This course explores the ways in which objects and material culture embody personal narrative. Moving back and forth from ephemeral traces of events and experiences to the culturally invested luxury goods that create legacy to the objects that facilitate daily life, this class will use, as its primary references, examples that draw from queer and African American cultures to underscore the potential of objects to tell the stories that not only reflect majority traditions and experiences but those of the disenfranchised, the details of whose lives are often obscured. In addition to readings that will provide background for class discussion, student will be asked to play the roles of detectives, archeologists, and curators at various sites around New York City. Each student will also be asked to create an annotated material record that reveals the public and private lives of one individual. That record may consist of texts, objects or any variety of media chosen or designed by the student. This blogs serves as an archive for the work done in the context of this course and related materials that become relevant to this exploration.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Sally Ride

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/why-sally-ride-waited-until-her-death-tell-world-she-f908942

This article discusses the how the first woman in space, Sally Ride, came out through her obituary with a single line that named her partner of 27 years. What's most intriguing about this article is that it delves into her outlook as a person and how she viewed her life. The article states that she never saw being an astronaut as being the first woman in space. She was simply doing her job. Sally Ride kept her personal life personal and private. To some in the LGBT community, that may have seemed like a negative way of living - being a famous icon of feminine success, her being publicly out sooner could have had a large impact. However, this article doesn't take this view as it is largely based around an interview with her close, also lesbian, friend. I think it's interesting that the notion of privacy in areas of sexual orientation has become seen as a sign of shame rather than simply one of privacy. By calling attention to the other private parts of her life, this article shows the difference between being a private and being a shameful person. 

Posted by Briana Lynch

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