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American Studies Conference 2008
Courses in American Studies
Honors Projects
Dean for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
Crosslisting Courses
Urban Faculty Seminar
Department Conception (5/7/2003)
Department of Multicultural Life
Student Organizations
Fall 2007
American Studies Open House Photos
Guidelines for First-Year Students
Consortium
for Faculty Diversity at Liberal Arts Colleges
Digital Commons at Macalester
Mahmoud El-Kati Distinguished Lectureship in American Studies
Politics of Difference: U.S./Mexican Border-Class Project
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"Education is a kind
of continuing dialogue, and a dialogue
assumes, in the nature of the case, different points of view"
Robert Hutchins (1899 - 1977)
Courses
Spring
2008
AMST
101-01
Explorations of Race/Racism
Professor Jane Rhodes
MWF 1:10-2:10, HUM 112
Syllabus
The main objectives of this introductory course
are: to explore the historical construction of racial categories
in the United States; to understand the systemic impact of racism
on contemporary social processes; to consider popular views about
race in the light of emerging scholarship in the field; and to develop
an ability to connect personal experiences to larger, collective
realities. We will engage several questions as a group: What are
the historical and sociological foundations of racial categories?
When does focusing on race make someone racist? What is white privilege,
and why does it matter? All students will be asked to think and
write about their own racial identity. This course, or its equivalent,
is required for majors and minors. No prerequisites. (4 credits)
AMST 110-01 Intro to African American
Studies
Professor Duchess Harris
T-R 1:00-2:30, HUM 214
Syllabus
This class will explore what it has meant to be
African-American in the United States, and how this identity shaped
Black community, thought, and life. This course, using a variety
of disciplinary approaches, exposes students to issues and problems
in the development of African-American identity, and provides students
with theoretical tools and contextual sensibilities necessary for
advanced courses and independent projects in African American Studies.
Spring semester. (4 credits)
AMST 140-01 Black Public Intellectuals
Professor Duchess Harris
T-R 2:45 – 4:15, HUM 215
Syllabus
This course will address the tradition of public
intellectuals in the numerous Black communities. We will look at
the historical time periods from Reconstruction, the Anti-Lynching
Movement, '20s Black Nationalism, the Harlem Renaissance, The Great
Migration, Communism and the Red Scare and the Black Power Revolution.
We will examine men and women who are "cultural workers"
through numerous media. We will expand the definition of "politcs"
to include theater, literature, and film. We will interrogate the
concept of who chooses the scholarly leaders for Black communities.
Our focus will incorporate numerous ideologies such as separatism,
conservatism, and critical race feminism.
AMST 194-02 American Voices: Multi-Ethnic Literature
Professor Michael Cohen
M-W-F 1:10-2:10, MAIN 010
Syllabus
This introductory English course situates contemporary
American writers of color in the diasporic and transnational contexts
their work both registers and invokes. We will complicate our assumptions
about the "Americanness" of American literature by acknowledging
the multiple communities – national, regional, racial, sexual,
religious, economic, and/or political – to which "American"
writers imagine themselves (or are imagined) as belonging, and for
which they write. Readings will include fiction, drama, poetry,
and prose. Cross-listed with ENGL 130-01; first
day attendance required.
AMST 194-03 Indian Americanness
Scott M. Schoemaker, Visiting Professor
Wed. 7-10p
Humanities 214
Syllabus
Recent debates concerning American Indians as sports mascots are
integrally tied to American identity. This class examines the intersections
of constructions of race, gender, and nation where representations
of American Indians have served to legitimate the foundations of
the United States and American identity through the creation of
an Indian Americanness. Beginning with constructions of American
Indians in the colonial period to recent issues of representation
in the realm of mascots, this course will trace the genealogy of
how America has constructed and appropriated an Indian identity
through cultural productions and historiography. We will study a
wide array of primary documents including but not limited to: pictorial
and photographic representations, novels, captivity narratives,
and cinema. Investigating American Indian reactions to these constructions
will further complicate the creation of Indian Americanness. No
prerequisites.
