AMST 301
Theories and Methods in American Studies (Junior Seminar) Spring 2024
Division II

Class Details

This seminar serves as an introduction to theories, methods, sources, and approaches for interdisciplinary research and creativity in and through the interdisciplinary field of American Studies. We will study diverse ways of “doing” American Studies work (including but not limited to visual studies, ethnography, literary studies, theory, or museum studies) and how this work speaks to various intellectual and political priorities within the field. Through readings, discussions, and unit assignments, students will not only deepen their knowledge of American Studies but will also have concrete opportunities to research, explore, experiment, construct arguments, and play. In the process, students will gain a working competence in all four tracks of the major (Space and Place; Comparative Studies in Race, Ethnicity, and Diaspora; Arts in Context; and Critical and Cultural Theory). Topics in the course may include environmental justice, racial formation, social movements, the prison industrial complex, infrastructure, or the aesthetics and form of minority literature.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 15
Expected: 12
Class#: 3559
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: Requirements: 2-4 articles/chapters of weekly reading, class participation, 3-4 unit-based writing and creative assignments; 1 oral presentation/discussion facilitation; Instructor evaluation: writing and creative assignments, oral presentation/discussion facilitation. Other evaluations include student self-assessment based on an individual goal statement, and students' collective evaluation based on a collective goal statement.
Prerequisites: AMST 101 or permission of instructor
Enrollment Preferences: Juniors and seniors majoring in American Studies; sophomores planning to declare the major (especially those thinking of going abroad in their junior year)
Unit Notes: Required for American Studies major
Distributions: Division II

Class Grid

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