AMST 1002. Sing and Shout! The History of America in Song
Develop an understanding of American people, history and culture through the study and singing of American folk songs. CA 1. CA 4.
( Also offered as MUSI 1002). Three credits. Lecture with discussion groups.
AMST 1201. Introduction to American Studies
What is an American? A multi-disciplinary inquiry into the diversity of American societies and cultures.
( Also offered as ENGL 1201 and HIST 1503). Three credits. Not open to students who have passed INTD 276.
AMST 1700. Honors Core: American Landscapes
Real and imagined landscapes in the Americas as seen through the history of the land and its uses and through changing representations of those landscapes in art, literature, science, and popular culture. CA 1.
Three credits. Prerequisite: Open only to freshman and sophomore honors students.
AMST 2200. Literature and Culture of North America before 1800
An examination of the early written and oral culture of the area that eventually became the United States. CA 1.
(Also offered as ENGL 2200). Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
AMST 2201. Introduction to Asian American Studies
A multidisciplinary introduction to major themes in Asian American Studies. Concepts of identity and community, migration and labor histories, Asians and the law, representations of Asians in visual and popular culture, gender issues, interracial and interethnic relations, and human rights. CA 1. CA 4.
(Also offered as AASI 2201). Three credits. Prerequisite: Open to juniors or higher.
AMST 2204. Jewish Culture in American Film
Representations of the diversity of Jewish culture (historical, religious, secular) in American film. Introduction to film analysis and interpretation. CA 1. CA 4.
(Also offered as CLCS 2204 and HEJS 2204). Three credits.
AMST 2207. Empire and U.S. Culture
How the frontier and overseas ambitions have shaped U.S. institutions and culture. The impact of U.S. expansion on people outside its borders. These topics are explored through literary narratives and historical documents. CA 1. CA 4.
(Also offered as ENGL 2207 and HIST 2207). Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
AMST 2274W. Disability in American Literature and Culture
An interdisciplinary examination of the symbolic roles of disability and the social implications of those roles. CA 1. CA4.
(Also offered as ENGL 2274W). Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
AMST 2276. American Utopias and Dystopias
Interdisciplinary approaches to American utopian and dystopian literature of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. CA 1.
(Also offered as ENGL 2276). Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
AMST 2276W. American Utopias and Dystopias
(Also offered as ENGL 2276). Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
AMST 2400. City and Community in Film
Aesthetics, history, and contemporary relevance of American films that feature the urban, suburban, and/or small town landscape as a major “character” shaping plot and story. Films read closely as texts that make meaning through a range of tools, including narrative, mise-en-scene, editing, camera work, and genre conventions. CA 1.
(Also offered as URBN 2400). Three credits.
AMST 2810. Crime and Policing in the United States
A survey of political, legal, and cultural development of the American criminal justice system and its social impact from the early republic to the present. CA 1.
(Also offered as HIST 2810). Three credits.
AMST 3042. Baseball and Society: Politics, Economics, Race and Gender
Baseball in historical, political, sociological, and economic contexts. Topics may include: impact on individuals and families; racial discrimination and integration; labor relations; urbanization; roles of women; treatment of gay athletes; and implications of performance-enhancing drugs.
(Also offered as AFRA 3042, HDFS 3042, and WGSS 3042). Three credits. Prerequisite: Open to juniors or higher.
AMST 3082. Critical Race Theory as Political Theory
Interdisciplinary scholarship on racial identity, legal decisions, and political action from the perspective of political science and political theory. Topics include interactions between states and social movements, the intersections of race, class, gender, and membership, and the problems with both post-racialism and identity politics.
(Also offered as POLS 3082.) Three credits. Prerequisite: Open to juniors or higher. Recommended preparation: POLS 1002.
AMST 3265W. American Studies Methods
In-depth study of an event, historical period, or cultural production from an interdisciplinary perspective.
(Also offered as ENGL 3265W.) (Formerly offered as INTD 265W.) Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011 or 3800: open to juniors or higher.
AMST 3267W. Race and the Scientific Imagination
How racism has been both reproduced and contradicted in the scientific imagination. Scientific texts and imaginative literature that explore the reparation of past harms and imagine new futures. CA 1. CA 4.
(Also offered as ENGL 3267W.) Prerequisite: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011
AMST 3271. Immigration and Transborder Politics
U.S. immigration policy, trans-border politics, and the impact diasporas and ethnic lobbies have on U.S. foreign policy, with the emphasis on Latino diasporas.
(Also offered as LLAS 3271 and POLS 3834.) Three credits. Prerequisite: Open to juniors or higher.
