Canadian Association of American Studies (CAAS)
Title: American Pickers: American Studies and Material Culture
Organizer: Ross Bullen (OCAD University)

What is the everyday “stuff” of American studies, and why does it matter? Even a cursory glance at the most popular programs on the History TV channel – shows like American Pickers, American Restoration, and Pawn Stars – reveals a fascination not with the grand narratives of American history, but rather with the everyday objects of American life. Far from being an exclusively contemporary phenomenon, this fascination with material culture is evidenced by the collectors, antiquaries, and other devotees of American ephemera that populate the annals of American history and literature. While some might dismiss an interest in everyday objects as a harmless eccentricity, this panel will explore the significance of material culture for both understanding contemporary life in the United States, and as a means of accessing alternative genealogies of American literary, cultural, geographical, and political histories. This panel invites papers that consider the significance of material culture, broadly conceived, for American studies from any time period. Papers that examine the intersections of material culture with discourses of race, gender, sexuality, class, and disability are especially welcome.  Please send required files to rbullen@faculty.ocadu.ca.