During the late-nineteenth century some genteel Victorians began the practice of sealing collections of goods in protected locations for the benefit of "future generations." These collections sealed in building cornerstones, cans under trees, gravesides, and various other spots were intended to be documents of how certain Victorians saw their society.  Many similar collections have been made since--for instance, a plaque is attached to the Voyager spacecraft detailing Earth's location and depicting a disrobed male and female couple waving to their audience, and the spacecraft includes a sampler of "earth music" and greetings from 1970's public figures like Kurt Waldheim.  Usually such "time capsules" are clearer reflections about the folks who made the capsule than they are of society in general, because they inevitably end up reflecting how a certain group of folks saw their society or wished subsequent generations (or, in the case of Voyager, aliens) to see it.

In this exercise you will assemble a hypothetical time capsule of items that you think attest to whatever is important to know about contemporary society. You will be expected to select 20 items, and you can choose virtually any portable material object to place within your time capsule. Your capsule should have some consistent message or theme--for example, the Voyager plaque and recording show that we're basically a peaceful species curious about our brothers and sisters throughout the universe, busily exploring our neighborhood, and keen to encourage a visit by like-minded folks. Your capsule doesn't need to have such a profound moral message, but there should be some consistent thread to the things you select. You should choose items that reflect what you believe would be most interesting for subsequent generations to know about your time and place. Your paper should clearly say what you want your capsule communicates--i.e., what does the time capsule tell other people about the world in which you live(d)?  Why do you think they should know such things? How do these specific objects support your "master message"?  You have some reasonable leeway in defining the time and space upon which your capsule comments: for example, you could say your capsule is a comment upon 1990s America, contemporary Palo Alto, your neighborhood, twentieth-century California, a bunch of your friends, the modern western world, or whatever. The only conditions are that you must choose a real time (e.g., no time capsules about the 23rd century).

Assembling the "capsule"

Your "capsule" should be recorded as a typed, double-spaced paper. I expect the length to be at least four pages.  All margins should be 1" on all sides, with the text justified left.  Papers cannot have over a 12-point font.  Your paper should not use gender exclusive language (i.e., "Man" to refer to all people, or "he" to refer to individuals for whom we don't know the gender).

Your paper should include an opening paragraph or longer statement clearly describing the time and space upon which your capsule comments (e.g., modern Mountain View, the twentieth-century Western world, etc) and the basic message of your collection. Your description of the capsule's message should clearly say why you think your particular message is important, interesting, or relevant. Your message does not necessarily need to be monumentally consequential--i.e., you shouldn't feel compelled to select 20 items that reflect the universal human condition, the state of American morality, the social unrest in your community, and so on. You could decide that what somebody needs to know about your community is that there was a thriving local rave scene that reflected widespread youth creativity and social potential that most contemporary mainstream folks resisted and few historians will commit to memory; you might decide that a capsule of CD's, flyers, clothes, accessories, newspaper editorials about raves, or whatever would reflect your insight into this setting. You could also choose a somewhat more clearly relevant message: e.g., you could decide that your community was a landscape dotted by upscale consumer venues that subtly shaped everyday life, so you'd choose some collection of goods reflecting that; you might decide that the most significant thing in community life was merchandise that tied into mass media, so you'd collect a barrel of TV and movie toys and accessories; and so on. You must be clear about what you want your collection of objects to communicate and why you think that's interesting, provocative, or penetrating.

Your paper must list each object and describe the object clearly and in detail. You must include 20 items, and these can be chosen from anything in the material world that can literally be moved:  this means no buildings or monumental natural objects, and I prefer you choose smaller portable objects, which are of course the staple of real time capsules. Most real time capsules are stocked with mundane everyday goods, and yours should as well:  if you determine that your time capsule needs the Hope Diamond or the world's largest cubic zirconia, be prepared to explain why this unusual item is essential to the capsule.  You should say exactly why you chose each object and articulate how it ties into your capsule's overall theme. You should say how you think subsequent folks might interpret each object, saying what you'd basically hope they would think about the objects and speculating on what each object might look like to subsequent viewers.  Creativity will produce the most interesting capsules, so don't just cram your capsule with a newspaper, pictures of the President, a recorded message from the Pope, and similar stuff that inhabits most dull time capsules.  Pictures are not necessary unless you feel compelled to include some. You may choose to specify a date at which the capsule is expected to be opened: for instance, a bunch of Centennial capsules buried in 1876 were opened a century later. If you do, you should say why you think that will be the most appropriate time to open your collection.

Regardless of whether or not you specify a time to open the capsule, you should at least suggest who you hope your audience will be (i.e., who you want to eventually open the capsule): for example, would it be people living in your community in a millennia?; your descendants?; the military?; and so on. Of course anybody might open it eventually, but most time capsules had intended audiences like "future Americans" or something along those lines. Be clear about why you selected that audience: how will your capsule's message be particularly well-suited to this audience?

Your paper must specify where you want to leave your capsule and why you want to leave it there. For the purposes of the exercise, you can put it anywhere; we are not constrained by real-life legalities or the logistics of burying your capsules. Your paper must say clearly why you chose that location.

Finally, your paper should say what your time capsule says about you. How does this collection of objects reflect who you are in terms of social status, gender, ethnicity, national identity, or whatever else you believe shaped your object selection?  Most time capsules are utterly about the people who assembled the capsule, so spend some time critically examining what the capsule's contents say about you.

Due Date

Please check your paper for stylistic consistency, spelling, and grammar before turning it in; I will deduct points for significant grammatical problems, spelling errors, or departures from the style guidelines.  Papers can be turned in before the due date.  The due date is February 2: all papers are due before the end of class or they will be considered late.  If all else fails, send it as an email attachment.  As with all assignments, if you leave a paper in my mail box you should have an office staff person date it; I also suggest you leave a note on my e-mail or voice mail. Your paper does not require citations to other literature (e.g., course texts, etc), although you certainly should leaf through them for ideas and can refer to them if they contribute to your presentation.

If you have questions feel free to email me.

Last updated December 8, 2005