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

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.