org.

  
Part II: Theoretical Perspective
5 Knowing and doing: Tools and technology Assignment 2 due
6 Embodied practice and acquired skill Assignment 3 due
Part III: Anthropological Perspective
7

Craft and value in a global economy

Screening:
Clip from Mardi Gras: Made in China. Directed by David Redmon. Color, 72 min. 2005.

  
8

Design politics

Guest lecturer:
Dr. Sonia Matos, Lecturer, Design Context, Edinburgh College of Art

  
9

Screening:
Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Directed by David Gelb. Color, 81 min. 2011.

Q&A with Dr. Theodore C. Bestor, Reischauer Institute Professor of Social Anthropology, Harvard University

 Final paper proposal due
10

Artisan lives and artisanal cheese

Comparative tasting: American artisanal and industrial cheeses + your mozzarella!

 Assignment 4 due
11

Craft publics: collecting and display

Guest lecturer:
Alessandro Angelini, PhD Candidate in Anthropology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York

Screening:
The Quiltmakers of Gee’s Bend. Directed by Celia Carey. Color, 60 min. 2005.

  
12

The quest for authenticity: from craft tourism to craftivism

Screening:
Excerpts from Handmade Nation. Directed by Faythe Levine. Color, 90 min. 2009.

Jenine Providence. "Handmade Nation Trailer." January 19, 2009. YouTube. Accessed August 27, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwFbMFqfsKM

  
13 Student presentations Final paper due