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College of Arts and Sciences 2008-2010 Online Bulletin Table of Contents

 

 

College of Arts
and Sciences (College)
2008–2010
Academic Bulletin

College Programs
College of Arts and Sciences (College) 
Kirkwood Hall 104 
130 S. Woodlawn 
Bloomington, IN 47405  
Local (812) 855-1821 
Fax (812) 855-2060 
Contact College
 

American Studies Program

Faculty
Introduction
Minor in American Studies
Course Descriptions

Faculty

Director

Matthew Pratt Guterl* (African American and African Diaspora Studies)

Associate Director

Deborah N. Cohn (Spanish and Portuguese)

Distinguished Professors

David N. Baker Jr. (Jacobs School of Music), Richard Bauman (Folklore and Ethnomusicology)

College Professor

Henry Glassie (Folklore and Ethnomusicology)

Chancellor's Professors

John Bodnar (History), Raymond DeMallie (Anthropology)

Professors

Judith Allen (Gender Studies), Patrick Baude (School of Law), Mellonee Burnim (Folklore and Ethnomusicology), Sarah Burns (Art History/Fine Arts), Claude Clegg (History), Stephen Conrad (School of Law), Sandra Dolby (Folklore and Ethnomusicology), Ellen Dwyer (Criminal Justice), Wendy Gamber (History), Jesse Goodman (School of Education), 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), Christoph Irmscher (English), Jeffrey C. Isaac (Political Science), Robert Ivie (Communication and Culture), Dawn Johnsen (School of Law), Barbara Klinger (Communication and Culture, Film Studies), Edward T. Linenthal (History), James Madison (History), John Lucaites (Communication and Culture), Michael Martin (African American and African Diaspora Studies), Portia Maultsby (Folklore and Ethnomusicology), Audrey McCluskey (African American and African Diaspora Studies), John McCluskey Jr. (African American and African Diaspora Studies), Michael McGerr (History), Richard B. Miller (Religious Studies, Poynter Center), David P. Nord (School of Journalism), Carol Polsgrove (Journalism), Darlene Sadlier (Spanish and Portuguese), John Stanfield (African American and African Diaspora Studies), Beverly Stoeltje (Anthropology), Steven Stowe (History), Ronald Wainscott (Theatre and Drama), Gregory Waller (Communication and Culture), Pamela Walters (Sociology), Vernon J. Williams (African American and African Diaspora Studies)

Associate Professors

Chris Anderson (Communication and Culture), Elizabeth Armstrong (Sociology), Steven Ashby (Labor Studies), Purnima Bose (English), James Capshew (History and Philosophy of Science), Nick Cullather (History), Jonathan Elmer (English), Judith Failer (Political Science), Helen Gremillion (Gender Studies), Valerie Grim (African American and African Diaspora Studies), Paul Gutjahr (English), Joan Hawkins (Communication and Culture), Jason B. Jackson (Folklore and Ethnomusicology), Stephanie Kane (Criminal Justice), DeWitt Kilgore (English), Fred McElroy (African American and African Diaspora Studies), John Nieto-Phillips (Latino Studies), Radhika Parameswaran (Journalism), Yeidy Rivero (Communication and Culture, Latino Studies), Stephen Russell (Criminal Justice), Eric Sandweiss (History), Dennis Senchuk (Philosophy), Robert Terrill (Communication and Culture)

Assistant Professors

Sonya Atalay (Anthropology), John Bowles (Fine Arts), Judah Cohen (Folklore and Ethnomusicology), Margo Crawford (English), Denise Cruz* (English), Mark Deuze (Telecommunications), Konstantin Dierks (History), liana Gershon (Communication and Culture), Mary Gray (Communication and Culture), Vivian Halloran (Comparative Literature), Terrill Scott Herring (English), Colin Johnson (Gender Studies), Sarah Knott (History), Susan Lepselter* (Communication and Culture), Kathryn Lofton* (Religious Studies), Emily Maguire (Spanish and Portuguese), Jason McGraw* (History), Khalil Muhammad (History), Amrita Myers (History), Kevin O'Neill* (Religious Studies), Phaedra Pezzullo (Communication and Culture), Laura Scheiber (Anthropology), Micol Seigel* (African American and African Diaspora Studies), Stephen Selka* (African American and African Diaspora Studies), David Shorter (Folklore and Ethnomusicology), Marvin Sterling (Anthropology), Ted Striphas (Communication and Culture), Shane Vogel (English), Brenda Weber (Gender Studies), Terrajean Yazzie-Mintz (Education)

