The idea of home, and specifically owning one's own home, has been central to realizations of the American dream. While the dream continues, the reality of homeownership has been elusive or fraught with struggle and sacrifice for many Americans. This course seeks to understand different experiences of home and homeownership in American history from the middle of the 19th century to today. How did the idea of home ownership emerge as such a central part of American identity? Why does our commitment to this idea persist?

 

Engaging in a wide range of American Culture Studies methodologies, we will touch down in different locations at pivotal moments to investigate the varied meanings and experiences of housing in the context of a particular place and time in American history. We will analyze how political and social conditions shaped the development of local, state and federal housing programs and policies that worked to facilitate housing opportunities for some Americans while excluding others. In the process, we will apply conceptual frameworks such as citizenship, domesticity, and consumption to understand the racial, ethnic, gender, and class dimensions of the selected housing experiences. Topics include: homesteading, New Deal housing policies, the suburban ideal, exclusionary housing practices, homelessness, and the recent housing crisis. This course satisfies the Fieldwork requirement for AMCS majors.

 

Through her course, Dr. DeLair is excited to explore how single family homeownership become the defining feature of the American Dream and how that “dream” has been experienced over time and place in American history. She is additionally interested in examining what makes a home and whether housing a human right. 

 

 

Dr. Michelle DeLair is the Director of Curricular Innovation in the College of Arts & Sciences and a Lecturer in American Culture Studies. She holds a PhD from Washington University in St. Louis.