Course Descriptions
American Studies
AMST 101 - Explorations of Race and Racism
The main objectives of this introductory course are: to explore the historical construction of racial categories in the United States; to understand the systemic impact of racism on contemporary social processes; to consider popular views about race in the light of emerging scholarship in the field; and to develop an ability to connect personal experiences to larger, collective realities. We will engage several questions as a group: What are the historical and sociological foundations of racial categories? When does focusing on race make someone racist? What is white privilege, and why does it matter? All students will be asked to think and write about their own racial identity. This course, or its equivalent, is required for majors and minors.
Frequency: Every year.
AMST 102 - Reading Plays
Reading Plays guides students in close readings of dramatic literature, in particular of plays that are typically left out of the traditional theatrical canon. Students will learn about the socio-historical context of each play, and in-class exercises will introduce them to the foundation of script analysis: they will examine the play's given circumstances, dialogue, dramatic action, characters, and style. Students will read a new play every week; assignments include weekly in-class writing exercises and short critical papers.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: THDA 112
AMST 112 - Introduction to African American Literature
An introduction to the study of an African American literary tradition. The focus or themes of the course, as well as authors and texts, will vary by semester and instructor, but all sections will emphasize the tradition's major genres, such as slave narratives and slam poetry, and its major movements, such as the Harlem Renaissance and Afrofuturism. The course will also provide instruction in the methods of literary analysis, including reading closely and writing text-based argument. Consult the detailed course description in the English department or on the registrar's web page for the content of individual sections.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: ENGL 112
AMST 114 - Introduction to Asian American Studies
This course introduces the basic issues and concepts of Asian American Studies. We begin by looking at the birth of Asian American Studies as a field in response to student protests in the late 1960s. We then proceed to an overview of Asian American history beginning with U.S. imperialism in Asia and moving up to the present moment. For the remainder of the course, we'll focus on particular topics such as: the model minority myth; anti-Asian violence; multiracial Asian American identity; and Asian American activism. The approach of this course is interdisciplinary; it draws on theoretical and methodological insights from academic disciplines such as history, ethnic studies, and sociology.
Frequency: Fall semester only.
Cross-Listed as: ASIA 114
AMST 120 - Hunger Games: Map and Mirror for the 21st Century
This introductory-level course uses the youth-oriented Hunger Games trilogy as a platform for launching an adult and scholarly conversation about global inequality, environmentalism, Reality TV, race/gender/sexuality, war, revolution, and the power of love. Clearly, we will take an interdisciplinary approach; that is to say we will read, discuss, write, and interact in ways that are less concerned about adhering to disciplinary traditions than about exploring ideas and problems that are relevant to the 21st century. A major goal of the course is to open up our hearts and minds, and to discover more precisely what we hunger for-as scholars, citizens, and human residents of the planet Earth.
Frequency: Fall semester only.
AMST 130 - What's after white empire-and is it already here?
From the Philippine-American War (1898-1910) to the global uprisings of May 2020, white supremacy and US imperialism have marched hand-in-hand, buttressed by cultures of violence and literal guns and tanks. Yet cracks in the walls of racism and empire have also always existed, with hopeful gestures of solidarity and activist movements pushing forward with new possibilities and imagined futures. In this discussion-based course, we will look for the common threads that link David Fagen (Black U.S. army soldier who defected and joined the Philippine nationalists in 1899) to the Vietnam antiwar movement (1955-1975) to Grace Lee Boggs (Chinese American philosopher activist based in Detroit, 1915-2015) along with many other individuals and events. Among the significant questions we will consider are: How can we change the separatist mindset of "zero-sum" and move toward solidarity on a world scale? What lessons can be drawn from the global COVID pandemic and the Russian war in Ukraine? How can we replace a culture of violence with a culture of peace?
Frequency: Fall semester only.
AMST 160 - Culture Power Difference
The theorization of difference is an important aspect of cultural theory. In this class we will look at the role of difference as it is understood through ideas of representational and aesthetic politics as well as through the practice and production of knowledge. We want to examine the turn to difference within cultural studies and how this move has shifted how we think about power relations and meaning making in society. We will look at the foundational work of critical race and ethnic studies in cultural theory as well more recent scholarly work that focuses on the administration of difference through surveillance technology and social media. The class will expose students to a range of material including print, digital media, film, television, and internet and social media.
