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Courses in American Studies (AMS)

Lower Division Course

1A. Science and American Culture (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. American science as a cultural system. Mutual influence and interaction of that system with other cultural systems including religion, social thought, art, architecture, literature, music, and common sense. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.—I. Mechling

1B. Religion in American Lives (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Religions and spiritual practices in the United States, and their interrelationships with other aspects of U.S. history, society and culture; indigenous and imported faiths, and the impact of immigration, colonization and culture contact on religious systems. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—I. (I.)

1C. American Lives Through Autobiography (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. American culture as understood through the individual life stories told by Americans, with attention to the roles of gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and sexual orientation in the individual's life course. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—II.

1E. Nature and Culture in America (4)

Lecture—3 hours; fieldwork—3 hours. Uses and abuses of nature in America; patterns of inhabitation, exploitation, appreciation, and neglect; attention to California; emphasis on metaphor as a key to understanding ourselves and the natural world; attention to models of healing: stewardship, ecology, the "rights" movement. Offered in alternate years. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—III. Smith

4. Freshman Seminar (2)

Seminar—2 hours. Prerequisite: open only to students who have completed fewer than 40 quarter units. Investigation of a special topic in American Studies through shared readings, discussions, written assignments, and special activities (such as fieldwork, site visits). Emphasis on student participation in learning. Limited enrollment.—II, III. (II, III.)

5. Technology in American Lives (4)

Lecture—2 hours; discussion—2 hours. Prerequisite: completion of Subject A requirement. Technology as both a material cultural force and a symbol in American culture; the lives of engineers at work and play; images of the engineer and technology in popular culture; social political and ethical issues raised by technology. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Wrt.—I. (I.) Smith

10. Introduction to American Studies (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. United States history, culture and society. Examination of cultural objects and social practices. Topics include popular culture (film, TV, Internet), cultural diversity, social activism, play, and communication. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—III. de la Peña

21. Objects and Everyday Life (4)

Lecture—2 hours; discussion—1 hour; term paper. Prerequisite: completion of subject A requirement. Material culture (objects and artifacts ranging from everyday objects like toys and furnishings to buildings and constructed landscapes) as evidence for understanding the everyday (vernacular) lives (gender, social class, ethnicity, region, age, and other factors; collecting and displaying material culture; commodity capitalism) of individuals and communities in colonial North America and the United States. Offered in alternate years. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.—I. de la Peña

25. United States as a Business Culture (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: completed Subject A requirement. Business as a cultural system and its relation to religion, politics, arts, science, technology, and material culture; business themes of success, creativity, invention, and competition in American autobiographies, fiction, advice literature, film, and television; cultures of the workplace; multinational business. GE credit: ArtHum, SocSci, Div, Wrt.—I. (I.) de la Pena, Mechling

30. Images of America and Americans in Popular Culture (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Investigation of verbal and visual discourses about American identity in various popular culture products, including film, television, radio, music, fiction, art, advertising, and commercial experiences; discourses about the United States in the popular culture of other societies. Offered in alternate years. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—(I.)

55. Food in American Culture (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: completed Subject A requirement. Food as a cultural system in the United States; food in the performance of individual and group identity, including gender and ethnicity; food in literature, art, popular culture (film, television, advertising), and folk culture; the food industry and business. GE credit: ArtHum, SocSci, Div, Wrt.—II. (II.) de la Pena, Mechling

98. Directed Group Study (1-5)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. (P/NP grading only.)

99. Individual Study for Undergraduates (1-5)

(P/NP grading only.)

Upper Division Courses

100. Interdisciplinary Skills (4)

Lecture/discussion—3 hours; term paper. Design and implementation of interdisciplinary research, analysis and writing for American Studies and other cultural studies fields. Library and Internet research skills, project/problem definition, methods of study of texts, individuals, communities. Hands-on, skill-building, focused reading, discussion.—I. (I.)

101A-H. Special Topics (4)

Seminar—3 hours, intensive reading, writing, and special projects. Interdisciplinary group study of special topics in American Culture Studies, designed for non-majors as well as majors. Content will vary according to the instructor and in accord with the following titles: (A) Popular Culture Studies; (B) Women's Studies; (C) Material Aspects of American Culture; (D) American National Character; (E) American Lives Through Autobiography; (F) The Interrelationship Between Arts and Ideas; (G) New Directions in American Culture Studies; (H) Problems in Cross-Cultural American Studies. May be repeated for credit in different subject area only.—I, II, III. (I, II, III.)

