Course Information

Courses Offered in Fall 2008-9

American studies is an interdisciplinary field that critically examines the connections among American literature, art, film, music, religion, economics and politics.  CASAR has a particular interest in the encounters between the United States and the Middle East.  AMST 215 Introduction to American Studies is required of all students completing the minor.  This team-taught course will be offered for the first time in Fall 2005. All AMST courses carry humanities credit except AMST 265/266 and AMST 298.

American Studies requires 15 credits: AMST 215, one course from AMST 220, 230, 265/266, 298, HIST 200, 271, 272, 273, 274, 278/279, PSPA 251; SOAN 215; plus one course from AMST 275/276, 299, CVSP 260AM, ENGL 201, 224, 225, 226; plus two additional courses chosen from any of the above or from the following (with the stipulation that no more than one from this list may be counted): ARCH 023, CVSP 208E, ENGL 215, 216, 218, 219, 222, 241, 242, PHIL 249, 263A, PSPA 234, 237.

American Studies Courses:

AMST 215            Introduction to American Studies
This course begins with the question: “What is America?”  Its approach is to explore the complex encounters that have shaped the cultures of the United States, beginning with the colonial juxtaposition of Europeans, Native Americans and Africans.  Subsequent encounters with Latinos, Asians and Arabs reveal the connections between foreign and domestic concerns. Cultural fictions and cultural exclusions have helped to sustain unity among many Americans, but sub-national and transnational identities call this into question.

AMST 220            Shock of Modernity in America 
Examines how Americans dealt with the first onslaught of commercial capitalism, industrial technology, and new modes of communication in the decades before the Civil War.  A surge of nationalism and social tension fueled an orgy of expansion that created a continental super-state.  The wrenching economic, social, and cultural changes of this era continue to resonate in the United States and in societies confronting modernity today.

AMST 230            Cultural Geography of North America
An examination of the geography of cultures in the United States and Canada through multiple frameworks including regions, languages, religions, ethnicity, and gender.  This course explores the roots and implications of these cultural patterns and considers cultural dynamics at several scales: the household, the city, the region, the nation, and the continent.  It also investigates the economic and industrial evolution of cities and regions, the dynamics of public versus private space, the effects of mobility, the dynamics of border zones, diasporic communities, and globalization. 

Special Topics and Tutorials:

AMST 265/266      Special Topics in American Society
A term-specific interdisciplinary course focusing on some aspect of American society.  May be repeated for credit.  Offered occasionally. 

AMST 275/276      Special Topics in American Humanities
A term-specific interdisciplinary course focusing on some aspect of American arts.  May be repeated for credit.  Offered occasionally. 

AMST 298             Tutorials in American Society
A tutorial course offered to seniors completing the Minor in American Studies who have an overall average of at least 80 and of at least 85 in the Minor courses.  This tutorial consists of independent research or directed reading in some aspect of American society and includes the preparation of a report or thesis on the work.    Offered on request.

AMST 299             Tutorials in American Humanities
A tutorial course offered to seniors completing the Minor in American Studies who have an overall average of at least 80 and of at least 85 in the Minor courses.  This tutorial consists of independent research or directed reading in some aspect of American arts and includes the preparation of a report or thesis on the work. Offered on request.

Other Courses:

ARCH 023              Form, Event, Ideology: The American City as Case Study
In this course, the study of the development of the city in the Americas provides the means to theorize design within the broader spectrum of development at a political, economic and cultural level. Film and readings for a counterpoint.

CVSP 208 E             Modern and Contemporary Studies (Thematic)
Individual courses designed to explore the periods covered in CVSP 203 and 204, utilizing a thematic approach. Examples of themes: Love in the Modern and Contemporary Worlds, Faith, Culture, and Modernity, Utopian Thought, Science and Society, Language, Imagination, and Poetry, and Epics: Text and Context. May be repeated for credit.  

ENGL 201               Survey of American Literature
An introduction to a broad range of major American writers and texts, most of which will be drawn from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This course will vary in content depending on the instructor. Annually.  

ENGL 224               American Literature to 1900
A course that examines the major literary movements of the period (Romanticism, Transcendentalism, Realism, and Naturalism) as seen in the works of the major literary figures of that period- Longfellow, Irving, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Dickinson, Whitman, Twain, and James. Annually.

ENGL 225              American Literature from 1900 to 1960
A course that looks at the development of American literature in the first half of the twentieth century, starting with Realism and Naturalism and ending with the works of the Beat Generation. Major figures whose works might be examined include Cather, Wharton, Anderson, Frost, O’Neil, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Steinbeck, and O’Connor. Annually.

ENGL 226               Contemporary American Literature
A course that examines recent and current trends and movements in American literature, such as Absurdism, Post-Modernism, and ethnic literatures of the United States. The works studied will depend on the instructor, but might include such writers as Morrison, Walker, Vonnegut, Heller, and Carver. Annually.

