ENROLL

Nancy Cho

This course is an introduction to the field of American Studies--its pleasures, challenges, and central questions--through the lens of immigration and migration. Using interdisciplinary readings and assignments, we will explore the richness and complexity of American culture by placing immigration and migration at the center of our investigations. Throughout the term, our study of diverse topics (Borders and Boundaries, World War II, and Sound) will model different ways of making connections and analyzing relationships between immigration, identity, and culture in the United States.

Sophomore Priority.

Jeff Snyder

Clarence E Walker

The transition from slavery to freedom; the post-Reconstruction erosion of civil rights and the ascendancy of Booker T. Washington; protest organizations and mass migration before and during World War I; the postwar resurgence of black nationalism; African Americans in the Great Depression and World War II; roots of the modern Civil Rights movement, and black female activism. 

Serena Zabin

Clarence E Walker

This course focuses on the representation of slavery in popular American movies and novels. Movies are a universal language and what most Americans know about the United States and World history today they have “learned” at the movies. Movies can make understanding the past seem easy because they do not require the people observing them to think—they can just sit and enjoy the story. But this is not true of films and novels that address crucial issues like slavery. Slavery in the U.S. and globally was and remains a moral question. People are pro, anti, or indifferent to slavery and its legacies, and their responses to representations of human bondage can reveal a lot about contemporary attitudes about race and gender. In this class we will examine this process by looking at a range of films (e.g., Gone With The Wind, 12 Years a Slave,  Django, and Mandingo). We will contextualize the films with both primary and secondary texts. 

Extra Time Required

George Vrtis

This course is the second half of a two-course sequence focused on the study of wilderness in American society and culture. The course will begin with a two-week off-campus study program during spring break at the Grand Canyon, where we will learn about the natural and human history of the Grand Canyon, examine contemporary issues facing the park, meet with officials from the National Park Service and other local experts, conduct research, and experience the park through hiking and camping. The course will culminate in the spring term with the completion and presentation of a major research project.

Prerequisite: History 306

Spring Break OCS Program Course. HIST 306 required for previous Winter Term registration.