Faculty
Introduction
Minor in American Studies
Course Descriptions
Track I: Image Culture
Track II: Global Economies
Track III: Immigration, Migration, and Diaspora
Track IV: Negotiating Difference: Subcultures and Counter-Cultures
Track V: Negotiating Difference: Policy and Activism
Track VI: Material Culture and the Design of Social Space
Faculty
Director
Professor Eva Cherniavsky
Distinguished Professors
David N. Baker, Jr. (Music), Richard Bauman (Folklore)
College Professor
Henry Glassie (Folklore)
Chancellors' Professors
James Naremore (Communication and Culture, Comparative Literature, English), Stephen J. Stein (Religious Studies)
Professors
Judith Allen (Gender Studies), James Andrews (Communication and Culture), Anthony Ardizzone (English), Patrick Baude (School of Law), John Bodnar (History), Sarah Burns (Fine Arts), Stephen Conrad (Law), Raymond DeMallie (Anthropology), Lawrence J. Friedman (History), Carol Greenhouse (Anthropology), Michael Grossberg (History), Karen Hanson (Philosophy), Russell Hanson (Political Science), Raymond Hedin (English), David Hertz (Comparative Literature), Jeffrey Isaac (Political Science), Robert Ivie (Communication and Culture), Ed McClellan (School of Education), John McCluskey (Afro-American Studies), James Madison (History), Portia Maultsby (Afro-American Studies), Lewis H. Miller (English), Richard B. Miller (Religious Studies), David P. Nord (School of Journalism), David J. Nordloh (English), Robert Orsi (Religious Studies), Judith Roof (English), David Smith (Religious Studies/Poynter Center), Murray Sperber (English), Pamela Walters (Sociology), Albert Wertheim (English)
Associate Professors
Chris Anderson (Communication and Culture), Mellonee Burnim (Afro-American Studies), James Capshew (History and Philosophy of Science), Claude Clegg (History), Nick Cullather (History), Michael Curtin (Communication and Culture), Sandra Dolby (Folklore), Ellen Dwyer (Criminal Justice), Jonathan Elmer (English), Thomas Foster (English), Wendy Gamber (History), Gloria Gibson (Afro-American Studies), Jeffrey Huntsman (English), David James (Sociology), Barbara Klinger (Communication and Culture and Film Studies), John Lucaites (Communication and Culture), Fred McElroy (Afro-American Studies), Michele Moody-Adams (Philosophy), Carol Polsgrove (School of Journalism), Dennis Senchuk (Philosophy), Beverly Stoeltje (Folklore), Steven Stowe (History), Ronald Wainscott (Theatre and Drama)
Assistant Professors
Stephan Chermak (Criminal Justice), Judith Failer (Political Science), Paul Gutjahr (English), Joan Hawkins (Communication and Culture), Stephanie Kane (Criminal Justice), DeWitt Kilgore (English), Manuel Martinez (English), Roopali Mukherjee (Communication and Culture), Lois Silverman (Recreation and Park Administration), Robert Terrill (Communication and Culture)
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Introduction
The American Studies Program (AMST) provides students an opportunity to pursue the study of American cultures from an interdisciplinary perspective. Courses are designed to examine significant aspects of U.S. institutions, policy, media and cultural expressions by drawing on a wide range of resources from the social sciences and humanities.
Because of its interdisciplinary nature, American Studies will attract students with diverse interests who wish to know more about the U.S. in a comparative, international context.
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Minor in American Studies
Requirements
The minor in American Studies will comprise no less than 15 credit hours of study; at least 12 of these must be at the 200 level or higher; 6 must be at the 300 level or higher. No courses counted toward fulfillment of a student's major requirements may count toward the requirements for the minor. The gateway course into the minor is A200, which therefore constitutes a prerequisite for all other coursework in the minor. In addition, all students will complete either A201 or A202, which reflect two possible areas of emphasis in "movements and institutions" or "arts and media."
The remaining credit hours will be satisfied with approved courses in one of the following area of concentration: Image Culture; Global Economies; Immigration, Migration, and Diaspora; Negotiating Difference: Subculture and Counter-Cultures; Negotiating Difference: Policy and Activism; Material Culture and the Design of Social Space. With the consent of their advisor, students may substitute appropriate courses not included on the list of approved courses.
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Course Descriptions
A200 Comparative American Identities (3 cr.) AHTI Examines the formation of legal, social, cultural, and economic identities within the United States and within U.S.-controlled territories. Who counts as "American?" To what ends have citizens and non-citizens assumed, claimed, or refused "American" identity? This course employs a comparative frame in considering elite and subordinated classes (and/or genders, races, ethnicities, sexualities); institutional and countercultural forms of self-definition; official history and alternative acts of collective memory.
