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American Studies CoursesPrimarily for Undergraduates
| 045:001 Understanding American Cultures |
4 s.h. |
| The United States in historical, contemporary, and transnational perspective; social and cultural diversity and conflict in American life; debates on concepts of America, the American Dream, national culture, citizenship. GE: cultural diversity or humanities. |
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| 045:005 American Issues |
3 s.h. |
| Representative issues: radio and American culture; cultural history of the Civil War era; American history, literature, culture. |
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| 045:020 Sources for American Studies |
3 s.h. |
| Variety of historic and contemporary sources, such as literature, law, photography, painting, film, TV, music, fashions, environments, events of everyday life. |
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| 045:029 First-Year Seminar |
2 s.h. |
| Small discussion class taught by a faculty member; topics chosen by instructor; may include outside activities (e.g., films, lectures, performances, readings, visits to research facilities, fieldtrips). Prerequisite: first- or second-semester standing. |
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| 045:030 Introduction to African American Culture |
3 s.h. |
| GE: cultural diversity or humanities. Same as 129:061. |
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| 045:049 Introduction to American Indian and Native Studies |
3 s.h. |
| Same as 149:049. |
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| 045:060 Sex and Popular Culture in the Postwar U.S. |
3 s.h. |
| GE: cultural diversity. Same as 008:050, 154:060. |
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| 045:074 Popular Music in American Culture |
3 s.h. |
| History, development, and social context of American popular music in the 20th century. Same as 016:074. |
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| 045:075 American Popular Music |
3 s.h. |
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| 045:090 Seminar in American Cultural Studies |
3 s.h. |
| Interdisciplinary perspectives on a single theme or period. |
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| 045:095 Honors Project |
arr. |
| Independent interdisciplinary research, writing. |
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| 045:100 Independent Study |
arr. |
| Prerequisite: consent of instructor. |
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For Undergraduate and Graduate Students
| 045:110 Gilded Age in America |
3 s.h. |
| End of the Civil War to turn of 20th century, through historical documents, literature, arts, and journalism; social, cultural, and political experience. |
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| 045:115 American Culture of the 1930s |
3 s.h. |
| The Great Depression through historical records, literature, photography, movies, other arts; emphasis on expression of American life and thought, social and cultural experience. |
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| 045:118 American Women Playwrights: 1776-Present |
3 s.h. |
| Same as 049:118. |
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| 045:123 American Literature and History |
3 s.h. |
| Examination of fictional histories (novels about history), their relationship to historical interpretation. Same as 008:123. |
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| 045:139 Race, Gender, Class, and the American Frontier |
3 s.h. |
| How race, gender, and class shape cross-cultural encounter and imperial expansion on regional frontiers; how frontiers are represented in literature, art, and film. |
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| 045:145 Immigration and American Culture |
3 s.h. |
| Immigrants and immigrant communities. |
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| 045:150 Topics in American Cultural Studies |
3 s.h. |
| Special topics in American history, literature, culture. |
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| 045:151 American Business Cultures |
3 s.h. |
| Historical and contemporary records of business and corporate experiences as part of American life and thought, including representations of business in American novels, movies, history, autobiography; emphasis on questions of relationships between gender, ethnicity, class, and sexuality and corporate identities. |
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| 045:152 Fairs and Amusement Parks |
3 s.h. |
| Nineteenth- and 20th-century international expositions, amusement parks, and theme parks as cultural events of U.S. self-definition. |
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| 045:153 The Civil Rights Movement |
3 s.h. |
| History of the American civil rights movement. Same as 129:153. |
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| 045:154 Foodways in American Culture |
3 s.h. |
| Cultural significance of production, distribution, and consumption of food in the United States. |
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| 045:155 Performing America Queerly |
3 s.h. |
| Impact of queer sexualities on live stage and social performance and related concepts of national identity in the United States, 19th to 21st centuries. Same as 049:115, 154:135. |
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| 045:156 Arts in America |
3 s.h. |
| Relationship of the arts to their cultural context and to popular culture; focus on contemporary arts (e.g., music, dance, visual arts, theater, literature). |
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| 045:159 Representations of Revolution |
3 s.h. |
