HIST 3665: Automobile in American Life

Course Description

The course will explore a wide array of distinct, though interconnected, subjects such as: the manufacturing, engineering and design of the automobile and its relation to industrial and technological developments and consumer trends; the automobile's role in America's industrial growth and the impact that industrialization had upon American society; the automobile's role in urbanization and urban sprawl; the mass marketing of the automobile and its connection to broader social constructions of class, race, and gender; the environmental impact of the automobile; and the automobile's use and meaning as a cultural symbol and its relation to the American identity. Through the use of diverse mediums such as personal recollections, popular music, film, photographs, advertisements, automobile ephemera, literature, poetry and more traditional written sources the course will examine America's ongoing fascination with the automobile. (AY).