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Spring
2001 Courses
AMST 072.10 Introduction
to American Studies MW 2-2:50 MPA
B07 Introduction to American Studies, is the second half of a two-semester survey of U.S. history and culture, covering 1890 to 2000 (AMST 071 is *not* a prerequsite). The course focuses on several key themes: the impact of mass culture in the 20th century (focusing on film and leisure); race and civil rights (including particularly African American and Asian American politics); the role of the United States in the world (looking at both foreign policy and U.S. culture abroad); and transformations in ideas about selfhood (focusing on changes in religious ideas and ideas about sexuality and the body). The course meets for 2 50-minute lectures and one 50-minute discussion section each week. AMST 140.80 Women in the US from
1877-Present This course will examine the experience of women in the United States during the late 19th and 20th centuries, to understand how gender shapes social, economic, and political roles. The exploration will include the impact of class, religion, race, and ethnicity on women’s role on men. Same as HIST/WSTD 140. AMST 165.80 Introduction to Folklore This course offers a survey of some of the major forms of traditional expressive culture in the United States. Examples are drawn from various folk groups and will cover verbal, artifactual, and performance genres such as folktales, crafts, and music. The primary objectives and techniques of folklore scholarship will be discussed and illustrated throughout the course. In addition to lectures and discussions of readings, the class may also feature visits to local museums, the viewing of documentary films and videos, and presentations by visiting experts and folk artists. Same as ANTH 192. AMST 167.80 Themes: History of
Sexuality This undergraduate discussion/lecture course is designed to introduce students to the histories of U.S. sexual identities and subcultures. Using methodologies drawn from social history, ethnography and cultural studies, we will ask what the history of sexuality is and how it should be written. Course readings and films will be used to analyze the changing social organization and cultural meaning of sexual practices and desires in the United States, beginning with those that existed before European settlers landed on the continent. We will examine the establishment of sexual norms in colonial America; the role of sexuality in slavery; the contested boundaries drawn between same-sex sociability, friendship and eroticism; the cultural conflicts centered around prostitution, cross-racial sex, and racial and sexual violence; and the emergence of heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality as the predominant categories of sexual experience and identity. Focusing mainly on the past century, we will further analyze the impact of commercialized leisure on the shaping of modern sexual practices and identities; the representation of sexuality in mass media and popular culture; the development of diverse lesbian and gay subcultures; the politics of everyday life for gay men, lesbians and other women both before and after the emergence of the feminist and gay movements; and the globalizing impact of U.S. sexual identities and cultures. Throughout the course, we will pay particular attention to the intersection of sexuality with gender, class, racial/ethnic, geographic and generational differences. Same as HIST 167. AMST 167.81 Themes: Environmental
History & Literature This course will examine American attitudes toward nature and the physical environment over the past 200 years with an emphasis on the conflicts that have arisen between aesthetic and spiritual values and economic and technological development. We will pay particular attention to the changing definitions of nature, wilderness, and natural resources. Readings will be assigned from Carolyn Merchant, ed. MAJOR PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY and Robert Finch & John Elder, eds. THE NORTON BOOK OF NATURE WRITING. Two short (8-10 page) papers are required, one a review of a book, exhibition, or film selected from a list of recommended works, the other an essay on a place or personal experience with nature. Field trips & film screenings will be arranged. Same as HIST 167. AMST 167.82 Themes: American Identities
and the History of
Photography This class will consider the ways in which photography has been instrumental in shaping and constructing American identities - both national and individual - from the dawn of photography to the end of the twentieth century. Readings and in-class slide presentations will provide a range of still photographic images to explore how various kinds of photography (including portraits, landscape, commercial, and documentary) have influenced the many and often contradictory ways Americans have identified themselves and their nation. Photographs ranging from nineteenth-century daguerreotypes to snapshots, from government-sponsored documentary photography to National Geographic and Life magazine illustrations, will serve as the primary evidence for exploration of the contribution of visual images and mass culture to identity formation and the