American Studies Program
Faculty
Introduction
Minor in American Studies
Course Descriptions
Faculty
Director
Professor Eva Cherniavsky
Distinguished Professors
David N. Baker, Jr. (Music), Richard Bauman (Folklore and Ethnomusicology)
College Professor
Henry Glassie (Folklore and Ethnomusicology)
Chancellors' Professors
James Naremore (Communication and Culture, Comparative Literature, English), Stephen J. Stein (Religious Studies)
Professors
Professors Judith Allen (Gender Studies), Patrick Baude (School of Law), John Bodnar (History), Sarah Burns (Art History/Fine Arts), Claude Clegg (History), Stephen Conrad (Law), Raymond DeMallie (Anthropology), Sandra Dolby (Folklore and Ethnomusicology), Michael Grossberg (History), Karen Hanson (Philosophy), Russell Hanson (Political Science), Raymond Hedin (English), David Hertz (Comparative Literature), George Hutchinson (English, Tarkington Chair in Literary Studies), Jeffrey C. Isaac (Political Science), Robert Ivie (Communication and Culture), David James (Sociology), John McCluskey (African American and African Diaspora Studies), James Madison (History), Portia Maultsby (Folklore and Ethnomusicology), Joanne Meyerowitz (History), Richard B. Miller (Religious Studies/ Poynter Center), David P. Nord (School of Journalism), David J. Nordloh (English), John Stanfield (African American and African Diaspora Studies), Carol Polsgrove (School of Journalism), Steven Stowe (History), Ronald Wainscott (Theatre and Drama), Pamela Walters (Sociology)
Associate Professors
Chris Anderson (Communication and Culture), Purnima Bose (English), Mellonee Burnim (Folklore and Ethnomusicology), James Capshew (History and Philosophy of Science), Steven Chermak (Criminal Justice), Nick Cullather (History), Konstantin Dierks (History), Ellen Dwyer (Criminal Justice), Jonathan Elmer (English), Judith Failer (Political Science), Thomas Foster (English), Wendy Gamber (History), Gloria Gibson (Folklore and Ethnomusicology), Paul Gutjahr (English), Joan Hawkins (Communication and Culture), Jeffrey Huntsman (English), Stephanie Kane (Criminal Justice), DeWitt Kilgore (English), Barbara Klinger (Communication and Culture and Film Studies), John Lucaites (Communication and Culture), Manuel Martínez (English), Fred McElroy (African American and African Diaspora Studies), Eric Sandweiss (History), Dennis Senchuk (Philosophy), Beverly Stoeltje (Anthropology), Robert Terrill (Communication and Culture), Jeffrey Wasserstrom (History)
Assistant Professors
Steven Ashby (Labor Studies), Cándida Jáquez (Folklore and Ethnomusicology), Sarah Knott (History), Yeidy Rivero (Communication and Culture/Latino Studies).
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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
Students must complete 15 credit hours, of which at least 12 credit hours must be at the 200 level or higher, and 6 must be at the 300 level or higher, including:
- AMST A200
- either A201 or A202
- three additional approved courses chosen in consultation with the American Studies advisor; the courses must fit the criteria listed below.
No courses counted toward fulfillment of a student's major requirements may count toward the requirements for this minor. Students must choose courses that will emphasize either United States Arts and Media, or United States Movements and Institutions. See advisor for approved lists of courses.
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Course Descriptions
A200 Comparative American Identities (3 cr.) A & H 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.) A & H 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.) A & H 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 be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
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 different topics for a maximum of 6 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 6 credit hours.
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