AMST 201(F,S) Introduction to American Studies
To be an "American" means something more than U.S. citizenship. In this
course, we focus on the problems and possibilities of American identity. Access
to Americanness is shaped by factors such as class, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, and region-categories which themselves change in meaning
over time. Given the geographical, racial, and cultural diversity of the United
States, the ways in which Americans imagine nation inevitably vary over time,
according to place, and among different individuals and groups. Rather than a
survey of any one aspect or period of American history, literature, or popular
culture, this course is an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of American
Studies, a field defined both by the range of texts we read (essays, novels, autobiographies, photographs, films, music, architecture, historical documents, legal
texts), and by the questions we ask of them: How have different Americans
imagined what it means to be an American? What ideas about national history,
patriotism, and moral character shape their visions of Americanness? How do
the educational system, mass media, government policies regarding citizenship
and immigration shape American identities? How are boundaries of inclusion
and exclusion in the nation drawn? What uses have been made of the claim to an
American identity, and what is at stake in that claim? How have Americans
imagined a national landscape, a national culture, and to what ends?
Format: discussion. Evaluation will be based on a series of short critical essays
and a group project.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 25 per section (expected: 25 per section).
Preference given to sophomores and first-year students with AP 5 in U.S. History. One section in the fall; one section in the spring.