HIST 194-03
American Violence 2: Cultural History of
Warfare from the Early Republic through the Civil War
Professor Andrea Cremer (Robertson)
Tu/Th 1-2:30 p.m., THTR 204
Syllabus
What does it mean to study war? Is the history
of warfare a history of generals, strategy, and developments in
military technology? Or perhaps it is the story of the common solider;
that of first aid workers, nurses, and doctors; or that of populations
who conquer or are conquered? This course will interrogate the way
scholars study large-scale violence (a broad definition of war)
between human communities. Throughout class discussions we will
consider the ways in which warfare has been recorded and analyzed
in the early Republic, antebellum and Civil War eras. While major
political conflicts including the War of 1812, the Mexican-American
War, and Civil War will be discussed, the class will also engage
the meanings of violence through an investigation of intra and intercultural
violence diverse American populations. The chronological focus of
the course, circ. 1800-1865, permits our examination of the idea
of American exceptionalism. Is there a specific form or pattern
of violence or warfare that can be called “American?”
If so, does this type of violence remain present in our contemporary
society? What relationship does violence have with an American identity?
This course will count toward the AMST major plan.
AMST 203-01 Race, Ethnicity, and Politics
Professor Paru Shah
M 7:00-10:00, CAR 204
Syllabus
This seminar seeks to provoke open debate and discourse
about the politics of race and ethnicity in the United States, and
the policy responses that attempt to address racial inequality.
This course has three primary objectives: (1) to examine theories
regarding the relationship between racial/ethnic politics and public
policy, (2) to develop a more in-depth understanding of specific
policy areas, and (3) to gain hand-on experience with institutions
working on racial/ethnic policies. The first portion of the semester
focuses on the conceptualization of race and ethnicity, public attitudes
regarding race and ethnicity, and the political representation of
minorities in the US. We will spend the remainder of the semester
examining specific public policies areas that affect racial and
ethnic minorities –education and affirmative action, welfare,
residential segregation, immigration, and public health. Throughout
the semester, students will spend part of their time in the classroom
reading about these policy issues, and part of their time working
in local community agencies engaged in addressing racial inequalities
within the Twin Cities. At the end of the semester, students will
have a comprehensive knowledge of the impact of race and ethnicity
on political institutions, behaviors, and government policy. Cross-listed
with POLI 203-01.
AMST 232-01 Immigration
and Ethnicity in US History
Professor Peter Rachleff
T-R 1:00-2:30, MAIN 003
Syllabus
An overview of U.S. history as seen through the
experiences of newly arriving and adjusting immigrant groups. This
course is designed primarily for students who have no previous college-level
background in U.S. history. Alternate years. Cross-listed
with HIST 232-01.
AMST 240-01 Race,
Culture, and Ethnicity in Education
Professor Marceline DuBose
T-R 2:45-4:15, HUM 216
Syllabus
This course will look at history, policy, and pedagogy
as they relate to race, ethnicity, and culture as education. K-12
public education will be the primary focus with topics including
desegregation, standardized testing, multi-cultural and ethnocentric
pedagogy, the teacher’s role and experience, and significant
historical events in education. The course will culminate by looking
at current trends and future expectations in education. Cross-listed
with EDUC 240-01.
AMST 248-01 Jim Crow
Professor Lynn Hudson
T-R 2:45-4:15, Main 111
Syllabus
This course examines the political, cultural, economic,
and social ramifications of segregation in the United States from
approximately 1865 to the present. While much of the course will
focus on the South, we will also consider how racial boundaries
were drawn in the West and North. The course will pay special attention
to the ways racial boundaries became "fixed," and how
black men and women defied Jim Crow in the streets, courts, and
in their homes. Additionally, this class examines how segregation
has been forgotten and how and when it is remembered. Alternate
years. (4 credits) Cross-listed with HIST 248-01.
AMST 254-01 Peoples and Cultures of Native America
Professor Diana Dean
TR 01:00 pm-02:30 pm, HUM 228
Syllabus
A survey of the traditional cultural areas of the
Americas and of selected topics related to American Indians. The
course introduces the peoples, languages, subsistence patterns,
and social organizations in America at the time of European contact,
and traces selected patterns of change that have come to these areas.
Prerequisite: Anthropology III. Alternate years. (4 credits) Cross-listed
with ANTH 254-01.
AMST 264-01 The Psychology of Gender
Professor Joan Ostrove
T-R 2:45-4:15, OLRI 352
Syllabus
This course will survey the major theoretical and
empirical approaches to understanding human personality. Specific
topics to be covered include psychoanalytic, humanistic, existential,
and biological personality theories; motivation and cognition; traits;
identity and the self; and the cultural and social context of personality.
