The American Studies Program currently offers the following courses:
AMST 200. Explorations in American Popular Culture (3)
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Foundation requirements.
Examines broad terrain of American popular culture from multiple disciplinary perspectives, interrogating both the form and content of cultural production and reception in the past and present.
AMST 300. Introduction to American Studies (3)
Interdisciplinary approaches to study of American civilization from colonial period through twentieth century. Significant issues and problems in American life examined from perspectives of several disciplines.
AMST 350I. California Culture (3)
Prerequisites: GE Foundation; upper division status
Interdisciplinary examination of California culture. Emphasis on how California’s history, politics, environment, social movements, art, and literature produce a contested and always changing culture.
Please keep your eyes open for these new courses, which should be offered starting in the 2009-2010 academic year:
AMST 351. Celebrity in American Culture (3)
Prerequisites: GE Foundation; upper division status
Interdisciplinary examination of the changing meanings of fame in American society, addressing the production, consumption and cultural work of celebrity.
AMST 421. Animals in American Culture (3)
Prerequisites: GE Foundation; upper division status
Interdisciplinary examination of the role of non-human animals in making cultural meaning. Traces the many ways in which animals, not just humans, have shaped American history and culture.
AMST 498. Senior Seminar in American Studies (3)
Prerequisites: Completion of AMST 300 and 18 units of upper-division work in American Studies or affiliated fields
Capstone research course for American Studies majors.