construction of race and gender in relation to national identities. Specific topics will include portraiture, the role of war and landscape in the American national imaginary, and shifting concepts of individual identity, universality, and multiculturalism as depicted in American photographs. Students will be responsible for two short papers and one longer (10-15 page) research paper, in addition to doing all readings and taking part in class discussion. Same as HIST 167. AMST 172.80 US Social History This course will focus on the history of ordinary Americans from the Civil War to the present. It is divided into three parts. The first part is a survey of the living and working conditions of ordinary Americans, black and white, men and women, young and old, focusing on the period 1870-1900. The second section will look at how the great social changes of the late-nineteenth century and twentieth century (the World Wars, the Great Depression, prosperity of the 1950s and 1960s, etc.) affected them. The final section will ressurvey ordinary Americans today to analyze the significance of the social changes that occurred. Same as HIST 172. Readings will be drawn from Hareven and Lagenbach, Amoskeag; Neil R. McMillen, Dark Journey; Robert McElvaine, Down and Out in the Great Depression; Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, and John D'Emilio, Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities. AMST 173.80 African American History This course briefly examines African life prior to European contact, followed by a look at the international slave trade and a thorough survey of African American experience from the arrival of the first Africans in the New World up to the near present. This complex story includes endurance, suffering, joy, and remarkable accomplishments as well. For many centuries Africans were forcibly removed from their homelands and enslaved. The consequences of this encompassing tragedy remain with us even today. Yet African Americans were and are more than just the victims of oppression and dislocation. Nor did they simply respond to the demands of Europeans and then white Americans. Through five centuries in the new world, men and women of African ancestry have struggled to preserve their dignity, and have developed a rich culture and institutions that reflect their own heritage and beliefs, even while they have incorporated many Euro-American values, practices and traditions. The Civil War and the abolition of slavery marked a watershed in black American life. It did not, however, end racism or institutional oppression. Reconstruction was a period of hope, but segregation and evolving forms of legal, social, and economic repression continue into modern times. This course’s Afrocentric perspective focuses on major developments and themes that have shaped and characterized the black experience in American from the first European encounters with Africans through recent times. The semester concludes with a discussion of contemporary issues of special concern to African Americans. Same as HIST 173. AMST 176.80 American Architecture This course is an examination of selected aspects of the built environment in the United States from the mid-nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries. Stylistic properties, form type characteristics, technological developments, and urbanistic patterns are introduced as vehicles for interpreting the historical significance of this legacy. Buildings are analyzed both as artifacts and as signifiers of broader social, cultural, and economic tendencies. Other topics introduced include the role of the designer, the influence of region, and architecture as an aspect of landscape. Same as ART 191. AMST 180.10 Proseminar in American
Studies For American Studies majors ONLY, in their senior year. Directed research and writing in preparation for a public symposium at the end of the academic year. AMST 187.80 Building Cities Nearly 80% of Americans live in urban areas under a variety of pressures—social, economic, environmental. The contemporary city has become a bewildering context of hopes, fears and opportunity. Building Cities is intended to provide both background and insights needed by present an d prospective urban entrepreneurs and enlightened citizens to play more effective roles in contemporary city-building and renewal. Course requirements are weekly class meetings, required readings, seminar discussions, a field trip, a term paper, and a final examination. Selected readings from US and international literature will be assigned. Same as GEOG 187. AMST 192.80 The American Cinema An introduction to the history of American movies emphasizing the art, entertainment, and business contexts of movies from 1896-1996. Required viewing of 21 movies (14 in class + 7 outside.) Required reading: Robert Sklar, Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies (1994); Richard Maltby & Ian Craven, Hollywood Cinema: An Introduction (1995); and Lillian Ross, Picture (1952). Two short papers (5-10 pages), quizzes, and a final exam. Same as FA 192. AMST 194.80 Historical Archaeology This course is a survey of the basic data and methods of research in the material culture of recent history. Same as ANTH 187. AMST 198.13 