Class Schedules

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.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course will introduce students to interdisciplinary research approaches to the study of race, ethnicity, and other categories of difference. Students will learn to conceptualize and design research projects, and will obtain hands-on experience in executing different methods. The course will also consider the critiques of systems of knowledge production and research approaches that have been informed by scholars from fields such as African American history, gender studies, and critical race studies, as well as from the disciplines. The goal is to develop an understanding of the assumptions embedded in many fields of inquiry, and to learn to apply critical approaches to important research questions. Prerequisite(s): AMST 101, AMST 103, or AMST 110.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The American West is central to the construction of America's identity and popular culture.  The mythology of the American West, built on a narrow foundation of Euro-American settlement and conquest, is critical to understanding the role of the West in the national narrative of American history. Using a variety of materials, including films, art and photography, literature, and historical sources, this course will examine how writers, artists, actors, settlers, and government officials, among others, shaped the creation of the mythic West.  This course will investigate what - and who - is and is not considered part of this mythology, as well as the ways in which these constructs attempted to make sense of the diverse populations converging in the West.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course examines Native American history since 1871. We begin with an introduction to indigenous history before 1871, characterized by centuries of Euro-American attempts to colonize and Christianize, to assimilate Native bodies and allot Native lands. We will then analyze the ways in which Native Americans have continualy fought to sustain their cultures, languages, and religions, as well as their political and socio-economic structures, throughout the 20th and into the 21st centuries. Focusing on themes such as Native resistance to the development of U.S. federal policies and the proliferation of Native culture, we will also consider the shifting nature of Native American sovereignty and the importance of indigenous identity in regards to the experiences of Native Americans.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

In this discussion-based course we focus on the racialized places of U.S. cities, rural towns and suburbs in an effort to understand how social, historic, and spatial forces have colluded to bring about complex and enduring racial formations. We will look for race and related social categories in places around St. Paul and Minneapolis. By engaging theories about visuality and representation, urban development and suburban sprawl, and social movements for racial justice, we will develop a specialized vocabulary for explaining how race, place, and space are connected. Prerequisite(s): Prior exposure to American Studies, human geography, sociology or race/ethnicity or urban studies.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This discussion heavy course will examine the ways in which race, gender, and sexuality intertwine to shape the public discourse, law, and, ultimately, society. We will also explore issues related to the experiences of LGBT people of color and their relationship to the dominant LGBT community and movement, as well as racial justice movements. The latter issues are related to broader questions of intragroup and intramural discrimination and the capacity of any one social movement to represent all people who share a trait, as exemplified by Black feminist critiques of male dominance in the Black civil rights movement and white female control over feminist spaces. We will approach these provocative issues from a comparative perspective; for instance, we may compare the stereotyping of Black male sexuality and queer Latinx sexuality. Pedagogical methods will include not just reading cases and legal scholarship but analyzing other literary texts, viewing and critiquing film and television. Questions we will study include the following: How do the media represent the sexualities and identities of people of color, BlaQueer people and of LGBT people of color? How do these representations influence law? To what extent do interracial couplings reduce or reflect racial stereotypes? Do legal analysis and public discourse regarding “gay rights” issues tend to assume and center white male subject and thus exclude other LGBT experiences? Are BlaQueer and LGBT people of color best served by working within the dominant LGBT rights movement or Black and people of color movements, or should they develop their own identities, rubrics and movements? How can heterosexuals and racial-sexual minorities find common ground and build coalitions?

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course is an introduction to Indigenous feminisms, politics and law in the United States. We will explore key concepts and theoretical frameworks of gender and sexuality within Indigenous Studies as a core analytical frame and method for understanding political movements, law & governance. No prior coursework required.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Since the development of the first atomic weapon, nuclear power has come to define the American & global political and cultural landscape. Fantasies of annihilation and ruin not only define the contemporary political imaginary but also obscure the past and delimit notions of time, space, and futurity. Join us as we trace contemporary U.S. history and environmental policy and the stakes of "wastelanding" through art, culture and activism.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

