43 courses with the subject AMST, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
AMST 1001Introduction to the American Experience
3 hours; 3 credits permission of the program director or chair of the History Introduction to interdisciplinary approaches to American Department. experience, identity, and culture. The American Dream as it is constructed by political realities and racial inequalities; AMST 3104 Native American and Indigenous Studies of immigration and ethnicity in national life and labor; mass and North America popular cultures; the global and transnational dimensions of 3 hours; 3 credits American society. Introduction to the methodologies of A survey of important moments in Indigenous peoples’ history, American studies and to the process of connecting disciplines including as it relates to the nation in order to understand how American national identity has been building of the United States of America. Focus on settler formed. Starting Fall 2023 Satisfies Pathways Flexible Core colonialism, Indigenous sovereignty, and Individual and Society requirement. Indigenous futurity. May combine critical anthropological theory, history, social media, and popular culture such as music, film, and literature to better situate and
AMST 1010American Identities understand the myriad Indigenous tribal
3 hours, 3 credits nations of North America in the present. This course is the Examination of diverse American identities and the social and same as ANTH 3510. cultural histories that have shaped these identities. Exploration of the ways identities have been formed by race, gender, Prerequisite: English 1010; American Studies 1010; ethnicity, sexuality, class and other factors of difference, as well Anthropology 1001; or permission of program as the ways individuals and groups challenge or transcend such director. differences. Students will examine their own and others’ identities, and the processes by which identities are made and AMST 3106 Religious Experience in America re-made. Starting Spring 2018 Satisfies Pathways Flexible Core 3 hours; 3 credits US Experience in Its Diversity requirement. Development of major American religious traditions, from indigenous practices, through traditions of early America, religious experiences of immigrants to America, and the
AMST 3102The Frontier in American Culture interface between religious movements and the civil rights
struggle, to the present. This course is the same as History 3 hours; 3 credits 3416. The nineteenth and twentieth-century American West in history and myth. Emphasis on the development of the frontier myth through literature, dime novels, films, and other forms of popular culture. The relationship between myth and history; the AMST 3107W The Politics of Race and Nation development of the western hero; the role of race, gender, and 4 hours; 4 credits violence. This course is the same as History 3435. (Not open Analysis of the politics of race and the struggles of people of to students who completed History 3490 [43.9] in spring 1988.) color in the United States—including slavery and
4 hours; 4 credits Interdisciplinary exploration of the dreams, myths, realities, and illusions of inclusion that have guided the American experience. Background and historical amnesia about indigenous displacements, settler colonialism, the after-lives of Atlantic world slavery, and the nation’s founding ideals, documents, and class-based distinctions; capitalism, war, empire, and the realities of immigrant America; historical exclusions and the struggle for racial, ethnic, and gender inclusions in the economic, political, social, and cultural life of the United States; capitalist competition, white privilege, the myths of meritocracy and the "self-made" American, and the realities of the working poor; psychological consequences of "failing" in American society; status consciousness/anxiety and the overworked, over-extended, and sleep-deprived American. Students will complete a semester-long, collaborative research project focused on the everyday lives of ordinary Americans via archives both digital and physical, field work involving sites of history making and memory, and/or the creation of oral history collections. This course is the same as History 3472. (This course is not open to students who completed History 3490 or American Studies 3902 during Fall 2005 or Scholar’s Program 50 during Fall 2007.)
AMST 3124Black-Jewish Activism: Coalition Building
in America 3 hours; 3 credits History of American Jewish and African American activism around civil rights and racial justice issues in the twentieth century. This course is the same as Africana Studies 3124 and Judaic Studies 3124.
3 hours; 3 credits History and experiences of people of the Asian diaspora in the United States, as part of a vast and diverse global history spanning centuries and across continents. Topics include: interrogation of the theories of race and ethnicity that permit room to study and understand the history of the Asian American Programs and Courses of Instruction Pacific Islander experience in the United States; the ways in which the Asian (especially Chinese) diaspora shaped subsequent immigration and race-based policies due to xenophobia and discrimination; the emergence of the panethnic identity “Asian-American,” and its evolution over time into a complex and convoluted dropping of the hyphen to become “Asian American”; and the history of cross-racial solidarity. This course is the same as HIST 3458.
3 hours Asian presence in the Caribbean. Critical survey of the history, role, image and contributions of Asian people to the formation of Caribbean identity. Examination of indentureship, slavery, case studies of Asian descendants, Asian Caribbean contributions to art and culture, politics, social relations and Asia’s investments in the contemporary Caribbean. This class is the same at CAST 3070.
3 hours; 3 credits Analysis of the politics of race and the law—including the role of the law in slavery and Reconstruction, the post-Reconstruction development of the American penal system, the history of Native American conquest and land rights, immigration and the changing definitions of citizenship, the liberation struggles of the 1960s and the reaction of law enforcement, mass incarceration and post-9/11 racial politics. Focus on developing students' critical reading and analytical writing skills and on engaging with
3 hours; 3 credits Reexamination of the American Dream. Effect of the national experience of poverty and "failure" of the Puritan ethic. The dust bowl and migration of Okies; rise of proto-fascist factions; bread lines; Hollywood films.