A201 U.S. Movements and Institutions (3 cr.) AHTI Interdisciplinary approaches to a social movement, an institutional structure, or an otherwise clearly delimited arena of social regulation and public activity. Constructing, deconstructing, reconstructing an object of social study. Recent topics have included the American City, Sociologies of Consumption, Philanthropy, and the Politics of Voluntarism. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
A202 U.S. Arts and Media (3 cr.) AHTI Interdisciplinary approaches to a cultural genre (e.g., science fiction, pop art, jazz), discourse (e.g., individualism, family values, globalization) or medium (e.g., comics, television, the internet). Constructing, deconstructing, reconstructing an object of cultural study. Recent topics have included Images of the Body, Jazz and Cultural Hierarchy, and Youth Cultures. May not be repeated for credit.
A401 Readings in American Studies (1-3 cr.) Enables undergraduates of advanced standing to undertake independent research projects under the direction of an American Studies faculty member. Students will typically arrange for 2 to 3 credit hours of work, depending upon the scope and depth of reading, research, and production. Projects will be interdisciplinary, and should foreground topics clearly within the rubric of American Studies. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 3 credit hours.
A402 Service Learning in American Studies (1-3 cr.) Enables undergraduates of advanced standing to make intellectual connections between scholarly pursuits and community involvement. Students arrange 1 to 3 credit hours of service work either on creative projects that benefit a community (howsoever defined), or with local non-profit organizations, government agencies, activist groups, or foundations. Under the direction of their faculty sponsor, students will develop a project outline consistent with American Studies inquiry and concerns, a method of accountability, and a final report. May be repeated for a maximum of 3 credit hours.
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Track I: Image Culture
Afro-American Studies
A265 Sports and the Afro-American Experience (3 cr.)
A277 Images of Blacks in Films (3 cr.)
A278 Contemporary Black Film (3 cr.)
A359 Ethnic/Racial Stereotypes in American Film (3 cr.)
A430 Cinema of African American Women (3 cr.)
A447 Race, Crime, and Media (3 cr.)
Art History
A342 Twentieth-Century Art (3 cr.)
A446 American Art, 1860-1900 (4cr.)
A447 Modernism and Anti-Modernism in American Art, 1900-1945 (4 cr.)
Communication and Culture
C201 Race, Ethnicity, and the Media (3 cr.)
C290 Hollywood I (3 cr.)
C292 Hollywood II (3 cr.)
C306 Writing Media Criticism (3 cr.)
C312 Introduction to Television Criticism (3 cr.)
C315 Advertising and Consumer Culture (3 cr.)
C326 Authorship in the Media
C337 New Media (3 cr.)
C360 Motion Picture Production (3 cr.)
C392 Media Genres (3 cr.)
C410 Media Theory (3 cr.)
English
L295 American Film Culture (3 cr.)
History
H225 Elvis and Post-World War II America (3 cr.)
Telecommunications
T207 Introduction to Telecommunications Industry and Management (3 cr.)
T313 Comparative Media Systems (3 cr.)
T445 Sports and Television (3 cr.)
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Track II: Global Economies
Afro-American Studies
A360 Comparative Slavery (3 cr.)
Communication and Culture
C202 Globalization of the Media (3 cr.)
C413 Global Villages (3 cr.)
Criminal Justice
P471 Comparative Study of Criminal Justice Systems (3 cr.)
East Asian Studies
E101 The World and East Asia
Economics
E303 Survey of International Economics (3 cr.)
Folklore
F111 World Music and Cultures (3 cr.)
Gender Studies
G410 International Feminist Debates (3 cr.)
History
H208 American-East Asian Relations
Political Science
Y363 Comparative Foreign Policy (3 cr.)
Y367 International Law (3 cr.)
Y376 International Political Economy (3 cr.)
Sociology
S308 Global Society (3 cr.)
Telecommunications
T427 International Telecommunications (3 cr.)
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Track III: Immigration, Migration, and Diaspora
Afro-American Studies
A210 Black Women in the Diaspora (3 cr.)
A250 U.S. Contemporary Minorities (3 cr.)
A355/HIST A355 Afro-American History I (3 cr.)
A356/HIST A356 Afro-American History II (3 cr.)
A393/MUS M393 History of Jazz in America (3 cr.)
A397/MUS M397 Popular Music of Black America (3 cr.)
A489 Rap Music (3 cr.)
A496 Black Religious Music (3 cr.)
Anthropology
E320 Indians of North America (3 cr.)
E299 Indians in the United States in Twentieth Century (3 cr.)
E392 Ethnography of the United States (3 cr.)
Art History
A452 Art of Pre-Columbian America (4 cr.)
Comparative Literature
C350 Yiddish Culture in America (3 cr.)
Folklore
F351 North American Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music (3 cr.)
F354 African American Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music (3 cr.)
F356 Chicano Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music (3 cr.)
History
H259 American Jewish History (3 cr.)
H310 Survey of American Indians I (3 cr.)
H311 Survey of American Indians II (3 cr.)
H352 History of Latinos in the United States (3 cr.)
H337-338 The American Frontier I-II (3 cr.)