Lecturer

Karen Inouye*

Academic Advising

Ballantine Hall 522, (812) 855-7718

Departmental E-mail

amstug@indiana.edu

Web site

www.indiana.edu/~amst

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Introduction

The American Studies Program (AMST) provides students with 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 attracts students with diverse interests who wish to know more about the United States in a comparative, international context.

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Major in American Studies

Requirements

Students must complete 30 credit hours in American Studies. 15 credit hours must come from American Studies core courses.

In consultation with the director, students design an individual concentration (minimum of 15 credit hours) that provides focus and purpose to their remaining course work in the major and that provides solid background for their senior seminar topic. The concentration will be built from concentration courses offered through American Studies and from pertinent joint-listed and cross-listed course offerings in other programs, departments, and units. At least 6 credit hours counted toward the concentration must be at the 300 level or higher.

Students pursuing a B.A. in American studies must demonstrate advanced language competency in a single foreign language—equivalent to a third year of study. This may require students to take an additional two semesters of a foreign language beyond the standard College requirements, including at least one course at the 300 level or above that studies a foreign language literature. The language chosen for study must pertain directly to American studies and requires the approval of the director of the American Studies Program.

Required Core Courses

A100 What Is America? (3 cr.) A & H
A200 Comparative American Identities (3 cr.) A & H
A350 Topics in Interdisciplinary American Studies (3 cr.)
A351 American Studies in Transnational Contexts (3 cr.) A & H
A450 Senior Seminar in American Studies (3 cr.)

Concentration Courses

A201 U.S. Movements and Institutions (3 cr.) A & H
A202 U.S. Arts and Media (3 cr.) A & H
A298 Special Topics in Arts and Humanities for American Studies (3 cr.) A & H
A299 Special Topics in Social and Historical Studies for American Studies      (3 cr.) S & H
A300 The Image of America in the World (3 cr.) S & H
A398 Advanced Topics in Arts and Humanities for American Studies (3 cr.)      A & H
A399 Advanced Topics in Social and Historical Studies for American Studies      (3 cr.) S & H
A401 Readings in American Studies (1–3 cr.)
A402 Service Learning in American Studies (1–3 cr.)

Additional concentration courses are offered in other departments and programs and are cross-listed in American Studies. For a list of courses, please consult the American Studies Program, Ballantine Hall 521, (812) 855-7718, amstug@indiana.edu, or consult the program Web site at www.indiana.edu/~amst.

Honors Program

Students pursuing an honors degree in American studies must maintain a GPA of 3.500 or above in the major and a GPA of 3.300 overall in the College. In addition to the major requirements, honors students must complete A451 Honors Senior Seminar in American Studies (3 cr.), and A452 Honors Thesis in American Studies (3 cr.), and the language requirement for a total of 42 credit hours.

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Minor in American Studies

Requirements

Students must complete 15 credit hours. At least 12 credit hours must be at the 200 level or higher; at least two 3-credit American Studies courses must be at the 300 level or higher, including:

  1. AMST A100.
  2. One of A200, A201, or A202.
  3. Three additional approved courses chosen in consultation with the American Studies advisor. These courses must fit the following criteria: (1) No courses counted toward fulfillment of a student's major requirements may count toward the requirements for this minor,
    (2) 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.

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

A100 What Is America? (3 cr.) A & H Explores ideas about citizenship, national identity, and the social contract in the broader Americas. What makes us "Americans"? How do we define "America"? How does national identity compete with and relate to other forms of identity, such as social status or class, religious association, gender and sexuality, and racial or ethnic description?

