This course looks at material culture, decorative arts, and design during and after the Depression, a period of acute national self-consciousness. New technologies of radio and sound movies, documentary photography, and newsreels provided a view of the country and its people previously unseen. The course integrates film (e.g., Astaire and Rogers, Frank Capra, Busby Berkeley, etc.), theatrical productions, documentary photography, and museum exhibitions from or about the thirties with material culture ranging from fashion to sheet music and cars to mural paintings. We consider streamlining in design starting in the 1920s as well as the Colonial Revival. New York City provides a very real backdrop to this. Visits to sites may include Radio City Music Hall, part of the larger Rockefeller Center, and the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House where Reginald Marsh’s murals are indicative of this singular moment in American history when the government itself became a source of patronage. We will explore issues of gender, ethnicity, racism, and nationalism in this period of cultural unrest that nevertheless held fast to the idea of the American Dream rather than surrendering to political turmoil or revolution. The ‘subplot’ here will be an exploration of the ways in which the 1930s is re-presented in film and retro styling. The class will meet 3 hours a day, Monday through Friday, for a two-week period. Course readings will come from material culture studies, cultural history, design, cinema, and fashion studies, and a required research paper for the course will not be due until the end of the summer semester which is August 13.