AMST 1101 - Introduction to American Studies

(HB) (ALC-AS, CA-AS, SCD-AS)

Fall or Spring. 4 credits. Student option grading.

A. Bitar.

This course provides an introduction to interdisciplinary considerations of American culture. Specific topics change from year to year and may include: food and nature, broadly defined; the transformation of gendered public and private spheres; indigenous, immigrant, and racialized cultures and countercultures; industrialization and the struggles over labor; the rise of leisure; the relationship between politics and culture; and the development of consumer culture. These themes will be examined through a variety of media, such as literature, historical writing, menus, music, art, film, architecture, etc. The course will also give attention to the many methods through which scholars have, over time, developed the discipline of American Studies.