Get Radical! Pamphlets and Broadsides Past and Present

In this course students will experience the history and present uses of pamphlets and broadsides as localized social media formats to inform, engage, and shape public opinion. Students will acquire archival research skills at the Henry Sheldon Museum in Middlebury, the oldest community-based museum in the country; analyze the untarnished history of Middlebury and Addison County as portrayed in pamphlets and broadsides; read and analyze contemporary examples of these formats; and create examples of their own in response to current issues and concerns. This course postulates that this early form of social media remains effective and useful in helping local communities stay informed, and in helping newcomers learn and connect to where they live, if only for four years. This course contains a community-connected component. This course counts as a humanities cognate for environmental studies majors.