Frequency: Every year
Cross-Listed as: MCST 160
AMST 194 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
AMST 200 - Critical Methods for American Studies Research
This course will introduce students to interdisciplinary research approaches to the study of race, ethnicity, and other categories of difference. Students will learn to conceptualize and design research projects, and will obtain hands-on experience in executing different methods. The course will also consider the critiques of systems of knowledge production and research approaches that have been informed by scholars from fields such as African American history, gender studies, and critical race studies, as well as from the disciplines. The goal is to develop an understanding of the assumptions embedded in many fields of inquiry, and to learn to apply critical approaches to important research questions.
Frequency: Spring semester only
Prerequisite(s): AMST 101 or another AMST course.
AMST 203 - Politics and Inequality: The American Welfare State
The readings and assignments in this course are designed to help students understand how social policies and programs contribute to Americans' lived experiences. We will examine various theoretical justifications for the policies that constitute the American welfare state, then confront and dissect major strands of the American social safety net to better understand how political institutions and policy mechanisms contribute to both diversity and inequality in individuals' social, economic and political outcomes (based in race, class, gender, dis/ability, region, political jurisdiction, etc.).
Frequency: Alternate spring semesters.
Cross-Listed as: POLI 203
AMST 205 - Trans Theories and Politics
In less than ten years we have gone from Laverne Cox gracing the cover of Time Magazine, declaring that we have reached the "transgender tipping point," to a broad based anti-trans culture war. From Caitlyn Jenner to Laverne Cox, CeCe MacDonald to Chelsea Manning, Transparent to Pose, trans people have experienced unprecedented media coverage over the past ten years. And yet, alongside this positive media coverage, trans exclusion has emerged as a key component of the global rise of white nationalism, and we see legislatures across the country foment fear of the transsexual child predator, pass bills to restrict trans kid's participation in sports, and limit gender affirming medical care for youth and adults. Even more concerning, The National Coalition of Antiviolence Projects reports that 2021 saw a record number of murders of transgender individuals, in particular trans women of color. In all of these instances, it's useful to consider how and why the specter of transness is raised. What social and political work does that figure do?This course investigates the ways that ideas about normative and non-normative gender are produced in the context of white supremacy and capitalism, recognizing that discourses about gender, race, class, sexuality and nation are co-constitutive and historically contingent. Foregrounding intersectionality, we begin with situating the production and policing norms around gender and sexuality as a key tactic of settler colonialism, and then we move forward in time through the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries to think about how norms around racialized gender and sexuality have been policed, resisted, and transformed in various historical moments.This course will examine transness as practices of gender transgression, rather than solely an identity category, practices that are historically and geographically contingent. In doing so, we will ask: What has gender non-conformity meant in various historical moments? How do race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability structure trans lives and communities? How have key institutions within the US constructed ideas about gender normativity and policed gender transgression? How has that policing impacted and shaped trans life? What is the relationship between feminism and trans people and trans liberation? How have trans people envisioned and fought for social justice? What space can trans embodiment and politics open up for new ways of living, relating, and imagining otherwise?
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: WGSS 205
AMST 209 - Civil Rights in the United States
The course examines the post-World War II Civil Rights Movement led by African Americans in the United States. In the class, students will analyze key people, issues, events, and debates within movement history, including, but not limited to, gender and leadership; struggles for civil rights in the south, west, and urban north; the impact of the Cold War on race relations; student activism; movement strategies; and the emergence of Black Power. Throughout the semester, students will read a wide variety of primary and secondary texts to illuminate the activities and life stories of individual participants as well as the broad historical forces that characterized this long era of insurgency.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: HIST 209
AMST 219 - In Motion: African Americans in the United States
In Motion is an introduction to modern African American History from slavery to contemporary times. In Motion emphasizes the idea that both African Americans and the stories of their lives in the United States are fluid, varied and continually being reinterpreted. Rather than a strict chronological survey, this course is organized thematically. Some of the important themes include movement/mobility/migration; work/labor; resistance to systems of oppression; gender/sexuality/culture/performance; politics/citizenship; and sites of (re)memory. While the course is geographically situated in the United States, we will also consider African American life, culture, thought and resistance in global perspectives. In this course, students will read important historical texts, both primary and secondary, engage in discussion, and write essays that ask them to critically engage the history of African Americans in the US. Cross-listed with History 219. 4 credits.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: HIST 219
AMST 222 - Imagining the American West
The American West is central to the construction of America's identity and popular culture. The mythology of the American West, built on a narrow foundation of Euro-American settlement and conquest, is critical to understanding the role of the West in the national narrative of American history. Using a variety of materials, including films, art and photography, literature, and historical sources, this course will examine how writers, artists, actors, settlers, and government officials, among others, shaped the creation of the mythic West. This course will investigate what - and who - is and is not considered part of this mythology, as well as the ways in which these constructs attempted to make sense of the diverse populations converging in the West. Can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "North America" fields of the History major.
