Courses - Fall 2026
AMST101
Credit only granted for: AMST101 or AMST201.
Formerly: AMST201.
Introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of American Studies by examining concepts such as culture, identity, cultural practices, and globalization, as well as theories underlying these concepts. Engages key themes, especially constructions of difference and identity, cultures of everyday life, and America and the world.
AMST205
American Material Culture: The Study of People, Places, and Things
Historical survey of American material culture. Ways of describing and interpreting accumulated material evidence (e.g., buildings, town plans) introduced by stressing relationship between artifact and culture.
Survey of American material culture from TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest, to sneakers, food, to monuments, museums, and media, this course introduces students on how to describe and interpret how and why everyday items shape our identity, culture, memory, history, and American life.
AMST298C
Cross-listed with: AAST200.
Credit only granted for: AAST200 or AMST298C.
The aggregate experience of Asian Pacific Americans, from developments in the countries of origin to their contemporary issues. The histories of Asian Pacific American groups as well as culture, politics, the media, and stereotypes, viewed from an interdisciplinary perspective.
AMST298J
Cross-listed with: WGSS205, AAAS298E.
Credit only granted for: WGSS205, AMST298J, or AAAS298E.
Developed by feminists of color, reproductive justice frameworks offer a roadmap for economic, social, and medical justice advocacy attentive to the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability. This course reviews the historical, legal, and social bases of reproductive rights in the U.S.; discusses the history of feminist organizing for reproductive freedom; surveys critical theories of reproductive justice that go beyond abortion law to advocate for broader social transformation; and evaluates the possible futures of intersectional feminist activism after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Cross-listed with WGSS205. Credit granted only for AMST298J or WGSS205.
Developed by feminists of color, reproductive justice frameworks offer a roadmap for economic, social, and medical justice advocacy attentive to the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability. This course reviews the historical, legal, and social bases of reproductive rights in the U.S.; discusses the history of feminist organizing for reproductive freedom; surveys critical theories of reproductive justice that go beyond abortion law to advocate for broader social transformation; and evaluates the possible futures of intersectional feminist activism after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Developed by feminists of color, reproductive justice frameworks offer a roadmap for economic, social, and medical justice advocacy attentive to the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability. This course reviews the historical, legal, and social bases of reproductive rights in the U.S.; discusses the history of feminist organizing for reproductive freedom; surveys critical theories of reproductive justice that go beyond abortion law to advocate for broader social transformation; and evaluates the possible futures of intersectional feminist activism after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
AMST298Q
Cross-listed with: ENGL235.
Credit only granted for: ENGL235 or AMST298Q.
Examines the poetry, prose, and theater of Latinx communities in the United States from their origins in the Spanish colonization of North America to their ongoing development in the 21st century. Considers how authors use literary form to gain insight into human experience, including mortality, religious belief, gender and sexuality, war and peace, family, language use, scientific inquiry, cultural tradition, ecology, and labor. Also studies how Latinx literary traditions have shaped and been shaped by broader currents in American literature, as well as what connections exist between Latinx literature and social and artistic developments in other parts of the world, particularly Latin America and the Caribbean. Authors may include Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, Eulalia Perez, Juan Nepomuceno Seguin, Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton, Jose Marti, Arthur A. Schomburg, Jesus Colon, Julia de Burgos, Cesar Chavez, Ariel Dorfman, Gloria Anzaldua, Junot Diaz, and Cristina Garcia.
AMST310
Introduction to Comparative Ethnic and Racial Studies
Cross-listed with: AAST310.
Credit only granted for: AMST310, AAST398F, AAST310, or AMST328L.
Formerly: AMST328L and AAST398F.
Introduces students to the study of race and ethnicity in the United States. The class is organized according to the following five units: (1) Introduction; (2) Key concepts; (3) Mechanisms of racial formation; (4) Prevailing myths about race; and (5) Contemporary issues related to race and ethnicity. Through readings, film clips, and presentations, we will explore how the concept of race has developed and endured over time and become familiar with key concepts, such as "race" and "intersectionality". We will attempt to better understand how race is associated with other forms of difference, such as class, gender and ethnicity. We will identify and confront the prevailing myths about race and ethnicity in the United States. Finally, we examine the ways in which contemporary issues reveal the dynamics of race and ethnicity.
AMST315
Religion in American Culture
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Recommended: AMST101.
Credit only granted for: AMST315 or AMST328R.
Formerly: AMST328R.
Introduces students to the world's major religious traditions and examines how American culture informs, and is informed by, the variety of religious beliefs and practices in the U.S. This course is primarily concerned with religion as a system of meaning. The focus of the course is not on the history of religion or on analysis of religious texts, but rather on the meaning of a religion to its believers.
AMST320
Credit only granted for: AMST320 or AMST328X.
Formerly: AMST328X.
