• 2012-2013 Courses:
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Fall 2012

• AMST 100: The Long View: History and American Culture

  As the pace of American life seems to move ever faster, who has time for the past? Yet without the past there would be neither present nor future, for only history explains the origins of the present. It is history’s long view that will be the heart of this course. Contemporary American questions (is America a Christian nation?, is higher education worth it?, do people deserve to go bankrupt?, what’s so American about Mom and apple pie?) only make sense in their historical perspective, which replaces simplistic answers with deeper understanding. 6 credit; Argument and Inquiry Seminar, Writing Requirement; offered Fall 2012 -- S. Zabin

• AMST 115: Introduction to American Studies: Placing Identities

  This course will examine the different spaces that inform the production of U.S. identities. We will think about the ways the construction of neighborhoods (urban or suburban) affects our sense of place, ethnicity, and community; we'll consider the impact that border geographies, whether physical or cultural, have on national imaginings; we shall look at contemporary cultural expressions of small town vs. big city life and consider what they feature as particular and unique about Americanness. 6 credit; Arts and Literature, Writing Requirement, Humanistic Inquiry, Writing Requirement, Intercultural Domestic Studies; offered Fall 2012 -- A. Estill

Winter 2013

• AMST 203: Investigative Tips for the Incurably and Globally Curious

  Whether you are an enterprising journalist, suspicious partner, or nosy neighbor, you'll love this introduction to the many tools used by investigative reporters. A veteran investigative journalist will demonstrate that no document is off limits, and no secret secure, from someone who is trained to dig up the dirt--and all in an ethical fashion! We'll use case studies, movie clips, and scavenger hunts in and around Northfield. The course will take a particular focus on reporting around the globe, with an emphasis on how local cultures, customs and geography affect the news gathering process. 1 credit; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement, Does not fulfill a curricular exploration requirement; offered Winter 2013 -- W Stern

• AMST 214: Music in the 1970s

  Frequently derided as a nadir of musical culture, the 1970s featured extraordinary musical creativity and change. In addition to the flowering of funk, soft rock, heavy metal, disco, and punk, the era also saw debates over authenticity in country music, experimentation with minimalism, jazz, and technology in classical music, and the beginnings of a "world music" market. We'll approach these with deliberate interdisciplinarity, exploring the varied music and musical cultures through focused listening, analysis of period video and historic documents, and through the work of scholars from a variety of disciplines. No prior musical experience needed. 6 credit; Arts and Literature, Writing Requirement, Social Inquiry, Writing Requirement, Intercultural Domestic Studies; offered Winter 2013 -- M Russell

• AMST 230: The American Sublime: Landscape, Character & National Destiny in Nineteenth Century America

  Focusing on the early nineteenth century struggle to create an American nation and a national culture, we will look at the ways Americans adopted and adapted European ideas, particularly the aesthetic idea of the Sublime, in their attempt to come to terms with the conquest of the new land and its native inhabitants and with the nature of their national enterprise. Writers Irving, Cooper, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, and Dickinson and painters Cole, Bierstadt, Church, Kensett, and Lane will be included. Major themes will include attitudes towards landscape and settlement, a distinctively American character, the nature and utility of art, and ideas of American empire. 6 credit; Arts and Literature, Writing Requirement, Literary/Artistic Analysis, Writing Requirement; offered Winter 2013 -- E. McKinsey

• AMST 345: Theory and Practice of American Studies

  Introduction to some of the animating debates within American Studies from the 1930s to the present. We will study select themes, theories, and methodologies in the writings of a number of scholars in the field and try to understand 1) the often highly contested nature of debates about how best to study American culture; and 2) how various theories and forms of analysis in American Studies have evolved and transformed themselves over the last seventy years. The course is not designed to be a fine-grained institutional history of American Studies, but a vigorous exploration of some of the central questions of interpretation in the field. Normally taken by majors in their junior year. Prerequisite: American Studies 115. 6 credit; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement, Intercultural Domestic Studies, Does not fulfill a curricular exploration requirement; offered Winter 2013 -- A. Estill

• AMST 399: Senior Seminar in American Studies

  This seminar focuses on advanced skills in American Studies research, critical reading, writing, and presentation. Engagement with one scholarly talk, keyed to the current year's comps exam theme, will be part of the course. Through a combination of class discussion, small group work and presentations, and one-on-one interactions with the professor, majors learn the process of crafting and supporting independent interdisciplinary arguments, no matter which option for Comps they are pursuing. Students also will learn effective strategies for peer review and oral presentation. Concurrent enrollment in AMST 400 is required. Prerequisites: American Studies 396 6 credit; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement, Does not fulfill a curricular exploration requirement; offered Winter 2013 -- E. McKinsey

• AMST 400: Integrative Exercise

  Seniors working on approved essays or projects in American Studies with the support of their advisers, will work independently to complete their theses, performances or projects to satisfy the college "comps" requirement. They will be required to give a public presentation on their papers or projects during the spring term. Prerequisites: American Studies 396. 3 credit; S/NC; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement; offered Winter 2013 -- M. Russell

• AMST 400: Integrative Exercise

  Students read selected works and view films in the field of American Studies and in a special topic area designated by the program. For integrative exercise examination students only. Prerequisites: American Studies 396. 3 credit; S/NC; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement; offered Winter 2013 -- M. Russell

Spring 2013

• AMST 115: Introduction to American Studies: The Immigrant Experience

  Is America truly a nation of immigrants? What role has immigration played in the construction of an American identity? This course is a team-taught, comparative study of the experience of migrants and immigrants to America and other countries. We will use texts from history, literature, film, psychology, and other disciplines to help us investigate the following topics: the causes of emigration; acculturation and assimilation; changes in family structure and gender roles; discrimination; and ongoing debates about immigration policy in relation to national ideals and principles. 6 credit; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement, Writing Requirement, Humanistic Inquiry, Writing Requirement, Intercultural Domestic Studies; offered Spring 2013 -- N. Cho, C. Clark

• AMST 225: Beauty and Race in America

  In this class we consider the construction of American beauty historically, examining the way whiteness intersects with beauty to produce a dominant model that marginalizes women of color. We study how communities of color follow, refuse, or revise these beauty ideals through literature. We explore events like the beauty pageant, material culture such as cosmetics, places like the beauty salon, and body work like cosmetic surgery to understand how beauty is produced and negotiated. 6 credit; Writing Requirement, Does not fulfill a distribution requirement, Humanistic Inquiry, Writing Requirement, Intercultural Domestic Studies; offered Spring 2013 -- A. Estill

• AMST 396: Suburbanization in America: Causes and Consequences

  The process of suburbanization transformed the United States in a revolutionary way, yet this was a quiet revolution. Both the causes and consequences of suburbanization can be found in the country's politics, race relations, economy, literature and popular imagery, architecture and design, technology, and our definition of community. This course will take an explicitly interdisciplinary approach to these topics.  Prerequisites: AMST 115 or approval of the Instructor. 6 credit; Social Sciences, Writing Requirement, Social Inquiry, Writing Requirement, Intercultural Domestic Studies; offered Spring 2013 -- R. Keiser