Research and assessment strategies for understanding personality
will be explored and critically evaluated. Prerequisite: Psychology
100 or permission of the instructor. Cross-listed with
PSYC 264-01 and WGSS 294-01.
AMST 285-01 Asian American Community
and Identity
Professor Karin Aguilar-San Juan
T-R 10:10-11:40, HUM 226
Syllabus
This course introduces the basic issues and problems
that shape the Asian American experience. The main learning objectives
are: to identify and dismantle stereotypes about Asian Americans;
to create a common vocabulary for describing the Asian American
experience; to explore the historical and sociological foundations
of Asian American community and identity; and to cultivate an appreciation
of various theoretical approaches to race and ethnicity. No prerequisites.
AMST 294-01 Race and Ethnicity in Japan
Professor Christopher Scott
T-R 1:00-2:30, HUM 110
Syllabus
Why is blackface (ganguro) so popular in Japan?
What does it mean for Koreans to “pass” as Japanese?
Who are the Ainu? This course will consider these and other questions
by exploring various racial and ethnic minorities in Japan, including:
Ainu, burakumin (outcasts), Okinawans, Koreans, African Americans,
and Nikkeijin (South Americans of Japanese descent). All readings
are in English or English translation. No prerequisites. Cross-listed
with JAPA 294-01.
AMST 294-02 Latinos and United States Imperialism
Professor Jason Ruiz
M-W-F 2:30-3:30, HUM 110
Syllabus
Does the United States qualify as an imperial power
even though it lacks formal colonies? What is the relationship between
culture and empire? What is the role of the United States in determining
the future of Latin America? These questions might rage in contemporary
American Studies and related fields, but they are not new; in fact,
Americans and others have been questioning United States imperialism
since at least the mid-nineteenth century. This course will offer
students an in-depth analysis of United States imperialism and its
critiques, with a special emphasis on Latin America and Latinos.
We will especially examine the cultures of United States imperialism
from 1898, a pivotal moment in which the U.S. acquired Spain’s
last remaining colonial possessions, to the present, in which U.S.
dominance in the Americas remains in tact—and challenged.
We will examine the intimacies between empire and such varied discourses
and practices as migration, labor, violence, gender, sexuality,
and tourism. Our approach will be transnational, asking how questions
of United States imperialism have impacted communities in Latin
America (including Mexico, Central and South and America and the
Caribbean) and Latina/o communities located within the political
boundaries of the United States. Likewise, we examine how U.S. imperialism
in Latin America compares with—or contrasts from—the
history of U.S. relations with the Philippines and Hawaii. Our readings
will range from foundational texts that theorize empire to historical
works that examine U.S.-Latin American political and cultural relations
to Dominican-American writer Junot Díaz’s dazzling
new novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
AMST 294-03 Transatlantic Slave Trade
Professor Lynn Hudson
M-W-F 2:20-3:20, Main 002
Syllabus
This class examines the Atlantic commerce in slaves
that occurred between approximately 1400 and 1800. Among the topics
we will consider are the social cost to Africa of this forced migration;
the role of gender in the trade; the economic and social development
of slave societies; resistance to the slave trade; and the abolitionist
movement on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to reading recent
historiography, students will analyze a range of primary source
material including but not limited to diaries of fugitive slaves
and slave traders, and documents from the abolitionist movement.
Cross-listed with HIST 294-05.
HIST 240-01 Jews
in America
Professor David Itzkowitz
MWF 1:10 pm-2:10 pm, CARN 107
Syllabus
An examination of the Jewish experience
in America both from a historical perspective and from the perspective
of American Jewish life today. We will look at examples of writing
by and about Jews drawn from both scholarly and popular sources,
at portrayals of Jews in the media, and at other manifestations
of the Jewish presence in the United States. This examination will
lead both to a greater understanding of the origins and current
condition of Jewish life in the United States and a greater appreciation
of the problems and promises of multi-culturalism in America. Alternate
years. (4 credits). This course will count toward
the American Studies major.
HMCS 294-02: Obamamania: Race, Politics, Media
Professor Leola Johnson
MWF 09:40 - 10:40, HUM 401
Syllabus
This course takes a critical look at Barack Obama’s
campaign as a media event that raises important questions about
the political meanings of Blackness in the United States. The course
discusses Obama’s campaign in the light of media representations
of an earlier cohort of Black elected officials, namely the congressional
representatives and Big City Black mayors who came to power in the
aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement. Special attention is paid
to the campaigns of Harold Washington, the first Black mayor of
Chicago, and Wilson Goode, the first Black mayor of Philadelphia,
who had very distinct media profiles. Our reading is interdisciplinary,
and includes history books, critical analyses of the media, biographies
and autobiographies, and fiction (e.g,, the book Philadelphia Fire
by John Wideman, which is about the 1985 Move incident, during which
the Goode administration dropped a bomb in an inner city Black neighborhood).