| Cultural politics of the revolutionary tradition in American culture from 1776 to 1976. |
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| 045:160 American Cityscapes |
3 s.h. |
| Changing conventions in representation of American cities between the 1830s and 1930s; fiction and nonfiction, visual and audiovisual culture. |
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| 045:165 The Culture of Nature |
3 s.h. |
| How ideas of "the natural" and "the cultural" underpin beliefs, laws, and social practices; relationship between these two concepts; construction of notions of a natural world; idea of landscape and nature as a resource to be used, appreciated, articulated, or enjoyed; focus on analysis of relationships to animals. |
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| 045:170 American Regional Identities |
3 s.h. |
| Regional identity across regions of the United States; literary, visual, and popular representations of regional identity. |
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| 045:174 The American Vacation |
3 s.h. |
| Weekends, holidays, vacations as bounded time-outs invested with cultural significance; history, ideology of these time-outs with particular attention to how race, class, and gender shape experiences and meanings. Same as 028:179. |
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| 045:175 Revolution in American Culture |
3 s.h. |
| Emergence of revolutionary identities in American culture, 1776 to 1970. |
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| 045:180 Theory and Practice of Cultural Studies |
3 s.h. |
| Issues, methods, and materials of cultural studies, from post-structuralism and western Marxism to the study of subcultures and everyday life. |
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| 045:185 America in the World |
3 s.h. |
| How U.S. activity influences lives worldwide. |
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| 045:193 American Photography |
3 s.h. |
| Popular and art photographs as expressions of American life, thought. |
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| 045:198 American Communities |
3 s.h. |
| Studies of selected peoples and places in America; emphasis on books in anthropology, history, journalism, sociology and on documentary film. |
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Primarily for Graduate Students
| 045:200 Theory and Practice of American Studies I |
3 s.h. |
| Theories, methods, cases in culture studies; emphasis on social science approaches. Prerequisite: American studies graduate standing or consent of instructor. |
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| 045:201 Theory and Practice in American Studies II |
3 s.h. |
| Prerequisite: American studies graduate standing or consent of instructor. |
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| 045:210 Introduction to Research in African American Culture |
arr. |
| Same as 129:211. |
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| 045:230 Seminar: Performing Arts in American Culture |
3 s.h. |
| American theater, dance, music, and performance. |
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| 045:242 African American Cultural and Literary Criticism 1900-Present |
3 s.h. |
| Diverse range of African American cultural and literary criticism from 1900 to the present; the new negro; racial integration; race, gender, and sexuality; Black public intellectuals. Same as 008:242. |
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| 045:250 Seminar: Topics in American Studies |
3 s.h. |
| American cultural history; urbanization, mass media, pluralism, assimilation. Repeatable. |
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| 045:258 Seminar: Technology and American Culture |
3 s.h. |
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| 045:260 Seminar: History, Literature, and American Culture |
arr. |
| Same as 008:465. |
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| 045:293 Seminar in American Visual Culture |
3 s.h. |
| Visual expression, its relation to cultural history. Repeatable. |
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| 045:299 American Studies Proseminar |
1-2 s.h. |
| Intensive reading on American cultural analysis topics; may include screenings, field trips, guest speakers, special events. Repeatable. |
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| 045:300 American Film and American Culture |
3 s.h. |
| Relationships between film and culture as developed in a particular approach, period, subject. Same as 048:300. |
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| 045:320 Independent Study |
arr. |
| Repeatable. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. |
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| 045:350 Material Culture Internship |
0-5 s.h. |
| Independent work in the field or in a field school, curating or interpreting material culture. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. |
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| 045:400 Masters Preparation |
0-3 s.h. |
| Writing for M.A. exam. Prerequisites: American Studies nonthesis M.A. candidacy and consent of instructor. |
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| 045:450 M.A. Thesis |
0-6 s.h. |
| Prerequisite: consent of instructor. |
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| 045:500 American Studies Position Paper |
3 s.h. |
| Writing for the Ph.D. comprehensive exam. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. |
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| 045:600 Ph.D. Thesis |
arr. |
| Repeatable. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. |
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