n 1966, sociologist William Peterson published an article in the New York Times titled, “Success Story, Japanese-American Style,” which praised Japanese Americans, their family structure, and their culture for achieving education and financial success despite having been incarcerated en masse during World War II. This marks the first articulation of model minority myth, which stereotypes Asian American as being successful, hardworking, law-abiding, and dutiful, relative to other minoritized groups. So, how did Japanese Americans go from being perceived as enemy spies to the original “model minority”? This course will examine the history and experience of Japanese Americans from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, with an eye toward Japanese American activism and resistance. Topics will include: U.S. imperialism in Asia; the effects of incarceration during World War II; Japanese Americans in Hawai’i; Japanese American organizing against Islamophobia and the mass incarceration of migrants at the border; and Japanese American solidarity with the civil rights movement and reparations for African Americans.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Asian Americans are often overlooked in the study of religion in the U.S., and yet the impact of Asian religious practices can be seen at every turn: yoga studios, mindfulness meditation, “zen” aesthetics of minimalism, and so on. What do we make of the gap between how Asian religions are practiced in Asian American communities and how these traditions have been reinterpreted by predominantly white, educated, middle class adherents? How do Asian American Christians negotiate their identities in the context of non-Asian Christian churches or the intergenerational tensions within their own ethnic churches? The approach of this course is interdisciplinary (and sometimes counterdisciplinary); it draws on theoretical and methodological insights from ethnic studies, religious studies, history, and sociology. Topics include: race and the racialization of Asian Americans; the politics of cultural and religious exchange; the commodification of Asian religious practices; and issues of assimilation and hybridity within Asian American Christian traditions.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

The Critical Hmong Studies course will engage students in a critical analysis of the changing nature of Hmong culture and Hmong identity worldwide. The course traces Hmong origin from China, and historical events to current time, including Hmong involvement in the Vietnam War, Hmong migration throughout the world, and Hmong life in host societies. Students will explore debates surrounding cultural identity, intergenerational conflict, changing traditions and cultural practices in host societies. In addition, students will examine gender issues, acculturation, the portrayal of Hmong in media, Hmong in education, and racism among others.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

As diverse as it is, the Latinx community in the United States shares a common history of marginalization and racism that continues to this day. Looking at the status of Spanish, the racist ideologies in public domains, and the negative realities of Latinx students in public schools, this course will engage us in reflection and dialogue regarding the experiences of Latinxs throughout history and will make connections to current trends. In this course, we will ask ourselves multiple questions regarding the realities of Latinxs’ educational experiences, including: How have historical, political, economic, and cultural contexts in this country shaped the educational trajectories of our Latinx students? How are current trends of Latinx educational attainment and Latinx teacher (lack of) representation connected to those contexts? What is the role of bilingual education in the fight for language rights and against assimilation? And, how does language influence the identity formation of Latinxs in this country? This class is an invitation to not only reflect on these questions, but also to problematize, discuss, and write about our own identity formation in relation to race, ethnicity, and language.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

From Caitlyn Jenner to Laverne Cox, CeCe MacDonald to Chelsea Manning, Transparent to Pose, trans people are experiencing unprecedented media coverage. In fact, some years ago now Time Magazine declared that we are at the “transgender tipping point.” And yet, alongside this positive media coverage, we see legislatures across the country debated so-called “bathroom bills” that foment fear of the transsexual child predator and bills that would restrict trans kids’ participation in sports. Even more concerning, The National Coalition of Antiviolence Projects reports that 2020 saw a record number of murders of transgender individuals, in particular trans women of color. In all of these instances, it’s useful to consider how and why the specter of transness is raised. What social and political work does that figure do? This course will examine transness as a practice of gender transgression, rather than solely an identity category, one which is historically and geographically contingent. In this class, we will ask: What has gender non-conformity meant in various historical moments? How do race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability structure trans lives and communities? How have key institutions within the US constructed ideas about gender normativity and policed gender transgression? How has that policing impacted and shaped trans life? What is the relationship between feminism and trans people and trans liberation? How have trans people envisioned and fought for social justice? What space can trans embodiment and politics open up for new ways of living, relating, and imagining otherwise?

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course provides an interdisciplinary discussion of the Latino experience in the United States with a focus on Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Cuban- Americans. Using fiction, poetry, films and critical essays, we will examine issues of race and ethnicity, language, identity, gender and sexuality, politics, and immigration. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement for the Spanish major. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 305 .

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course connects students with urban social geography, which studies the 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 North American context. Topics covered in this course include causes of racial segregation, debates about gentrification, sustainable urban development, the transition to shared governance in cities, and the delivery of urban services that affect the 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. Prerequisite(s): GEOG 241 or GEOG 261 or GEOG 262 or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