We look at this earlier material in order to understand what is
distinct about Obama’s media profile. The course will also
involve some direct interaction between students and local Black
elected officials, some of whom are involved in Obama’s campaign.
This class will count on AMST major plans. Cross-listed
with HMCS 294-02.
AMST 300-01 & AMST 622 Junior Civic Engagement
Seminar
Professor Karin Aguilar-San Juan
M 7:00-10:00, HUM 215
Note: Students must also register
for a 2-credit internship as
AMST 622. An internship will be arranged by the
professor through the Internship office. Permission from the Professor
is required for this class. Bring an add slip the first day of class,
as you will add the two-credit internship then.
Syllabus
This innovative course will comprise a junior civic-engagement
experience in the Twin Cities organized around a central theme (such
as "Schools and Prisons"). The course provides a real-world
urban context for students who are deeply engaged in theorizing
racism and other forms of structural inequalities in the U.S. and
around the globe. It is based largely outside the classroom, draws
on the College's relationships with the Twin Cities, and provides
extensive opportunities for students to interact with community
mentors. The course is designed primarily for juniors majoring in
American Studies as a prior rigorous study of issues related to
race and racism in U.S. history and contemporary social policy and
social thought are needed to set the stage for the course. It is
required of all American Studies majors, however, other students
with equivalent preparation are welcome with permission from the
instructor. A 2-credit concurrent internship is required for this
course and will be arranged by the professor. Students must see
Michael Porter in the Internship office to register for the internship
portion of the class. Permission to enroll in this course is required
from Professor Aguilar-San Juan.
HIST 305-01:
Comparative Freedom Movements:
United States and South Africa
Professor
Peter Rachleff
TR 10:10 am-11:40, MAIN 009
Syllabus
Two of the most important movements to challenge institutional
racism in the second half of the 20th century were the civil rights
movement in the United States and the anti- apartheid movement in
South Africa (both of which also had transnational dimensions and
connections with each other). This course will explore these two
movements in a comparative fashion: the nature of institutionalized
racism, structures, ideologies, and identities in each society;
the leadership produced by both movements; the functioning of both
movements at a grassroots level; the demographics of both movements
and the roles of particular cohorts – women, workers, youth,
allies – in each movement; internal tensions, conflicts, and
diversity of visions, ideologies, strategies, and tactics in each
movement; the uses of culture – music, theater, poetry, visual
art, etc. – in each movement; and the ultimate consequences
of each movement, in transforming its participants and impacting
larger social, political, and economic structures. While our primary
interest will be in deepening our understanding of these movements,
we will also be interested in what their study has to offer us in
thinking about the making and sustaining of movements in our own
lives, and in the challenge and value of undertaking comparative
historical study. This course will count toward the American
Studies major.
HIST 350-01 Race,
Gender and Science
Professor Lynn Hudson
T-R 10:10-11:40
Main 111
How has science informed definitions of race, sex,
and gender in the past? How is scientific knowledge about race,
sex, and gender constructed? How has racial difference shaped scientific
knowledge? How has the scientific search for sexual difference shaped
debates about sex and gender? This class examines the scientific
discourses and methodologies that have, historically, sought to
explain racial and sexual difference. We will examine scholarship
that considers the social effects of science and the intersections
of race, gender, sexuality, and science. Among the topics under
consideration: the definitions of deviance in colonial and post-colonial
societies, eugenics, phrenology, scientific racism, contemporary
debates on race, sexuality, and genetics. Alternate years. (4 credits)
This course will count toward the American Studies major and is
designed to go along with the American Studies Conference, "Racism
in the Name of Science."
AMST 354-01 Blackness in the Media
Professor Leola Johnson
M-W-F 12:00-1:00, HUM 113
Syllabus
This course examines mainstream and alternative
systems of African American representation in the media from the
1820s to the 1960s, including race records, race movies, the Black
press, Black video, and Black appeal radio. It also examines the
way Blackness is constructed in the media today, including the role
of new media (such as cable and the Internet); new corporate formations
(such as FOX, UPN, and BET), and new forms of representation (such
as representations that reject the Black-White binary). Prerequisite:
one of the following: an introduction to African American studies
course, or Texts and Power: Foundations of Cultural Studies (Humanities
and Media and Cultural Studies 110), or permission of instructor.