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Track IV: Negotiating Difference: Subcultures and Counter-Cultures
Afro-American Studies
A249 Afro-American Autobiography (3 cr.)
A255 The Black Church in America (3 cr.)
A290 Sociocultural Perspective of Afro-American Music (3 cr.)
A352 Afro-American Art II: Afro-American Artists (3 cr.)
A379 Early Black American Writing
A380 Contemporary Black American Writing
A383 Blacks in American Drama and Theatre, 1767-1945 (3 cr.)
A384 Black in American Drama and Theatre, 1945-present (3 cr.)
A389 Motown (3 cr.)
A392/F394 Afro-American Folklore (3 cr.)
A393/MUS M393 History of Jazz in America (3 cr.)
A397/MUS M397 Popular Music of Black America (3 cr.)
A479 Contemporary Black Poetry (3 cr.)
A480 The Black Novel (3 cr.)
A489 Rap Music (3 cr.)
A496 Black Religious Music (3 cr.)
Communication and Culture
S328 Communication in Black America (3 cr.)
Comparative Literature
C350 Yiddish Culture in America (3 cr.)
English
L241 Jewish American Writers (3 cr.)
L364 Native American Literature (3 cr.)
L374 Ethnic American Literature (3 cr.)
Folkore
F351 North American Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music (3 cr.)
F354 African American Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music (3 cr.)
F356 Chicano Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music (3 cr.)
History
A383 From Ragtime to Rap: Popular Music in the Making of America (3 cr.)
A382 The Sixties (3 cr.)
Religious Studies
R338 Modern American Catholicism (3 cr.)
Spanish and Portuguese
S220 Chicano and Puerto Rican Literature (3 cr.)
S435 Literatura Chicana Puertorriqueña (3 cr.)
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Track V: Negotiating Difference: Policy and Activism
Afro-American Studies
A205 Black Electoral Politics (3 cr.)
A382 Black Community, Law, and Social Change (3 cr.)
A386 Black Feminist Perspectives (3 cr.)
A391 Black Nationalism (3 cr.)
A405 Civil Rights and Black Power Movements 1954-1974 (3 cr.)
A407 Afro-American and African Protest Strategies (3 cr.)
A408 Gender, Race, and Class in Cross-Cultural Perspective (3 cr.)
A415 The Political Impact of Black Religion (3 cr.)
A452 History of the Education of Black Americans (3 cr.)
A481 Racism and Law (3 cr.)
Anthropology
E372 Racism and the Anthropology of Prejudice (3 cr.)
Communication and Culture
C339 Freedom of Speech
Criminal Justice
P301 Police in Contemporary Society (3 cr.)
P302 Courts and Criminal Justice (3 cr.)
P372 The American Juvenile Justice System (3 cr.)
P381 History of Social Control in the U.S. (3 cr.)
P435 Minorities, Crime, and Social Policy (3 cr.)
P482 The Family and Formal Control Systems in America (3 cr.)
Gender Studies
G102 Sexual Politics (3 cr.)
History
H220 American Military History (3 cr.)
H260 History of Women in the United States (3 cr.)
H345-346 American Diplomatic History (3 cr.)
A353-354 American Economic History I-II (3 cr.)
A380 The Vietnam War (3 cr.)
A381 Civil Rights in the United States (3 cr.)
A382 The Sixties (3 cr.)
Political Science
Y212 Making Democracy Work (3 cr.)
Y301 Political Parties and Interest Groups (3 cr.)
Y302 Public Bureaucracy in Modern America (3 cr.)
Y303 Formation of Public Policy in the United States (3 cr.)
Y304-305 American Constitutional Law I-II (3 cr.)
Y311 Democracy and National Security (3 cr.)
Y325 Black Politics (3 cr.)
Y326 American Social Welfare Policy (3 cr.)
Y360 United States Foreign Policy (3 cr.)
Sociology
S312 Education and Society (3 cr.)
S355 Race and Ethnic Relations (3 cr.)
S419 Social Movements and Collective Action (3 cr.)
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Track VI: Material Culture and the Design of Social Space
Art History
A348 American Architecture (3 cr.)
Criminal Justice
P381 History of Social Control in the U.S. (3 cr.)
P482 The Family and Formal Control Systems in America (3 cr.)
Folkore
F131 Introduction to Folklore in the U.S. (3 cr.)
F351 North American Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music (3 cr.)
Gender Studies
G352 Technologies of Gender (3 cr.)
Geography
G314 Urban Geography (3 cr.)
G325 Environmental Conservation (3 cr.)
History
H347 American Urban History (3 cr.)
History and Philosophy of Science
X222 Big Science in the Twentieth Century (3 cr.)
X369 History of American Science (3 cr.)
Political Science
Y308 Urban Politics (3 cr.)
Y313 Environmental Policy (3 cr.)
Sociology
S210 The Economy, Organizations, and Work (3 cr.)
S302 Organizations in Society (3 cr.)
S315 Work and Occupations (3 cr.)
S361 Cities and Suburbs (3 cr.)
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