AMS X21 AMS 321 Topics in American Societies 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
A study of America through its geography, language, government, or cultures. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Pre/Corequisites: Upper-division standing; additional prerequisites vary with the topic.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.
Academic Level: Upper Division
Topic 1: Native American Cultures of the Greater Southwest.
Topic 2: Language and Speech in American Society. Additional prerequisite: Upper-division standing, and Anthropology 302, 305, 307, or Linguistics 306.
Topic 3: Native American Cultures North of Mexico. Same as: ANT 336L
Topic 4: America and the Holocaust. Only one of the following may be counted: American Studies 321 (Topic 4), 370 (Topic: America and the Holocaust), History 350L (Topic: America and the Holocaust), 356R, 365G (Topic: America and the Holocaust), Jewish Studies 361 (Topic: America and the Holocaust), 365 (Topic 1), Liberal Arts Honors 350 (Topic: America and the Holocaust). Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Same as: HIS 356R, J S 365.1 Core Curriculum: 060 Additional prerequisite: Upper-division standing.
Topic 5: Asian American Jurisprudence. Introduction to the study of Asian Americans and the law. Examines the historical development of United States law and its relationship to Asian Americans, and of Asian American jurisprudence as an independent field of legal scholarship. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Additional prerequisite: Upper-division standing.
Topic 6: Race, Gender, and Surveillance. Overview of theories in the sociology of social control, with a focus on risk, power, ethics, and surveillance. Examines historical transformations in social control and the distributions of power in the United States and global contexts, with attention to race, gender, and class. Subjects include: the transatlantic slave trade; prisons and punishment; the gaze, voyeurism, and reality television watching; the Internet; travel and state borders; privacy; and biometrics and the body. Only one of the following may be counted: African and African Diaspora Studies 360D, 372C (Topic 12), American Studies 321 (Topic 6), Sociology 322V, Women's and Gender Studies 322 (Topic 8), 322J. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Same as: AFR 360D, SOC 322V, WGS 322J Additional prerequisite: Upper-division standing.
Topic 7: Social Movements. Characteristics of crowds, publics, and social movements; their role in social organization and social change. Only one of the following may be counted: American Studies 321 (Topic: Social Movements), American Studies 321 (Topic 7), Sociology 352. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Same as: SOC 352 Additional prerequisite: Upper-division standing.
Topic 8: Urban Unrest. Analysis of the roots of urban unrest, exploring a range of origins: joblessness, state violence, white flight, backlash against civil rights gains, new immigration, and interracial strife. Beyond race and class, subjects include exploring unrest as a mode of pushing the normative boundaries of gender and sexuality in public space. Course material will draw from film, literature, history, geography, and anthropology. Only one of the following may be counted: African and African Diaspora Studies 360F, 372F (Topic 13), American Studies 321 (Topic 8), Anthropology 324L (Topic 46), Asian American Studies 330 (Topic 6), 330G, Urban Studies 327U, 354 (Topic 14). Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Same as: AAS 330G, AFR 360F, ANT 324L.46, URB 327U Additional prerequisite: Upper-division standing.
Topic 9: The United States in the Civil Rights Era. Examines United States history in the post-World War II era, including how civil rights and other racial issues helped shape the politics, popular culture, and social life of this period. Only one of the following may be counted: African and African Diaspora Studies 351L, 374D (Topic 17), American Studies 321 (Topic 9), History 356P, Mexican American Studies 374 (Topic 36). Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Same as: AFR 351L, HIS 356P Core Curriculum: 060 Additional prerequisite: Upper-division standing.
Topic 10: Women and Social Movements in the Twentieth-Century United States. Examines women's participation in well-known and lesser-known social movements during the twentieth century. Only one of the following may be counted: African and African Diaspora Studies 351C, 372C (Topic: Women and Socl Mvmnts in US), 372C (Topic 7), American Studies 321 (Topic 10), History 365G (Topic 8), Women's and Gender Studies 340 (Topic 53). Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Same as: AFR 351C, HIS 365G.8, WGS 340.53 Core Curriculum: 060 Additional prerequisite: Upper-division standing.
Topic 11: The Vietnam Wars. Introduction to the complex and controversial history of the wars fought in Vietnam from 1941 to the 1980s. Only one of the following may be counted: American Studies 321 (Topic: Vietnam Wars), 321 (Topic 11), Asian Studies 372 (Topic: Vietnam Wars), History 365G (Topic: Vietnam Wars), 365G (Topic 4). Same as: HIS 365G.4 Core Curriculum: 060
Topic 12: Race, Internet, and Social Media. Explores the critical, theoretical and practical analysis of race and new media. Only one of the following may be counted: American Studies 321 (Topic: Race, Internet & Social Media), American Studies 321 (Topic 12), Asian American Studies 320 (Topic: Race, Internet & Social Media), Asian American Studies 320 (Topic 7), 320G, Radio-Television-Film 359 (Topic: Race, Internet & Social Media). Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Same as: AAS 320G Additional prerequisite: Upper-division standing.