The influence of British empire can be found in anything from fortification plans and maps to portraits and needlework. But how did these visual sources function within empire? And to what effect? This course focuses on the development and proliferation of British empire in North America through visual materials created in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to understand imperialism, self-fashioning, and Indigenous-settler relations. Topics include: the visual representation of borders; portrait and landscape paintings; historical dress and the development of social identities; souvenirs, wampum and other inter-cultural exchanges with Indigenous peoples; and related collection policies. By locating empire in these materials this course is designed to introduce students to the complex experiences and contingencies of British North American empire. Weeks on gallery, museum, and archival practices also ask students to reflect on empire鈥檚 continued influence into the present and how we understand it today.
Weekly seminars will be organized by type of material source. A mix of primary and secondary source readings will allow for a deeper understanding of the material type, its relationships to empire, and its uses in historical research. Evaluations will consist of seminar participation and written assignments. Intended learning outcomes include: experience working with primary sources; communicating historical significance; and looking beyond strictly textual sources to understand British North American empire in this period.