3 hours; 3 credits Counterculture and its challenge to traditional values. The Beat Generation, its poetry, literature, and music. Political papers, autobiographies, documentary film. (Not open to students who have completed American Studies 4002 [71], spring, 1989, or spring, 1991.) Starting Fall 2019 satisfies Flexible Core US Experience in its Diversity requirement. permission of the program director.
4 hours; 4 credits Autobiography and its special importance to the process of defining the self in America. Examination of the theme of the New World and the "new" man and the "new" woman. The relation between the private identity and national character as revealed in the autobiographical writings of immigrants, workers, and plainfolk. This course is the same as English 3156.
3 hours; 3 credits Race and American political and literary culture from the American Revolution to urban modernism. The South as a paradigm of American culture, constructions of "race," tensions between democratic ideals and elaborate race and class distinctions. Readings from Thomas Jefferson, slave narratives, Herman Melville, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Mark Twain, Uncle Remus, Charles Chesnutt, and others. Cultural legacies and entanglements of minstrelsy, the blues, and jazz. This course is the same as Africana Studies 3228. American Studies 103
4 hours; 4 credits Literary works, historical documents, and theoretical paradigms that situate U.S. cultural production in relation to places outside its borders, with particular attention to the Western hemisphere. Topics include: globalization, first contact between Europe and the Americas, cultural dimensions of U.S. foreign policy, forms of expression arising from diaspora experience, and the reception of U.S. culture abroad. This course is the same as English 3167.
3 hours; 3 credits Selected aspects of Indigenous History from the entire American continent starting from Pre-Columbian eras to the present. May include studies of North American peoples, Meso- American and Andean civilizations and other peoples based in South America and the Caribbean. Topics may include social, political and religious formation, warfare, the environment, and resistance and assimilation with European invading groups. This course is the same as HIST 3374.
AMST 3309Diaspora Wars: Black Internationalism and
Black Thought in the 20th Century 3 hours, 3 credits Interdisciplinary examination of debates in the African diaspora through the lenses of history, literature, politics, and culture. Debates about freedom in the age of decolonization. Topics include: W.E.B. Du Bois’ schisms with Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey; Black cultural movements such as Afrocubanismo, Harlem Renaissance and Négritude as expressed by Paulette Nardal, Édouard Glissant, Aimé Césaire; postcolonial African and Pan-African World intellectualism and Léopold Sédar Senghor, Julius Nyerere, and Kwame Nkrumah; gender and Pan-Africanism; the transformation of Black women’ s 20th century activism and Eslanda Roberson, Shirley Graham DuBois and Claudia Jones; social media and contemporary constructions of racial identity. This course is the same as Africana Studies 3116.
4 hours; 4 credits This course will study sexual orientation and gender identity in international rights institutions and discourses. Topics will include: the criminalization of sexual and gender minorities; tensions between presumptively universalist constructions of
4 hours; 4 credits Identity politics as an approach to organizing and political change; critiques of identity politics from the left and the right; theoretical perspectives on identity politics; examination of contemporary iterations, including movements based on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, indigeneity, and disability. This course is the same as POLS 3447 and WGST 3358. permission of program.
3 hours; 3 credits Historical constructions of race and gender; difference as it contributes to structural and institutional inequalities; ideologica debates among marginalized groups within nation states, legislatures, schools, neighborhoods, prisons, marketplaces, social and political organizations and government institutions; the intersection of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and class in social movements, grassroots organizations, political parties and civic associations. This course is the same as Africana Studies 3362, Women’s and Gender Studies 3488 and Sociology 3362.
4 hours; 4 credits Myths, legends, tales, proverbs, riddles, songs, dances, beliefs, rituals, celebrations, and folk art of American folk groups. Ethnic, regional, and occupational folklore. The relationship of oral folk culture to popular expression and written literature. Independent work in collecting folklore. This course is the same as English 3157. 1.7.
one of the following: English 1010 [1], or 1.2, or
AMST 3404New York City Folklore
4 hours; 4 credits Folklore of the streets and neighborhoods of New York City. The urban environment as a region generating its own folklore and traditions. Customs, language, and symbols of urban life, past and present. Introduction to problems of fieldwork and methods of collecting urban folklore. This course is the same as English 3159.
3 hours; 3 credits Introduction to the history and interpretation of American popular arts and culture. Popular music, theater, radio, film, television, and advertising. Popular expressions as shapers and Programs and Courses of Instruction reflectors of American ideas about nationalism, class, gender, ethnicity/race, region, and generation. This course is the same as History 3462. 1.7.
