History: World's Fairs:1876, 1893, 1904

Topics examining the historical role of race in the United States and/or its colonial antecedents. Representative topics: Reconstruction. May be repeated for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Prerequisite: Three hours of History.

Prerequisite: three hours History PACE students by permission and override

In the second half of the nineteenth century, world’s fairs were all the rage. Governments and private citizens cooperated to create elaborate, months-long events that drew millions of visitors. Strolling through carefully designed grounds and architecturally innovative buildings, fairgoers were supposed to be educated and entertained as they took in exhibits of all kinds, from new consumer products to military technology, the latest art, and encampments of indigenous peoples, among countless other things. The fairs were also powerful sites for shaping notions of civilization, progress, nationalism, and racial hierarchy, not only for the planners and actual attendees, but for the people who read about and saw pictures of the widely covered events in popular media. Scarcely a year went by without a fair or expo somewhere, but the three biggest fairs in the US were the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904. In this course, we will explore the three fairs first as the organizers intended, and then from the perspectives of those who tried to challenge the fairs’ narratives, including Native Americans, Black Americans, and white women, among others. The specific assignment structure for the course is still being developed, but students can anticipate working with primary sources, including many images, as well as secondary sources, particularly scholarly journal articles. Each student will complete a project at the end of the semester that involves research, analysis, and writing; specific format for the project TBD. Prerequisite: Three credits History Concentration: The Americas Catamount Core: AH3 Humanities, D1 Race and Racism in the US