American Studies

Description for AMST101:
This course introduces students to the varieties of popular culture in America, including popular literature, live entertainment, radio, movies, and television. In-depth case studies of such particular forms of popular culture as humor and music are included. In class viewing and listening accompany case studies.

Academic Information:
Credits: 3
Distribution Area: Humanities.

Fee:
Course Fee: $960
Lab Fee: $0
Total: $960

Description for AMST206:
The course focuses on protest and the role of youth. Who protested and why? Was the phenomenon of the sixties an aberration or part of a larger radical tradition in America? What was the impact on the seventies? Readings are drawn from the works of participants in the student, black, feminist and peace protest movements, from the intellectuals who defended and attacked them, and from the growing body of retrospective, analytic, and historical literature which attempts to explain what really happened in that tumultuous decade.

Prerequisite: ENGL 102.

Academic Information:
Credits: 3
Distribution Area: Humanities.
Diversity: United States.

Fee:
Course Fee: $960
Lab Fee: $0
Total: $960

Description for AMST212G:
This course examines the politics and experiences of President Reagan’s "morning in America," including family life, work, and organized labor; changes in the pattern of wealth and poverty; the enlargement of the role of the media in culture and politics; and US interventions in Central America and elsewhere. The course may be counted toward the American studies major or minor. Capabilities addressed: Critical reading, critical thinking, clear writing, academic self assessment, collaborative learning, information technology.

Prerequisites: ENGL 102, and a minimum of 30 credits. Degree Students Only.

Academic Information:
Credits: 3

Fee:
Course Fee: $960
Lab Fee: $0
Total: $960

Description for AMST215:
This course focuses on the flowering of American cinema through decades of social, political, and cultural change. It examines both classic representations of "The American Experience" and films which challenge such classic representations. The relations between film and other arts, and between film, history, and ideology, are an ongoing concern.

Prerequisite: ENGL 102.

Academic Information:
Credits: 3
Distribution Area: Arts.
Diversity: United States.

Fee:
Course Fee: $960
Lab Fee: $0
Total: $960

Description for AMST225L:
This course examines issues arising from the resettlement of one million Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian refugees in the US since 1975. Topics include resettlement policies, adjustment and acculturation, changing roles of women and family, and the continuing impact of international politics. Media presentations and lectures by local Southeast Asian community leaders highlight the course.

Cross Listed: ASAMST 225L, SOCIOL 225L.

Academic Information:
Credits: 3
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Diversity: United States.

Fee:
Course Fee: $960
Lab Fee: $0
Total: $960

Description for AMST310:
The American experience with television and its cultural, political, and economic implications. Topics include technological innovation, entrepreneurship, the changing cultural content of "prime-time" programming, and public broadcasting cable system capabilities. (Offered only in the summer session.)

Prerequisite: a minimum of 30 credits or Permission of Instructor.

Academic Information:
Credits: 3

Fee:
Course Fee: $960
Lab Fee: $0
Total: $960

Description for AMST375:
"Best sellers" have shaped American views of science and nature; molded American business behavior; affected Americans’ notions of the past and their expectations of the future; and shaped public perceptions of gender, class, race, and ethnicity. In this course, we will read popular works, both fiction and nonfiction, published over the past century and a half and discuss the ways in which these books have influenced our images of our society and ourselves. The best sellers we will examine are those which were extremely popular with large sections of the public and/or influential in changing public opinion on major social issues. Readings for the course include Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Gone with the Wind, The Power of Positive Thinking, Silent Spring, The Feminine Mystique, and the novels of Stephen King.

Prerequisite: a minimum of 30 credits or Permission of Instructor.

Academic Information:
Credits: 3
Distribution Area: Humanities.
Diversity: United States.

Fee:
Course Fee: $960
Lab Fee: $0
Total: $960