Frequency: Offered alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: HIST 222
AMST 224 - African American History Before 1865: Enslavement, Resistance, and Emancipation
The experiences of African-descended peoples in the Americas, both in slavery and freedom, varied enormously across geography and changed over time. Focusing on North America and the Caribbean before 1865, this course will highlight ways that people suffered under systems of slavery but also explore how they struggled against bondage, created new identities, and formulated a distinctive Black Protest Tradition. The course will interrogate the changing ways that race functioned legally, politically, and culturally before 1865. It will also examine the various ways that Africans in the Americas resisted legal enslavement through violence, political activism, and cultural creativity. Because this is a history course, we will examine the nature of sources, including archives, to consider how we know what we know about the past. Can count towards "Race and Indigeneity," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: HIST 224
AMST 225 - Native History to 1871
This course examines Native history to 1871 -- the year that Congress unilaterally chose to stop making treaties with Native nations -- by considering the multifaceted histories and experiences of Native people in what is now the United States. By looking at Native interactions with (and resistance to) Spanish, French, British, and American explorers, settlers, missionaries, militaries, and government officials, this course argues that Native history is essential to understanding past as well as present issues. Can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
Cross-Listed as: HIST 225
AMST 226 - American Indian History since 1871
This course examines Native history since 1871, the year Congress unilaterally chose to stop making treaties with Native nations. By focusing on Native sovereignty, resistance, and the exercise of treaty rights, this course highlights histories and contemporary experiences of Native people in what is now the United States. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Offered spring semester.
Cross-Listed as: HIST 226
AMST 229 - Narrating Black Women's Resistance
This course examines traditions of 20th century African American women's activism and the ways in which they have changed over time. Too often, the narrative of the "strong black woman" infuses stories of African American women's resistance which, coupled with a culture of dissemblance, makes the inner workings of their lives difficult to imagine. This course, at its heart, seeks to uncover the motivations, both personal and political, behind African American women's activism. It also aims to address the ways in which African American women have responded to the pressing social, economic, and political needs of their diverse communities. The course also asks students to consider narrative, voice and audience in historical writing, paying particular attention to the ways in which black women's history has been written over the course of the twentieth century.
Frequency: Every year.
AMST 231 - Sovereignty Matters: Critical Indigeneity, Gender and Governance
This course is an introduction to Indigenous feminisms, politics and law in the United States. We will explore key concepts and theoretical frameworks of gender and sexuality within Indigenous Studies as a core analytical frame and method for understanding political movements, law and governance. No prior coursework required.
Frequency: Fall semester only.
AMST 232 - Immigration and Ethnicity in US History
An overview of U.S. history as seen through the experiences of newly arriving and adjusting immigrant groups. This course is designed primarily for students who have no previous college-level background in U.S. history.
Frequency: Occasionally.
Cross-Listed as: HIST 232
AMST 235 - Captives, Cannibals, and Capitalists in the Early Modern Atlantic World
This course explores cross-cultural encounters in the Americas that characterized the meetings of Europeans, Africans, and Americans in the early modern world between 1492 and 1763. During this period, the Atlantic Ocean and its adjacent land masses became critical locations for economic, biological, and cultural exchanges. This course focuses on the Americas as sites for discovery, mutual incomprehension, and exploitation. The course explores the ways that conquest, resistance, and strategic cooperation shaped peoples' "new worlds" on both sides of the Atlantic. It also considers how colonialism framed and was framed by scientific inquiry, religious beliefs, economic thought, and artistic expression. Students interrogate primary sources-written, visual and aural--that emerged from these encounters and the secondary literatures that have sought to make sense of them.
