AMERICAN STUDIES • Courses in the 1000s are primarily introductory undergraduate courses American Studies explores the culture and politics of the • Those in the 2000s to 4000s are upper-division United States and the role of the United States in the world. undergraduate courses that also may be taken for graduate Faculty and students analyze issues of race, gender, sexuality, credit with permission and additional work assigned and other forms of power in American life; transnational flows • Those in the 6000s and 8000s are for master’s, doctoral, of culture, ideas, and religious beliefs; the development and and professional-level students transformation of public cultures and spaces; and the ways that • The 6000s are open to advanced undergraduate students policy interacts with each of these areas of inquiry. At both the with approval of the instructor and the dean or advising undergraduate and graduate levels, students are prepared for office careers in academic and popular education, media, journalism, cultural resource management, museums, and preservation, as AMST 1000. Dean's Seminar. 3 Credits. well as for further education in law, medicine, academia, and a The Dean’s Seminars provide Columbian College first- wide range of disciplines. year students focused scholarship on specific intellectual challenges. Topics vary by semester; see department for more UNDERGRADUATE details. Bachelor's program AMST 1050. Explorations in American Culture. 3 Credits. Exploration of different aspects of American culture depending • Bachelor of Arts with a major in American studies (http:// on the topic. Topic announced in the Schedule of Classes. May bulletin.gwu.edu/arts-sciences/american-studies/ba/) be repeated for credit provided the topic differs. Combined program AMST 1070. The American Cinema. 3 Credits. History and criticism of American films. The course enables • Dual Bachelor of Arts with a major in American studies the student to recognize and evaluate cinema techniques, to and Master of Arts in the field of American studies (http:// express the evaluation clearly in writing, and to understand the bulletin.gwu.edu/arts-sciences/american-studies/combined- role of films in the context of American culture. Laboratory fee. ba-ma/) (Same as AH 1070) Minor AMST 1099. Variable Topics. 1-36 Credits. • Minor in American studies (http://bulletin.gwu.edu/arts- AMST 1100. Politics and Film. 3 Credits. sciences/american-studies/minor/) How American films interpret and challenge political power in America. GRADUATE AMST 1160. Race, Gender, and Law. 3 Credits. Master's program Significant civil rights cases, critical race theory, feminist theory, and current public policy debates on domestic violence, mass • Master of Arts in the field of American studies (http:// imprisonment, sexual assault, and racial profiling. bulletin.gwu.edu/arts-sciences/american-studies/ma/) AMST 1200. The Sixties in America. 3 Credits. Doctoral program A survey of American society, culture, and politics during the decade of the 1960s. Topics include the civil rights • Doctor of Philosophy in the field of American studies (http:// movement, the student movement, the Vietnam War, and the bulletin.gwu.edu/arts-sciences/american-studies/phd/) counterculture. FACULTY AMST 2000. Sophomore Colloquium. 3 Credits. The Sophomore Colloquia are small seminar-style courses University Professor: V.N. Gamble limited to second-year students in Columbian College. Professors: M. McAlister, T.A. Murphy, G. Wald These courses engage students deeply in a discipline, focus on a narrow issue of high interest and impact, and require Associate Professors: E. Anker, J.N. Cohen-Cole, T. Guglielmo independent research projects of the students. Topics vary by (Chair), C. Heap, D. Orenstein, S. Osman, E. Peña semester; see department for more details. Permission of the instructor required prior to enrollment. Assistant Professor: N. Ivy Professorial Lecturers: K. Ott, J. Deutsch COURSES Explanation of Course Numbers 1 American Studies AMST 2010. Early American Cultural History. 3 Credits. AMST 2125. Varieties of Feminist Theory. 3 Credits. How culture was important in the creation of the United States Classical and contemporary texts on feminist explanations of —in its origins as a colonial outpost and its expansion across women’s status. Relationships within the sex/gender system the continent; in its hierarchies and expressions of power, and arrangements based on class and race. Evaluation, through especially as organized by race, class, ethnicity, or gender; in the lens of feminist theory, of several academic disciplines in the creation of democracy and the valuing of free expression; the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Same as WGSS and in the development of cities and the varied uses of the 2125. Prerequisites: WGSS 1020 or WGSS 2120. countryside. Same as HIST 2010. AMST 2144. Explorations in Historical Geography. 