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.

A275 Indigenous Worldviews in the Americas (3 cr.) S & H, CSA A survey of some basic aspects of indigenous lifeways in the Americas, this course introduces comparative cultural analysis, providing a foundational course for those interested in thinking about how others think and how we think about otherness. Students will examine mythology, ritual, health, art, and philosophy within the context of colonialism and globalization.

A298 Special Topics in Arts and Humanities for American Studies (3 cr.)
A & H
Study and analysis of a single, closely focused American studies topic within arts and humanities. Topics vary from semester to semester. Focuses on the refinement of students' skills in writing, interdisciplinary interpretation, analytical reasoning, discussion, and research related to the study of fine arts, literature, film, and popular culture. May be repeated with a different topic for a total of 6 credit hours.

A299 Special Topics in Social and Historical Studies for American Studies (3 cr.) S & H Study and analysis of a single, closely focused American studies topic within social and historical studies. Topics vary from semester to semester. Focuses on the refinement of students' skills in writing, interdisciplinary interpretation, analytical reasoning, discussion, and research related to the study of public policy, political, economic, and social realities. May be repeated with a different topic for a total of 6 credit hours.

A300 The Image of America in the World (3 cr.) S & H An exploration of the history and present significance of "America"—an idea and a nation—in the larger world. Focuses on the image, status, and reputation of the United States abroad, and on the importance of America's "moral" global prestige to the course of international affairs and domestic politics.

A350 Topics in Interdisciplinary American Studies (3 cr.) Focusing on a specific topic (which will vary by semester), students reflect on established American studies disciplinary methodologies and explore possibilities for new interdisciplinary syntheses. Students consider such issues as the questions a historian asks of a political manifesto and how these questions differ from those of the literary critic or the sociologist. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.

A351 American Studies in Transnational Contexts (3 cr.) A & H Invites a critical and historical analysis of the relation of culture to nation: why is the study of culture traditionally bound in national frames of reference, and how might we organize a study of culture differently? Pursues the question topically (by considering ideas, peoples, social movements, etc., that cross national borders) and conceptually (by attention to the intellectual traditions that make possible alternative mappings of cultural study). May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.

A397 Foreign Studies in American Studies (1–6 cr.) Credit for foreign study in American studies when no specific equivalent is available among program offerings. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours.

A398 Advanced Topics in Arts and Humanities for American Studies (3 cr.) A & H Advanced study and analysis of a single, closely focused American studies topic within arts and humanities. Topics vary from semester to semester. Focuses on refinement of students' skills in writing, interdisciplinary interpretation, analytical reasoning, discussion, and research related to the study of fine arts, literature, film, and popular culture. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.

A399 Advanced Topics in Social and Historical Studies for American Studies (3 cr.) S & H Advanced study and analysis of a single, closely focused American studies topic within social and historical studies. Topics vary from semester to semester. Focuses on the refinement of students' skills in writing, interdisciplinary interpretation, analytical reasoning, discussion, and research related to the study of public policy, political, economic, and social realities. 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 nonprofit 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.

A450 Senior Seminar in American Studies (3 cr.) P: A350 and A351, or permission of instructor. The capstone course in the major. Early readings and discussions invite critical reflection on the design of interdisciplinary work, its motives, and the standards of coherence and of evidence that may govern its evaluation. Students develop a senior project, which may take the form of a traditional senior thesis or of a substantial video essay, Web site, multimedia project, performance piece, installation, etc. Students pursuing creative projects (e.g., a fictional film as opposed to a video documentary) must complement their creative work with considerable critical reflection on its purpose, stakes, design, and limits.

A451 Honors Senior Seminar in American Studies (3 cr.) P: A350 and A351, or permission of instructor. For honors students only. Introduction to various approaches in American studies scholarship, illustrated by the work of professors in the program, in preparation and training for the writing of an honors thesis.

A452 Honors Thesis in American Studies (3 cr.) P: A451. For honors students only. Students develop and write an honors thesis under the direction of an American studies faculty member. An oral examination of the thesis is conducted by three faculty members.

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