Combating Racism in America 3 hours; 3 credits Relationship between environment, sustainability, and landscape, focusing specifically on the production of inequality. From segregation to gentrification, from slavery to global capitalism and disaster capitalism, inequality is produced spatially and impacts our ability to build sustainable l environments and societies. Understanding the geography of inequality helps illustrate the roots of inequality, as well as possible solutions. This course is the same as SUST 2101.
3 hours; 3 credits Development of U.S. drug policy from the early 20th century through the contemporary era, with attention to both domestic and international dynamics of these policies. Role of drug policy as a mechanism for regulating marginal social groups, immigration, and economic interests in the U.S. and other countries. Impact of U.S. drug policy and drug control strategies on population and economic development. Relationship between drug policy, social constructions of race, gender and class, and larger patterns of social and economic change. This course is the same as SOCY 3304. chairperson.
3 hours; 3 credits Music in the United States from a historical perspective, including folk, popular, jazz, and concert hall traditions. Emphasis on the interaction of European, African, and various ethnic styles in America. The relationship of music to select movements in American theater, dance, and art. This course is the same as Music 2102. Music 1300 or permission of the director.
2 hours lecture, 3 hours fieldwork; 3 credits Exploration of music performance in the music institutions and diverse cultural resources of New York City. Students will attend musical performances and carry out field documentation of a local music culture or institution. This course is the same as
3 hours; 3 credits Developments in American popular music traced through an examination of the history of sound technology. The impact of technological mediation on musical aesthetics, with particular emphasis on blues, folk, jazz, rock'n'roll, soul, hip hop, and electronic music. This course is the same as Music 2106. (Not open to students who took American Studies 3902 [60] or Music 3493 [49.3] in spring 2007.) Music 1300 or permission of the director.
Origins and Social Function of Reggae Music 3 hours; 3 credits Investigation of the history of the Reggae genre; research African spirituality and “new world” religions. Analysis of surviva strategies in the post-slavery era and their role in solidifying links to Caribbean people and their African heritage. Exploration of Reggae music and artists. Connecting Reggae to social and political movements. Exploration of Reggae as a progenitor of new genres in the global economy. This course is the same as AFST 3244 and CAST 3050
AMST 3708Performing America: Nation, Identity, and
the Arts 4 hours; 4 credits Explores the ways in which American national identity has been performed and how performance plays a role in citizens' self- conception. Examples drawn from early US drama, nineteenth- century melodrama and minstrelsy, Broadway musicals, opera, film, television, and digital media as well as performances of self in everyday life. This course is the same as Music 2107.
3 hours; 3 credits Inventing identity through black performance. The appropriation and performance of race towards widely divergent ends within and outside of African American culture. Self empowerment through racial stereotyping. Performance as a principal medium of cross cultural imagination and self definition. The “subject” in opposition to the “other.” Examination of performance structures emerging from mimicry and appropriation. Performance styles include: the exotic shows of 19th century Europe, the blackface minstrel theater, Carnival in the Americas, popular culture. This course is the same as Africana Studies 3215.
3 hours; 3 credits This course explores how American culture continues to shape and reflect ideas about ability and disability. Topics include: History of disability in the social, political, and environmental fabric of American society; talking about disability in medical ethics; negotiating constructed boundaries, stereotypes, and representations of disability; disability in arts and performance; American disability memoires. Students will be expected to participate in class and group work, do low-risk writing, give American Studies 105 presentations, and complete final papers/projects. This course is the same as MUSC 4435 and PHIL 3304.
AMST 3902Special Topics in the American Experience
3 hours; 3 credits each term Exploration of an aspect of American cultural experience. Topics vary from term to term. Course description may be obtained in the program office before registration. Students may take this course for credit twice, but may not repeat topics.
4 hours, 4 credits Exploration of an aspect of American cultural experience. Topics vary from term to term. Course description may be obtained in the program office before registration. Students may take this course for credit twice, but may not repeat topics. l permission of the instructor and the director of the program.
3 hours; 3 credits Special problems of interdisciplinary research and writing. Topics vary from term to term. Course descriptions may be obtained in the program office before registration. A student completing the course with distinction is recommended for honors in the program. permission of the instructor and the director of the program.
4 hours, 4 credits Special problems of interdisciplinary research and writing. Topics vary from term to term. Course descriptions may be obtained in the program office before registration. A student completing the course with distinction is recommended for honors in the program. permission of the instructor and the director of the program.
Minimum of 9 hours conference and independent work; 3 credits Independent research supervised by a faculty member on an approved topic. The project must involve research in more than one field that culminates in a full-length research paper based on materials drawn from primary, secondary, and/or field data sources. Writing-intensive course. credits of American Studies courses, permission of the program director and of the sponsoring faculty member.
junior or senior standing, English *1012 [2], nine
AMST 5005Internship
7 hours field work, 1 hour conference; 3 credits Students work seven hours a week, under supervision, in American Studies-related positions or fields. Final report based on the internship experience. Students may take this course for credit twice.