110. A Decade in American Civilization (4)

Lecture—2 hours; discussion—2 hours. Prerequisite: one of courses 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E or 1F. Close examination of a single decade in American civilization; the connections between the history, literature, arts, customs, and ideas of Americans living in the decade. Issues and representations of race, class, gender, age, and sexuality in the decade. May be repeated for credit if decades studied are different. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—I. (I.)

111. Theories and Practices of Everyday Life in the United States (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: upper division status; preparatory courses for the American Studies major or the equivalent interdisciplinary experience. Introduction to the cultural studies theories and to critical practices that seek to understand everyday life in the United States, with special attention to uncovering the vernacular theories governing these practices.—I. (I.)

115. Living in Bodies: Body Politics in the United States (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: upper division status; preparatory courses for the American Studies major or the equivalent interdisciplinary experience. Examination of human bodies as sites for cultural constructions of identities and "selves" in the United States; attention to bodily norms, crises, and transgressions; the relation between disciplining the body and controlling social categories, including race, gender, class and sexualities.—II. (II.)

120. American Folklore and Folklife (4)

Lecture—3 hours; fieldwork—1 hour. Theory and method of the study of American folk traditions, including oral lore, customs, music, and material folk culture; the uses and meanings of those traditions in various folk communities, including families, ethnic institutions, voluntary organizations, and occupational groups GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—III. (III.) Mechling

125. Corporate Cultures (4)

Lecture—2 hours; discussion—1 hour; fieldwork—1 hour. Prerequisite: one course chosen from course 120, Anthropology 2, Psychology 16, or Sociology 1; or consent of instructor. Exploration of the small group cultures of American corporate workplaces, including the role of environment, stories, jokes, rituals, ceremonies, personal style, and play. The effects of cultural diversity upon corporate cultures, both from within and in contact with foreign corporations.—III. (III.) de la Peña

130. American Popular Culture (4)

Lecture/discussion—3 hours; fieldwork—1 hour. Prerequisite: course 1 or upper division standing. American popular expression and experience as a cultural system, and the relationship between this system and elite and folk cultures. Exploration of theories and methods for discovering and interpreting patterns of meaning in American popular culture. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—II. (II.)

132. Critical Approaches to Media Culture (4)

Lecture/discussion—4 hours; film viewing—2 hours. Critical approaches to the study of contemporary media culture, focusing specifically on film, television, computer, and print media and their products and on the various interrelationships between media and U.S. culture. Offered in alternate years. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—II. (II.)

133. Rhetoric of Media on Social Issues (4)

Lecture/discussion—4 hours. An introduction to rhetorical analysis of social issues as depicted within media culture, with specific emphasis on the way media frame messages about new social problems. Not open to students who have taken Rhetoric and Communication 124. Offered in alternate years. GE credit: SocSci, Div, Wrt.—(III.)

139. Feminist Cultural Studies (4)

Lecture/discussion—4 hours. Prerequisite: one course in Women's Studies or American Studies. The histories, theories, and practices of feminist traditions within cultural studies. (Same course as Women's Studies 139.) GE credit: SocSci, Div, Wrt.—III. (III.)

151. American Landscapes and Places (4)

Lecture—2 hours; discussion—1 hour; fieldwork—3 hours. Prerequisite: course 1, upper division standing. Comparative study of several American cultural populations inhabiting a region, including their relationship to a shared biological, physical, and social environment, their intercultural relations, and their relationships to the dominant American popular and elite culture and folk traditions. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—II. (II.)

152. The Lives of Children in America (4)

Lecture—2 hours; discussion—2 hours. Experience of childhood and adolescence in American culture, as understood through historical, literary, artistic, and social scientific approaches. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—III. (III.) Mechling

153. The Individual and Community in America (4)

Lecture—2 hours; discussion—2 hours. Interdisciplinary examination of past and present tensions between the individual and the community in American experience, as those tensions are expressed in such cultural systems as folklore, public ritual, popular entertainment, literature, fine arts, architecture, and social thought. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—II. (II.)