ENGL 215               Twentieth-Century Literature
A course that concentrates on a close reading of selected and representative British and American texts of the modern period while also offering a survey of the entire period. Annually.

ENGL 216               Drama
A course that focuses on representative texts drawn from English or American literature. Attention will be given to the theoretical definition of dramatic form, to changes in the conception of dramatic genes, and to the nature of genre as it shapes the expectations of the reader or audience. Annually.

ENGL 218                Poetry
A close reading of texts drawn from English or American literature, selected to elucidate the nature of poetic genres and modes, such as lyric, epic, and satire. Some attention will be given to critical theory and to relevant aspects of social and political history. Annually.

ENGL 219                Film as Text
A course that focuses primarily on the analysis of film texts, availing of the analytical methods shared with literary analysis, as well as those pertinent to the study of film. The syllabus will include a selection of influential twentieth-century film texts. Screening of films and practical analysis will form the core activities of this course. Annually.

ENGL 222                Literature and Culture
A course that considers major works of literature, specifically in the context of twentieth-century cultural theory, including Marxism, post colonialism, national literatures, ethnic writings, and feminist theory. The primary intention of this course is to explore how various texts interact with their societies, or how those societies are influential in the construction of literature. Annually.

ENGL 241               Cultural Cross-Currents
A course that selects for study a specific theme or idea found in two or more national literatures. Textual comparisons will serve to determine differences as well as similarities in cultural responses to common issues and concerns. Annually.

ENGL 242               Modernism and Post-Modernism
A course that exposes students to some of the classical works of twentieth-century modernism and post-modernism, which will be considered against a cultural, historical, and artistic background. Major writers will include James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, Samuel Beckett, Vladimir Nabokov, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Annually.

HIST 200                Introduction to the History of the United States
An introductory survey of the social and political development of the Unites States from colonial origins through the early twentieth century. Principal themes include European settlement of the North American continent and the establishment of an independent United States; the tensions between North and South that culminated in civil war; and the social transformations brought about by the rise of a market-oriented, industrial society. Open to freshman students. Annually.

HIST 271               Race, Class, Gender: Introduction to American Social History
A course that begins with the notion of how the study of the American past has been revolutionized in recent decades by social history, which focuses on the experiences of everyday people, particularly those from subordinate social groups. Employing this approach, this course looks at the lives of African-Americans, immigrant workers, and women, and shows how this alters the traditional picture of American history. Offered occasionally.

HIST 272                Economic History of the United States
A survey of the economic life of the United States from colonial times to the present. This course examines the development of the economy and business institutions and corresponding changes in public policy and cultural life. Topics addressed include the colonial economy within the mercantilist system, the economics of slavery, industrialization, the rise of large corporations, government regulation, the Great Depression, the recent decline of traditional manufacturing, and the emergence of a high-technology, service-oriented economy. Offered occasionally.

HIST 273                The United States and the Middle East
An examination of the varying and complex relationship between the United States and the Middle East over the last two centuries. Subjects examined include images of the Middle East in early American political discourse, the activities of American missionaries and the founding of AUB, Arab immigration to the US, the role of American oil companies in the region and the rise of OPEC, Cold War diplomacy towards the Arab states and Israel, the Iran hostage crisis, US intervention in the conflict in Lebanon, and the Gulf War. Alternate years.

HIST 274                The United States in the Twentieth Century
A survey of the social, political, and cultural development of the United States from the early twentieth century until recent times. This course particularly emphasizes episodes of domestic political reform such as the New Deal, the changing social roles of African-Americans and women, the turmoil of the 1960s and its aftermath, and the role of the United States as a world power. This course is designed as a companion course to History 200, although History 200 is not a prerequisite for History 274. Annually.

PHIL 249                 Philosophy of Feminism
An examination of philosophical issues relating to gender relations and the foundations of feminist theory; issues addressed will primarily involve the ethical or epistemological content of feminist theory. Alternate years.

PHIL 263A               Special Topics in Contemporary Philosophy
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Offered occasionally

PSPA 251              Politics and Government: United States of America
A survey of the main features of the American political system. Annually.

PSPA 234              Globalization: Its Evolution and Impact on the State
A course that addresses the changes on the international scene since the beginning of globalization at the turn of the twentieth century and their impact on state sovereignty, nationalism, culture, and the economy of advanced and developing countries. Annually.  

PSPA 237               The Middle East in International Politics since World War I      
A course that examines the place of the Middle East system of states in the international system. This course covers issues such as Western Colonialism, Cold War politics, the oil factor in Arab-Western relations, and the rising factor of Islam in international politics. The focus is on selected Arab (Maghreb-Mashrek) countries, Iran, Turkey, and Israel. Annually.

SOAN 215               Introduction to American Anthropology
A critical examination of conceptions of "mainstream" or "dominant" American culture. Using ethnographic case material, the course explores cultural systems and social structures in the contemporary United States, offering an introduction to anthropological approaches to the study of complex societies.