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
AMST 237 - Environmental Justice
Poor and minority populations have historically borne the brunt of environmental inequalities in the United States, suffering disproportionately from the effects of pollution, resource depletion, dangerous jobs, limited access to common resources, and exposure to environmental hazards. Paying particular attention to the ways that race, ethnicity, class, and gender have shaped the political and economic dimensions of environmental injustices, this course draws on the work of scholars and activists to examine the long history of environmental inequities in the United States, along with more recent political movements-national and local-that seek to rectify environmental injustices.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: ENVI 237
AMST 240 - Race, Culture, and Ethnicity in Education
This survey course will explore history, policy, and pedagogy as they relate to race, ethnicity, and culture as education. K-12 public education will be the primary focus with topics including desegregation, standardized testing, multi-cultural and ethnocentric pedagogy, the teacher's role and experience, and significant historical events in education. The course will culminate by analyzing current trends and future expectations in education.
Frequency: Spring semester.
Cross-Listed as: EDUC 240
AMST 241 - Reclaiming Zen, Yoga and Church: Asian American Religions
Asian Americans are often overlooked in the study of religion in the U.S., and yet the impact of Asian religious practices can be seen at every turn: yoga studios, mindfulness meditation, "zen" aesthetics of minimalism, and so on. What do we make of the gap between how Asian religions are practiced in Asian American communities and how these traditions have been reinterpreted by predominantly white, educated, middle class adherents? How do Asian American Christians negotiate their identities in the context of non-Asian Christian churches or the intergenerational tensions within their own ethnic churches? The approach of this course is interdisciplinary (and sometimes counterdisciplinary); it draws on theoretical and methodological insights from ethnic studies, religious studies, history, and sociology. Topics include: race and the racialization of Asian Americans; the politics of cultural and religious exchange; the commodification of Asian religious practices; and issues of assimilation and hybridity within Asian American Christian traditions.
Frequency: Spring semester only.
AMST 244 - Urban Latinx Power in the U.S.
Comparative study of Latinx political struggles in U.S. cities. How did Chicana feminists transform student social movements on college campuses? In San Antonio, Denver, and Los Angeles, how did multiracial coalitions elect pioneering Latino mayors? And in Chicago, who fought for immigrant rights and who stood in their way? We will explore the themes of subordination and empowerment through study of anti-immigrant ballot initiatives in California, Cuban dominance in Miami politics, multiracial violence in Los Angeles, and battles over labor conditions, affirmative action, bilingual education, and racial profiling.
Frequency: Alternate years.
AMST 250 - Race, Place and Space
In this discussion-based course we focus on the racialized places of U.S. cities, rural towns and suburbs in an effort to understand how social, historic, and spatial forces have colluded to bring about complex and enduring racial formations. We will look for race and related social categories in places around St. Paul and Minneapolis. By engaging theories about visuality and representation, urban development and suburban sprawl, and social movements for racial justice, we will develop a specialized vocabulary for explaining how race, place, and space are connected.
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
Prerequisite(s): Prior exposure to American Studies, human geography, sociology or race/ethnicity or urban studies.
Cross-Listed as: GEOG 250
AMST 251 - Race and the Law
Racism has been written into the United States' laws and entrenched in its institutions for much of its history. Understanding how laws and race intersect to shape institutions is critical to any analysis on race. This course will be divided into two sections. In Section 1, we will examine how court cases and government actions have moved towards equality in six public policy areas: citizenship, education, voting, employment, housing, and marriage. In Section 2, we will learn about and apply the framework of Critical Race Theory to the public policy areas discussed in Section 1.
Frequency: Spring semester only.
AMST 253 - James Baldwin and the Black Religious Imagination
This course explores James Baldwin's life and work as a writer and activist. Baldwin was a black queer man in an antiblack and heteronormative world. His queer imagination and spirituality are part of the same cloth. Deeply scared by the black church, Baldwin's spirituality and art were, nevertheless, profoundly shaped by the spirit and language of black church religiosity. Through a heterogenous body of writing and the life he lived, Baldwin explored the souls of black folks (including queer blackness) and the nature of American identity.
Frequency: Fall semester.