AMST 3281. Internship
Credit and hours by arrangement, not to exceed six credits per semester. Open to juniors or higher; open only with consent of instructor. No more than eight credits may be earned in a single placement, and no more than three credits may be counted towards completion of requirements for the American Studies major. Students taking this course will be assigned a grade of S (satisfactory) or U (unsatisfactory). May be repeated for credit.
AMST 3440. Nineteenth Century American Art
An overview of major artists and stylistic movements in the United States in the long 19th century.
(Also offered as ARTH 3440.) Three credits. Prerequisite: Open to sophomores or higher.
AMST 3440W. Nineteenth Century American Art
(Also offered as ARTH 3440W.) Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher.
AMST 3502. Colonial America: Native Americans, Slaves, and Settlers, 1492-1760
The legacy of Columbus, creative survival of Native Americans in the face of disease and warfare, religious utopianism and the profit motive in colonization. The growth of a distinctive Anglo-American political culture, gender and family relations, and the entrenchment of a racial caste system.
(Also offered as HIST 3502). Three credits.
AMST 3502W. Colonial America: Native Americans, Slaves, and Settlers, 1492-1760
(Also offered as HIST 3502). Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011. Open to juniors or higher.
AMST 3531. Japanese Americans and World War II
The events leading to martial law and executive order 9066, the wartime experience of Japanese Americans, and national consequences. CA 1. CA 4.
(Also offered as AASI 3531 and HIST 3531). Three credits
AMST 3542. New England Environmental History
Interdisciplinary history of New England’s terrestrial and marine environmental change. Links among land, sea, and human natural resource use and management, including precontact patterns, colonial impacts, agricultural decline, industrial pollution, overfishing, re-forestation, and the rise of eco-tourism.
(Also offered as HIST 3542.) Three credits. Recommended preparation: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
AMST 3544. Atlantic Voyages: European Maritime Expansion, 1400-1650
Late medieval and early modern European expansion into the Atlantic and Indian oceans, with particular attention to European, Asian, African, and American contexts within which that expansion took place. Topics include the transatlantic slave trade; technology adoption and adaptation; convergence of trade, racial ideology, imperial expansion, and imperial identity construction; piracy and settlement; historiographical legacies and later imperialism; and decolonization of contemporary understandings.
(Also offered as HIST 3544 and MAST 3544). Three credits.
AMST 3568. Hip-Hop, Politics and Youth Culture in America
History of hip-hop, its musical antecedents and its role in popular culture. Race, class, and gender are examined as well as hip-hop’s role in popular political discourse.
(Also offered as AFRA 3568 and HIST 3568.) Three credits.
AMST 3570. History and Theory of Digital Art
Examines the aesthetics and cultural impact of digital art in various modes including performance, online, and object production.
(Also offered as ARTH 3570). Three credits. Prerequisite: Open to sophomores or higher.
AMST 3699. Independent Study
Credits and hours by arrangement. Open to juniors or higher; open only with consent of instructor and approval of the director. May be repeated for credit with a change of topic. Supervised reading and writing on a subject of special interest to the student.
AMST 3807. Constitutional Rights and Liberties
The role of the Supreme Court in interpreting the Bill of Rights. Topics include freedoms of speech and religion, criminal due process, and equal protection.
(Also offered as HRTS 3807 and POLS 3807.) Three credits. Prerequisite: Open to juniors or higher.
AMST 3822. Law and Popular Culture
Exploration of themes in the study of law and courts by contrasting scholarly work against representations of such themes in movies, television, and other media of popular culture.
(Also offered as POLS 3822.) Three credits. Prerequisite: Open to juniors or higher.
AMST 3822W. Law and Popular Culture
(Also offered as POLS 3822W.) Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher.
AMST 4897. Honors Thesis
Credits and hours by arrangement. Open to juniors or higher; open only with consent of instructor.
AMST 6000. American Studies: Methods and Major Texts
An introduction to the methodologies and topics of American Studies through a survey of major texts in the field, past and present. Course also provides a history of the field. Cross listed as ENGL 6800 and HIST 6000. Open to graduate students in English, History, and Political Science. Others with permission. Three credits.
AMST 6850. American Studies: Special Topics
A detailed study of a specific topic in American cultural studies with an emphasis on developing skills in interdisciplinary research. Topics vary from semester to semester. May be repeated once for credit. Cross listed as ENGL 6850 and HIST 6850. Open to graduate students in English, History, and Political Science. Others with permission. Three credits.