Explores the connection between film and disability through an analysis of independent and mainstream American films in various film genres. Specifically, we will consider how these film representations reflect and/or challenge the shifting social perspectives of disability over the 20th and 21st centuries. Beginning with the presentation of disability as theatrical spectacle in the traveling sideshow and early cinema, we will work our way through film history to develop an understanding of our society's complicated relationship with disability.
AMST324
Growing Up Asian American: The Asian Immigrant Family and the Second Generation
Cross-listed with: AAST394, IMMR394.
Credit only granted for: AAST394, AAST398E, AMST324, AMST328V, IMMR319G or IMMR394.
Formerly: AAST398E.
An interdisciplinary course examines the experiences of children of Asian immigrants in the U.S., focusing on intergenerational dynamics in the Asian immigrant family, their intersections with race, gender, class, sexuality, and religion, and how these shape second-generation Asian American life. Topics include identity and personhood, the model minority myth and education, work and leisure, language and communication, filiality and disownment, mental health and suicide.
AMST328V
Perspectives on Identity and Culture; Menace 2 Society: Structural Racism in Nihilistic Urban and Brown Films
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with: AAAS398W and USLT398B. Credit only granted for: AAAS398W, AMST328V, or USLT398B.
AMST328W
Cross-listed with: AAST355.
Credit only granted for: AAST355, AAST398L or AMST328W.
Formerly: 398L.
Explores how Asian Americans have historically been represented in the U.S. by Hollywood, and in turn, how independent and Hollywood Asian American filmmakers have represented themselves. It covers the history of racial, gendered, and sexualized representations of Asian Americans in Hollywood, as well as Asian American filmic responses within and outside Hollywood. It also introduces how four basic tools of film analysis mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound work together to create meaning in moving images. It examines how these elements are put together in three different types of films by Asian American filmmakers: narrative, documentary, and experimental. How films function in society to circulate ideas that reproduce and challenge stereotypes about Asian Americans.
AMST328Y
Perspectives on Identity and Culture; Environmental Justice in the Americas
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross listed with HIST338L. Credit only granted for AMST328Y or HIST338L.
Through a focus on the history of agrochemicals-fertilizers and pesticides-this course traces the development of industrial agriculture and its impact from 1863 to the present. Through influential case studies in "pest control" such as, arsenic and cotton,fumigants and fruit trees,and locusts epidemics, this course combineshistories of race,abolition, plants, technology, and empire.
Through a focus on the history of agrochemicals-fertilizers and pesticides-this course traces the development of industrial agriculture and its impact from 1863 to the present. Through influential case studies in "pest control" such as, arsenic and cotton,fumigants and fruit trees,and locusts epidemics, this course combineshistories of race,abolition, plants, technology, and empire.
AMST340
Introduction to History, Theories and Methods in American Studies
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg
Prerequisite: Must have completed AMST101; and 2 courses in AMST.
Restriction: Must be in American Studies program; and sophomore standing or higher.
Introduction to the process of interdisciplinary research, including research literatures, questions, first-hand sources and library and analytic methods in American Studies. Each student will craft a prospectus for original research.
AMST386
Experiential Learning
Credits:
3 - 6
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F
Restriction: Permission of ARHU-American Studies department; and junior standing or higher.
AMST388
Honors Thesis
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg
AMST398
Independent Studies
Credits:
1 - 3
Grad Meth:
Reg
AMST418H
Cultural Themes in America; Cultural Themes in America-Honors
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg
Prerequisite: At least three credit hours of prior coursework in AMST.
AMST418N
Asian American Public Policy
Cross-listed with: AAST421.
Credit only granted for: AAST421, AAST498M or AMST418N.
Formerly: AAST498M.
Using Asian Pacific Americans as a case study, this course will analyze the development of public policy in America. Each week, topics such as community development, voting rights, and the movement to redress the wartime internment of Japanese Americans will serve as backdrops for discussion. We will explore the policy-making roles of legislators, judges, local and national political leaders, journalists, writers, unions, social movements, and community organizations.
AMST498C
Special Topics in American Studies; Central Americans and the United States: Culture, Politics, and Community
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg
Cross-listed with USLT450. Credit only granted for AMST498C or USLT450.
With attention to history, memory, politics, and culture, this course examines the relationships, conflicts, and exchanges of people and powerbetween the United States and the Central American isthmus. We will investigate the role of the US government and military, as well as US corporate interests and US-backed dictatorships, in the culture, politics, and economy of nations including El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Honduras. Through literature, feature films, documentary films, theatre,poetry, and other mediums, the class will analyze responses to this history in Central American cultural productions originating both from the isthmus and from Central Americans living in the United States.In addition to US interventions in the Americas, the course will examinemigration from Central America to North America and will concludeby exploring thelives and activities of Central Americans living in the USA.