3 AMST 2011. Modern American Cultural History. 3 Credits. Credits. The effects of culture in the shaping of the United States Examination of selected themes in the cultural geography of since 1876. The role of the mass media; effects of cultural the United States over the course of its history, in relation to an conceptions on the physical landscape; changing ideas of race, overview of the historical geography of the country. Same as ethnicity, gender, and sexuality; and the political meanings of GEOG 2144. cultural conflict. Transnational influences on U.S. culture and AMST 2210. The African American Experience. 3 Credits. effects of U.S. culture abroad. Same as HIST 2011. This course provides a survey of the historical, political, and AMST 2020. Washington, DC: History, Culture, and Politics. cultural dimensions of the African American experience 3 Credits. in the U.S. The course is organized chronologically and Introduction to interdisciplinary methods of studying the thematically and covers topics such as American slavery, contemporary city. Major problems of metropolitan life, past medical experimentation, Hurricane Katrina, aesthetics, hip- and present, analyzed by faculty and community leaders. hop, and Afro-futurism. Emphasis on experiential team projects. Same As: AMST AMST 2320. U.S. Media and Cultural History. 3 Credits. 2020W, HIST 2020, HIST 2020W. History and analysis of twentieth-century U.S. media and AMST 2020W. Washington, DC: History, Culture, and culture, including the rise of consumer culture, film, and Politics. 3 Credits. television. Racial, gendered, and national identities in the Introduction to interdisciplinary methods of studying the context of modernism, mass culture, and globalization. (Same contemporary city. Major problems of metropolitan life, past as HIST 2320) and present, analyzed by faculty and community leaders. AMST 2350. U.S. Religion and Politics. 3 Credits. Emphasis on experiential team projects. Includes a significant How religion and politics have influenced each other in the engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry and scholarly United States and how Americans have understood those expression to satisfy the WID requirement. Same As: AMST influences. Religious violence; conflicts between faith and 2020, HIST 2020, HIST 2020W. science; religious factors in racial and gender politics; and the AMST 2071. Introduction to the Arts in America. 3 Credits. separation of church and state. Same as HIST 2350. A survey of American art from the period of colonial AMST 2380. Sexuality in U.S. History. 3 Credits. exploration and settlement to the postmodern present. Political Examination of the changing social organization and meaning and social meanings of painting, sculpture, architecture, of sexual practices and desires in American culture, with prints, and photographs. The relationship of art to religion particular attention to the relationship between sexuality and and nationalism; issues of class, race, and gender. Same as AH gendered racial and class identities and politics. Same as HIST 2071. 2380 and WGSS 2380. AMST 2120W. Freedom in American Thought and Popular AMST 2385. Sex and Citizenship. 3 Credits. Culture. 3 Credits. How gender and sexuality have shaped Americans’ America was founded on the premise of providing freedom understanding of citizenship; the state regulation of marriage, to its people. But what, exactly, is freedom? The question has reproduction, military service, immigration, and access to other been debated in America since its founding and continues government resources and benefits; the cultural representation today; this course examines varied answers provided by of women, LGBTQ individuals, and other sexual and gender American political thought and popular culture. Includes a minorities as second-class citizens; and the efforts of women, significant engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry LGBTQ groups, and others to claim full equality in American and scholarly expression to satisfy the WID requirement. Credit culture and politics. cannot be earned for this course and PSC 2120W. American Studies 2 AMST 2385W. Sex and Citizenship. 3 Credits. AMST 2490. Themes in U.S. Cultural History. 3 Credits. How gender and sexuality have shaped Americans’ Topical examination of the ideas, values, and modes of understanding of citizenship; the state regulation of marriage, expression that have made American life distinctive, as reproduction, military service, immigration, and access to other revealed through a cross-cultural or global perspective. Topic government resources and benefits; the cultural