African American Music This class introduces you to the breadth of African American music and draws equally from the field of history, cultural studies, and musicology. We will begin in Western Africa and discuss black musics of the Caribbean, but our primary focus is upon the diaspora in the United States. You will be required to listen to and watch musical performances, as well as read about such diverse genres and styles as ju ju, fife and drum bands, gospel quartets, blues, and hip-hop. We shall pay special attention to black musical expressions, such as Go Go and "shout bands," that are concentrated in the District of Columbia. This course has no prerequisites and does not require a formal background in music theory or history. AMST 200.10 Senior Honors Thesis Directed research project. Only open to honors candidates in American Studies. AMST 232.80 Cultural Theory &
American Studies Cultural Theory and American Studies (also Human Sciences 205) is a graduate-level introduction to theories of culture and society. The course examines developments in structuralist and poststructuralist theory of the last 40 years by focusing on competing definitions of the concept of "culture" in literary studies, anthropology, philosophy, and sociology. The aim is to unpack why and how theoretical models are useful, even necessary, for studies of culture. Readings will likely include Geertz, Barthes, Habermas, Adorno, Foucault, Fanon, McClintock, Bourdieu, Freud, Bhabha, and Lowe. AMST 251.10 Museum Research &
Education Internships and independent study at the Smithsonian. AMST 253.10 American Decorative
Arts Concepts of visual recognition and evaluation of surviving domestic artifacts from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, including those made of wood, clay, glass, metal, and cloth. Research paper linking objects to written sources and to interpretive ideas. Class discussion, oral reports, and frequent field trips to area museums and historic houses. AMST 256.80 Folklore Theory This course presents a survey of the intellectual history of the development of the academic field of folklore and folklife study in the United States. We will trace the rise of various theories of culture and modes of analysis and interpretation starting in the second half of the 19th century and concluding with contemporary times. The class will be conducted in semi-seminar fashion. The instructor will lecture for the first half of each class meeting with discussion being led by a designated student for the second half. Student discussion will focus on the biographical profiles of key figures whose careers are emblematic of particular interpretive techniques or positions. These individuals include many of the outstanding leaders in the field of literature, social science, and museum work. AMST 272.80 Rdgs/Rsrch: US Social
History History 272 is a research seminar. During the semester we will emphasize the development of research skills. The final product of the course will not be a seminar paper, however. Rather, it will be an extended research proposal. This proposal must include a review of all the relevant secondary material in the area of your proposed research which explains the importance of the contribution of your project. The proposal must also include an extensive bibliography. Since the research must be drawn, at least in part, from primary sources, the proposal must also include a discussion of archive or library collections and records that are important to your study. There must also be specific information on exactly how these sources will be used in the study. If, for example, you plan to use photos from a Library of Congress collection, you must explain which photos you will use and how they will be used. Further, you must specify the points they will be used to illustrate or how they will be read. In most cases you should have reviewed substantial proportions of the collections you propose to use in your study and be able to write about them with authority. Your research need not be limited to standard academic projects but can also include proposals for exhibits, oral history projects, proposed film projects, tour designs for thematically linked historic sites, and other public history projects. As with any other research project, your proposal must include a thorough discussion of secondary sources, a detailed description of primary resources to be included, and a complete design for project production. Where possible, consultancies will be arranged for those who require specific expertise in exhibit design or film production. Pretend that you are applying to a major funding agency for support. Your job is to convince the officials of that agency that you and your project are worth their money. You must be clear and well focused in your research plan, and you must write your proposal explicitly, displaying your command of the general area and your ability as an accomplished professional who will deliver the final product. AMST 275.10 The Politics of Preservation This course explores the central importance of citizen activism and advocacy in historic preservation. Such endeavors were key to transforming preservation into a major force in community revitalization during