ARTH 315 - Pride and Prejudice:American World's Fairs and Racism

Institution:

Randolph-Macon College

Subject:

Description:

American exhibitions and World's Fairs in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries celebrated industrial, technological and cultural achievements, encouraged healthy competition among the nations of the world and provided ample opportunities for the promotion of products, but also of ideologies. At a time when America was increasingly becoming a major force in international politics and economics, these shows helped formulate and justify the country's unalienable right for territorial expansion and for the domination and subjugation of people who were seen as less cultured and civilized, as "primitive." In national exhibitions and World's Fairs alike, an ascending scale of importance placed Americans at the top, and relegated nonwesterners to the very bottom, thus inculcating in the minds of visitors their superiority over non-whites, whom they indiscriminately perceived as spectacles available for their amusement and their pleasure. This slide-illustrated lecture course will examine the interaction between art and architecture and political and social propaganda in American exhibitions by focusing in particular on the modes of presentation of nonwestern people and African Americans. We will also examine contemporary responses to those exhibitions, as well as the popularization through them, of commonly held ideas, such as those of "Manifest Destiny" in the nineteenth century to eugenic theories in the twentieth century, that were used to determine public policies towards Native Americans, African Americans, and immigrants alike. Three hours. Ms. Terrono.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.rmc.edu

Phone Number:

(804) 752-7200

Regional Accreditation:

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Four-one-four plan

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