Cross-Listed as: RELI 253
AMST 256 - Transatlantic Slave Trade
This class examines the Atlantic commerce in enslaved Africans that took place between 1500 and 1800. We will explore, among other topics, transatlantic commerce, the process of turning captives into commodities, the gendered dimensions of the slave trade, onboard experiences, resistance to the trade, Africans in the Americas, and the abolitionist movement on both sides of the Atlantic. Students will read a range of primary and secondary sources in order to gain a more complex understanding of the trade and how it changed over time. Meets the global and/or comparative history requirement. Meets the pre-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "Africa & Atlantic World" fields within the History major.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: HIST 256
AMST 260 - Race, Cultural Politics and Social Movements
Since the nineteenth century, the struggles for racial equality and ethnic identity formation in the United States have been situated within formal and informal social movements. This course examines the central role of culture - including music, art, performance, literature, and media - in race-based activism. We will consider various aspects of the African American freedom struggle, Asian American and Latino/a activism, and the indigenous rights movement, paying particular attention to how culture functions as a tool for organizing, group cohesion, and outreach. The course will also consider how popular culture reflects and shapes social movements.
AMST 263 - African American Theater
This course is an overview of the development of theater by and about Black Americans. It examines the historical, social, political, and cultural context of African-American Theater. After investigating the roots of African-American Theater in African culture, performance modes, and social values, it focuses on a study of plays written by Black Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Cross-Listed as: THDA 263
AMST 268 - American Culture in the Atomic Age
Since the development of the first atomic weapon, nuclear power has come to define the American and global political and cultural landscape. Fantasies of annihilation and ruin not only define the contemporary political imaginary but also obscure the past and delimit notions of time, space, and futurity Join us as we trace contemporary U.S. history and environmental policy and the stakes of "wastelanding" through art, culture and activism.
Frequency: Spring semester only.
Cross-Listed as: ENVI 268
AMST 270 - Black Public Intellectuals
This course will address the tradition of public intellectuals in numerous Black communities. We will expand the definition of "politics" to include theater, literature, and film. We will interrogate the concept of who chooses the scholarly leaders for Black communities. We will examine numerous topics such as Communism, The American Dream, Incarceration, Feminism, and Ebony Voices in the Ivory Tower.
AMST 271 - Uses and Abuses: Drugs, Addiction and Recovery
After a brief but essential global history of drugs, this course will focus primarily on the 20th century to the present. We will examine histories of substance use and abuse, temperance and prohibition, the "War on Drugs," the shifting concept of addiction as a moral failing to addiction as a treatable disease, as well as study the history of the recovery movement and harm reduction. This course is not intended to be an exhaustive, comprehensive history of the subject-but it will provide you with a solid base from which to explore other aspects of this fascinating and contentious aspect of human history.
Frequency: Fall semester.
Cross-Listed as: HIST 271
AMST 275 - African American Literature to 1900
This course will trace the development of an African American literary tradition from the end of the eighteenth century to the turn of the twentieth century, from authors such as Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano to Frances Harper and Charles Chesnutt. The course will investigate the longstanding project of writing an African American self as both a literary and a political subject, and it will consider texts from multiple genres, such as lyric poetry, protest poetry, slave narratives, spirituals, folktales, personal correspondence, essays, short stories, autobiographies, novels, transcribed oral addresses, and literary criticism and theory
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: ENGL 275
AMST 281 - Bruce Lee, His Life and Legacy
This discussion-based course is entirely focused on Bruce Lee, the actor and leading martial arts icon of the 20th century. Using American Studies and Critical Race Studies frames to examine the construction of racialized and gendered bodies, we will discuss Bruce Lee in terms of his biography, identities, politics, philosophy, and filmography. We will take time to appreciate the entertainment value and athleticism that Bruce Lee brought to his work, but we will also learn to distinguish the commercialized, commodified Bruce Lee (from t-shirts to posters to action figures) from the serious historical figure who symbolized the spirit of cultural independence and political sovereignty around the world. Among the required books and movies: The Tao of Jeet Kune Do, and "Way of the Dragon" (1972).
Frequency: Every year.
AMST 284 - Radical Reelism: Indigeneity, Politics, and Visual Culture
Join us as we explore the roots and routes of Native Cultural Studies through photography, film, television, print and media. How have Indigenous people been represented in visual culture? And what can Indigenous visual artists or film theory teach us about the past, present and future in the United States? No previous coursework required.