In his unpublished essay, “I choose exile,” Richard Wright declared, “To live in Paris is to allow one’s sensibilities to be moved by physical beauty. I love my adopted city. Its sunsets, its teeming boulevards, its slow and humane tempo of life have entered deeply into my heart.” Paulette Nardal wrote in her essay “Awakening of Racial Consciousness” that living in Paris in the 1920s had created for Black women the “need of racial solidarity that would not be merely material” and an “awakening to race consciousness” that they had not experienced or understood fully before leaving home and meeting Blacks from other countries in Paris.This course will look at the relationship that Blacks have had to France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will explore the art, literature, music and political protest that were generated in the “City of Lights.” The presence of African Americans has usually been seen, by both themselves and others, as a commentary on race. We will examine the lives of Blacks who left the United States expressly to escape the burdens of discrimination and came to Paris as self-conscious refugees from racism. We will also examine the lives of Blacks who left the French colonies to pursue a western education in France, but who developed broader philosophical ideologies, including the cultural, artistic and literary movements of la Négritude. We will examine their experiences and critique the myth of a color-blind France. This course will be team-taught by Professors Duchess Harris in American Studies and Juliette Rogers in French & Francophone Studies. It is suitable for any major, although preference will be given to majors and minors in American Studies and French. Advanced students of French can opt to write the papers in French, do some of the readings in French, and meet weekly for discussions in French.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course explores the history and politics of, and theoretical approaches to, gender and sexuality in relation to the racial politics of mass incarceration, or what Ruth Wilson Gilmore calls the “carceral geography” of the United States. By engaging recent work in queer and trans studies, feminist studies, and critical prison studies, we will consider how prisons and policing have shaped the making and remaking of race, gender, and sexuality from slavery and conquest to the contemporary period. We will examine how police and prisons have regulated the body, identity, and populations, and the larger social, political, and cultural changes connected to these processes. While we will focus on the carceral system itself, we will also think of policing in a more expansive way by analyzing the racialized regulation of gender and sexuality on the plantation, in the colony, at the border, in the welfare office, and in the hospital, among other spaces, historical periods, and places.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

This course introduces the basic issues and concepts of Asian American Studies. We begin by looking at the birth of Asian American Studies as a field in response to student protests in the late 1960s. We then proceed to an overview of Asian American history beginning with U.S. imperialism in Asia and moving up to the present moment. For the remainder of the course we’ll focus on particular topics such as: the model minority myth; anti-Asian violence; multiracial Asian American identity; and Asian American activism. The approach of this course is interdisciplinary; it draws on theoretical and methodological insights from academic disciplines such as history, ethnic studies, and sociology.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

From the Philippine-American War (1898-1910) to the global uprisings of May 2020, white supremacy and US imperialism have marched hand-in-hand, buttressed by cultures of violence and literal guns and tanks. Yet cracks in the walls of racism and empire have also always existed, with gestures of solidarity and whole solidarity movements pushing forward with new possibilities and imagined futures. In this discussion-based course, we will look for the common threads that link David Fagen (Black U.S. army soldier who defected and joined the Philippine nationalists in 1899) to the Vietnam antiwar movement (1955-1975) and to Grace Lee Boggs (Chinese American philosopher activist based in Detroit, 1905-2015) along with many other individuals and events. Among the significant questions we will consider are: What makes an insurrectionist different from an ally or a rabble rouser or a survivalist? What lessons can be drawn from the global COVID pandemic and the Russian war in Ukraine? How can we replace a culture of violence with a culture of peace? Books and films include: The White Racial Frame (Joe Feagin), How to be an Anti-Racist (Ibram X. Kendi), "Amigo" (John Sayles), "American Revolutionary" (Grace Lee).

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

The readings and assignments in this course are designed to help students understand how social policies and programs contribute to Americans' lived experiences.  We will examine various theoretical justifications for the policies that constitute the American welfare state, then confront and dissect major strands of the American social safety net to better understand how political institutions and policy mechanisms contribute to both diversity and inequality in individuals' social, economic and political outcomes (based in race, class, gender, dis/ability, region, political jurisdiction, etc.).

