American Studies < School of General Studies (2024)

AMSTUN1010INTRO TO AMERICAN STUDIES. 4.00 points.

This course is an interdisciplinary exploration of the values and cultural expressions of the people of the United States since the late nineteenth century. We will examine a variety of works in literature, history, cultural and social criticism, music, the visual arts and the built environment with an eye to understanding how Americans of different backgrounds, living at different times and in different locations, have understood and argued about the meaning and significance of American national identity. Our goal is to make connections between different genres of expression and consider how different cultural forms have served as opportunities to ponder the meaning of modern life in the United States. Lectures and readings will give particular attention to the sites—real and imagined--where Americans have identified the promise and perils of American life. Discussion section required: AMSTUN1011

AMSTUN1011INTRO TO AMERICAN STUDIES-DIS. 0.00 points.

Corequisites: AMSTUN1010
Corequisites: AMSTUN1010 This is the required discussion section for AMSTUN1010 Intro to American Studies

AMSTUN3920SENIOR PROJECT COLLOQUIUM. 1.00 point.

Required for American studies students who intend to do a senior research project

This course is for American studies majors planning to complete senior projects in the spring. The course is designed to help students clarify their research agenda, sharpen their questions, and locate their primary and secondary sources. Through class discussions and a workshop peer review process, each member of the course will enter spring semester with a completed bibliography that will provide an excellent foundation for the work of actually writing the senior essay. The colloquium will meet every other week and is required for everyone planning to do a senior research project. Application due June 15. See American Studies website

AMSTUN3930Topics in American Studies. 4 points.

Please refer to the Center for American Studies website for course descriptions for each section. americanstudies.columbia.edu

AMSTUN3931Topics in American Studies. 4 points.

Please refer to the Center for American Studies for section descriptions

AMSTUN3935Indigenous Peoples of New York and New England. 4.00 points.

This course provides an interdisciplinary perspective on Native peoples of present-day New York and New England and on their interactions with settler colonial societies (French, Spanish, British, US). Most of the reading will be by Native authors. In order to provide a firm historical foundation for understanding the dynamics of Indigenous and colonial history our emphasis will be on the period between European settlement and the nineteenth century. Coverage will not be exhaustive; there are too many Native nations in this region for that to be possible. Our focus rather will be on major turning points in Native history which have become flashpoints for controversy among scholars and in the broader public sphere: the relationship between Indians and Pilgrims, King Philip’s War, the so-called Indian Great Awakening, and others. We will also familiarize ourselves with present-day debates in Indigenous Studies including those pertaining to the idea of “ethnographic refusal”—i.e., the idea that Indigenous peoples should resist sharing information about their traditional cultures with non-Indian outsiders especially in academic spaces, where the study of Native Americans has often worked against Indigenous interests. The course should appeal broadly to students interested in Native history, literature, religion, and legal studies

AMSTUN3990SENIOR RESEARCH SEMINAR. 4.00 points.

Open to American Studies seniors doing a research project.

Prerequisites: AMSTUN3920
Prerequisites: AMSTUN3920 A seminar devoted to the research and writing, under the instructors supervision, of a substantial paper on a topic in American studies. Class discussions of issues in research, interpretation, and writing

AMSTUN3997SUPERVISED INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH. 1.00-4.00 points.

For students who want to do independent study of topics not covered by normal program offerings, or for senior American studies majors working on the Senior Honors Project independent of 3990y. The student must find a faculty sponsor and work out a plan of study; a copy of this plan should be submitted to the program director

AMHSGU4462IMMIGRANT NEW YORK. 4.00 points.

HISTUN2478US INTELLECTUAL HIST 1865-PRES. 4.00 points.

This course examines major themes in U.S. intellectual history since the Civil War. Among other topics, we will examine the public role of intellectuals; the modern liberal-progressive tradition and its radical and conservative critics; the uneasy status of religion ina secular culture; cultural radicalism and feminism; critiques of corporate capitalism and consumer culture; the response of intellectuals to hot and cold wars, the Great Depression, and the upheavals of the 1960s. Fields(s): US