HST6720 – Behind Closed Doors: Houses, Interiors and Domestic Life, c. 1660-1830

This special subject module unlocks the front door of the Englishman’s castle, to peer into the privacies of life at home from c. 1660–1830. It will vividly recreate the texture of life at home, from bed bugs and insects breeding behind the wallpapers, to new goods, fashions and rituals, from the performances of the drawing room to the secrets of the dressing room. The module sits on the research frontier, and crosses disciplinary boundaries, drawing on anthropology, historical geography, the history of architecture and decorative arts, material culture and museum studies. Domestic life will come out of the closet.