Cross-listed with HMCS 354-01.
AMST 394-01 Langston
Hughes: Global Writer
Professor David Moore
M-W-F 9:40-10:40, CAR 404
Syllabus
The great African American poet and man of letters
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is widely know as the poet laureate
of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. But Hughes’s career
was far vaster than that decade and poetic form alone could contain.
He was a screenwriter in the Soviet Union, a journalist in the Spanish
Civil War, a major supporter of early modern African literature,
a beloved humorist, writer of children’s books, translator
from five language, sailor, playwright, social critic, writer of
over 10,000 letters, international affairs commentator, and more.
Cross-listed with ENGL 384-01 and
INTL 384-01 .
AMST
394-02
Urban Social Geography: City Life
Professor Daniel Trudeau
Wed 7-10 p.m., CARN 06
Syllabus
Urban social geography is the study of social and
spatial dimensions of city life. In this course, we will explore
some of the ways in which urban society is organized geographically.
We will also consider how the spatial patterns of urban life influence
public policy issues in the American context. Topics covered in
this course include causes of racial segregation, debates about
gentrification, sustainable suburban development, the transition
from government to governance in cities, and the delivery of urban
services that affect the education, health and economic welfare
of urban populations. Students will learn current research, engage
debates about critical urban issues, and learn techniques useful
for analyzing spatial patterns in the urban landscape. Prerequisites:
Geography 112, 242, 262 or instructor permission. Cross-listed
with GEOG 341-01.
ENGL 401-01: History
of a Literary Genre:
African American Detective Fiction
Professor Daylanne English
MWF 01:10-02:10, CARN 305
Syllabus
In this capstone course, we will investigate the rich
history and the contemporary flourishing of African American detective
fiction. Guided by the premise that genres emerge at certain times
for identifiable reasons, we will assess the 'cultural work' being
performed by murder mysteries and crime novels by authors such as
Walter Mosley, Barbara Neely, and Ishmael Reed. We will develop
strongly historical contexts for our investigation, reading the
earliest examples of African American detective fiction by Pauline
Hopkins at the turn of the 20th century, novels and short stories
by authors such as Rudolph Fisher and George Schuyler during the
Harlem Renaissance, and novels and short stories written in the
mid-20th century by authors such as Chester Himes and Richard Wright.
We will also view several film adaptations, examining the aesthetic
and political shifts that can occur when a literary work is transformed
via a visual/auditory medium. We will read a great deal of relevant
literary and filmic criticism and theory as well. Requirements for
the course include: presenting extensively on one of the books and
directing class discussion of that book, writing a 1-page response
to each primary reading, and writing draft and final versions of
a term paper of about 20 pages. This course fulfills the
capstone and U.S. writers of color requirements for English majors.
Prerequisite: one 100-level English course other than English
120. This course will count for the AMST major plan.
AMST 494-01 Senior Seminar: US Jews and the
Media
Professor Clay Steinman
W 7:00-10:00, OLRI 370
Syllabus
This semester's senior seminar will focus on U.S.
Jews and the Media, with an emphasis on five topics: Yiddish cinema,
Jews and race in Hollywood, Jews and Communists in Hollywood, feminist
and queer approaches to gendered film and TV representations of
Jews, and controversies over news coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict. Students will complete a seminar paper of independent
scholarship on one of these or a related topic, applying what they
have learned in other courses in their major focus, as well as present
their work at a concluding mini-conference. Except insofar as they
affect media representations, the course will not cover religious
or Palestinian-Israeli issues. An interest in twentieth century
U.S. Jewish history and media representations is essential, as there
will be extensive background readings and screenings in both areas.
Prerequisite: HMCS 110 (Texts and Power: Foundations of Cultural
Studies), or HMCS 128 (Film Analysis and Visual Culture), or permission
of instructor. Non-majors are welcome if they have taken one of
the prerequisites or a comparable course that covered the semiotics
of race and of cultural difference, and the relations between power
and cultural discourses. In exceptional cases, students with sufficient
preparation may take the seminar prior to their senior year. Students
may take more than one HMCS senior seminar as long as content varies.
Cross-listed with HMCS 488-01.
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