Frequency: Fall semester only.
Cross-Listed as: MCST 284
AMST 288 - Identity, Race, and Ethnicity in Japan
From notions of the "pure self" to teenage ganguro ("face-blackening"), Japanese culture is rife with instances of ideology and performance that reflect a deep complexity in its engagement with issues of identity and foreignness. This course traces the roots of this complexity back to Japan's beginnings as a modern nation and examines its cultural development into the present day. Works of fiction will be paired with readings in history and criticism to explore the meanings of identity, race, and ethnicity as they are expressed and contested in Japanese culture. The course will cover the literature of Korea and Taiwan, the experience of domestic minorities, and the contemporary cultures of cos-play ("costume-play") and hip-hop. No prior knowledge of Japanese required.
Frequency: Alternate years.
AMST 289 - Not Your Model Minority: Japanese Americans from Incarceration to Redress and Beyond
In 1966, sociologist William Peterson published an article in the New York Times titled, "Success Story, Japanese-American Style," which praised Japanese Americans, their family structure, and their culture for achieving education and financial success despite having been incarcerated en masse during World War II. This marks the first articulation of model minority myth, which stereotypes Asian American as being successful, hardworking, law-abiding, and dutiful, relative to other minoritized groups. So, how did Japanese Americans go from being perceived as enemy spies to the original "model minority"? This course will examine the history and experience of Japanese Americans from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, with an eye toward Japanese American activism and resistance. Topics will include: U.S. imperialism in Asia; the effects of incarceration during World War II; Japanese Americans in Hawai'i; Japanese American organizing against Islamophobia and the mass incarceration of migrants at the border; and Japanese American solidarity with the civil rights movement and reparations for African Americans.
Frequency: Spring semester only.
Cross-Listed as: ASIA 289
AMST 294 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
AMST 300 - Critical Legal Studies
This course will focus on critical legal cases to U.S. race relations from World War II to the present. the syllabus is divided into five units. We examine: 1) Public school desegregation in a Midwestern Black community; 2) Public school desegregation in a Southwestern Mexican community; 3) American Indian sovereignty; 4) We then turn to the Vincent Chin case to consider hate crimes as one of the many forms of backlash against affirmative action programs. We will end the class by asking how racism reproduces itself in the 21st century; 5) Affirmative Action Backlash.
Prerequisite(s): American Studies Major or permission of instructor.
AMST 308 - Introduction to U.S. Latinx Studies
This course provides an interdisciplinary discussion of the Latinx experience in the United States with a focus on Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Cuban- Americans. Using fiction, poetry, films and critical essays, we will examine issues of race and ethnicity, language, identity, gender and sexuality, politics, and immigration. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement for the Spanish major.
Frequency: Every semester.
AMST 315 - U.S. Imperialism from the Philippines to Viet Nam
In this discussion-based seminar, we will examine U.S. Global presence through the lenses of empire, diaspora, and transnationalism. We will look specifically at U.S. involvement in the Philippines and Viet Nam from 1898 to 1975 as moments of military occupation and cultural domination, as well as turning points for U.S. nation-building. What is "imperialism" and how is it different from "hegemony"? How did U.S. imperial adventures in Asia help to recreate a Western geographic imaginary of the "East"? How did they reshape or reconfigure "American" positions and identities? Under what circumstances were former imperial subjects allowed to generate racialized communities? To what extent are memories of U.S. conflicts in Asia cultivated, proliferated, twisted, or suppressed? What lessons can be garnered for the contemporary historical moment? Other topics for exploration include: internment, transracial adoption, commemorations of war, and anti-imperialist/anti-war movements.
Frequency: Spring semester.
AMST 325 - Labor and Class and the Theater
Join the conversations around class and the development of the labor movement in the US from the late 1800s to the present day through the lens of the theater and the people who worked in it. We will ask how the economic and political landscape shaped their working conditions, and how the arts themselves then shaped that same landscape. We will engage with this great conversation through 8-9 plays on power, labor and class struggle and analyze them in their context both as pieces of theatrical entertainment and political statements. Throughout the semester, students will also research parallel developments in other parts of the world and will present a research and analysis paper comparing and contrasting their findings with the material presented in class.
Frequency: Alternate spring semesters.
Cross-Listed as: THDA 325.