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The history of American Indians is wonderfully complex, but this history is simultaneously fraught with misconceptions and misinterpretations. European (and, later, Euro-Americans) alternated among fascination, fear, and frustration toward American Indians, while American Indians sought to maintain tribal sovereignty and control over their lands, cultures, religions, politics, and lifestyles amidst continuing encroachment and settlement. This course examines American Indian history to 1871 - the year that Congress stopped making treaties with Native nations - by considering the complicated and multifaceted history of the nation's indigenous people. By looking at American Indian interactions with Spanish, French, British, and American explorers, settlers, missionaries, militaries, and government officials, this courses argues that the history of American Indians is essential to understanding past as well as present issues. Furthermore, this course looks to move beyond the notion that American Indian history is one of inevitable decline by creating a more nuanced understanding of the American Indian experience from pre-contact toward the twentieth century.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course is an introduction to Indigenous law and politics within and beyond the borders of the United States. Through debates around Indigenous governance, we will explore key concepts and theoretical frameworks of Indigenous gender and sexuality as a core analytical frame and method. Indigenous self-determination as a research agenda involves “processes of transformation, of decolonization, of healing, and of mobilization,” according to Linda Tuhiwai Smith. Students will generate a research project engaged with the political imperatives of self-determination, feminist research methods as well as recent intersections and queries of Indigenous studies.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Since the early twentieth century, the environment and sustainability have been core platforms across most contemporary social movements. This course begins its focus on the history of environmental activism locally in the Twin Cities to flashpoints across the Mississippi River watershed and beyond. Through a study of key figures and cases, we will explore the history and mobilization of environmental, climate and sustainability activism; the relationship between colonial and capitalist systems to contemporary environmental racism and inequality; and divergent approaches to research and scientific philosophies and practices. Students will work collaboratively on a community-based research project as part of their course portfolio.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This survey course will explore 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 analyzing current trends and future expectations in education.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course will address the tradition of public intellectuals in numerous Black communities. We will expand the definition of "politics" to include theater, literature, and film. We will interrogate the concept of who chooses the scholarly leaders for Black communities. We will examine numerous topics such as Communism, The American Dream, Incarceration, Feminism, and Ebony Voices in the Ivory Tower.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

After a brief but essential global history of drugs, this course will focus primarily on the 20th century to the present. We will examine histories of substance use and abuse, temperance and prohibition, the "War on Drugs," the shifting concept of addiction as a moral failing to addiction as a treatable disease, as well as study the history of the recovery movement and harm reduction. This course is not intended to be an exhaustive, comprehensive history of the subject-but it will provide you with a solid base from which to explore other aspects of this fascinating and contentious aspect of human history.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Endarkened Feminist Epistemology (EFE) is an approach to research that honors the wisdom, memory, spirituality, and critical interventions of transnational Black woman’s ways of knowing (Dillard, 2016). A framework created by scholar Dr. Cynthia Dillard, it articulates how reality is known from the vantage point of transnational Black women -transnational recognizing the connections between African descended women throughout the diaspora as well as the continent. This class will explore EFE’s claims and methodologies, as well as center other transnational Black women whose work helps us make connections between history, spirituality, and our collective positionality within academia.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

The release of jazz pianist Cecil Taylor's 1956 debut album, "Jazz Advance", established yet another artistic benchmark – experimental, virtuosic, individually and collectively expressive – that subsequent jazz musicians would need to reach, and surpass. Jazz history is full of such threshold moments, as each generation continued to elevate jazz – and thus the entire diaspora of Black America – to new artistic and socially progressive heights. This course will trace the advancement of jazz from a regional articulation of African-American culture (New Orleans at the turn of the twentieth century), to a diverse international phenomenon, one whose fundamental thrust has served as a foil to prevailing white hegemony. There are three basic aims: (1) a general historical survey of jazz's development, through primary source and scholarly readings, (2) an analysis of the stylistic evolution of jazz through the study of repertoire and recordings, and (3) critical analysis of race, gender, and cultural conflict throughout the ongoing legacy of what has been called one of America's great musical art forms. The course will be mildly technical, with some use of printed music, but mainly designed to be accessible to students of all musical backgrounds. A particular emphasis is placed on listening; students will become familiar by ear with a wide variety of jazz repertoire, artists, and styles.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course provides an interdisciplinary discussion of the Latino experience in the United States with a focus on Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Cuban- Americans. Using fiction, poetry, films and critical essays, we will examine issues of race and ethnicity, language, identity, gender and sexuality, politics, and immigration. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement for the Spanish major. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 305 or SPAN 306

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Designed as a “practicum” (cohort study + internship), the Fall 2022 Junior Seminar will focus on three themes: public health, environmental justice, and prison abolition. Two core concepts from American Studies– interdisciplinarity and ethical community partnerships–will connect and ground those themes. Through reading, reflection, discussion, and writing, we will explore the interactions across academic knowledge; self & community knowledge; work styles and communication; and what it means to “care” about an issue. In-class, side-by-side encounters with alumni and mentors from the internship sites will spur conversation on social change, career discernment, navigating resources, and stewarding relationships. The seminar will meet on Monday nights. During the night class, we will reflect on, write about, and contextualize your internship experiences; we will also meet with community leaders and alumni who will provide career advice and help you to plan for the future. This course requires concurrent registration in a 2-credit internship, which will satisfy the internship requirement for the American Studies major. Over the course of 10 weeks, you will spend 8 additional hours a week at your internship, for which you will receive 2 additional credits (for a total of 80 hours).

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

The Senior Capstone is required of all majors. Majors who meet college criteria are encouraged to conduct an honors project in conjunction with their Senior Capstone.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials