My 19th Century Study

Last class we went through catalogues from the 19th century and picked out objects for one room. I chose a study. Two of my objects are a set of encyclopedias and a book holder.

My Passion for and Career in Archaeology

Archaeology is the career choice, which I am pretty positive I will choose because it is an area in which I am highly passionate. During my high school career, I volunteered at Ferry Farm, George Washington’s childhood home, and Montpelier, James Madison’s home. I volunteered in the archaeology lab at Ferry Farm during two summers and was thrilled each time I went there to volunteer. My volunteer experience at Montpelier includes being there for a week during the summer of 2009, two weeks during the summer of 2011, and two weeks during the summer of 2012.  All of these experiences at Ferry Farm and Montpelier have continued to make me passionate about archaeology.

A picture of me excavating a unit when I was at Montpelier in 2011. 

A picture of the opening of a unit that I worked on at Montpelier during the summer of 2012.

The paperwork and artifacts open bag for a unit that I worked on at Montpelier during the summer of 2012.

Now that I am at the beginning my college career and I am already exploring my passion for archaeology by taking Introduction to Archaeology and having a job in the Archaeology Lab. My Introduction to Archaeology class is very interesting and is helping me learn some of the fundamental basics of archaeology that I did not already know. I also obtained an amazing job in the archaeology lab where I am working with artifacts from Tusculum. Based on my active interest in my class and job, I am certain that I am going to major in and have a career in archaeology. 

Assessing the Sweet Briar Slave Cabin

Taylor Litzenberg
Professor Rainville
Y-1
10 October 2012
Assessing the Sweet Briar Slave Cabin
Before coming to Sweet Briar College, I knew that the college used to be a plantation, which meant that there was a big house for the slave owner and many slave cabins. However, before coming to Sweet Briar College, I did not know if any of the slave cabins were still standing. Once I got to Sweet Briar College I learned that there was one slave cabin still standing and it was behind the former plantation house, now known as Sweet Briar House. From my honors class, I learned that the cabin was a slave cabin, was inhabited by Sterling Jones, the college chapel, a college classroom, an Alumnae office, and recently a farm tool museum.
In a broader context, I see the slave cabin as a reminder of the past and a way to learn and study Virginia’s and Sweet Briar College’s at history. The slave cabin at Sweet Briar relates to the rest of Virginia because it allows comparisons between this specific slave cabin and other slave cabins in the state, which sheds further insight into aspects of slavery in Virginia. For Sweet Briar College, the slave cabin plays the role of a reminder and reason why the college exists for the students and faculty here. It is a reminder about not only America’s past use of the slave system, but also Virginia’s and more specifically this college’s founders’ role in slavery. The cabin’s role in the context of the plantation is that it sheds light on how this specific plantation might have been set up and the living conditions of the slaves here.
A question I have about the cabin is what archaeological evidence is there for the livelihood the slaves that lived in the cabin? I would like to know the archaeological artifacts that have been found at the cabin because it would help me better understand how the slaves lived. One question I have about the history of the cabin is why when and why did the original door get taken off? I want to know when and why the original door was taken off because I value the idea of having the original door on the cabin and would like to know the circumstances about why it was dismantled.
As of now most of, but not all of, the artifacts from the farm tool museum got removed from the slave cabin. The cabin should be restored to a historic home by having it set to the time period that it was a slave cabin. If the cabin is restored to the original slave cabin, then the mantle, which is not original, should be taken down and the original door should be attempted to be put back up. Also, as of now, the flooring for the upstairs part of the cabin is not stable, so if experts on the cabin believe that it was once stable, then stabilizing or completely restoring the flooring of the upstairs part of the cabin should be considered. After all the restoration, signs explaining the history of the slave cabin and the other uses the cabin has had throughout the years should be either placed outside or on the inside of the cabin, if it becomes open to the public. I feel like a restored version of the slave cabin with signs explaining the history of the cabin will encourage students to visit the cabin in the future because it illustrates how the lives of the slaves, who made the plantation a success by their labor and inadvertently enabled the college to be founded due to the success of the plantation. I believe students will want to know how the college came to be what it is today, which can be discovered by studying the beginning of the plantation and the slavery on the plantation.

Slave Burial Ground, Reflection in Lake, and a Squirrel

A few days ago, 23 August 2012, I went to the slave burial ground with one of my classmates. I found it to be an interesting and enjoyable experience.The burial ground is peaceful, has field rocks and quartz as gravestones and foot-stones, and has a few depressions in the ground.

On the way back from the burial ground, the sun was beginning to set, which caused a beautiful reflection of the trees in the lake.

Then, to wrap up a wonderful adventure, when I was near Sweet Briar House, I encountered a noisy squirrel, which is my third favorite animal, in a tree. 

Assignment #4: Ferdinand de Saussure

Ferdinand de Saussure is a linguistic, who was born in Geneva, Switzerland and lived from 1857 to 1913. Saussure is no longer alive, but his work influences many people and disciplines, including anthropology and psychiatry. Saussure’s family was compiled of many scientists and well educated individuals, which prompted him to become studious (Kemmer). At the age of fifteen, he knew and was studying various languages. He went to school and got his Ph.D. at the University of Leipzig and then went to the University of Berlin and the University of Geneva for additional studies (Ferdinand De Saussure - Biography).   