With attention to history, memory, politics, and culture, this course examines the relationships, conflicts, and exchanges of people and powerbetween the United States and the Central American isthmus. We will investigate the role of the US government and military, as well as US corporate interests and US-backed dictatorships, in the culture, politics, and economy of nations including El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Honduras. Through literature, feature films, documentary films, theatre,poetry, and other mediums, the class will analyze responses to this history in Central American cultural productions originating both from the isthmus and from Central Americans living in the United States.In addition to US interventions in the Americas, the course will examinemigration from Central America to North America and will concludeby exploring thelives and activities of Central Americans living in the USA.
AMST498J
Cross-listed with: AAST443, GVPT368C.
Credit only granted for: AAST498T, AAST443, GVPT368C or AMST 498J.
Formerly: AAST498T.
Students will gain a greater understanding of 1) the role of Asian Americans in US politics, 2) the political attitudes and behaviors of Asian Americans and 3) how to conduct research on Asian American politics. Though the class will concentrate on Asian Americans, issues related to Asian American politics will be examined within the larger context of America's multicultural political landscape.
AMST498R
Special Topics in American Studies; Make Some Noise: Black Protest Music since 1964
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F
Make Some Noise invites students to hear a tradition of Black protest music in the U.S. and worldwide since 1964. Together we will ponder how Black people have created, performed, disseminated, and activated music for protest, self-making, community-building, cultural critique, venting ,healing, and joy. Our headliners for the semester will include Nina Simone, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Miriam Makeba, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marle, Fela Kuti, Gil Scott-Heron, KRS-One, Public Enemy, NWA, Lil Kim, Lauryn Hill, Beyonce, Noname, and Kendrick Lamar, among many others. Throughout, we will explore the contents (lyrical, formal, sonic, aesthetic) as well as the contexts (social, historical, political) of everything we watch and hear.
AMST601
Introductory Theories and History in American Studies
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Restriction: Must not be a Graduate Advanced Special Student.
Explores the formative literature, theories, research approaches, and history of American Studies.
AMST602
Interdisciplinary Research Methods in American Studies
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Advanced instruction in interdisciplinary research strategies in the fields and subfields of American Studies.
AMST628C
Seminar in American Studies; Race and Media Theory and Practice
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
This course is a hybrid media studies course that combines both conceptual and creative work. The coursework combines new and foundational scholarship on race and media with video production in the form of videographic criticism. Videographic criticism is both a methodological tool for analyzing audio/visual material as well as a wayto present and teach that material. Thus, we will use videographic criticism in the course asa method of critical engagement and analysis, and as the form and product of our research. Course material will explore scholarship on topics such as representation, media production, distribution, markets, and audiences in both traditional written and videographic forms. Students will gain technical video editing and production skills that will be scaffolded throughout the semester. The final project for this course will be in videographic and written form.
AMST629D
Seminar in American Studies; Race Class and Material Culture
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud, S-F
This proseminar introduces students to material culture studies and to consider how objects have been used to reinforce, propagate, and resist cultural hierarchies based on race, class, gender, sexuality, and national identity. Using a wide range of methodologies, fieldwork techniques, and theoretical approaches we will largely examine the material culture genres and subfields of cultural landscapes, food, decorative arts, public history, and photography.
AMST655
Introduction to Museum Scholarship
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Cross-listed with: ANTH655, HIST610, INST653.
Credit only granted for: AMST655, ANTH655, HIST610, INST728T or INST653.
Provides students a basic understanding of museums as cultural and intellectual institutions. Topics include the historical development of museums, museums as resources for scholarly study, and the museum exhibition as medium for presentation of scholarship.
AMST698
Directed Readings in American Studies
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg
AMST798
Non-Thesis Research
Credits:
1 - 3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
AMST799
Master's Thesis Research
Credits:
1 - 6
Grad Meth:
S-F
AMST857
Museum Scholarship Practicum
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, S-F
Prerequisite: AMST856, ANTH856, or HIST810.
Restriction: Permission of Museum Scholarship Program required.
Cross-listed with: ANTH857, HIST811, INST787.
Credit only granted for: AMST857, ANTH857, HIST811, INST728I or INST787.
Students devise and carry out a research program using the collections at the Smithsonian Institution or some other cooperating museum, working under joint supervision of a museum professional and a university faculty member.
AMST878A
American Studies Pedagogy Mentoring; Mentoring for First Year Teaching in American Studies
Credits:
1 - 3
Grad Meth:
S-F
Prerequisite: permission of department and must be a current AMST teaching assistant.
AMST878B
American Studies Pedagogy Mentoring; Mentoring for Second Year Teaching in American Studies
Credits:
1 - 3
Grad Meth:
S-F
Prerequisite: permission of department and must be a current AMST teaching assistant.
AMST878C
American Studies Pedagogy Mentoring; Mentoring for Third Year Teaching in American Studies
Credits:
1 - 3
Grad Meth:
S-F
Prerequisite: permission of department and must be a current AMST teaching assistant.
AMST898
Pre-Candidacy Research
Credits:
1 - 8
Grad Meth:
Reg
AMST899
Doctoral Dissertation Research
Credits:
6
Grad Meth:
S-F
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