154. The Lives of Men in America (4)

Lecture—2 hours; discussion—2 hours. Interdisciplinary examination of the lives of boys and men in America, toward understanding cultural definitions of masculinity, the ways individuals have accepted or resisted these definitions, and the broader consequences of the struggle over the social construction of gender. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—I. (I.) Mechling

155. Symbols and Rituals in American Life (4)

Lecture—2 hours; discussion—2 hours. Prerequisite: course 1. Interdisciplinary examination of selected, richly expressive events (parades, festivals, holidays) and symbols (flags, memorials, temples) which encode nationwide values and understandings (Thanksgiving, New Year's, etc.) or which realize more limited, special meanings (Mardi Gras, rodeo, Kwanza, graduation, bar mitzvah, etc.). Offered in alternate years. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—III. de la Peña

156. Race, Culture and Society in the United States (4)

Lecture—2 hours; discussion—2 hours. Prerequisite: course 1. Interdisciplinary examination of the significance of race in the making of America; how race shapes culture, identities and social processes in the United States; the interweaving of race with gender, class and nationhood in self and community. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—II. (II.)

157. Animals in American Culture (4)

Lecture—3 hours, discussion—1 hour. Animals as symbols in American thought, as found in folklore, popular culture, literature, and art; customs and stories around human-animal interactions, including hunting, religion, foodways, pets, zoos, circuses, rodeos, theme parks, and scientific research on animals. Offered in alternate years. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.—III. Mechling

158. Technology and the Modern American Body (4)

Lecture/discussion—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: Technocultural Studies 1 and either course 1A or 5. The history and analysis of the relationships between human bodies and technologies in modern society. Dominant and eccentric examples of how human bodies and technologies influence one another and reveal underlying cultural assumptions. (Same course as Technocultural Studies 158.) GE credit: ArtHum.—I, III. de la Pena

160. Undergraduate Seminar in American Studies (4)

Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: open to junior and senior American Studies majors only. Intensive reading, discussion, research, and writing by small groups in selected topics of American Studies scholarship; emphasis on theory and its application to American material. Limited enrollment. May be repeated once for credit when content differs.—II, III. (II, III.)

190A. Senior Thesis Research Seminar (4)

Seminar—2 hours; extensive writing. Prerequisite: senior standing in American Studies major. Research and prospectus writing for senior thesis.—I. (I.)

190B. Senior Thesis (4)

Independent study—12 hours. Prerequisite: senior standing in American Studies major and course 190A. In consultation with advisor, student writes an extended research paper on a topic proposed in course 190A.—I, II, III. (I, II, III.)

192. Internship in American Institutions (1-12)

Internship—1-12 hours. Prerequisite: enrollment dependent on availability of intern positions, with priority to American Studies majors. Supervised internship and study within and about key organizations in American civilization at archives, museums, schools, historical societies, governmental and social agencies, etc., with attention to the techniques of participant observation and the collection of ethnographical data. May be repeated for credit for a total of 12 units. (P/ NP grading only.)

197T. Tutoring in American Studies (1-5)

Tutorial—1-5 hours. Prerequisite: consent of Chairperson of American Studies Program. Tutoring in lower division American Studies courses, usually in small discussion groups. Periodic meetings with the instructor in charge; reports and readings. May be repeated for credit when the tutoring is for a different course. (P/NP grading only.)

198. Directed Group Study (1-5)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. (P/NP grading only.)

199. Special Study for Advanced Undergraduates (1-5)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor and chairperson of American Studies Program. (P/NP grading only)

Graduate Courses

207. The Critical Study of Whiteness (4)

Seminar—4 hours. Prerequisite: Graduate standing in social science, humanities, arts, or cultural studies. Critical study of the emergence and significance of the social and racial status "whiteness" and its cultural practices. The colonial context for emergence of whiteness, its centrality to class, race, gender formation, and to social, cultural, legal, and educational processes. Offered in alternate years.—II.

220. American Folklore and Folklife (4)

Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor. Theory and methods for the study of the folklore and the folk customary behavior of Americans; contributions of folklore studies to scholarship in humanities and social science disciplines.—III. (III.) Mechling, Turner

250. Cultural Study of Masculinities (4)

Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor. Interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the social and cultural construction of masculinities; attention to the effects of biology, gender, race, class, sexual and national identities; criticism of oral, printed, visual, and mass mediated texts, and of social relations and structures. (Same course as Women's Studies 250.)—II. Newton, Mechling

255. Food in American Culture (4)

Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: graduate standing or advanced undergraduate with consent of instructor. Interdisciplinary theories and methods for the study of food in American culture; food studies in relation to issues of identity (age, gender, ethnicity, religion, region, etc.), social relations, systems of production, and cultures of consumption. Not offered every year. de la Pena, Mechling

298. Group Study (1-5)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. (S/U grading only.)

299. Individual Study (1-12)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. (S/U grading only.)

Professional Course

396. Teaching Assistant Training Practicum (1-4)

Prerequisite: graduate standing. May be repeated for credit. (S/U grading only.)—I, II, III. (I, II, III.)