During his time at these universities, when he was twenty-one, he wrote and published a book on his dissertation. His dissertation research involved comparing linguistics. Saussure’s work on linguistics involved distinguishing the differences between language and speech. Saussure’s theories of the human language are that human language is signs and the semiotic system, which says that an idea is not linked to the sound of the word and that a “signifier is of a linear nature” (Ferdinand De Saussure). Based on this semiotic system, Saussure believes value is a sign that is dependent on the rest of the system. Other research and studying that Saussure did was chemistry, theology, law Latin, Greek, and many other languages.

Works Cited:

"Ferdinand De Saussure - Biography." Ferdinand De Saussure- Swiss Linguist and Philosopher. European Graduate School, n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. <http://www.egs.edu/library/ferdinand-de-saussure/biography/>.

"Ferdinand De Saussure." Ferdinand De Saussure. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. <http://www.brysons.net/academic/saussure.html>.

Kemmer, Suzanne. "Ling 403: Foundations of Linguistics." Ferdinand De Saussure Biography. Rice University, 24 Aug. 2009. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. <http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Found/saussurebio.html>.

Assignment Number Three: Establishing and Valuing an Sweet Briar Currency

Taylor Litzenberg

Professor Lynn Rainville

American Economies in 19th Century

12 September 2012

Assignment Number Three:  Establishing and Valuing an Sweet Briar Currency

Sweet Brair College’s current currency involves the use of the Sweet Briar Card given to each student, which is used for identification, meal plans, laundry, and Sweet cash – electronic cash that can be used in areas around the campus. However, a more efficient currency for the future students of Sweet Brair College is the use of Sweet Briar pens and all other pens as a subunit. These pens will be a more efficient currency due to being somewhat abundant throughout college.  Not only will these pens be a more efficient currency, but they will also be useful to any college student if the commodity value of the pens declines because the pens can always be used to write something.

The Sweet Briar pens are made out of plastic, recycled material, and metal, which are all prevalent and easy to find and use in the current society. The symbolism of Sweet Briar pens include:  learning, intelligence, and kinship. These pens symbolize learning and intelligence because students use them to write and study during their time at Sweet Briar, so these college students will think of the value of learning at any given time they use their pens as currency. The pens also symbolize kinship because students are given a few of these pens throughout their time here, which illustrates how close the bonds are between people here at Sweet Briar College. The Sweet Briar pens all have different and unique designs based on that specific pen, but all the pens will have the value of that specific type of pen and “SBC” – abbreviation for Sweet Briar Currency – on them. An ordinary pen from places other than Sweet Briar will be a subunit for the Sweet Briar pens, which will be divided into units of ten. So, each pen would be equivalent to the dime of today and each group of ten normal pens would be equal to the lowest denomination of Sweet Briar pens.  The Sweet Briar pen values include:  the Sweet Briar College pen made out of recycled material is equivalent to one dollar, the Sweet Briar College Library Pen is equivalent to ten dollars, and the Sweet Briar Think Pink, Go Green pen with the pull out honor code and song is equivalent to twenty dollars.

The ordinary, everyday pens are only equivalent to ten cents each because they can be found around the world and are not specific to just Sweet Briar College. Since, these ordinary pens are common, it means that the value of these pens should not be high, which is why they are equivalent to ten cents. The Sweet Briar College pen is equivalent to one dollar because it is made of recycled material, which makes it easy to produce, and it is pretty plain because it is only two shades of green with a small flower, and Sweet Briar College’s contact information. Making this pen from recycled and easily accessible material makes the pen easier to manufacture and more prevalent to own, which decreases the amount of value it could have. This pen’s lack of an appealing design also causes the worth of the pen to be small in value. The Sweet Briar College Library Pen is equivalent to ten dollars because it is made of a more durable plastic, which will help make the currency last longer. The aesthetic aspects, which enhance its value, of the library pen include:  having green and white on the pen, having the school’s crest, and the library email address. The Sweet Briar Think Pink, Go Green pen is equivalent to twenty dollars because it is the most complicated and aesthetically pleasing pen. This pen is complicated because it combines plastic, metal, and a pull out piece that has the honor code and a song and it is aesthetically pleasing because it has a decorative pull out tab, pink, green, gray, and an interesting shape. This complicated and eye-catching design results in a more valuable pen because it takes more material to create and it is more worthy of being a higher denomination.

The theory of value with these Sweet Briar and ordinary pens is that pens are necessary and important for writing down information and knowledge throughout college. Since, pens can be used to enhance learning in a college; they are a primary tool for students, which is why they make great commodity money. If the economy of the pen commodity crashes, then the students can just go back to using the pens as normal pens.

Sweet Briar pens with a subunit of ordinary pens as a currency at Sweet Briar College would change the function of a pen from just being a writing utensil to a writing utensil and a useful monetary object. These pens as a currency will impact the social classes here by causing the people that have and use more pens to be a more advanced social class. Also intellectual individuals, who used pens frequently, will control the economics at Sweet Briar. These intellectual individuals will be in control because they have many pens already, which will put them at an advantage.

Serendipity Sculpture

This sculpture is outside on Dairy Loop Road between Fletcher Hall and the Fitness and Athletics Center. The plaque states that the sculpture is called Serendipity and it was erected for Edith and Maclin Davis by their children and friends. I like this statue because it is shaped interestingly and sparks my curiosity about why it was called serendipity and if it was supposed to represent serendipity.