Unit One
Writing as History and Culture

Unit Overview:

What do texts tell us about culture? In this unit, we’ll attempt to answer that question by grounding our evidence in texts, broadly defined, taken from both (a) the exhibits/publications we examine together in class and (b) texts you bring in from beyond UVA. We will read a series of pieces on what culture means and how texts intertwine with culture, and then we’ll focus on examples of texts beyond and within UVA. You’ll ultimately draw on texts of your choice from anywhere but UVA (examples might include your home towns; your organizations; or just texts & cultures you find especially interesting from anywhere) and put them in conversation with texts drawn from our Special Collections exhibit and our one assigned text for the class, Mr. Jefferson’s Telescope.

This is a foundational unit, meant to help us think through the broad relationship between a culture’s identity and what they produce in terms of writing, as well as to begin situating ourselves more specifically at UVA.

By the unit’s end, you should be able to:

  • Speak thoughtfully about the relationship between texts and the cultures that produce them (by drawing on established research about cultural rhetoric as well as history and anthropology).

  • Name and analyze “texts” in relationship to their cultures.

  • Begin to identify your individual research goals and questions for Units 2 and 3.

  • Develop a reasonably advanced traditional essay, working through draft material independently and in collaboration with peers.


Essay Assignment

Grading Rubric


Examples of Strong Papers for Reference
*Note: Prior Unit 1 papers focused exclusively on UVA artifacts;
I encourage you to think more broadly for artifacts for this first unit.

**Spring 2021 papers were not required to include images.
Images are required for your papers—see the Fall 2021 papers for examples of embedding images properly.

  1. UVA’s Voices of Change (Fall 2021)

  2. Slow and Steady: Social Change at the University of Virginia (Fall 2021)

  3. The Hidden History in the Architecture on Grounds (Spring 2021)

  4. Mr. Jefferson’s Students (Spring 2021)

  5. Unearthing Cultural Evolution at the University of Virginia (Spring 2021)