AMST 336 - Blacks in Paris/Noires á Paris
In his unpublished essay, "I choose exile," Richard Wright declared, "To live in Paris is to allow one's sensibilities to be moved by physical beauty. I love my adopted city. Its sunsets, its teeming boulevards, its slow and humane tempo of life have entered deeply into my heart." Paulette Nardal wrote in her essay "Awakening of Racial Consciousness" that living in Paris in the 1920s had created for Black women the "need of racial solidarity that would not be merely material" and an "awakening to race consciousness" that they had not experienced or understood fully before leaving home and meeting Blacks from other countries in Paris.
This course will look at the relationship that Blacks have had to France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will explore the art, literature, music and political protest that were generated in the "City of Lights." The presence of African Americans has usually been seen, by both themselves and others, as a commentary on race. We will examine the lives of Blacks who left the United States expressly to escape the burdens of discrimination and came to Paris as self-conscious refugees from racism. We will also examine the lives of Blacks who left the French colonies to pursue a western education in France, but who developed broader philosophical ideologies, including the cultural, artistic and literary movements of la Négritude. We will examine their experiences and critique the myth of a color-blind France.
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 204 or higher
Cross-Listed as: FREN 336
AMST 341 - City Life: Segregation, Integration, and Gentrification
This course connects students with urban social geography, which studies the social and spatial dimensions of city life. In this course, we will explore some of the ways urban society is organized geographically. We will also consider how the spatial patterns of urban life influence public policy issues in the North American context. Topics covered in this course include causes of racial segregation, debates about gentrification, sustainable urban development, the transition to shared governance in cities, and the delivery of urban services that affect the welfare of urban populations. Students will learn current research, engage debates about critical urban issues, and learn techniques useful for analyzing spatial patterns in the urban landscape.
Frequency: Offered every year.
Cross-Listed as: GEOG 341
AMST 355 - Abolition Feminism: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Critical Prison Studies
This course explores the history and politics of, and theoretical approaches to, gender and sexuality in relation to the racial politics of mass incarceration, or what Ruth Wilson Gilmore calls the "carceral geography" of the United States. By engaging recent work in queer and trans studies, feminist studies, and critical prison studies, we will consider how prisons and policing have shaped the making and remaking of race, gender, and sexuality from slavery and conquest to the contemporary period, and consider how the racialized harm of the criminal punishment system is often enacted through the policing of gender and sexuality. We will examine how police and prisons have regulated the body, identity, and populations, and the larger social, political, and cultural changes connected to these processes. While we will focus on the carceral system itself, we will also think of policing in a more expansive way by analyzing the racialized regulation of gender and sexuality on the plantation, in the colony, at the border, in the welfare office, and in the hospital, among other spaces, historical periods, and places. This is a community engaged course, and in the second half of the semester, students will work closely with the organization REP MN on a community-engaged project.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: WGSS 355
AMST 370 - Understanding Race and Racism
This course examines psychological factors associated with race and racism in the United States. We will investigate theoretical, empirical, and experiential findings on the construction of race, racial socialization, and racial identity development. We will pay particular attention to the causes and consequences of racism at the individual, interpersonal, institutional and cultural levels of society, examining research on stereotyping, implicit/explicit bias, prejudice, and discrimination and how these factors contribute to racial disparities and inequality. We will also consider interventions for reducing racism, improving intergroup relations, and fostering greater equality and inclusion. Counts as a UP3 course.
Prerequisite(s): PSYC 100, PSYC 201 (or STAT 155), and at least one intermediate course in Psychology.
Cross-Listed as: PSYC 370
AMST 380 - Topics in African American Literature
This course will explore African American cultural production and, depending on the instructor, may focus on a particular genre (e.g. novels, short stories, drama, poetry, detective fiction, speculative fiction), or a particular theme (e.g. The Protest Tradition, Black Feminist Writings), or on a particular period (e.g. the 1820s-1860s, the Harlem Renaissance, the 1950s), or on a particular author or authors (e.g. Douglass, Du Bois, Baldwin, Wideman, Morrison, Parks).
Frequency: Alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): One prior English course numbered in the 100s.