the mid twentieth century. The famous success stories of Annapolis, Nantucket, Providence, Charleston, New Orleans, San Antonio, and many other places are due in large part to non-profit, private sector, grassroots initiatives of this kind. Such work still figures prominently in many state and local arenas; however, it has become conspicuously neglected in others, with serious consequences. This course examines methods by which preservation campaigns can be successfully launched, sustained and concluded, addressing a range of basic issues in working with public officials, community groups, developers, architects, and others involved. The content also sets this work in a broader intellectual framework that enhances its purpose and meaning. For more information, contact Professor Striner at 410-778-7885, or Richard Longstreth at 202-994-6098. AMST 282.10.10 Seminar: American
Architecture This seminar will explore the fifteen-year period after World War II when the shape and character of the American landscape experienced profound changes. The highly-centralized organization of cities that had dominated growth patterns since the early republic began to shift decisively to more diffuse patterns in industrial, office, retail, and residential arenas. Among other subjects explored are the impact of widespread motor vehicle use, the rise of a mass consumer market, fundamental shifts in popular taste, critical views of the city, and the undercurrent of persistence of traditional patterns of settlement. Research topics may focus on any one of a wide range of areas, addressing architecture, urbanism, social/cultural aspects, business, public policy, and transportation, among others. AMST 289.10 US Culture: Race,
Place & Commerce, 1890-1980 This is a graduate reading colloquium/seminar based on critical reading and participatory discussions. The readings travel the distance of the 20th century through various historical accounts of changes and continuities in American cultural forms, practices and production. This course is historical in focus: it centers upon lived experience, change and transformation in past times. We concern ourselves with the interplay of race, place and commerce as significant determinants and shapers of cultural form and practice, and these practices as important elements in shaping the experience of race, place and commerce. Along the way, the readings will provide participants the opportunity to engage in specific histories of different genres: motion pictures, popular music, advertising, material culture. What are the different ways in which the experience of race has shaped cultural practice and production? How does the experience of place - city, community, region, nation - influence cultural form and circulation? How do commodities and commerce influence and structure cultural production and practice? Readings as far as possible will interrogate relationships among these categories, both to break down boundaries among them and to enrich our understandings of the cultural forms and experiences that have become the most ubiquitous signs of American life. REQUIREMENTS: One short and one long paper, along with weekly discussions. The instructor will occasionally provide lectures, summaries and supplementary rants to augment the course readings. See or email instructor (mcgovernc@nmah.si.edu) if you have any questions. AMST 289.80 Sexuality in American
Culture This graduate seminar is designed to introduce students to the usefulness of sexuality as a category of analysis in American Studies. We will read broadly across the field of sexuality studies in U.S. history; literary criticism; film, ethnographic and cultural studies; and psychoanalytic and critical theory. We will examine the "invention" of sexuality as a sphere of personal definition; the emergence of hetero- and homosexuality as categories of experience and identity; and the challenges that some sexual practices and desires pose to the now-dominant hetero/homosexual binary. We will pay particular attention to the intersection of sexuality with race, gender, class, place, the body, and the state, as well as to the complex manner in which sexual desires and practices are constructed and invested with meaning in American culture. The required readings and films have been chosen both to provide an introduction to the major theoretical approaches that scholars use when analyzing the interplay between sexuality and American culture (including Freudian psychoanalysis, Foucauldian social constructionism, queer theory, and bisexual studies) and to highlight important new lenses of scholarly inquiry in the field (including those of violence, space, and transnationality). The goal is for students to begin thinking about not only the historical construction of American sexualities, but also the myriad ways in which American culture is imbricated with sexual desires, practices and representations. AMST 295.10 Independent Study AMST 299.10 Thesis Research AMST 300.10 Thesis Research AMST 352.10 Research-Selected
Aspects AMST 394.10 Advanced Reading
& Research AMST 395.10 Dissertation Research ASMT 398.10 Advanced Reading &
Research AMST 399.10 Dissertation Research
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