Cross-Listed as: ENGL 380
AMST 384 - Langston Hughes: Global Writer
The great African American writer Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is best known as the poet laureate of the Harlem Renaissance. But his career was vaster still. He was a Soviet screenwriter, Spanish Civil War journalist, African literary anthologist, humorist, playwright, translator, social critic, writer of over 10,000 letters, and much more. This course engages Hughes's full career, bridging race and global issues, politics and art, and makes use of little-known archival materials. This course fulfills the U.S. writers of color requirement for the English major.
AMST 387 - Latinx in the Midwest
This course uses literature, film, and scholarly works to explore the Latinx experience in the Midwest. We will examine how this population creates and sustains community, constructs their own sense of Latinidad, and how that identity and its cultural practices are informed by and impact the region. Events involving the Twin Cities' Latinx communities will enrich our learning and discussions. this course satisfies the Area 2 requirement of the Spanish major.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN 308
AMST 392 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
AMST 394 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
AMST 400 - Senior Seminar
The Senior Capstone is required of all majors. Majors who meet college criteria are encouraged to conduct an honors project in conjunction with their Senior Capstone.
AMST 445 - Frontera: The U.S./Mexico Border
The border region between the United States and Mexico exists as both a physical space and an ideological construct. This seminar uses literary and filmic narratives to explore issues of identity, opportunity, and violence that arise from this contested space. How does the border shape individual and cultural identities? In what ways does the border create opportunities for both advancement and exploitation? How do these works engage conflicts and tensions of race, nationalism, gender, and power? The course will include writers and filmmakers from both countries, and we will read original texts both in Spanish and English. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement for the Spanish major.
Frequency: Generally taught alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN 308 or consent of the instructor.
AMST 494 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
AMST 601 - Tutorial
Closely supervised individual or small group study with a faculty member. A student may explore, by way of readings, short writings, etc., an area of study not available through the regular catalog offerings.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
AMST 602 - Tutorial
Closely supervised individual or small group study with a faculty member. A student may explore, by way of readings, short writings, etc., an area of study not available through the regular catalog offerings.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
AMST 603 - Tutorial
Closely supervised individual or small group study with a faculty member. A student may explore, by way of readings, short writings, etc., an area of study not available through the regular catalog offerings.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
AMST 604 - Tutorial
Closely supervised individual or small group study with a faculty member. A student may explore, by way of readings, short writings, etc., an area of study not available through the regular catalog offerings.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
AMST 611 - Independent Project
Closely supervised independent study with a faculty member. Students may explore, through reading and writing or independent research, an area of knowledge not available through regular course offerings.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Introductory American Studies course and permission of instructor and department chair.
AMST 612 - Independent Project
Closely supervised independent study with a faculty member. Students may explore, through reading and writing or independent research, an area of knowledge not available through regular course offerings.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Introductory American Studies course and permission of instructor and department chair.
AMST 613 - Independent Project
Closely supervised independent study with a faculty member. Students may explore, through reading and writing or independent research, an area of knowledge not available through regular course offerings.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Introductory American Studies course and permission of instructor and department chair.
AMST 614 - Independent Project
Closely supervised independent study with a faculty member. Students may explore, through reading and writing or independent research, an area of knowledge not available through regular course offerings.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Introductory American Studies course and permission of instructor and department chair.
AMST 621 - Internship
Majors are encouraged to take an internship after the Civic Engagement seminar.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
AMST 622 - Internship
Majors are encouraged to take an internship after the Civic Engagement seminar.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
AMST 623 - Internship
Majors are encouraged to take an internship after the Civic Engagement seminar.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
AMST 624 - Internship
Majors are encouraged to take an internship after the Civic Engagement seminar.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
AMST 631 - Preceptorship
Students may arrange to precept a course with a department member. They will normally be expected to attend the course, do the reading and participate in discussion, look over student writing, and provide guidance or tutor as necessary.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.
AMST 632 - Preceptorship
Students may arrange to precept a course with a department member. They will normally be expected to attend the course, do the reading and participate in discussion, look over student writing, and provide guidance or tutor as necessary.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.
AMST 633 - Preceptorship
Students may arrange to precept a course with a department member. They will normally be expected to attend the course, do the reading and participate in discussion, look over student writing, and provide guidance or tutor as necessary.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.
AMST 634 - Preceptorship
Students may arrange to precept a course with a department member. They will normally be expected to attend the course, do the reading and participate in discussion, look over student writing, and provide guidance or tutor as necessary.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.